-------~ Round 14
OFr--rtu,",u
I October 24, 2004
Grand National Cross Count r y Series
Last yea r's champion , Barry Hawk, finished the
year strong by taking his fourth win of the year.~~~).!~?~~~~
After a silly string show e r,
Rodney Smith displays his
new number-one p late . By
winning his fifth title, he is
now tied w ith Scott
Summers and E Lajak for
d
most cha mpio nships.
Last Man
Standing
STORY BY JASON W EIGAN DT
PHOTOS BY RAy GUNDY
he G r a nd Natio na l C r os s
Co untry Se ries is about survival. T he three- hour events
are t o ug h, and staying in
fighting shape for all of them
- from the season opene r in Texas, at the
beginning of February, to the O ctobe r
finale in Indiana - is eve n harder. GNCC
Champio nships are often determined by
T
smarts mo re t han speed . And as su c h,
maybe it's not so surpr ising that whe n the
smoke cleared th is seaso n, th e smartest
and most ex pe rienced rider in th e Pro class claimed the number-one plate.
He's also the oldest rider in the class.
FMF Suzuki's Rodney Smith was the last
man standing in the 2004 GNCC Series.
His tenacity and determination was
26 NOVEMBER 10 , 20 04 • CYCLE N EWS
rewarded with a record-tying fifth GNCC
title. Smith turned 40 in March, making him
the oldest champion in series history and
making this title run all the more sweet.
"I rea lly didn't think I wou ld w in th is
title this year," Smith said. "It all starte d at
this race last year. I won th e race and had
a good off-season. Th is year I turned 40,
and I don't know what it is abo ut that age,
40th Anniversary
but somet imes you have so me doubts. I
won the ope ner in Texas, but I was 39
the n. The n a few months late r I got a win
at 40. and I think that was a big tu rning
point for me . O nce I knew I co uld win
o ne race, it started com ing easy. W inning
the title at 40 , that's such a big mile marke r, I'd say this is the sweetest out of all the
titles I have."
