Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Edmondson finishing the first lap in a "this is my kind of riding! I was hav- lowly eighth place. Edmondson had ing all kinds of fun out there. I wish been complaining of a cold or the flu they could all be like this!" before the event, and without a doubt He had the Georgia National Enduro to look forward to the follow- he looked terrible before the start, but racing does have a way of pushing ill- ness aside. The same cold plagued ing weekend, so he's got more opportunities for fun coming up. KTM rider Brian Garrahan, who up Pat Garrahan took the eighth-place until three minutes before the start spot on his KTM, not really sure what wasn't going to race, but he quickly to say about the mud. "This isn't any- suited up with no time to spare and thing like California," he chuckled, finished a respectable 11 th overall talking about his home state. (his brother Pat finished eighth). On the fifth lap Watts made his only serious mistake, and a quick Ninth overall went to Yamaha rider Barry Hawk, riding a smooth, strong race. Nabbing 10th overall, was spill on the MX course knocked him Randy Hawkins, currently leading the back a number of positions, recover- AMA National Enduro Series, and rid- ing to third by the end of the lap. ing the GNCC this year on a YZ426. CN Although he caught back up to the lead group quickly, the fierce pace set by Smith and Edmondson never left him a chance to pass, and the three finished up within 30 seconds of each other. Yamaha's Doug Blackwell, smiling, happy and always upbeat, put in a good ride and finished sixth overall. His sixth was better, and perhaps a Pa..dise Parll Macon, 6aOl1lia Resulb: Man:h 12, 2000 [Ileund 2 of 141 O/A: 1. Rodney Smith (Suz); 2. Paul Edmondson (KlIw); 3. Shane Watts (KTM); 4. Fred Andrews (Kew); 5. Steve Hatch (Suz); 6. Doug Blackwell (Yam): 7. Michael Lafferty (KTM); 8. Patrick Garrahan (KTM); 9. Barry Hawk Jr. (Yam); 10. Randy Hawkins (Yam); II. Brian Garrahan (KTM): 12. Robbie Jenks (Yam); 13. Shad Ricketts (Suz): 14. Andy Sheo (KTM); 15. Jim Jorrett (5uz); 16. Steve McSwain (Ke ...); 17. Mathew St8vish (0·0); 18. Dus,;n Beotty (Yom); 19. Aaron Kopp (5uz); 20. Rodney Judson (G-G); 21. Chuck Woodford (Kow); 22. Richord Lafferty (KTM); 23. Mike Sampson (TM); 24. John Bennett (Kaw); 25. Cole C81kins (Kow); 26. Morty Aloisio (KTM); 27. Ryon Rodgers (Kow); 28. Mott Beetty (Yam); 29. Todd Morein (KTM); 30. Doug Deaton (Kow). PRO: 1. Rodney Smith (5uz);; 2. Paul Edmondson (KllW); 3. Shane Wlltts (KTM); 4. Fred Andrews (Kaw); 5. Steve Hatch (5uz); 6. Doug Blockwell (Yom); 7. Michoel Lafferty (KTM); 8. Patrick Garrahan (KTM); 9. Barry HllWk Jr. (Yam); 10. RlIIndy Hawkins (Yam); I I. Brian Gllrrahan (KTM); 12. Robbie Jenks (Yam); 13. Shad Ricketts (Suz); 14. Jim Jarrett (5UZ); 15. Mathew Slavish (G-G); 16. Rodney Judson (G-G); 17. Mike Sampson (TM); 18. John Bennett (Kaw); 19. Jesse Berthiaume (KTM); 20. Jeff Collins (Kow); 21. Andris Lagzdins (Hon); 22. Dustin Morgan (Yam); 23. Brian Keegan (KTM); 24. Joseph Prechl (Hon); 25. Mike Kiedrowski (Suz); 26. Jason Raines (Yam): 27. Destry Abbott (Kow); 28. Joel Dengler (Hus); 29. Blair Bersono (G·G). OPEN A: 1. Jeff Murgel (Yam); 2. Harvey Whitaker (Kew): 3. Chod Coon (KTM); 4. Jeff Melik (Yom); 5. Mike Monroe (Hus). 250 A: I. Andy 5heo (KTM); 2. Dustin Beatty (Yam); 3. Aaron Kopp (5uz); 4. Chuck Woodford (Kow); 5. Richard Lafferty (KTM). 200 A: 1. Cole Calkins (Kaw); 2. Tommy Veater (KTM); 3. Chris Olillt (Kew); 4. Benny Leonllrd (KTM); 5. &ottie Rich (Hon). 4-5 A: 1. Darius Laltea (Yom); 2. Curt Wilcox (5u,); 3. Ryan BIHreU (Yam); 4. Mike Decherd (Yom); 5. John Dechsle (Yam). VET A: 1. Steve McSwllin (Kow); 2. Doug Deolon (Kow); 3. Kenneth Law (KTM): 4. Jeffrey Lauth (KllW); 5. Plltrick Flynn (Kaw). SR A 1. Jeff Fredette (Kaw): 2. Keith Rodgers little more satisfying, than the 15thplace finish the week before in Florida. Also doing much better than in the Sunshine State was former National Enduro Champion Mike Laf- (Kow); 3. Mark Smith (KTM); 4. John Keoley (Hon); 5. Michoel Holbert (Kaw). OPEN B: I. Troy Wertz (Kow): 2. Chris Moore Uthonill (KTM); 3. John Kllrcz (KTM); 4. Chad Jarvis (Suz); 5. Hellth Henderson (KTM). 250 B: 1. RYlln Wuebbeling (Yllm); 2. Brilln Wright (Kaw); 3. Len Kllpton (KTM); 4. Sean Clayton (Kaw); 5. Mica Borsuk (Han). 200 B: 1. Scott Wlltkins (Kaw); 2. Mike Mlhlllik ferty, who zoomed into a seventh- (KTM); 3. Michoel Foulk (5uz); 4. Brion Melik (Kow); place finish after suffering a cracked pipe. "Look at that thing; the header pipe just cracked into piecesl" he told 4-8 B: 1. Timmy Luckadoo (Suz); 2. Mike Hllnchett (Yllm): 3. Selin Dillon (Yllm); 4. Lllnny Zeunges (Suz); 5. Robert Collins (Han). VET B: 1. Dllniel Modsrud (Yam); 2. RllY Owens (KTM); 3. Robert Fowler (KTM); 4. Russell BlIln us afterwards. He kept it going for a SR B: 1. Mark Mihalik (Kaw); 2. Mike Mcintire (Yllm): 3. Benjamin Smith (Yam); 4. Michael Schwartz (Suz); 5. Richard Hicks (KllW). BRIEFLY••• After Saturday" s all-day rain, the parking area (as well as the track) was a slimy meas. but trucks. vans and motor homes kept coming in. To make room for everyone. a couple of bulldozers were put to work scraping the mud layer off of a flat area next to the starting chute. The mud layer was also carefully scraped off the big uphill on the motocross track. making things much easier for all the racers. One interesting trivia fact is that one of the bulldozer drivers was none other than Mark Bamett. former National Motocross Champion, who helps out the track owner with heavy equipment work from time to time. Sharp-eyed racers quietly picked up an autograph; most had no idea who he was. Another high-capacity. carbo....fiber fuel tank has appeared on the GNCC scene, this one on the KTM 250 piloted by Mike Lafferty. The name of the game is getting the laps in without stopping too often or running out. a lesson the Kawasaki team leamed the hard wey in Florida. Strolling through the pits on Sunday morning. Fred Andrews stopped at Lafferty's bike. patted the new tank and said -I guess I'd better go see Lindsay. - He was talking about Lindsay Pirie. of Pirie Composites. the resin-and-cloth artist who has built custom tanks for Suzuki. Yamaha, Husqvarna, IMS and most recently for Lafferty. Andrews had a short walk; Lindsay is part of the crew helping out Joel Dengler (number lOJ this year. And yes. you may see one of the cool-looking gold mesh-pattem tanks on Fred Andrews' bike before the end of the year. The sleep deprivation award goes to .left Russell, course layout boss and successor to Big Dave Coombs. the originator of the GNCC series who passed away last year. Course work- er Johnny Lee stated. "It takes about three days to layout a GNCC course. and JeWs been out there ever since the rain started. trying to make it all passable. - Russeli would turn up at the starts of the moming and the aftemoon races to brief the riders on the course. and then disappear back into the woods to continue hacking out new lines around the worst of the mess. Women's class contender Heidi Landon. riding a Husky 125 for Midtown Kawasaki in Rocky Hill. Connecticut. had a taste of the best and the worst In Georgia. The best was a strong win in her class on Sunday morning. after a sec· ond·place finish in Florida. for an unofficial points lead in the Women's class. The worst was when her fiance/mechanic Doug Douchette went out in the aftemoon race and overcooked an uphill, Wornen's class winnner Heidi Landon badly breaking his ankle and requiring surgery. They were delayed an extra three days while Doug cleared the hospital. after which they made the long drive home to heal. (Hon); 5. Dovid Powell (Yom). couple of laps, though he must have Last year Shane Watts started the GNCC series with four wins out of the first five events, and carved himself a permanent place in the Cross Country Series' history book. He also changed the collective attitude of GNCC racers in general. Before Wattsy, it was almost a gentleman's club of racers, all with a fixed pace for three-quarters of the event until a final sprint on the last lap or two. Watts is carefully humble about his accomplishments, but don't let him fool you. He's just as proud, and just as inclined to 'psyche out" the competition if he can. Last year he made a point by using the same rear tire in the first three rounds of the series, a move that tortured some of the GNCCers. This year? This year we spotted him on a KTM 200MXC at the opening round in Florida, and at Georgia we asked him what's up. nOh, I reckon it's time to switch it around a bit," the affable Watts replied. "I won a number of races on a 125 last year; everybody knows I can do that, so this year I plan to use a different KTM model every time I win. I won on this 200 here In Okeechobee, so next weekend in Georgia I'll ride a 250. 1 reckon KTM has seven different models I can use, so that leaves me with one bike for every two rounds of the GNCC, and I'll try to do it. I want to show that KTM has some great bikes, and that I can win on any of 'em." True to his word, he lined up on the 250 MXC _ _ w.tIs doem'tjud rtde ,211&. in Georgia, but missed the win after all. "Well, I'll ride the 250 again in South Carolina, and then we'll see where it goes from there," he said with a shrug. We can't wait to see him line up on a 640 LC4 Adventure R, or maybe a Duke! been losing power steadily, and finally pulled in on the fifth lap to have his crew replace the pipe, which only took them 45 seconds. "It was losing power bad by then, but hey," he said, 5. Sam Nelson (KllW). Upcoming Rounds: Round 3 - Cross Keys, South Carolina, March 26 Round 4 - Morganton, North Carolina, April 2 Even though the weather was bad enough to keep a number of Daytona vacationers on the high· way instead of in the GNCC pits. attendance was excellent in Georgia. There were 1B6 ATV racers scored on Saturday. and the Sunday afternoon Pro/Amateur/Expert race saw 2BB total entries. while the moming Novice and specialty classes race had an estimated 250 total entries. Many people were quick to write off Mike Kiedrowski when they saw his 25th-place finish in the results, but the XC Kied had an explanation. "I had a clutch problem. - he said. -I was proba· bly a little hard on the clutch because it was super-tight through the trees. I was way out of my element. It started going. and then it tightened up and just went away completely. It wouldn't even make it up the hills. - Kiedrowski had to enlist the help of a couple spectators. who helped push him about a mile to a road. where he was met by mechanic Shane Nalley. "I'lileam this stuff." said Kiedrowski. who had dropped out just past the halfway point. cue I ... n e vv s MARCH 29, 2000 27

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