Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMA Grand National Cross C o u n t ry S erie s Round 5 : L oretta L ynn ' s Shan e Watts ralls through a rut on his way t o the Loretta Ly n n 's GNCC/National Hare Sc rambles double-header v ic t ory. Th e win marks Watt's third GNCC and first Hare Scram b les w in of the ye ar. HURRICANE MILLS, TN, APRIL 16 h a n e Watts m ust lo ve Lore tta Lynn's . La st year, Watts ' win had everybody wo nd ering what needed to be done to stop th e blaz ing fast KTM r ide r. When th e che ckered flag dr o p pe d fo r Watts at th e combined G NC C / Na t io na l Hare Scrambl es rou nd a t t h e Loretta Lynn Dude Ra nch t his year , it app ea red as tho ugh they ma y be ask ing them selves the same qu estion th is ye ar. T he ro und five GNCC win mar k ed Watt's third win and fifth podium finish of the GNCC series . Watts sta rte d from th e ba ck of th e pac k aft e r c rashing in th e s econd corn er , h ow ev er , fro m th at p o int o n, Watts wa s th e fa s test rid e r o n the c o u rse , turnin g in co ns is tent 29 , m inute la ps. The Au stra lia n passed race lea der Pa u l Edm ond s on o n th e fourth la p when th e Ka wa s ak i rid er ha d to m ake a fue l s to p th at Watts was abl e to avo id . Ed m on dson m ade a c ha rge for the lead on th e last two laps, but a combinati on of a mecheri- ic a l pro blem and a flying Watts pr e vented him from making it two wins in a row . In the end, Watts wou ld take th e win by a little over on e m inute. At the end of th e race Watts was t ired , but happy, co nside ring . "I brok e a bon e in m y han d a nd o n ly h ave o n e hour o f ridin g pri or to this ra ce , " said W at t s . "T h e crowd was defini te ly an advantag e to m e . Kawa sak i h a d a t on o f p e o ple o ut t he re a n d all I had wa s th e c ro wd ." Before Watts m ade his c harge to th e front , the race seemed to be firm ly in th e hands of the Ka wa s a ki du o of Edmondson and Fr ed Andr e ws . Th e Team Green ride rs both go t g reat sta rts a nd imm ediatel y set a bliste ring pac e o n th e fa st a nd very roug h Loretta Lynn' s c ourse. By th e end of th e firs t lap , Edm o n d s o n a nd Andrews were nose to tail with a lmost a m inute lea d on the rest of the pack. At th is point it lo o ke d like t he ra c e wo uld be a n a ll gre en affair. However , And rews was unable to s hake the bad lu ck that firs t s t ruck a t th e C ro s s Ke y s GNCC. W hi le r u nni ng r ight behind the Brit, Andrews lost a cra nk 42 n STOR Y AN D P HO T O S By C HRI S D E UT SC H E N S MAY 10, 2000' cue • e e vv Sf in his KX2 50 , p utting h im o ut a fter only two la ps . Edmondson continue d to lead th e pa ck , but at th e end of lap fou r th e ra c e would b e decided in the pits . Edmondson h ad to make an e x tr a stop for gas and Watts knew t his . "Pa u l h ad to m ake two stops for gas ," said Wa tts. "When he stopped I h op e d to g e t o ut o f his s it e s o h e could not pa ce off m e ." E d mon dso n didn 't gi ve up a n d closed the gap on Watts . "I tried to ma ke a pu sh , but it ' s to ug h whe n yo u ca n't see th e gu y ," sai d Edmondson , whose c ha rge wasn't help ed by a rad iat or shroud that had come lo o s e a n d was g ett ing in th e way . When Edmon dson had to sto p to ha ve the s hrou d pu lled comp letely off, the race was co nceded to Watts . Behin d the le ad e rs , Suzuki' s Steve Hatch was ha ving a n inter esti ng da y. After sta rting s ixth Hatch was a ble to work his way up to third by th e e nd of th e first lap but th en things got interesting . "I passed some KTM guy s and I thought I ca ught up to the Kawi 's , bu t it wa s n' t them ," explained Hatc h . "By th en I had a rm pum p from try ing to go flat o ut and hit a tree . Next I hit a la pped ride r and bent m y rear brake pedal. My boot came unbuckled from tr ying to kick the pedal stra ight ." By this t im e Ha t c h had lost two posit ion s to KTM rid ers Watts and Mike Lafferty. "When I pitted we fixed th e brake , I got gas , goggl es , a n d bu c kled my boot," said Hatch . "It wa s like a s have a nd a shower. I was a new m a n ." Wh en Hatch rejoin ed th e rac e he was a b le to p a s s La ffe rt y to m o ve into third , but the battle was not over a s form er Nati onal Enduro Champion Randy Hawk ins wa s ma king a b id for th e final pod ium s pot on his Yam aha . "Ra ndy a nd I had a good battle at th e end," continued Hatch. '" think he pa ss ed me three time s , but I passed h im four times . We we re cl ose , but not taking each ot he r out. It's fun ra c -: ing when you know you' re not go ing to take eac h othe r out. " Ha w k in s e choed Hat c h ' s co m ments . "I caught Mike [Lafferty ] when he slid o ut and th en I ca ug ht St e ve . We pa s s ed each othe r three or four times . It' s neat to race with a gu y that hard for a podium positio n without having to wo rry . It was just a lot of fun ." In 't h e end Ha t ch managed t o secu re th ird and the final podium spot with Ha wkins fourth. Or so it seemed. At th e rid e rs m eeting riders wer e wa rned th at t hey ha d to wa lk t he ir m a c hine s across th e roa d cross ing . In the heat of battle Hawkins a nd Bria n Ga r raha n fa iled to wa lk t he ir machi nes a nd were b oth docked a position, m oving Nat ion al Har e S ra mble s Ch am p io n Dou g Bla c kwell into fourth, with Hawkins fifth, a nd Ga rra han s ixth . Mike Lafferty rode h is KTM fo urstrok e to s e ve n t h fo llowed by Kied ro wski on the Suzu ki th um p er , Jason Raines , a nd Joel Dengler. eN Loretta Lynn's GNCC Hurricane Mills, Tennessee Res ults: April 16, ZO O[Round 5 of 131 O O /A PRO : I. Shan e Watts ( KT M) ; 2 . Pau l Edm ond son (Kaw) ; 3. Ste ve Hatch (Suz ); 4. Doug Blackw ell (Yam ); 5. Randy Hawk ins (Yarn) ; 6. Brian Garrahan (KTM): 7. Michae l Lafferty (KTM): 8. Mik e Kiedrowsk i (Suz) ; 9. J ason Raines (Yam) ; 10. Jo el Dengler (Hus) . OPEN A: 1. Jeremy Berwanger (KTM) ; 2. Da ve Gunn (Han) ; 3. Mic hael Grizzle (Hbg) ; 4. J eff Murgel (Yam) : 5. Norm an Feth (Yam). 2 5 0 A : 1. Chu ck Wood roof ( Kaw) ; 2 . Marty A lois io (K T M ): 3 . Aa ron Kop p (Sua) : 4 . Ric hard Lafferty (Sua): 5. Todd Mora in (KTM ). 200 A : I. Co le Cal k i ns (Ka w) : 2 . Chri s Gall t (Kaw): 3. J oshua Knapp (Kaw ); 4. John Rentsch ler (KTM) : 5. Denny Anders on (KTM ). 4 -STRK A : 1. Curt Wil cox (Suz); 2. Vance Earl (Suz); 3 . Mike Dech erd ( Yam ); 4 . Dariu s Lattea (Kaw ): 5. Harvey Whitak er (Kaw). VET A : 1. St eve McSwa i n (Ka w) ; 2 . De nni s Decker (KTM ) : 3 . Ma rk Guy (Yam ); 4. T im Bak er (KTM): 5. Richard Burb ick (G-G). SR A : 1. Ti m Shep ard (Yam): 2. Mark Sm it h (KTM): 3. Joh n Kealey (Hen) : 4. Leo Schwab (G· G): 5. Troy Sc hlereth (Han). S / S R A : J. J immy L yn ch ( KT M ) : 2 . Harry Greenlee (Yam) : 3. Frank Erbe (Yam) ; 4 . Terry Flyn n (Hen) : 5. Patrick Golden (KTM). OPEN B: 1. Roger Littl e (Yam ); 2 . David Wolfe (KTM) ; 3. Kris Ald ridge (KTM); 4. Steve Oste rga rd (Kaw): 5. Mike Llnebeck (KTM) . 2 5 0 B ; 1. Ryan W ueb beli ng (Ya m) ; 2 . Blair Ja ck son (Suz); 3. Brian Wrig ht (Kaw); 4 . Brian Noff z (Kaw ): 5. Len Kapto n (KTM) . 200 B: 1. A nthony Glasso (Suz); 2. Robert Stock ( Ka w ) ; 3 . Michael Faul k ( Suz); 4 . Scott Wat k ins (Kaw ): 5 . Brian Meli k (Kaw) . 4 -S TR K 8 : 1. Bryan M uscavitch (Suz) ; 2 . Jim Ingram (Suz); 3. Dav id Doug herty (Suz) ; 4 . Mik e Hanchett (Yam) : 5. Jeffrey Hively (Yam) . VET B: 1. Russell Bain (Hon); 2. Thomas Derby (Suz); ..1 . Ruel Jone s (Yam) : 4. Mark Good (Yam) ; 5. Todd Temp le (KTM ). SR B: 1. Ma rk Steen (Yam) ; 2. J .D. Ham m ock (Kaw) ; 3 . Rich ard St rou d (Yam ) ; 4. Dwa ne Mi nch (KTM): 5. Dan Murra y (Kaw) . S/SR B: I . Ja ck Fa lbo ( Kaw) ; 2. Leon Park er (Yam) ; 3. Glenn Adam s (Yam) ; 4 . Don Rye (Kaw) ; 5. Gorman Sm ith (KTM ). 200 1. Jo shua Whisnant (Kaw ); 2. Eric Noel ( Kaw) ; 3 . Luke Stouffer ( Kaw) : 4 . William Bo ve (Yam ); 5. Lucas Snell (Hon) . 2 5 0 C: 1. Brad Ril ey ( Kaw); 2 . Er ic Stew art (Yam ) ; 3. Terry Deal (Han ); 4. Jo seph Derryberry (Kew): 5. Scott Dillon (G-G) . . OPEN C : J. Samuel A llen (G · G): 2 . A l an Mcjunkins (KTM ); 3. David Gillesp ie (K aw) ; 4 . Ja son Miller (Suz): 5. J ess Robeson (KTM) . 4-STRK C: 1. Hen ry T urn er (Y am) ; 2 . Sea n D ill on ( Yam ): 3 . Gary You gh ( Yam) : 4 . I v an Thompson (Han ): 5. J ohn Rye (Yam) . V ET C: 1. J eff Boo he r ( Ka w) ; 2 . Dari n Eki s ( KTM ) ; 3 . Gary Watk in s (Ho n) : 4 . Todd Rowland (KTM): 5. Rodn ey Robertson (Hon) . SR C: 1. Mark Will m an (Suz) ; 2. Thom as Eidan (Suz); 3. Jim Sorrels (KTM ); 4 . Lewis Webb (Yam) ; 5. Steve Brun ton (Yam ). WMN : 1. M ic h ele Ei dan (KTM ) ; 2 . De borah Broderick (Yam). SPTSMN : 1. Al an Randt (KTM) ; 2. Tim Toll eson (Yam ): 3. Gary Hazel (KTM ): 4 . Ed Tr ipp (Hon ): 5. Karel Kram er (KTM). c: Upcoming Ro und s: Round 6 - Sparta, Kentucky, April 30 Round 7 - Clarksburg, West Virginia, May 14

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