IN
THE
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motorcycles. After a three-year
GNCC dry spell, Summers re-
claimed the AMA national num-
ber one plate in 1996 and suc-
cessfully defended his title the
following year. Summers also
won four AMA Hare Scrambles
National Championships in 1990,
1991, 1993 and 1995. In addition,
he collected three gold medals
competing for the U.S. team at
the International Six Days En-
duro.
"I'm humbled and honored, but
to be honest, I feel like any suc-
cess I achieved was a result of a
group effort," Summers said. "I
was surrounded by some vision-
ary people who contributed to my
racing - my dad, Wade, was in-
strumental in persuading me that
four-strokes could be competitive
and my friend, Fred Bramblett,
was my mechanic, my business
manager, my agent and my pub-
licist. I was blessed in that I don't
know if any off-road racer ever
had the support that I had. I don't
feel like I'm responsible for all the
accolades that I received while
competing, and I'm happy to
share the limelight with all those
who drove my success."
Although Summers acknowl-
edged that the XR600R had a
weight disadvantage compared
to the much smaller two-strokes
ridden by his rivals, he noted that
the Honda's smoother power de-
livery and torque gave him a per-
formance edge.
"In 1982, I got a Honda XR200
for Christmas, and I fell in love
with the type of power that bike
made," he said. "There came a
day when I felt I was capable of
going faster than that bike would
let me. That was in 1985 when I
got an XR600. It was very similar
to the XR200, only much more in
every way. I loved the power char-
acteristics, and it more than com-
pensated for the fact that I was rid-
ing a bike 50-100 pounds heavier
than the other bikes. Because
of the smooth power, I could re-
lax more, and that paid big ben-
efits during a three-hour race."
Off-road racing legend Scott
Summers will be inducted into
the AMA Hall of Fame in October.
