Kit Palmer | April 19, 2004
FMF Suzuki’s Rodney Smith captured his third straight Grand National Cross Country Series win at the combined GNCC/National Hare Scrambles at the Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in Tennessee, yesterday. And, once again, he did by the narrowest of margins.
Smith’s teammate Fred Andrews led much of the race, before a battling Smith and Jason Raines got him towards the end. Smith out-dueled Raines to the finish to take his fourth win of the series and to increase his series lead. Raines, for the third time in a row, finished second
Andrews ended up third, ahead of Throttlehead.com/Kawasaki Team Green’s Steve Hatch and FMF Suzuki’s Doug Blackwell.
Finishing a remarkable sixth was Scott Summers, who broke his collarbone at the previous race just a few weeks ago. Riding with a metal plate and nine screws holding everything in place, Summers passed Barry Hawk Jr. late in the race to get that sixth-place position.
Hawk, Chuck Woodfor, Brian Garrahan and Cole Calkins rounded out the top 10 overall.
Kit Palmer | Off-Road Editor
Kit Palmer started his career at Cycle News in 1984 and he’s been testing dirt and streetbikes every since – plus covering any event that uses some form of a knobby tire. He’s also our resident motorcycle mileage man with a commute of 120 miles a day.
