Rodney Smith Wraps Up GNCC

AMA Grand National Cross Country Series

Nov. 01, 2001 By ORC STAFF

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If you need proof of the difficulty inherent to the AMA Grand National Cross Country series, you don't need to look any further than the pits at the final round of the season. While the riders there are among the greatest off-roaders in the world, and their equipment and training are without comparison, every one of them can speak of at least one bad race they had during the season.

Winning the GNCC Championship, then, requires a rider to minimize the amount of mistakes he makes during the season. It's a tough formula to master, so while several riders had a shot at the 2001 title, only one was consistent enough to come out ahead in the end: Team FMF/Suzuki's Rodney Smith.

Consistency played the biggest part in Smith's 2001 title hunt. The series organizers at Racer Productions responded to the riders requests to count all 13 series rounds into the final standings (in years past, riders could throw out their three worst scores). With every race counting, the riders had to finish strong each week. It's not easy when you race on tracks that combine sections straight out of the AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. National Motocross Series with tight, twisting single track in the woods. Perhaps it's not surprising that the versatile Smith took the crown, as the Californian has an accomplished background in both motocross and off-road racing. And he had extra motivation, too; as the 1998 and 1999 GNCC champion, Smith was determined to win back the title he lost in 2000.

"Last year was a tough year. I had a thumb injury and a femur injury," said the new champion. "I just struggled a bit, so it feels really good to come back and put in a strong effort and win it again."

Smith's title-winning progress was aided by the poor season of 2000 GNCC champion Shane Watts of Australia. After dominating the series last year, Watts was the odds-on favorite to win again. But after winning two of the first four rounds in '01, the lights went out on Watts' title drive. At the hot and humid Loretta Lynn's Ranch GNCC in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, Wattsy pulled out of the race while running with the leaders. "I had a mental meltdown there," said Watts. "It had been building up for a long time. I wasn't training enough, and it was really hot. I started last and worked into the lead, and I just felt like I had nothing left to prove. I really felt like there was nothing more to do, and I wasn't enjoying myself, so I pulled off."

After his round five disaster, Watts was left questioning his desire to push on through the rest of the year. He grabbed two podiums in the next three races, but then bad luck seemed to find him at every turn. He broke his thumb at a hare scrambles race in Washington, causing him to DNF the Mathews Farm round in Taylortown, Pennsylvania. Following a two-month summer break in the GNCC series, he DNF'ed again when dirt jammed his carburetor right off the start at The John Penton GNCC in Millfield, Ohio. After struggling to sixth at the High Point GNCC in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania, he found the pace again by leading the Power Line Park GNCC in St. Clairsville, Ohio. While pulling away with the lead, he crashed knee-first into a tree and dropped out of the race.

Watts had no doubts where to place the blame for his poor showing. "Yeah, I had bad luck, but I like to believe that you make your own luck, you know?" said Watts. "I haven't been totally focused on making sure things would go my way."

With Watts down and out, Smith felt the pressure of carrying a big points lead. "When we went into the break, I had a big lead, and I think that was more pressure than if I had a ten-point lead" said Smith. "I could only lose it if I had done something really stupid, and then I would have been ashamed."

Adding to the pressure was the phenomenal late-season charge of Andrews, the veteran pilot from Ohio. Still trying to make up for the points he lost from missing round one, Andrews grabbed two mid-season wins and a string of podium finishes to get back into contention. Then he hit the afterburners on the home stretch, reeling off three consecutive victories in a last-ditch effort to win the title. "I know for me to win the championship would be a real, real long shot," said Andrews about the streak. "All I can do is just win races."

Ironically, Andrews was the rider who pushed hardest to eliminate throw-out scores, and he was the one who wound up needing them the most. "I wish we still had throwaways now," said Andrews after Smith clinched the championship, "although I was one of the main ones pushing to get rid of them. But I think that's the sign of a true champion like Rodney. He was consistent all year long, and that's what it takes to be a champion."

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Smith held off Andrews by taking five straight second-place finishes during the second half of the series. His remarkable ability to stay up front in rain, dust, high speeds and tight, technical conditions enabled him to wrap up the title at the penultimate round of the series in St. Clairsville, Ohio. "It was all about getting that number one plate this year," said Smith. "I just wanted to stay strong and consistent all year."

While Smith, Andrews and Watts grabbed most of the headlines up front, a host of riders challenged them throughout the year. Yamaha's Barry Hawk, Jr., a seven-time GNCC champion in the ATV ranks, won his first pro motorcycle race by beating Smith at round nine in Taylortown, Pennsylvania. A collarbone injury relegated Hawk to ninth for the year. FMF/Suzuki's Steve Hatch also put together another solid season with six podium finishes and fourth overall for the year.

Other riders made major improvements in their riding, like Team FMF/Suzuki's Mike Kiedrowski, the four-time AMA Motocross Champion who was in his second season of off-road racing. After finishing twelfth overall last year, Kiedrowski claimed seventh in 2001, just one point behind AMA National Enduro Champion Mike Lafferty, who moved up from 13th in last year's standings. Yamaha's rising star Jason Raines also put together a solid season to claim fifth in the points.

Since Smith had wrapped up the title with one round to go, the gloves came off for the series-finale Ironman GNCC in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Smith was riddled with the flu, so all eyes fixated on the streaking Andrews and the rejuvenated Watts to battle for the win. And after three hours of hard-fought racing, Watts emerged with a surprising win, proving that he still has the magic that led him to the title last year. With Andrews riding better than ever, and Watts getting back to his old self, Smith will have his hands full defending his title in 2002.