Paul Carruthers | March 5, 2002
Yamaha-mounted Jason Raines won the opening round of the Grand National Cross Country Series in Okeechobee, Florida, today.
Raines topped Kawasaki’s Fred Andrews with Suzuki’s Rodney Smith, Yamaha’s Russell Pearson and KTM’s Michael Lafferty rounding out the top five finishers.
Suzuki’s Steve Hatch suffered a mechanical failure while leading the race in the early going. His teammate, Mike Kiedrowski, lost his fuel tank’s petcock while running third.
The Industry class at the GNCC opener was won by former motocross/supercross champion Jeff Emig after a close battle with Tom Carson. Cycle World magazine’s Jimmy Lewis finished third, former National Enduro Champion Dick Burleson finished fifth, former Road Race World Champion Kevin Schwantz finished fifth, and FMF’s Bill Berroth finished 10th. Cycle News associate editor Kit Palmer finished 11th.
Paul Carruthers | Editor
Paul Carruthers took over as the editor of Cycle News in 1993 after serving as associate editor since starting his career at the publication in 1985. Carruthers has covered every facet of the sport in his near-28-year tenure at America's Daily Motorcycle News Source.
