JG Off Road /
GEICO Powersports GNCC Racing Team Race Report
Mountain Ridge GNCC - Somerset,
PA - Round 7
Somerset, PA (5/22/2009) - Round
7 of the Can Am GNCC Series took the JG Off Road
/ GEICO / Monster Energy Kawasaki team to the
rocky trails of Somerset, PA. The ATV's faced
a dry, dusty track, but rain rolled in Saturday
evening, giving way to beautiful conditions for
the bikes on Sunday. The race weekend for the
team turned out to be just as rocky as the track.
Jennifer was the first to hit the Somerset PA
course Saturday morning. As the green flag went
up her quad misfired which placed her in the back
of the pack early. As the girls left the starting
area and headed back to the pits we knew she would
make up the lost ground she received from the
start. As Jen came by us after lap one she had
moved her way into the top four. She was able
to make the needed passes early which placed her
in a good spot for a top 3 finish. Jennifer pitted
for a splash of gas in lap two but declined goggles
as she headed back out onto the course. As she
tried to make a pass on a line of lap traffic
she took a muddy line and ruined her goggles,
losing visibility. She got them off and continued
to push forward but due to the extremely dusty
conditions it would be a long last lap as she
took the white flag in third place. During the
last lap Jen fought hard to maintain a top three
finish but would fall to fourth for the day. This
finish keeps Jennifer in 4th place in the points
race.
Jennifer would like to thank of her sponsors:
GEICO, MSR, Lojak Yamaha,
MAXXIS, HMF, HiPer Technology, Rekluse, GT Thunder,
Spider Grips, Precision, XFR, Cycle Gear, Scott,
Flexx, CV4, IMS, ProGraph-X, Triple X Motorsports,
PowerMadd, Moto Pro Training, and DP Brakes.
JT Bennett jumped onto the track Sunday morning
in the Sportsman class, ready to have some fun
on what would be considered his home track. Unfortunately
for JT, his day ended early when just a few miles
into the first lap he completely lost his rear
brakes. He pulled into the pits looking for a
quick fix, when it was found that the master cylinder
was completely shot. Bennett said the track was
beautiful and a ton of fun and was bummed out
to not be able to head back out for the remainder
of the race.
Whibs, Jarrett, and Watkins were ready to roll
and were hungry for some more podiums when the
green flag flew. Off to a great start, Paul and
Jimmy went around the first turn side by side.
As the guys entered the woods and the fabled Mountain
Ridge rocks came out to greet them and Whibley
came around on the first lap with a comfortable
30+ second lead on the rest of the field. Then
on the second lap the problems started. Whibley
went down hard on his shoulder, but was able to
quickly recover. Once he was back in the chase
he ran into some more issues with 2 laps to go
- disaster struck again when a small slip in the
rock garden resulted in a massive hole smashed
into the water pump cover. Paul said he saw all
the coolant pour out and could see his chances
of a good result evaporating. He nursed the bike
back to the pits and after some frantic swapping
of parts the crew had him back in the race but
down a lot of positions. He didn't make it far
before steam was pouring out of his bike, so he
quickly spun the bike around and came back into
the pits - It seemed like there was a hole in
the radiator somewhere, and what better way to
fix that then to pour pepper - yes pepper into
the radiator to block the hole. Although disappointed,
with a 7th place (10th O/A) finish, Paul was happy
to gain some valuable points that allow him to
keep a hold of the points lead.
Jarrett battling an illness for the past week
was able to stay strong and battle throughout
the race. Jimmy took an 8th place - 13th O/A finish
for the day. Jimmy is looking forward to feeling
better and redeeming himself in Millfield, OH
for Round 8. This finish keeps Jimmy in 5th place
in the points standings with 6 races to go.
Scotty Watkins got off to a mid-pack start and
settled in for the day. With a few rough laps
that dropped him down to 6th place at one point,
Watkins was able to rally back to a 4th place
finish (11th O/A) for the day. Scotty remains
in 11th place in the points standings.
The team would like to extend a special thanks
to all of their sponsors:
GEICO, Monster Energy
Kawasaki, Moose, Pirelli, Rekluse, Tsubaki, IMS,
Works Connection, EBC Brakes, Silkolene, Renthal,
Pro Moto Billet, Enduro Engineer, PowersportGrafx,
and Acerbis.
In addition, the guys would like to thank the
following sponsors:
- Paul Whibley - Leo Vince, Shoei,
Smith, G-2, Vortex Ignitions, WER, and CTI
- Jimmy Jarrett - FMF, Arai,
Motion Pro, Cytomax, Applied, UFO, Twin Air,
HR
Motorsports, Ohlins USA and BRP
- Scotty Watkins - FMF and Shoei
And of course a huge thank you to our fans.
The GNCC series will continue on June 6th and
7th for the Wiseco John Penton GNCC in Millfield,
OH. The Somerset GNCC will air on the VS network
July 11th at 2:00PM (ATV) and July 18th at 2:00PM
(Bikes). For a full listing of the TV schedule,
visit: http://www.gnccracing.com/pages/gncc-television.
To learn more about JG Off Road Racing, please
visit www.GEICOgarage.com.
www.gnccracing.com
122 Vista Del Rio Drive,
Morgantown, WV 26508
304-284-0084
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