GNCC
Racers Celebrate Biggest Season Ever at Annual
Banquet
 |
GNCC ATV Champion Bill Ballance |
Cranberry, PA
(11/27/2007) - The Can-Am Grand
National Cross Country Series drew more racers
and spectators this year than ever before, so
the big blowouts that marked the end of the 2007
season-the annual GNCC Banquets-were also bigger
than ever. Over 1200 riders, friends, families
and fans attended the shows at the Four Points
Sheraton in Cranberry, Pennsylvania. The banquets-held
on Friday night for ATVs and Saturday night for
motorcycles-recognize the top-ten riders in every
GNCC class and also present a variety of specialty
awards to riders as voted on by their fellow racers.
Among the awards, GNCC Champions David Knight
and Bill Ballance were voted Riders of the Year.
The bike ranks voted Kawasaki privateer Garrett
Edmisten as the Most Improved Rider for finishing
fifth in the final standings. Ironically, GNCC
Womens' Champion Amanda Mastin won the Sportsman
of the Year Award for putting together fund-raisers
for the U.S. ISDE Team. PowerSport GrafX's Bart
Hayes won Sport Ambassador of the Year for his
positive contributions to the series, and photographer
Jason Hooper won the Media Excellence Award. The
Hard Luck Award went to GNCC Scoring Official
Chris Dudley, who was hit by riders in two different
incidents this year. The Hardcore Racing Youth
Team won the Rough 'N Ready Pit Crew Award, and
the Good Samaritan Award went to Keith Jeziorski,
who stopped during his race at Loretta Lynn's
to help an injured rider.
On ATVs, XC2 Pro Am Champion Brandon Sommers
won the Most Improved Award, with funny man Adam
McGill winning the Sportsman Award for his fun-loving
attitude-and of course McGill cracked everyone
up with his acceptance speech. Vet A Champion
Jeff Miller won the Good Samaritan Award for raising
money to help an injured racer in his own class,
and the Sport Ambassador of the Year Award went
to QuadZone.com, a site made of GNCC members.
The Hard Luck Award went to youth racer Jesi Stracham.
The Award of Media Excellence went to ATVInsider.com,
a newspaper which provides first-rate coverage
of GNCC ATV racing. The Rough 'N Ready Pit Crew
Award went to the team of Ronald Wright and Larry
Kirkland.
A highlight of the evening came from the annual
"Best Bod" contest, in which racers
in the GNCC Women's classes nominate six GNCC
males to compete for the trophy. McGill's strip
tease won the award on Friday for ATVs, and XC2
Lites contender Thad DuVall won on bikes-his dancing
skills certainly aiding him there.
Racer Productions also created Championship rings
for Ballance and Knight, complete with eight diamonds
for Ballance celebrating his championships, and
one for Knight celebrating his first. Ballance
also presented the Youth Rider of the Year Award
to ATV Youth Champion Dylan Bradford, asking Bradford
when he planned on switching to a Yamaha, to which
Bradford showed no interest. Yamaha fans were
happier on Saturday, when eight-time GNCC Champion
Barry Hawk handed out the bike Youth Rider of
the Year Award to Walker Fowler, but this time
Fowler used the opportunity to announce he is
switching to Yamahas on both bikes and ATVs next
season.
Yamaha's good news continued when they claimed
the Manufacturer's Cup on bikes, based on the
top-two overall finishes for each brand at each
race. American Honda won the Manufacturer's Cup
on ATVs.
Sponsor of the Year on both nights went to series
title sponsor Can-Am, which provided the funding
for the GNCC TV Series to air on Versus. Can-Am's
Bernard Guy was on hand to accept the award, and
he also handed out $2,500 checks to each of Can-Am's
ATV class champions: Michael Swift, Cliff Beasley
and Rick Cecco.
Racer Productions also memorialized members of
the GNCC racing family who had been lost throughout
the year; Chris Earlywine, Lee Hammond, Gus Larson
and Robert Patterson.
The top five riders in each class received piles
of contingency product from GNCC sponsors. Class
Champions were also picked at random to win a
variety of prizes, including Elka Suspension,
Laeger's steering stems, Tire Balls, Risk Racing
stands and Hiper Technology wheels.
All that winning added to the fun, but the banquet
really presented one more chance for each member
of the GNCC racing family to hang out around the
holidays. Once the banquet closed, DJ Jeff Horton
(the Maxxis Man) spun songs as riders, friends,
fans and families danced late into the night.
GNCC racers stay up late celebrating at the banquet,
but they'll surely be in bed early getting ready
to race when the 2008 season begins in March in
Vero Beach, Florida.
About
GNCC Racing:
The AMA/ATVA-sanctioned Can-Am Grand National Cross
Country series is America’s premier off-road racing
series. The 13-round series is produced exclusively
by Racer Productions. Cross-country racing is one of
the most physically demanding sports in the world. The
nearly three-hour long GNCC races lead as many as 1,800
riders through tracks ranging from eight to twelve miles
(should also mention the kilometers for English Canada)in
length. GNCC Racing airs weekly television shows on
Versus (formerly Outdoor Life Network) every Saturday
at 3 p.m. and Thursday at 4 p.m. beginning on April
14. With varied terrain including hills, woods, mud,
dirt, rocks and motocross sections, GNCC events are
tests of both survival and speed. GNCC featured sponsors
include BRP Can-Am, Parts Unlimited, Moose, Maxxis,
Pirelli, Wiseco, Acerbis, Elka, Geico, Klotz, FMF, ITP
and Weekend Warrior, and riders compete for over $3
million in series prizes and contingency money. Associate
sponsors include Alpinestars, Cometic, EK Chain, HiPer
Technology, Laegers, Motion Pro, Moose Utility Division,
Powersport Grafx, Pro Clean, Race Tools, REM, Scott,
Thor, Tire Balls, Twin Air, Weekend Warrior, and MotoTee’s.
Media Sponsors include Racer X Illustrated, ATV Rider,
ATV Sport, ATVRiders.com,
Dirt Rider and ATV Insider. For more information log
on to www.GNCCRacing.com.
About
BRP:
Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. (BRP), a privately-held
company, is a world leader in the design, development,
manufacturing, distribution and marketing of motorized
recreational vehicles. Its portfolio of brands and products
includes: Ski Doo® and Lynx™ snowmobiles,
Sea Doo® watercraft and sport boats, Evinrude®
and Johnson® outboard engines, direct injection
technologies such as Evinrude E TEC®, Can Am™
all-terrain vehicles and roadsters, Rotax® engines
and karts.
For more information, visit www.brp.com
www.gnccracing.com
122 Vista Del Rio Drive,
Morgantown, WV 26508
304-284-0084
|
