Tom Clark Motorsports' Angela Atwell Takes 2nd Overall at GNCC #6

Angela Atwell

Millfield, OH (5/17/2008) - Round six of the GNCC Series was by far one of the most challenging races for the Riders of Tom Clark Motorsports. Battling rain, huge amounts of mud, mechanical difficulties, and bottlenecks, Angel Atwell still managed to pull out a second place overall win. Super Senior rider Bernie Kasslar took 5th place in his class, and up and comers Jamie Bithell and Steven McCulloch took 3rd and 16th respectively in the College B Class and Josh Biland took 6th in Junior B. Pro rider Jeff Pickens once again had a difficult weekend, frying his clutches in the third lap after steadily running with the Top 10 and battling it out with Chris Borich up to that point. XC2 Rider Josh Kirkland was having an incredible ride, with lap times consistant with Overall winner Bill Ballance. He spent his time running with the Top 5 in the class, fighting for the lead, eventually moving into second before encountering overheating issues and dropping out of the race after completing the fifth lap.

The morning race was exciting for Angel Atwell; she went into the woods second, close behind Traci Cecco, and spent the rest of the race battling it out with Traci for the win. The pair worked their way to the overall lead, where they maintained about a 5 second gap; position changes were constant, and on the last lap Angel took over Traci for the lead. Angel pushed further ahead, until they got stuck in a massive bottleneck, where they sat for several minutes. This caused Angel to lose one position and move back to second place in the overall. Mass confusion ensued at the finish line, Angel and Traci thought they had 1st and 2nd, but didn't get the checkered flag. They were told that Verkade had taken the win, but she was no where to be found because scoring told her to continue with another lap. After cleaning off her bike to get it ready for the podium, Angel discovered the her clutches were totally shot; the bike was going nowhere on it's own. Angel had changed jerseys, cleaned the bike, and was ready to get on the podium, but with the addition of an extra lap before the podium ceremony, it was getting very close to the start of the afternoon race. The bike needed to be pushed to the trailer, and the Angel and her crew had commitments to be at the starting line with her teammates at the beginning of the afternoon race. It was a disappointment for Angel and for Tom Clark Motorsports to not be on the podium, but circumstances led to a decision to forgo the ceremony. It was in no way a reaction or a statement about the final results of the race, and we apologize for any confusion.

“I would like to take the time to thank my sponsors, fans, and Racer Productions and apologize for not being present at the podium ceremony. This sport is important to me, and I take it very seriously, I did not mean to cause confusion, or to appear ungrateful for being on the podium. I would like to thank everyone that helped me lead much of the race: Tom Clark Motorsports,Custom Axis Suspension, Laeger's, HMF Exhaust, ITP Tires, Hiper, Tire Balls, Fasst/Flexx Bars, IMS Tanks, Maier, Moose, Powermadd, No Toil, Quadtech, DP Brakes, GT Thunder, Dragon Goggles, Shoei, Streamline, AC Racing, XCountry Photos, North Country Brewing Company and especially MEK Racing Engines. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season, and hope to make it up to everyone on the podium next time around.” said Angel Atwell.

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