Jeff Pickens got a good start just outside
of the top five, but fell off the pace a
bit back to twelfth place. Pickens remounted
a charge in the final lap and made his way
back into the top ten, finishing in ninth
place.
AMA ATV Motocross pro, Derek Swartfager
decided to try his hand at the GNCC this
round and wasn’t looking too bad as
he made his way up from thirteenth place
into the top ten. Swartfager paced himself
and held on to round out the top ten.
|
|
| KTM's
#8 Bryan Cook grabbed the Holeshot
& lead the charge for several
laps before suffering a clutch failure,
which left him sidelined in the final
lap |
Bryan Cook was in the lead off the start,
followed by Brent Sturdivant and Chris Borich.
Cook held the lead for one lap before falling
back after Sturdivant mounted an attack
and made his way by. Cook would then encounter
clutch issues and fell to fourth and then
to seventh as he encountered issues, which
would put him back to finish in 11th place.
Brent Sturdivant was leading early in the
race and looked as if he could have a shot
at a podium finish, but Sturdivant encountered
issues in the second lap that ended things
early for him.
| |
| Yamaha's
#9x Bill Ballance was having his best
race of the season as he charged into
the Top 5, but an engine failure ended
his charge |
Yamaha’s Bill Ballance was just outside
of the top five on the start and was looking
good as he moved his way into the number
six spot in the second lap and then into
fourth, but Ballance encountered an engine
failure that hampered his efforts and put
him in 13th place.
Craig Bowman and Mark Notman ran into issues
that hampered their efforts and ended things
early for them.
Polaris/Yokely Racing’s Jarrod McClure
crashed hard in the first lap after rolling
his quad down a hill and was taken to the
hospital to get checked out after the ordeal.
| |
| Ballance
Racing's #7 Walker Fowler reeled in
the Pro class early in the race &
stayed with the lead pack to the finish
line |
In the XC2 Pro-am class, Yamaha/Ballance Racing’s
Walker Fowler claimed his sixth straight win
of the season and topped the afternoon podium.
Fowler made an impressive charge and led most
of the race, winning his class by over four
minutes ahead of the competition and taking
the podium by over 20 seconds ahead of pro
racer Chris Borich. Fowler is the first pro-am
racer, and the youngest, to win the overall
in a non gran prix style race.
“I had a mid-pack start, and was
in second going into woods. I rode hard
and smooth until the end of first lap then
I made my move for the lead just before
the finish line and dropped the hammer,”
Fowler explained. “I knew we had ridden
well so I just put my head down and charged
hard. I came up to a big chain of riders
and saw Borich and McGill and all those
guys. I knew I was going to win my class,
but I didn’t know I was going to get
the overall. I am so excited right now,
I can’t even describe it," said
Fowler.
