Just one week after pounding the sands of Florida, GNCC
ATV racing was back in action in Georgia, but instead
of sand, riders would face the slick and slimy Georgia
Clay. For many, the clay would come as a welcomed relief
from the whooped out sands in Florida, and once again,
GNCC racers showed up in force and set a new Georgia
attendance record with over 600 ATV entries. For all
those in attendance, they would be treated to almost
perfect track conditions and a beautiful day for racing
with partly cloudy skies and comfortable racing temperatures.
Youth ATV Race
|
Walker Fowler looks as comfortable as ever on
the his new Cobra ride for 2006 with yet another
win |
The Youth ATV races were set to kick off an exciting
day of ATV racing bright and early Saturday Morning
at 8:00 AM with the 90cc Production Modified (11-15)
leading the way. Walker Fowler would jump out into
the lead on his Cobra 90, and he quickly separated
himself from the rest of the class with over a minute
lead on second place rider Joshua Merrit by the end
of the first lap. Fowler would add alteast another
30 seconds to lead, lap after lap, and by the checkered
flag, he held a four minute lead over Seth Mumford
in second place on his Honda TRX90. The real battle
was for third place as Michael Keleman charged his
way through the pack after dropping back to 14th place
in the second lap to battle with Dylan Kell as they
passed rider after rider, but in the end, Dylan Kell’s
Polaris would be able to outpower Keleman’s
Kasea and take the final podium spot by only 4 seconds.
An exhausted Keleman rolled off his ATV at the end
with his feet propped up on his Kasea and arms spread
eagle relaxing and catching his breath after a sprint
to the checkered.
In the 90 Production Modified (8-10), Michael Ferraro
was able to overcome a two minute deficit in the first
lap to catch the leaders and make the pass for the
lead followed by Austin Findley. Ferraro would take
his second win of the year on his Suzuki, but it is
far from over in this highly competitive class.
|
|
Seth
Mumford earned himself a 2nd Overall finish
at the General |
Jack
Ramsey was able to hold off Brandon Boso to
take the 90cc Limited 11-15 win |
In the 70cc Production (6-11) Class, Andrew Thorson
looked to be well on his way to victory by the half
way point, but a DNF would open the door for Charlie
Welch to take over the lead and eventual win over
Bryanden Shick and Michael Mussi.
Morning ATV Race
After a historic podium sweep for the women in Florida,
it was time to see if they could do it again just
one week later in Georgia. Yamaha’s Traci Cecco
would grab the Holeshot, and she plan and simple walked
away from the rest of the class. By the end of the
first lap, she held nearly a two minute lead over
Stefanie Verkade followed by Stephanie Parton. By
the end of lap three, Cecco extended her lead to nearly
four minutes with Angel Atwell taking over second
followed by Jennifer Fulkerson.
While Traci Cecco was on a mission by herself, the
real battle was for podium among several of the women
as they swapped positions back and forth for some
intense racing action, which kept everyone in suspense
to see who hold the second and third spots at the
checkered. The veteran Stephanie Parton would take
control by the third lap followed closely by Jennifer
Fulkerson, and they would maintain their position
to the finish line over five minutes behind Traci
Cecco in the lead. Angel Atwell would just miss the
podium by a 19 seconds followed by Jennifer Albright
and Stefanie Verkade rounding out the top six overall
as the Women’s Class rule the Morning with the
absence of the Stock Class.
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|
Traci
Cecco dominated the Morning Race on her Yamaha
YFZ450 as she chases after year another Championship |
Jennifer
Fulkerson earned her first ever Podium spot
to join Podium veterans Stephanie Parton and
Traci Cecco |
John Gallagher continued his reign in the Super Senior
Class aboard his new Polaris Outlaw as he would win
his second race of the year followed by Richard Martin
and Ken Vickerd.
|
Billy Good Dominated the Podium in 2004 &
2005, and he is determined to get back on the
Podium with a 250X in Sport Class for 2006 |
Billy Good continues to try to his best to garner
a podium position while racing in the Sport Class
on a 250X, and he has come extremely close the past
two races before running into problems with his machine.
Unlike Florida, Good finished out the Georgia race
with an impressive 8th Overall and held an 11 minute
lead over second place finisher Scott Sleppy followed
by Chuck Norris. Billy Good lost his brakes, which
forced him to slow down, but it will only be a matter
of time for this incredibly talented rider to put
his 250X up on the podium, which will surely turn
some heads.
The tension builds in the Utility Classes as the
competition steps it up for 2006. After a rough day
in Florida, Michael Swift put his Bombardier Outlander
out front in Georgia and took home the win over Sam
William in second place followed by Michael Penland
who worked his way up from a 9th place start and passed
Ken Robey on the final lap to third place. Scott Kilby
would take his first win of the year in the Utility
Modified class with Brock Parker out of the race before
the completion of lap one. Marcus Gonzalez battled
with Cliffton Beasley to take the 2nd spot in the
class. In the Utility Unlimited, Jesse Mekins would
lose his lead in the final lap of the race, which
allowed Timothy McAndrew to move up from second followed
closely by Florida’s winner Jonathan Bowers.
McAndrew was able to hold off Bowers to take the win
with Bowers only 17 seconds back followed by Ty Blair.
The 2005 Champion, Kevin Johnston held the lead in
the first lap and dropped back to 7th place, and he
would able to salvage a 4th place finish over Kevin
Obrick.
|
|
Scott
Kilby (Utility Modified) & Michael Swift
(Utility Stock) put the Bombardier Outlander
on top at the General with wins in each of their
classes.
|
In the C Classes, Kentucky’s John Martin would
once again win Novice C 22+ and finished in the top
10 overall with Mark Pittman finishing in second place
and 11th Overall. Ronnie Mills would take the win
in Georgia after finishing in the runners up spot
in Florida in the Novice C 16-21 Class. Finally, Baltimore,
MD rider, Michael Young would take the Novice C 35+
Class win and finish 16th Overall with Christopher
Cox taking the win in the Novice C 29+ Class
Afternoon ATV Race
|
Taylor Kiser conquers the Maxxis General as
the top finishing amaateur over Sean Neidlinger |
In the Afternoon, Bill Ballance returned to his winning
ways, but he wasn’t the only fast rider out
on the track as many amateurs are moving up through
the ranks in hopes of being the next Bill Ballance
or Barry Hawk, and Taylor Kiser and Sean Neidlinger
were on a mission in the Pro Am Class. Florida Resident,
Kiser started off the season with a DNF, and came
one stronger than ever in Georgia to take over the
lead in the second lap and hold off Florida’s
Winner Sean Neidlinger for the win. Ryan Morphew made
an incredible comeback from 20th place to finish in
3rd place followed by Craig Reed and Tyler Lenig rounding
out the top five and finishing in the top 17 overall.
The battle for the lead in the 4 Stroke A Class was
on start to finish between Brandon Sommers and Richie
Brown. The Georgian Richie Brown held the lead for
the first three laps of the race with Brandon Sommers
remaining only a few seconds behind. In the final
lap of the race, Sommers was able to make the pass
and take over the lead and the win with Brown finishing
only 3 seconds later. Kelly Logan would finish in
third place nearly 4 minutes behind the battling duo
up front.
In the Open B Class, Brian Adams would lead from
start to finish completely one more lap than the entire
class, and the second place finisher Nathan Wallpe
was anywhere but near the front after the first lap
as he was all the way back in 27th place out of huge
lineup of 47 riders. By the end of the second lap,
Wallpe leaped up to 11th place before finally moving
into second place on the third lap ahead of Aaron
Hunt.
|
|
Greg
Lott literally kept his head down to out run
Chad Wallace to he Junior Class Win on his Yamaha
YFZ450 |
Todd
Rothermel gives his Polaris Outlaw the thumbs
up after taking the win in the 4 Stroke Stock
A/B Class |
The Senior 40+ Class opener was won by Dave Hogg
in the absence of the undefeated 2005 Champion Dave
Simmons, but he was back in action at the General
and looking for yet another win as he jumped out to
the early lead. In the third lap, Simmons would lose
the lead to Ron Bloodworth who would go on to win
the race with Simmons finishing in second place ahead
of the Dave Hogg.
The 4 Stroke Stock A/B Class has yet to take hold
in the Afternoon as only 12 riders signed up in Florida
and it only grew to 14 in Georgia, but it is still
early in the year. Matt Hanna took the win over Todd
Rothermel on his Polaris Outlaw in Florida, but General
belonged to Todd Rothermel after an early battle for
the lead between Matt Hanna and Adam Reed, he pulled
away to a nearly three minute lead by the checkered
flag over Matt Hanna with Adam Reed finishing in third.
The General once again provided a perfect mix of
terrain and obstacles for some action packed racing,
and Steele Creek in North Carolina is the next stop
on the schedule, which has always been a personal
favorite with the water crossing, mud pits, and tricky
hill climbs that challenge even the fastest racers.
The
AMA-sanctioned Suzuki 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 1800 riders
through tracks ranging from eight to twelve miles
in length. With varied terrain including hills, trees,
mud, dirt, rocks and motocross sections, GNCC events
are tests of both survival and speed. GNCC featured
sponsors include Parts Unlimited, Moose, Maxxis, Pirelli,
Wiseco, Klotz, FMF and ITP, and riders compete for
over $2.8 million in series prizes and contingency
money. Associate sponsors include Moose Utility Division,
Scott, Acerbis, Alpinestars, Cometic, Outerwears,
Twin Air, Polisport Plastics, Thor, Motion Pro, Hyper
Wheels, Elka Suspension, MotoTee's, Weekend Warrior,
Owens Motorsports, Tom's Marina Polaris, EK Chain
and Laeger's. Media Sponsors include Dirt Rider Magazine,
ATV Sport Magazine, www.ATVRiders.com
and Racer X Illustrated. For more information log
on to www.GNCCRacing.com.
www.gnccracing.com
122 Vista Del Rio Drive,
Morgantown, WV 26508
304-284-0084
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