|
Borich tops Ballance and Bithell in a GNCC Battle
for the Ages
Chase for the Steele Creek GNCC goes down
to the wire
| |
|
#2
Chris Borich is determined as ever to take the
2006 GNCC Championship over 6 Time Champion #1
Bill Ballance |
Morganton, NC (3/25/2006) - The Killer
B's keep battling - and now they're multiplying. At round
three of the Suzuki Grand National Cross Country Series,
the tight and twisting Steele Creek GNCC, East Coast ATV/Honda's
Chris Borich and Yamaha's Bill Ballance battled as hard
and fast as they ever have, with Borich coming out in
an all-time classic by just inches at the finish. Behind
them came a third Killer B, pro rookie Chris Bithell on
his LTERacing.com Honda.
"I'm very happy with this one," said Borich.
"I knew it was going to be pretty tough. I was
back to fourth at one point on the last lap. Bill had
a good 10 or 15 second lead. I had to just dig down."
Borich was able to make the final pass in the last
mile, and the two superstars, who seemed deadlocked
on speed, came racing toward the finish wide-open in
a dramatic showdown. Borich made the pass in front of
a crowd of screaming fans and held on to win, helping
extend his early-season points lead over Ballance.
"It's a lot of fun to get out there and battle
for one, but I'm not one for losing," said Ballance,
who took $100 from ITP for collecting the ITP Holeshot
Award. "I don't like that one bit. It gets a little
fire burning and we'll just try to come back and be
that much tougher next race."
The final pass came down to one line on the last lap.
"I didn't think I would be able to take the line
Bill wanted, but if he wasn't going to take it, I was,"
said Borich. "He didn't take it so that's how I
got him."
Meanwhile, Bithell was engaged in the fight of his
life to try to finish third, battling with Yoshimura
Suzuki's William Yokley. Yokley got stuck and Bithell
held on to an emotional third.
| |
|
The
Pro Rookie, Chris Bithell earns his first Podium
appearance of 2006 after finishing out the 2005
season with his first Podium finish at the Ironman
as a Pro Am Rider |
"It just feels great to come up here," said
Bithell. "I don't have words for you. It's great.
I love it. Everybody was battling back and forth. We
swapped places so many times the last lap, I just can't
count them. I didn't get such a great hole shot and
I worked my way up and I finally caught up to some of
those guys, we started running and running and swapping
places. I just kept riding harder and harder and someone
else would make a mistake. It just turned out great."
Another pro rookie, Duane Johnson, finished fourth
overall, just a few seconds behind Bithell. Yokley was
fifth, and Chris Jenks was in the hunt all day as well
and ended up sixth. Seventh went to Michael Houston,
with Adam McGill eighth, Andy Lagzdins ninth and Brandon
Ballance tenth.
The Steele Creek GNCC drew 1513 individual riders between
the Youth, ATV and bike classes. The race was taped
for an airing on the Outdoor Life Network as part of
the Racer TV Series. GNCC TV begins on Saturday, April
1st at 3 p.m. and runs on Saturdays and Wednesdays at
3 p.m. every week.
Alba Yamaha's Traci Cecco won the morning ATV overall
after a big battle with Angel Atwell. Both riders raced
in the GNCC Women's Class. Walker Fowler continued his
run through the ATV Youth Ranks with the Youth overall
win.
The Suzuki GNCC Series continues in two weeks with
the Pirelli Big Buck GNCC in Union, South Carolina.
For more information, log on to GNCCRacing.com.
|
The Killer B's
sweep the Podium at Steele Creek with Borich,
Ballance, and Bithell showering down the crowd
with Champagne |
Suzuki GNCC Series ATV Racing
Results
Round #3 - "Steele Creek"
|
ATV
Top Twenty Overall |
1. Chris M. Borich Sunbury, PA HON 2:00:43
2. Bill V. Ballance Oakland, KY YAM 2:00:46
3. Chris Bithell Irwin, PA HON 2:01:07
4. Duane Johnson Trenton, MO HON 2:01:12
5. William Yokley Tompkinsville, KY SUZ 2:01:46
6. Chris Jenks Washington, WV HON 2:01:56
7. Michael S. Houston Hickory, NC HON 2:02:48
8. Adam Mcgill West Union, WV HON 2:03:46
9. Andris Lagzdins Baltimore, MD ROL 2:05:21
10. Brandon Ballance Oakland, KY YAM 2:05:24
11. Johnny Gallagher Aurora, OH HON 2:06:05
12. Sean Neidlinger Flagtown, NJ HON 2:06:06
13. James L. Wahl Shillington, PA HON 2:06:24
14. Craig Reed Crawford, TN HON 2:06:27
15. Tyler Lenig Shamokin, PA HON 2:06:34
16. Jeffrey Pickens Lemont Furnace, PA YAM 2:06:57
17. Rhett M. Butler Oak Grove, MO HON 2:07:09
18. Scott Barron New Cumberland, WV HON 2:07:11
19. Jarrod McClure Kaska, PA HON 2:07:22
20. Brent Sturdivant Montrose, WV HON 2:08:40 |
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
|
