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GNCC ATV Racing
Round 4 "Big Buck" Links |
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#3
William Yokley on the Suzuki LT-R450 QuadRacer |
Union, SC - Once again Mother Nature
smiled on the GNCC series. The weather turned out to
be perfect for Round #4 at the Big Buck in South Carolina,
even though on the same weekend tornados were ripping
through Tennessee with heavy rains forecasted for the
area around Union.
The battle was heating up for the championship, with
Bill Ballance and Chris Borich going tooth and nail
to the checkered flag in North Carolina a few weeks
ago. Chris squeaked out a win right at the finish
and extended his points lead. Bill was obviously not
happy with a close second, and wasn't going to let
another one slip away in SC.
William Yokley came to the Big Buck with his factory
LTR450 all slimmed up and ready to take on the tightest
of GNCC tracks. Doug Roll must have burned the midnight
oil to set up William with a set of a-arms that narrowed
the Suzuki by 3" under stock. Suzuki's race program
is definitely gaining momentum, with Jeremiah Jones
taking a GNC MX overall at Budds Creek and William
ready to take the top step of the GNCC podium. Chris
Bithell and Duane Johnson continue their battle for
pro rookie supremacy, and they are both trying to
get ahead of Chris Jenks in the championship standings.
Jenks has made it clear that he will not be satisfied
until he is mixing it up with the leaders each race,
and winning his share of overalls. He has been in
the hunt this year, but seems to get knocked out of
the lead spot near the finish. Bryan Cook, a two-time
overall race winner, was sitting out the Big Buck
in order to let the collarbone that he broke in Florida
heal. Matt Smiley, who has always been known for his
consistency, was looking to regain the form that netted
him four podiums in 2005.
The track at Big Buck was set to be a masterpiece
of woods racing courses, with Buren Hamrick laying
out a 14 mile torture test for the riders' pleasure.
The lap times during the morning race were long enough
that they only ran 3 laps. In 2005 the race was a
close one, with the pros running within a few seconds
of each other for the duration. The terrain in South
Carolina is a good mix of open fields and tight woods,
with the occasional creek jump and hillclimb thrown
in for good measure. I checked out the creek jump
during the morning race, and it was not quite as challenging
as last year, but a return jump was added near the
end of the lap and resembled more of a bellyflop than
a jump. The two crossings were right near one another,
and a large crowd gathered to watch the action and
help racers get motivated to make the leap.
A little rain before the start was just enough to
eliminate the dust, and made for great traction and
good visibilty during the pro race. Matt Smiley got
off to a great start and collected the ITP Holeshot
award, holding off Duane Johnson and Chris Jenks around
the first turn. The Ballance brothers were right up
there with Matt, but they went a little wide and opened
up an inside line. Positions were being shuffled around
on the first lap, and at the end of the opening lap
William Yokley had put the new LTR450 in the lead.
Chris Borich and Bill Ballance got up behind William
and the race for the lead was on. Matt Smiley came
around in fourth with Mike Houston moving up to fifth
from a slow start. Jenks and Bithell had to make up
time after bad starts, and the close racing made moving
up a little more difficult than usual. Going through
the barrels after lap one the top ten overall were
within thirty seconds of each other. The tight woods
sections snaked through the small hills and ravines
and some turns were tight enough that my bars were
turned all the way to the steering stops.
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| #5
Matt Smiley grabbed the Holeshot with his Polaris
Predator, but he dropped back to 4th Place by
the end of the 1st lap and would finish out
the day in 11th, which is surprisingly his best
finish this year, but atleast it is a step in
the right direction. |
#12
Santo Derisi was forced to skip North Carolina
due to injury, but he was back this weekend.
He was off to a great start running in 7th,
but he would drop back to 14th to by race end,
which was also his best finish of the year. |
William Yokely was leading at the end of the second
lap, amazingly putting such a new machine as the LTR
within striking distance of its first victory. Bill
Ballance had worked his way into second with Borich,
Houston, and Johnson all running in the lead group.
As the race progressed, the opened up a little, and
various alternate lines developed in the woods. The
"stump section" had me white-knuckled the
first lap, bouncing off the stumps like a pinball
machine. I could feel my linkage and axle making contact,
but I kept the throttle on and the front end up hoping
not to hook an a-arm and get pitched like a ragdoll.
After a few laps, I had the stump patterns pretty
much mapped out in my head, and I used some stumps
to launch me over the others. At least once each time
through there I had the back end sliding around a
turn with the wheels spinning furiously, only to nail
a stump with my outside rear tire, instantly straightening
out my quad and sending a shock through my wrists
of carpal tunnel proportion while I'm blowing off
the turn into log-infested foliage.
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#1
Bill Ballance and #2 Chris Borich swapped the
lead back and forth in the 3rd lap before the
pair both stalled at the second creek jump,
and Bill was still able to charge his way back
up to 2nd Overall to tighten up the points on
the pair. |
Pro
Rookie, #15 Duane Johnson smacked a tree in
the beginning of the 4th lap, but he still manged
to hold onto the 2nd Overall Position before
he was finally overtaken by Yokley, Ballance,
and Borich in the last miles of the race to
finish 5th. |
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#13 Michael Houston Won his first GNCC Pro ATV
Race, and he earned his first appearance on
the Podium with his wife Crystal Houston. |
The third lap saw a change in the lead positions, with
Borich in first followed closely by Bill Ballance. Duane
Johnson and Mike Houston were putting in excellent rides,
and had worked up into third and fourth. Yokley was
back in fifth. At the end of lap 3 it was none other
than Mike Houston taking over the lead! Borich had drowned
his quad at the last creek crossing and had to get assistance
to start it, while Bill Ballance also took on water
and dropped back. The stage was set for a major underdog
victory with Houston in front and pro rookie Johnson
in second. Ballance was on a mission and moved back
up to third near the finish, following Yokely past Johnson.
Houston rode the wheels off his LTE Honda and won his
first GNCC overall, a major accomplishment against the
factory riders. Bill Ballance passed William Yokley
right before the finish to claim second overall and
take some valuable points out of Chris Borich's championship
lead. Yokley put the LTR450 on the podium in third.
Duane Johnson's incredible rookie season continued with
a fifth overall, and Chris Jenks held on to finish sixth.
Brandon Ballance and Adam McGill put in solid rides
to seventh and eighth, while ProAm rider Jeff Pickens
made it into the top ten.
The close racing at the Big Buck helps make the event
more exciting for the spectators, and with the riders
staying close together and dicing it out to the finish,
the possibility is there for some new faces on the
podium. Congratulations to Mike Houston for a inspired
ride and thanks to Racer Productions for putting together
another fun event to race in and to watch. Look for
the greatest off-road racing series to continue with
Round #5 taking place at Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Tennessee.
| GNCC
ATV Top 10 Overall in Point Standings |
| Position |
Rider Name |
Machine |
Total
Points |
| 1. |
Chris Borich |
Honda |
103 |
| 2. |
Bill Ballance |
Yamaha |
93 |
| 3. |
William Yokley |
Suzuki |
80 |
| 4. |
Chris Jenks |
Honda |
69 |
| 5. |
Chris Bithell |
Honda |
63 |
| 6. |
Duane Johnson |
Honda |
63 |
| 7. |
Michael Houston |
Honda |
58 |
| 8. |
Brandon Ballance |
Yamaha |
46 |
| 9. |
Andy Lagzdins |
Honda |
38 |
| 10. |
Adam McGill |
Honda |
34 |
GNCC
ATV Race Interviews - Video Clip |
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By: Harlen Foley |
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
ATVriders.com
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