| GNCC
ATV Racing
Round 7 "John Penton" |
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Millfield, OH - After years of inclement
weather ranging from unbelievably dusty to ridiculously
muddy, the 2006 edition of the John Penton Grand National
Cross Country race took place under sunny skies in the
heart of GNCC country, Millfield Ohio. The venue offered
up a fantastic course laid out by Buren Hamrick and
Jeff Russell, where the GNCC ATV pro riders could dice
it out for two hours straight in an event filled with
close racing, attrition, crashes, and even protest.
The rains during the week leading up to the event
had soaked down the area, making for absolutely no
dust and also creating some challenging mudholes and
hillclimbs. The Sunday Creek Motocross track was in
perfect condition, while many riders were unaware
of the mud and ruts that laid waiting just beyond
the treelines. The 23 Pro riders that lined up on
the motocross track's start straight were ready to
battle it out at this classic GNCC location. Sitting
on the first row, we had about 100 feet of straight
track to the first turn, and while Chris Borich powered
his way to the ITP Holeshot award, a few riders could
not escape the effects of such a small start area.
Brandon Ballance and Bryan Baker came together and
locked wheels to the point where it took a while to
separate their quads, while Adam McGill was thrown
from his quad and knocked out briefly. Even though
Adam was disoriented and momentarily confused as to
his whereabouts, he showed his true racing nature
and hopped back on his quad and gutted out three laps.
Before the Pro pack even made it to the woods, leader
Chris Borich snapped a tie rod in the whoop section
and had to rush back to the pits to get it fixed.
Chris' pit crew changed it quickly and he made it
back into the race just after the senior class row
started and began his charge catch back to the Pro
class.
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Freshmen Pro Riders have quickly jumped into
the spotlight as (left to Right) Chris Bithell,
Adam McGill, and Duane Johnson are all in the
Top 10 Overall with Johnson leading the group
with an impressive 4th Overall Points Standing
in only his second season of GNCC Racing. |
#7
Bryan Baker has one of the smallest Pro pits
crews in GNCC racing, and I mean this literally
with his two sons geared up in Moose Racing
Gear and his wife providing his only track side
support during the races, which shows a true
family commitment |
I was fortunate enough to make it through the start
section unscathed and inside the top ten behind Jeremy
Rice and Johnny Gallagher, who are both good mud riders.
Johnny is from Ohio, and as I was following him I
tried to keep an eye on his lines to see if I could
use his track experience to my benefit. Bill Ballance
was in the lead group, and was in a position to make
up alot of ground on Chris Borich in the championship
points race. After the Pro class first turn carnage,
the Pro Am class start was delayed an extra minute.
To make things more complicated, somewhere on the
first lap the Pro Am class leaders took a wrong turn
and ended up cutting off a two mile section of the
track, which included a check point. This put a few
Pro Am riders in the overall and physical lead of
the race as they came around to finish the first lap.
It was a little confusing when I started catching
one Pro Am rider after another, wondering how they
got in front of me. William Yokley came through the
barrels first on his LTR450, followed closely by Bill
Ballance, Chris Bithell, Duane Johnson, and Missouri
GNCC winner Chris Jenks. Chris Borich, who was tearing
up the track trying to make up time, lost it in a
hilly high-speed field section just past the mulch
pile where Brock Parker took himself out during the
morning race. Chris was shaken up a little, but got
back on and continued his charge in hopes of salvaging
as many points as possible.
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first turn gobbled up several Pro Riders including,
Adam McGill, Bryan Baker, Brandon Ballance,
and Rhett Butler as they collided around the
short 180 degree turn. As the dust settled,
Michael Houston and Bryan Cook finally rounded
the first turn and darted around the downed
riders. |
Chris
borich grabbed the Holeshot, but his lead was
short lived after running into issues with his
tie-rod, which sent him scrambling to the pits
after the whoops section while his worst nightmare
unfolded with Bill Ballance taking over the
lead and in position to regain the points lead
back from Chris Borich. |
During lap two, Bill Ballance laid down the fastest
lap time, which launched him into first with Jenks,
Johnson, and Bithell behind him. William Yokley dropped
back to fifth. Brent Sturdivant was in sixth, and
looked to be putting together another great ride in
only his second race in the Pro class. Gallagher and
Rice followed, with Bryan Cook and I rounding out
the top ten. The track was holding up fairly well,
and some new alternate lines were popping up around
the single-lane greasy hillclimbs. The Ohio soil gets
slick on the hills, and momentum plays a big part
in negotiating the course without a hangup. Spectators
began to play an important role in guiding the racers
through the mud holes, and helped many riders find
the good lines in the nasty sections. I came up on
a small bottleneck on a short climb, and some mudfleas
came up to me and told me to just get up the side
of the hill as far as possible and they would pull
me over the rest of the way. Now that's service!
Bill Ballance ran into electrical problems in the
third lap, which left him sitting for nearly four
minutes before returning to the race out of the top
five. Chris Jenks took over the lead, now a familiar
position after leading the majority of the previous
round in Missouri and Loretta Lynn’s. Yokley
charged his way back through the pack and was running
with Jenks out front, and was in a good position to
add another Penton overall to his resume. Pro Rookies,
Chris Bithell moved into the final podium spot and
was starting to put time on fourth-place rider Duane
Johnson.
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| #1
Bill Ballance ran into problems in the third
lap, but just like Borich, he was determined
to overcome his obstacles and never gave up
as he charged his way from 6th place back up
into 2nd Place and regained a slim points lead
over Borich finishing in 10th after tie-rod
issues and a serious wreck, which would have
sidelined a lesser man. |
#10
Jeremy Rice proved his peer nature talent to
ride as he raced an almost completely stock
Suzuki LT-R450 to a 4th Overall finish, which
is simply amazing considering his R450 still
has stock shocks, A-arms, and swingarm, so hopefully
this is a wakeup call to his sponsors to stepup
to the plate because he certainly deserves the
support. |
At the end of lap three, Ballance was almost three
minutes behind the leaders, and even with a blistering
pace Chris Borich had only worked up to 16th. I was
trying to run a clean lap when I came up on a bottlenecked
rutty single track section, next to a small stream.
I had eyed up the stream as a possible fast line the
previous lap, and now I had to take it. No one had
been down it yet, probably because there were logs
laying across it about two feet over the water, which
had some deep holes and piranha nests in it. Adrenaline
took over at this point, and I just got the front
end up with plenty of throttle added in and pushed
logs out of my way, my ITP tires just mulching the
splintered wood and tossing all forms of plant life
into the air as I hung on like a five-year-old trying
to walk a Doberman through a cat show.
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#15 Duane Johnson hasn't finished out of the
Top 10 Overall all y ear and just missed the
Podium twice this year finishing 4th Overall,
but it all changed at the John Penton with his
3rd Overall finish, but unfortunately it was
one of the few races his family didn't attend,
so he was forced to share his Podium experience
with them via Cellphone, Congrats Duane!!! |
One of the elements of GNCC racing that makes it
so interesting is that you just never know what's
going to happen. Lap four illustrated that aspect
of the races perfectly. Chris Bithell had motor trouble
while chasing after his second podium finish of they
year, and Brent Sturdivant had problems and dropped
out of the overall as well. Bill Ballance put in another
superhuman lap time to move into the top three. Yokley
and Jenks were battling for the win when they both
got hung up in a mudhole. Yokley got off his LTR450
and manhandled it out of the bog first, but when he
went to refire his quad it didn't start! Jenks cruised
to the overall win from there, and won his second
consecutive GNCC race over the hard-charging Bill
Ballance. Duane Johnson ended up third, which was
a long-overdue first podium for the top rookie pro
of the 2006 series. Jeremy Rice is a phenomenal rider
with loads of natural talent, evidenced by his fourth
overall finish on an LTR450 with stock a-arms and
stock shocks on it. Johnny Gallagher finished fifth,
his best finish in a while, and definitely a confidence
booster for the popular and talented Ohioan. My sixth
overall finish was my best result since 1968, and
I have to thank my mechanic Jim Q for putting in the
hours prepping the quad after the Missouri rain festival.
Two Pro Am riders, Sean Neidlinger and Ryan Morphew
finished seventh and eighth after a time penalty equal
to their first lap time deficit was added in. Bryan
Baker rode to a consistent ninth with Chris Borich
claiming comeback of the day honors with a tenth overall
after a drama-filled first lap.
Chris Jenks is now formally a title contender, and
is within striking distance of Ballance and Borich.
Admittedly a slow starter, Jenks gets faster as the
series goes on. The three way battle for the championship
will continue in 3 weeks at the Tire Balls Spartan
GNCC in Sparta, Kentucky. See you there!
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Top Three Overall
(left to Right)
Duane Johnsonl, Chris Jenks, Bill Ballance
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| GNCC
ATV Top 10 Overall in Point Standings |
| Position |
Rider Name |
Machine |
Total
Points |
| 1. |
Bill Ballance |
Yamaha |
166 |
| 2. |
Chris Borich |
Honda |
164 |
| 3. |
Chris Jenks |
Honda |
150 |
| 4. |
Duane Johnson |
Honda |
112 |
| 5. |
William Yokley |
Suzuki |
110 |
| 6. |
Chris Bithell |
Honda |
77 |
| 7. |
Michael Houston |
Honda |
68 |
| 8. |
Adam McGill |
Honda |
67 |
| 9. |
Andy Lagzdins |
Honda |
63 |
| 10. |
Bryan Baker |
Honda |
62 |
GNCC
ATV Race Video Clips & Interviews |
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| Videos
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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