| GNCC
ATV Racing
Round 9 "The Wisp" |
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Forum
Coverage - Coming Soon |
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McHenry, MD - The GNCC circus rolled
into the beautiful resort town of Deep Creek, Maryland
for round nine of the most hotly contested ATV Cross
Country Championship in years. The Wisp Ski Resort
would be the battleground for the last shootout of
the series before the two month summer break, and
all the riders were looking to get a good result in
the books before the series intermission. The Wisp
has become the must-do round, and this year's event
attracted the likes of bike racers John Dowd and WORCS
champ Nathan Woods and quad racers like WORCS #2 Brandon
Brown from Oregon. The vacation atmosphere around
Deep Creek brings out record spectator attendance
and makes the sport easily accessible to many first
time race watchers, who get a good first impression
of the GNCC's.
The battle for the championship has come down to
a Bill Ballance and Chris Borich dogfight, with Chris
Jenks and William Yokley being the possible upset
contenders. Borich was looking to get back on top
of the points standings, after holding the advantage
for most of the season. Ballance's consistency had
become apparent through the season as he came back
from an early points deficit to claw his way back
into the championship lead. Chris Jenks had shown
that he was a force to be reckoned with by winning
back to back overalls in Missouri and Ohio, but he
will need more wins to catch Bill and Chris in the
championship race. William Yokley has put in remarkable
rides this season, considering he has switched quads
and basically developed the LTR450 on the race track.
Always testing new parts, this weekend he would debut
the long awaited Elka steering dampner and a new size
ITP GNCC rear tire. Duane Johnson is at the top of
the rookie Pro roster, racking up top five finishes
with the consistency of a veteran. The next chapter
of the story was ready to be written on the slopes
of the Wisp.
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| The
Ballance Family (Bill Sr, Jennifer, Gail, Bill)
kicked off the Weekend by winning the Annual
Golf Tournament on Friday |
GNCC
ATV Legend’s Bill Ballance with his baby
girl, Leah, and Barry Hawk with his one year
old son, Talon |
Threats of weekend precipitation had many racers
cringing in fear, knowing that grass covered ski slopes,
boulders the size of Volkswagens, and pouring rain
are not a good combination. Luckily the rain did not
happen until Sunday, and you have got to give it up
for the brave soul who raced a bike in that test of
survival and suffering.
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| Turn
three pileup with Chris Bithell locking wheels
with Matt Smiley and Johnny Gallagher flipping
over |
The ATV race began under overcast skies and very good
track conditions. Twenty three pro riders lined up on
the driving range for arguably the most demanding course
in the series. Chris Jenks pulled a perfect holeshot
on the grassy uphill start and led the Ballance brothers,
Chris Borich, and Duane Johnson through the first turn.
After the first few turns, the track went up a long
beginner slope where you could just hold the throttle
to the stops and wring every bit of power out your quad.
In typical Wisp fashion, within seconds the course would
go from the wide open sections into the tough rock strewn
woods. The rocks are the loose kind that gradually work
their way down the track as riders bash them with their
a-arms and undercarriages. It's not uncommon to come
powering out of a turn only to find an asteroid sitting
front and center, lining itself up perfectly with the
lowest-hanging component on your quad. One of the rarest
of all racetrack phenomenon happens at the Wisp- rolling
rock. You'll be following the guy in front of you down
a rough hill, and all of a sudden a meteorite pops out
of the ground and is bouncing down the track in front
of you!
Chris Jenks was on fire and held the lead at the
end of the first lap. Chris Borich and Bill Ballance
were right with Jenks, and a battle royale was in
the works. The lead trio had a 30 second gap on Brandon
Ballance and William Yokley, who rounded out the top
five. Matt Smiley and Chris Bithell came together
shortly after the start, and were clawing their way
through the pack. The Wisp course offered quite a
few passing opportunities, and the long wide straight
sections made a fast motor and high corner speed leading
onto the straights a huge benefit.
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| Chris
Jenks was off to a great early charge leading
both Chris Borich and Bill Ballance around the
rocky 12 mile long track |
Chris
Borich took over the lead by the end of lap
two as him and Bill Ballance swapped for the
lead with Chris Jenks dropping back to 3rd |
The second lap had Borich taking over the lead with
Bill right behind him. There was a small gap back
to Jenks in third, and a minute and a half back to
Yokley in fourth and Brent Sturdivant in fifth. The
racing was close, as evidenced by only thirty seconds
separating fourth through tenth. Bithell was on a
tear and already in the top ten at the end of the
second lap. The top three positions remained identical
going into the last lap, with Bill and Chris battling
back and forth at the front with Jenks a few seconds
back. Yokley dropped back to seventh, while Duane
Johnson worked his way up into the fourth spot almost
two minutes from the leaders. Bithell was up into
sixth at the start of the last lap, and looking for
another podium. Chris passed me on a long, long uphill
through some new construction, where you had to keep
an eye on some g-out drainage ditches that ran across
the track. He never let off the gas, just taking the
hits and steady rolling out in search of the leaders.
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| William
Yokley charged his way from 7th to 3rd in the
final lap of the race to claim the final podium
spot |
The last lap would prove to be a show stopper for Jenks,
who encountered an mechanical failure and came to a
stop in the woods. With Jenks out of the picture, Borich
and Ballance diced it out to the finish, with Bill using
a lapped rider to make the final pass on Chris and held
it to the checkered flag. William Yokley put in a inspired
ride on the last lap to move into third and put the
LTR450 on the podium again, with Chris Bithell and Duane
Johnson right with Yokley at the line. Bryan Cook had
another consistent ride to sixth, with Brandon Ballance
in seventh. Eighth place finisher Santo Derisi had his
best ride of the year ahead of Adam Mcgill and Michael
Houston.
With the two month break now upon us, you can bet
that none of the top riders are taking it easy and
relaxing. This is a prime opportunity to get that
edge on the competition by doing some extra riding
and testing, right? Hopefully the series will come
down to the wire with multiple championship contenders,
and we will get a good idea of who did their homework
come the next round of the series in Yadkinsville.
See you there!
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Top Three Overall
(left to Right)
William Yokley, Bill Ballance, Chris Borich
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| GNCC
ATV Top 10 Overall in Point Standings |
| Position |
Rider Name |
Machine |
Total
Points |
| 1. |
Bill Ballance |
Yamaha |
226 |
| 2. |
Chris Borich |
Honda |
210 |
| 3. |
Chris Jenks |
Honda |
166 |
| 4. |
William Yokley |
Suzuki |
146 |
| 5. |
Duane Johnson |
Honda |
142 |
| 6. |
Chris Bithell |
Honda |
120 |
| 7. |
Michael Houston |
Honda |
90 |
| 8. |
Adam McGill |
Honda |
79 |
| 9. |
Brandon Ballance |
Honda |
78 |
| 10. |
Bryan Baker |
Honda |
75 |
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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