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Borich Victorious after Another Amazing Killer B’s
Battle
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| Chris
Borich Claims Second Straight GNCC Win |
Crawfordsville, IN – With the
Suzuki Grand National Cross Country ATV title wrapped
up, there was nothing but bragging rights on the line
at the final round of the series, the Klotz Ironman GNCC.
But bragging must be important, because East Coast ATV
Honda’s Chris Borich and Team Yamaha’s Bill
Ballance—the infamous Killer B’s of GNCC racing—battled
wheel-to-wheel in perhaps the best race they have ever
had together. Borich came out on top.
“This has to be one of the best battles we’ve
ever had,” said Borich. “I can’t even
count how many times we passed each other on the last
lap. We were going inside and outside of each other
in every corner, and every pass was clean.”
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Chris
Borich & Bill Ballance swapped the lead back
and forth more times than I could count, but at
the finish line it was Chris Borich in the lead. |
“Man that was fun!” said Ballance. “That
was probably the most times I can ever remember passing
each other in my whole career. We were out there in
the fields just crossing it up and going inside and
outside of each other. It was just a ball—it really
brings back the fun of it. We had a shot, we were right
there. I was in front maybe three our four occasions
on the last lap, but it was just so close it came down
to who made one little mistake. But it was cool.”
The duo put on a show in front of one of the largest
crowds ever seen at a GNCC race. The fans were everywhere
in the woods pushing the racers and cheering them on,
and the Killer B’s delivered a classic battle.
Behind them this year’s trio of rookie contenders
put in a great race for the final podium spot of the
season. Duane Johnson grabbed the $100 ITP Holeshot
Award and held third most of the day. But then the flying
duo of Adam McGill and Chris Bithell caught him on a
charge from deep in the pack. All three battled hard,
and McGill won it to take third.
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| Duane
Johnson grabbed the ITP Holeshot and held the
early lead before Borich and Ballance made their
move for the lead, but Johnson clinched the #3
Plate for 2007 |
Adam
McGill started at the rear of the pack and was
still in 18th at the end of lap one, but he still
managed to charge his way to another Podium finish. |
“We came from way back,” said McGill, who
might be the wildest, funniest rider on the tour right
now. “Me and Chris (Bithell) got hooked up on
the first lap, and then Yokley jumped the creek, and
I rode into it and it just stopped me and I went over
the bars! I had to stop for gloves and goggles. I finally
got hooked up with Chris again, and I remember Chris
Borich told me once, you’ve got to pin it to win
it. So I just tried to charge and be smooth. We got
here about a mile from the finish line, and Duane saw
me and I saw him, and a lapper split us. I was just
hoping Duane was gonna’ lift and I just managed
to get past him. It was a great race.”
Johnson rebounded to hold to fourth, and the consistent
finish made him an amazing third overall for the season.
“I was able to sneak inside of those guys and
get the holeshot,” said Johnson. “I tried
to set a good pace. Borich got by me, and Ballance,
we all pulled away from everybody. Then we came down
the big hill and I got stuck in the other side of the
ditch. It seems like if I lose sight of them, I start
losing concentration. I just start losing focus and
losing time. Once McGill and Bithell started catching
me, it finally got me riding right again.”
Bithell, who was tangled up in the first turn like
McGill, was fifth. Sixth went to Suzuki privateer Jeremy
Rice, with Duncan/Dirt First Honda’s Andris Lagzdins
in seventh, and Pro Am winner Jarrod McClure in eighth.
Ninth went to Team Excell Motorsports’ Bryan Cook,
and tenth to Pro Am rider Ryan Morphew. Morphew’s
ride gave him the Pro Am Championship after a season-long
battle with Tyler Lenig.
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| Lost
Creek Cycle's Jeremy Rice buried his Suzuki in
the first lap, but he was able to come back from
14th place to finish out the day with a solid
6th place finish |
Bryan
Cook got the worse of the mud in the first lap
and had to be pulled out of the mud, but he too
rebounded from 23rd to finish out the day in 8th
place. |
Favorites William Yokley and Chris Jenks had bad luck
plague their days. Yokley bent a rim and needed a wheel
change, and Jenks broke a spindle on the first lap.
Four-Stroke A Champion Brandon Sommers rode very well
in a tryout in the pro class. He ran sixth most of the
day before flipping his machine on the last lap and
taking on water, which dropped him back.
In the two-hour morning race, Novice 35+ rider Glenn
Pritchard won the overall for the second race in a row
on his Suzuki LT-R450. Yamaha’s Traci Cecco won
the Women’s class by topping Angel Atwell. Rick
Cecco won the Utility Modified Class, Michael Swift
won the Utility Stock Class, and Jonathan Bowers won
the Utility Unlimited Class.
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| Jarrod
McClure was finally able to pull out a win and
8th Overall finish, which lifted him into the
top 20 overall |
Yamaha's
Traci Cecco sported the #1 Plate in the Morning,
and she lived up to it with her 10th Win of the
year |
All the Suzuki GNCC Champions will celebrate at the
annual GNCC ATV Banquet on Friday, November 24th at
the Four Points Sheraton in Cranberry, PA.
The Klotz Ironman GNCC was taped for an airing on
the Versus Network (formerly OLN). The shows air weekly
on Saturdays and Wednesdays at 3:00 p.m.
Suzuki GNCC Series ATV Racing
Results
Round #13 - "Klotz Ironman GNCC"
| ATV
Top Twenty Overall |
1. Chris Borich Sunbury, PA HON 02:07:40
2. Bill Ballance Oakland, KY YAM 02:07:42
3. Adam McGill West Union, WV HON 02:10:16
4. Duane Johnson Trenton, MO HON 02:11:36
5. Chris Bithell Irwin, PA HON 02:11:51
6. Jeremy Rice Fombell, PA SUZ 02:13:57
7. Andris Lagzdins Baltimore, MD HON 02:14:14
8. Jarrod McClure Kaska, PA HON 02:14:37
9. Bryan Cook Casar, NC HON 02:14:38
10. Ryan Morphew Cookeville, TN HON 02:15:23
11. Matt Smiley Kunkletown, PA POL 02:15:40
12. William Yokley Tompkinsville, KY SUZ 02:16:00
13. Michael Houston Hickory, NC HON 02:16:04
14. Jeffrey Pickens Union Town, PA YAM 02:16:10
15. Rhett Butler Oak Grove, MO HON 02:16:49
16. Kevin Yoho Hopedale, OH YAM 02:16:53
17. Bryan Baker Knob Noster, MO HON 02:17:10
18. Kyle Martin Winona, MO HON 02:17:25
19. Taylor Kiser Alva, FL YAM 02:17:59
20. Rob Hertz Brookhaven, PA HON 02:18:16 |
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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