| GNCC
ATV Racing
Round 3 "Steele Creek" |
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#1
Bill Ballance |
Morganton, NC - With the 2007 Grand
National Cross Country Series only two rounds old,
the usual suspects have taken their positions at the
front of the class. Reigning champion Bill Ballance
and perennial contender Chris Borich have taken their
battle for GNCC supremacy to another level, distancing
themselves from the rest of the XC1 field. Racing
basically against each other, the dueling duo amassed
a remarkable five minute lead over the pack in Florida,
and then pushed each other to a two minute gap over
all challengers in Georgia. Surprise top five contender
and ProAm graduate Taylor Kiser has put in solid finishes
to remain the closest to Ballance and Borich in the
points so far, with XC1 sophomore Chris Bithell and
seasoned veteran William Yokley logging consistent
runs to stay in the hunt.
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GT Thunder's #784 Brandon Sommers may be racing
in the Pro Am Class, but he has been giving
the Pros a run for their money in 2007 as he
continues his string of top 10 overall finishes,
and Pro Rookie #17 Taylor Kiser has also come
on strong as he is currently in 3rd Place in
the Pro Points
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The third round of the series had the GNCC masses
converging on the beautiful Steele Creek campground
in Hickory, North Carolina for a classic cross country
event at a now almost historic venue. The terrain
is a mixture of all the elements: hills, hard packed
trails, mudholes, stream crossings, and even some
loamy whoop sections thrown in for good measure. The
somewhat constricted track area makes for close racing,
and always guarantees close finishes for the spectators.
The notorious fast flowing creek has drowned its share
of motorcycles and quads over the years, and although
most of the deep crossings have been eliminated there
are still some very challenging holes and bogs to
test the riders. The weather for this year's event
was picture perfect, with rain earlier in the week
keeping the dust down and warm temperatures on race
day making it comfortable for the racers and spectators
alike.
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#2
Chris Borich edges out #1 Bill Ballance for
the ITP Holeshot Award |
Twenty five XC1 competitors lined up for the start,
with a total of 260 afternoon race participants. After
suffering through two bad starts in the previous rounds,
Chris Borich put his Honda out front and grabbed the
ITP Holeshot Award. Bill Ballance followed him closely
with Adam McGill in third position. There was some
bumper car action in the first few turns, which relegated
some favorites to the back of the pack, including
William Yokley and Matt Smiley. Chris Jenks had starting
problems with his Honda, and had a long race ahead
of him after getting off the line in last. Bryan Cook,
a North Carolina native, was putting pressure on McGill
for the number three spot. Bryan made his way around
Adam and caught the leaders a short while later.
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#7 Adam McGill |
#4
Chris Jenks |
