| GNCC
ATV Racing
Round 5 "Loretta Lynn's" |
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Hurricane Mills, TN - The Grand National
Cross Country Series is now in full swing, and Loretta
Lynn’s Ranch in Hurricane Mills was the site of
round five in what has so far turned out to be a nail-biter
of a championship battle between Bill Ballance and Chris
Borich. Both riders were tied for the points lead with
two wins and two second place finishes each going into
round five, distancing themselves from the rest of the
pro field. As Ballance tries to cement his place in
ATV racing history with an eighth consecutive championship,
Borich is hungrier than ever to win an overdue title
and knows that to beat Bill when he is on his A game
would make it that much sweeter.
Keeping some pressure on the championship contenders,
Chris Bithell and Taylor Kiser have been putting in
consistent finishes to keep them in range to capitalize
on a fallout of the top two. Matt Smiley and Bryan
Cook have bounced back from their tough seasons last
year to be near the front of the points along with
William Yokley, who has been concentrating on developing
the KFX450R since the start of the season. A front
runner last year, Duane Johnson has struggled with
setup issues, while multi-time overall winner Chris
Jenks has been experiencing bad luck and mechanical
gremlins.
The GNCC at Loretta Lynn’s has been taking place
since the eighties, and the venue has always been a
favorite of the racers with its varied terrain and historical
significance. The course layout is generally high speed,
with tight virgin sections thrown in. The hills are
always challenging, with multiple lines filled with
roots and ruts. This year’s loop measured in at
13+ miles, and would utilize some of the Amateur Nationals
motocross track that the Ranch is famous for. The weather
leading up to the event could not have been more ideal,
and track took on just enough moisture to eliminate
dust.
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Rookie
Pro, #17 Taylor Kiser launches his Yamaha to
the ITP XC1 Holeshot Award ahead of #16 Brent
Sturdivant |
Mild temperatures and sunny skies greeted the twenty-four
XC1 Pro riders who lined up on the motocross start straight.
The holeshot went to Taylor Kiser, who was followed
closely by Brent Sturdivant. Bill Ballance had an uncharacteristic
poor start, and had some spots to make up to have a
run at Chris Borich. William Yokley had a good start,
and seems to be making his Kawasaki fire quicker than
at the beginning of the season.
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#5 William Yokley had his best start of the
season as he was in the first half of the pack
with #14 Bryan Cook |
#1
Bill Ballance is typically the "Holeshot
King", but this weekend he was eating plenty
of roost at the start of the race |
After the course snaked through the low lying areas
surrounding the motocross track, we crossed over the
paved road and into the woods. The very first hill
was a heavily rooted, multilined ascent that gave
an indication of the trail ahead. A high speed ridge
run of easily a quarter mile in length followed the
first woods section, and this was really the only
dusty area on the track. I was following Tyler Lenig
up one of the loose uphills on the first lap, when
his rear tire spit out a rock that nailed me straight
in the nose with the speed and velocity of a Nolan
Ryan fastball. After the surprise of the initial impact
wore off, I kept on rolling along, checking my Flexxbar
pad every once in a while to keep an eye on my nasal
bloodflow.
The course layout managed to keep the racing fairly
close, and I could see a handful of riders in front
of me through the woods as we were freight-training.
I began to feel pressure from behind, and before I
knew what was going on Bill Ballance blew by me so
fast I thought I might have accidentally left an anvil
in my air box or something.
