| GNCC
ATV Racing
Round 8 "SnowShoe" |
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SnowShoe Ski Resort |
Showshoe, WV - It was one tough, gnarly
race, but the fans liked it and so did Yamaha's Bill
Ballance, who grabbed momentum on the track and in the
series to win the Moose Racing Snowshoe GNCC in West
Virginia, round eight of the Can-Am Grand National Cross
Country Series. The massive ski resort at Snowshoe presented
beautiful accommodations and a paved stretch of road
for the start, but several miles of the course were
made of almost impassible by mud, hills and rocks. Ballance
moved around his rival Chris Borich early in one of
those sections, and Borich ran out of time in his comeback
bid, finishing second on his East Coast ATV Honda. Borich's
teammate Matt Smiley took third.
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| Mountain
View finish line & GP Style Start on the
main road up to the mountain to the SnowShoe
Ski Resort |
"There was probably three miles of the track out
there that was just as gnarly as probably anything we
ever see on any track throughout the whole season,"
said Ballance, the seven-time and defending GNCC Champion.
"At one time there was five or six of us together,
I think Chris and Matt and Bithell, and we come into
that one section and everybody started splitting off
and going different directions, and I picked a line
and thought, 'Oh Lord, this is way out of the way, I'm
getting ready to get passed by a bunch of people,' and
wound up getting on through it, and wound up being an
easier but longer line and I didn't get hung up, and
I think I got around those guys right there. I just
put my head down and started pushing."
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the convenience of hotels, food, and shopping,
there was an abundance of racers with their
wives and girls along for the weekend |
Borich received the $100 ITP Holeshot Award for leading
the first lap after the unique GP start, but he wasn't
happy with second. "I was expecting a five lap
race, and I don't know what happened there, but I
came in, and the next lap the white flag was out and
I was like, what the heck?," said Borich. Bottlenecks
and mud were wreaking havoc on many racers, leading
officials to cut the race from five laps to four to
finish at the standard GNCC two-hour mark (Ballance
finished in 1:57.48). "I put my hammer down and
came up just a little short I guess, but it's going
to drive me more here over the break and push real
hard. I'm not giving up, it ain't gonna be that easy."
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| #2
Chris Borich jumped out to the early lead in
the GP style start of 5 riders per row, and
he held the lead for the first lap and earned
the ITP Holeshot Award |
