The second half of the season came all too quick. School had recently resumed for us and it seems like it is taking up a lot of our time. The GBC staff and I just attended the ATV and SxS Roundup at Brimstone in Tennessee the week before we went to New York for the GNCC season to start, so the week was a little hectic. My quad was not ready come time to load up so I went to the track a nervous mess. We got to the track around one in the afternoon on Friday. Immediately we started unloading and looking at my quad. It wasn't looking good. My quad was so low on compression it wouldn't start on it's own [until warmed up], meaning we had to bump start it. I had a big decision to make, race risking the engine, or don't race risking points. There was 15 minutes left in the youth race before I decided I couldn't sit out, so the day would be interesting.
The Women's class was on the second row, and it would be Kristen Atwell with the holeshot followed by Traci Cecco, Angel Atwell, myself and Lexie Coulter. We quickly found ourselves behind the Utility riders where we would find passing difficult. Lexie saw a quicker line and got ahead of me. A few seconds before, Traci used the same line to pass Kristen. Glen Pritchard found his way around Lexie and I and got mixed within the bunch. Conditions were great. It had down poured most of Friday and Friday night, [as every year], so we were all pretty nervous we were about to endure excruciating mud. After the first lap, it was a day for the sport quads. Somewhere within the last two laps something had happened to Traci Cecco and she lost her lead. For the overall it was Angel Atwell. She is ecstatic because it is 99% sure she has the Women's Championship. The GNCC staff has to go back through and look at it again, but she has seven wins for the season. That's a win for every race except for 3! For the number two spot on the podium it was Glen Pritchard, who is in the Super Senior 50+ class. This man is a phenomenal rider and show's that age can't hold him back. The third place spot went to Kristen Atwell. Lexie ended up taking fourth in the Women's class and I followed behind her with a fifth place finish.
It was also a big day for Jodi Stracham. She made her debut into the Women's Novice class officially ending her youth racing career. She went back and forth from 5th to 4th to 6th and is ready to show that she is going to be a huge threat later in her career. She finished out with a 6th place in the novice class aboard her Honda 450R, not bad at all for her first big quad race.
The afternoon race was also one to look forward to. Everyone was wondering if Chris Borich could wrap up his Championship. We also had a lot of motocross racers come out to join the GNCC Racing series with the MX season recently coming to a close. Motocross names included Pat Brown, Harold Goodman, and Dustin Wimmer who seemed like quite a threat in the beginning of the race. For the holeshot it was the #1 of Bill Ballance with Jeffrey Pickens right on his heels. During lap one Brandon Sommers found a great groove and ended up taking over the lead. Next were the killer B's of Ballance and Borich followed by Brian Cook. Broken fender mounts had hindered Jeffrey Pickens and he dropped back to ninth. Our winner from last year, Chris Bithell was experiencing problems when his Can-Am kept putting itself into limp mode. He was in and out of the pits and failed to make a lap. His team mate Brent Sturdivant oddly experienced the very same problem.
On lap 2 we had our favorite killer B's battling it out, Bill Ballance and Chris Borich going at it for the lead. Then "The Real Deal" Adam McGill came right after them, wanting to take that lead with Sommers traveling close behind. On lap 3 McGill came into pro pits first, but stopped to pit and the rest kept on moving which put him in at 5th, giving Ballance the lead. Sommers, Borich and Cook followed behind. Sommers took back over the lead on lap 4. Behind him the killer B's once again battled it out. Taylor Kiser was in 4th followed by Brian Cook. In a straight away after the finish line, a YFZ 450 caught on fire and burnt. The rider had no idea, so spectators ended up stopping him so that he could excape the flames!
As the Pro's came in for the finish it would be the #2 of Chris Borich to take his 7th win of the season. Brandon Sommers was in second and Bill Ballance would round out your top 3.
In the XC2 Pro Am class, Brian Wolf came through with the early lead, but Kevin Yoho would take over from there. That is until the last lap, when Brian Wolf would find his way back into the lead for his 7th win of the season. Josh Kirkland took the second place spot and Kevin Yoho rounded out the top 3.
In College A, Zack Strong had the lead for his debut race in this class. Jamie Bithell was in second until he experienced a clutch failure and he was out for the race. Zack Strong was showing that he was ready to win, until lap number three where the 723 of Walker Fowler would take over the lead. He finished out the race with his 8th win of the season and an astonishing 13th overall! Fowler was followed by Strong and Arrol Bright [who won round 4 of the series.]
There are only three races left in the series and from here anything can happen. The next stop is in my home state, North Carolina. Yadkinville is a favorite track among a lot of the riders. Hopefully the rain will hold off and we can have a nice dry race. See you in two weeks!