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Ballance Racing's Walker
Fowler Tops the Podium at John Penton GNCC
John
Penton GNCC - Round 8 - Millfield, OH - July 9,
2011
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Ballance Racing
Yamaha's Walker Fowler continues to dominate
the XC2 Pro-Am Class with eight wins
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Oakland, KY (7/21/2011) - As morning
came for round 9 at the John Penton GNCC, the Ballance
Racing crew found themselves getting ready for a
race that they are not usually getting ready for
and that was the youth race.
“We had brought our project raptor 125
along for Corey Silverthorn to ride in case the
guys at MXP couldn’t get his race quad ready
to go, but they were able to get him going. Cody
Collier, who has been riding the Raptor 125 all
year, was having some problem and wasn’t
able to get it fixed before the race, so we decided
to let him ride it. It kinda got me thinking about
letting different kids give it a try at the next
few rounds to help us get feedback to the areas
we have already improved and areas that could
use some improvement. We might have some budget
to do something with a youth program next year
for which we are really excited about and has
really lit our fire to making the Raptor 125 the
ultimate race machine for the youth riders”
stated team manager Bill Ballance.Cody was able
to take the Ballance Racing project Raptor 125
to his first overall win. “It was really
cool of the Ballance team to let me ride their
Raptor. It was awesome!” said Cody Collier.
With a great start to the day, everyone was pumped
to get on the line of the evening race. As the
green flag went up for the XC1 Class, Taylor Kiser’s
YFZ450X fired up fast and the MXP motor rocketed
him to the first corner to grab the hole shot,
but unfortunately a bad line choice on the first
lap moved him back to around 9th place. Determined
to get back to the front, he was able to make
a push back to the front and along with a good
pit stop he was able to take the lead position
heading into the last lap.
“I was able to get the holeshot but just
couldn’t stay focused on the first lap.
I took a bad line and ended up getting stuck,
but after that I got it together and was able
to push back to the front. Chris and Brian found
a creative line on that last lap to get back in
front of me and when we hit the motocross track
coming to the finish I was able to real Brian
back in. He left me just enough room on the inside
coming through the double section right before
the finish to get by. There have been a couple
rough races this season, so to get back on the
podium with a second place finish was a big step
in the right direction going into the break. We’ll
just go work hard over the break and come back
out with something to prove” stated Taylor
Kiser.
When the XC2 class flag went up, Walker Fowler’s
YFZ450X just didn’t fire up as fast as need
and nearly got involved in a collision with the
#12 of Gabe Phillips who had crashed in the second
corner. Fortunately was able to work his way into
the lead by the 9 mile marker. “It was a
pretty crazy first lap but I was able to get into
the lead before the end of the first lap and things
were going great.
Unfortunately on the third lap I didn’t
see a stump and when I hit it, I was thrown from
my machine. If it hadn’t been for Jeff Pickens
stopping to help me get my quad back on the trail
there is no telling how long I would have been
there, so a big thanks to him. After that I just
wanted to get it to the finish, so to get the
win was awesome feeling” said Walker Fowler.
Heading into the summer break, the Ballance crew
will be getting themselves and their machines
ready for a strong comeback to the second half
to the season.
We would like to thank
our sponsors for 2011
Ballance Racing, Yamaha, Maxxis, Ohlins, FMF,
Hiper Wheels, GYTR, JB Racing, Dragon Fuels, Vortex
Ignitions, Moto Xperts, Wiseco, Pro Armor, Pro
Taper, G4 graphics, Fly racing, Scott Goggles,
Cycra, IMS, Tire Balls, Works Connection, Yamalube,
Precision Stabilizers, DP Brakes, Outerwears,
Anti’Gravity Batteries
www.ballanceracing.net
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