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Ballance Racing's Walker
Fowler Wins XC2 Pro-Am Title
Mountain
Ridge GNCC - Round 10 - Somerset, PA - September
24, 2011
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Ballance Racing
Yamaha's XC2 rider Walker Fowler grabbed
the XC2 Pro-Am Class Championship early
by winning every round so far in the 2011
GNCC ATV Racing Season. Fowler is shooting
to finish with a undefeated season
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Oakland, KY (9/30/2011) - The Ballance
Racing/Yamaha crew was back to work this weekend,
September 24th, at the Mountain Ridge GNCC located
in Somerset, PA for round 10 of 13 on the GNCC circuit.
The Mountain Ridge course is one of the toughest
venues of the series, notorious for its rough terrain.
Ballance, Kiser, and Fowler all inspected the course
the day previous to find that this year’s
course would be no different than years past. Fast
fields with small pine trees, flowing springs, and
all the mud and rocks you could ever ask for were
all part of the 12 mile course. This would not only
be a race of speed, but also smarts.
In the premiere XC1 Pro division, Taylor Kiser
would be representing the Ballance Racing/Yamaha
team aboard is #2 ride. After what Taylor said
was a "disappointing" ride in Unadilla,
he was looking for some redemption this race.
"Coming into this weekend there was no doubt
in my mind we were ready to go. I got off to a
good start went into the first corner in the top
3. Quickly moved my way into the lead and stayed
there for the majority of the first lap."
While Taylor had put himself into a good position
for a win, the rest of the field was not about
to let him run away with it that easy.
"The top 5 riders in my class promptly
distanced themselves from the rest of the field.
From there on a fierce battle raged, we swapped
for position every lap all race long. I rode a
clean race, mistake free nearly all day."
It wasn't till the last lap that Kiser encountered
a costly problem. "The last lap I got a rock
stuck in my sprocket taking me out of contention
for the win. Not giving up I charged hard and
was able to make up one position on the last lap
when a couple of the riders got stuck. Overall
I had a strong weekend! The bike worked awesome,
I felt great, and everything went smoothly. The
next two weeks I plan to continue working hard
in chase of my first win of the year!" Taylor
finished the day with a hard fought 4th Overall,
a great finish in these conditions!
In the XC2 Pro-Am division, Walker Fowler riding
his #7 Ballance Racing/Yamaha machine was looking
to continue his undefeated season. Fowler began
the race with a respectable start. "I came
off the line good and rounded the first corner
in 5th. I was able to pick off 3 riders before
the first tight woods section. I was in cruise
mode behind Eric Hoyland who was riding really
well, and we were able to distance ourselves from
the rest of the class. I followed him close waiting
for a mistake and got my opportunity right around
the 10 mile marker." Fowler had a good strategy
once he was in the lead.
"After I passed Hoyland, my only concern
was to remain out front but conserve the quad
and get it to the finish line. This kind of race
was one that could be lost easily from a broken
part, so I just set a good pace and pushed when
I could and eased up when I needed to." By
conserving his Yamaha YFZ450X, Fowler was able
to win his 10th consecutive Pro-Am race and wrap
up the championship with 3 rounds remaining! "It
feels really awesome to stay undefeated and get
this XC2 championship for the team since I came
up 1 point short last season. I think this year
really has proven how much effort my mechanic
Broc Booth and the Ballance Racing/Yamaha team
have put in. Big thanks! I will continue to race
the XC2 class in hopes of getting the first-ever
undefeated season in this division. We'll just
take it race by race like we have all season long!"
Ballance Racing/Yamaha would so like to congratulate
Alyssa Oplinger who placed 2nd in the Girls 8-15
youth class aboard the Ballance Racing Yamaha
Raptor 125 machine. She was very comfortable on
it for having no prior ride time on the atv, which
was evident by running out front the first 2 laps
and putting down very impressive lap times before
suffering a flat tire in the rocky conditions
nearing the end of the race. Even then she only
was beaten by just over 40 seconds! Job well done
Alyssa!
Ballance Racing/Yamaha will be headed to Ohio
next to tackle the woods of the Powerline Park
GNCC Round 11 in St.Clairsville, OH, October 8th.
We'll see you there!
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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