GEICO Racing
's Jennifer Albright GNCC Round 2 ATV Race Report
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GEICO's
Jennifer Albright |
Washington, GA (3/10/2009) - The
JG Off Road / GEICO / Monster Energy Kawasaki team
goes 2 for 2 on podium appearances with Whibley,
Jarrett, and Watkins all taking top 10 overall finishes
at Round 2 of the 2009 Can Am GNCC series in Washington,
GA.
The weather in GA was much like what you would
expect for the FL round with warm breezes and
sunny skies, but maybe that heat was coming from
the fire that was burning from the GEICO camp.
After the podium finishes from Paul Whibley and
Jennifer Albright at round 1, the rest of the
team was amped up and ready to join them this
weekend.
Jennifer Albright entered the woods third and
quickly found herself in the lead as the Womens
Quad A class made their way through the U2 class.
The girls swapped positions in the early laps,
when Jennifer got a little off kilter which cost
her a little time. For the final two laps, Albright
put her charge on and made up a few positions.
Jennifer just missed the podium this round with
a 4th place class finish (6th O/A). With two rounds
under her belt she is currently tied for 2nd place
in the points standings.
Jennifer would like
to thank of her sponsors:
GEICO,
MSR, Lojak Yamaha, MAXXIS, HMF, HiPer Technology,
Rekluse, GT Thunder, Spider Grips, Precision,
XFR, Cycle Gear, Scott, Flexx, CV4, IMS, ProGraph-X,
Triple X Motorsports, PowerMadd, and DP Brakes.
Whibley and Jarrett set the pace as soon as the
green flag flew – even after Jimmy went
down after the second turn. Paul grabbed the MotorcycleUSA.com
holeshot award and battled with Jimmy Jarrett
and Josh Strang for most of the race. Jarrett,
almost last into the woods off the start, charged
hard and was already up to 5th place by the end
of lap 1. In typical Whibley style, he continued
to stay strong through the end of the race and
was able to pull a 2 minute lead through the checkers.
Jarrett and Strang had an awesome battle all the
way to the finish. Strang, putting in one more
hard charge to try to get second ended up colliding
with Jarrett. Strang felt bad for making the move,
so he actually waved Jarrett back past him to
give up second at the finish. "Maybe it was
a mistake, but Jimmy is a good friend and I didn't
mean to run into him like that," said Strang.
"It was awesome battling like we did for
the first few laps," said Whibley, "I
was just trying to pick out lines. After the first
gas, I think everyone picked up the pace. I didn't
think I could go faster, but then I was able to
do it. To finish one-two like that in our second
race together, this is great."
"I went hard at mid race and got into the
lead, but when Whibley caught me later on, I was
done," said Jarrett. "He's just a machine
out there, it's incredible."
Scotty Watkins, coming off an illness in Round
1, proved that he’s going to be a contender
in for the 2009 season. Going into the woods in
4th place, Watkins was able to push hard and stay
strong throughout the race. Scotty was up to 3rd
and quickly gaining ground by the 3rd lap, but
ran into some lap traffic mid race and lost some
of that valuable time. Watkins held on to his
3rd place position, putting him on the podium
as well and placing him in the Top 10 (8th) overall
for the day. "I haven't felt the best the
last two weeks, so I'll take the points,"
said Watkins.
After 2 rounds of racing, Whibley sits in the
points lead and Jarrett not far behind in 3rd.
Watkins has climbed up to 4th place in the XC2
Lites class.
JT and Gretchen Bennett couldn’t be more
proud of the team and how all 4 riders rode this
weekend. “I’m so happy for all of
the riders this weekend. To take 1st and 2nd overall
and get a podium in the Lites Class is just amazing,”
commented Gretchen. “We’re really
proud of Jennifer too. She rode hard on Saturday,
even after a nasty crash.”
The team would like
to extend a special thanks to all of their sponsors:
GEICO, Monster Energy Kawasaki, Moose, Pirelli,
Tsubaki, IMS, Works Connection, EBC Brakes, Silkolene,
Renthal, Pro Moto Billet, Enduro Engineer, PG
Graphics, and Acerbis.
www.gnccracing.com
122 Vista Del Rio Drive,
Morgantown, WV 26508
304-284-0084
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