Jarrod McClure "Unadilla" GNCC Pro ATV Race Report

#14 Jarrod McClure on his Honda TRX450R ATV

The weather for Unadilla was calling for rain all weekend. After hearing the rain all night I knew that we were going to have a muddy race. I think every year at Unadilla we see some rain. I made sure to mount up a new set of Maxxis Razr2 tires, because they seem to work the best when the track gets rutted and muddy.

The morning race appeared to be muddy, but I noticed that parts of the track were getting down to dry dirt. I got geared up with my new 2009 Shift Gear, they hooked me up with some awesome new stuff that seemed to turn a lot of heads. The rain had stopped, and it appeared the sun was coming out, as I headed over to the start,

The call came for ten seconds, and I got up on my kicker. We were off, and the first few turns were wet grass so it turned out to be a little slick. I was mid pack, and as we hit turn three Chris Borich got turned around right in front of me. Once I got around him I was in around 9th place or so and stayed there until we got into the woods.

The track was a lot dryer then I had expected, and I wished I had stuck with my regular Razr tires. It just wasn't muddy enough for the more aggressive tire. The track was perfect there was no dust, and not a lot of mud. It was very fast and got choppy in some sections. They even had us going through "Gravity Cavity", and run some of the motocross track which was a blast!

Jarrod McClure finished top 10 once again even after some throttle issues.

A mile into the first lap we hit the section of the track with the old railroad ties. This is a challenging section, and once we got through it we actually hit part of the track that was tied in from the morning race. Everyone in front of me went that way, which was actually the wrong way, except for Bill Ballance. I saw him going the right way so I just followed him, and we made our way around the track in first and second. I was sitting right where I wanted to be. After completing lap one I had a nice pace going, but then I encountered some problems with my throttle. I think the throttle moved, and it was in the wrong position on my handlebars. My thumb kept sliding off the throttle, and I couldn't get a comfortable feel for it. My arm was cramped up from pushing the throttle, and it got to the point where I could barely push it. This forced me to let by Smiley, Cook, and Kiser. I stopped, and tried to fix my throttle, but nothing seemed to work, I just had to keep riding and fighting with my right arm pumping up.

I pitted on the beginning of the third lap, and I learned we would be running a five lap race. Luckily my mechanic Jonathan Bowers did some quick math, and realized I would have to pit again on the next lap because I would need more gas.

Each lap I kept dropping back a position or two. By the last lap I was in tenth, but I pushed hard and I was able to pass Ryan Lane and move myself up into ninth. I was happy that I got Lane, because he is right behind me in the points. I would have liked to have done better, but it was impossible for me to go any faster with my arm all pumped up.

All in all I had a good day, I had no crashes, and no major mechanical issues. I will have the bike ready for Powerline, and I am looking forward to seeing everyone there.

I'd like to say congrats to Chris Bithell who got his first win aboard the new Can Am. It is great to see that he has gotten the bike working, and he's back out front and winning races.

Finally, I'd like to give a shout to my sponsors: Bowers Motorcycle Supplies, Atvriders.com, Motoprotraining.com, Maxxis, Elka, HMF, SHIFT, DWT, Team-Ind, Tag, IMS-Roll, Clarke, DP Brakes, DBR Industrial services, Hinson, Laeger's, Maier, Rage Atv Racing, 317 Graphics, Leumas enterprises, and my parents.

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