Jarrod McClure
"Ironman" Pro ATV GNCC Race Report
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#14 Jarrod McClure
on his TRX450R ATV
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Crawfordville, IN (10/27/2008) -
Well it has come down to the last round of GNCC
Racing in Crawfordville, Indiana. The "Ironman"
race is traditionally the last race of the season,
and many racers come here with a lot on the line
and have to do well. Bill Ballance has the points
all wrapped up clinching Yamaha another title, but
the rest of the class is so close in points anything
can happen. Second place to fifth place racers are
within points of each other, as well as sixth place
to eleventh place, which is where I am sitting.
Like Matt Smiley said to me, " Depending on
how today goes it's either number six or number
eleven next year". The close points made for
an exciting race all the way to the end!
Arriving in Indiana on Friday it was not much
different than any other year. The weather was
rainy and cold, but there were still a lot of
people there, and as always a huge turnout was
expected. One thing different this year were the
monster trucks, they were awesome! They were doing
doughnuts in the fields and were even offering
rides. After catching up with some people, we
headed back to the hotel for a good nights sleep
after the long twelve-hour drive. As we were getting
close to the hotel, it began raining. Then it
started pouring, and I though we're in for a muddy
one tomorrow!
Saturday morning the rain was done, and according
to the weather we were in for a pretty nice day.
We got to the track, and the pits were a muddy
mess. People were getting towed in! After watching
the morning start it looked like it was going
to be muddy, but by the end of the race it looked
like a lot of the mud was cleared off the track.
I began getting ready for the one o'clock start,
and headed over to the line trying not to get
covered in mud.
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McClure at the Ironman
ATV Race
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The last call of ten seconds for the year and
we were off. I had a good holeshot, somewhere
around tenth place. That was until the third turn
when Brandon Ballance another rider tangled in
front of me, forcing me to wait until they got
unstuck. I was second from last going into the
woods.
The track was awesome. It was super fast with
no dust. Ironman has a lot of lines that open
up, and I began passing immediately. I actually
hooked up with Brandon Sommers at one point and
we picked off a lot of riders on the first lap.
By lap two I moved from 26th up into 15th. I
had a great pace set, and I was feeling awesome.
My Elka/Laeger's suspension was working flawless,
and the bike was pulling strong. I had no troubles
on the hill climbs, and in the mudholes I made
a lot of smart decisions. I caught Jeff Pickens
and Johnny Gallagher and made a pass on them,
and also got by Taylor Kiser. I was up into 12th
going into lap three.
On the third lap I ended up catching Matt Smiley
and Ryan Lane, they are two that were close to
me in points, and I knew I had to beat them. The
next two laps we all swapped positions, it was
awesome racing, because we all knew the points
would come down to the finish. I made the pass
on Lane in one of the faster field sections, and
then I got by Matt Smiley around the eight-mile
marker on the last lap. He was stuck at one of
the creek crossings, and I got through right behind
Bryan Cook and Chris Bithell. From there one we
rode a tight race to the finish. I ended the day
in eighth place, which I was pretty happy with
after coming from way back.
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Jarrod finished
the season with a respectable 10th place
Overall
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I bet everyone I had to, which bumped me up one
place in the class points finishing 7th. For the
overall I actually dropped a spot due to Don Ockerman's
second place ride, good job dude! I had to settle
for 10th overall, I wanted a single number for
next year, but it looks like I'll be number ten.
I had a great year and couldn't have done it without
all of 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,
The Sligo Press, and my parents.
In two weeks I'll be heading to the Heartland
Challenge. I plan on racing with Jeff Pickens,
maybe I'll see ya there!
www.gnccracing.com
122 Vista Del Rio Drive,
Morgantown, WV 26508
304-284-0084
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