Hurricane Mills, TN -
It took five rounds, but Yamaha's Bill Ballance
finally charged into victory lane in the Can-Am
Grand National Cross Country Series. The eight-time
and defending GNCC Champion won one of the closest
GNCC battles in recent memory to snag the Acerbis
Loretta Lynn's GNCC over Rockstar/Yoshimura Suzuki's
Chris Borich and Team Excell Motorsports' Bryan
Cook.
"Right now it's not even about the championship,"
said Ballance after logging possibly the longest
burnout ever seen at a GNCC on the podium. "I
just need to start getting wins and then we
can focus on the championship. It was a great
battle today and I'm glad to come out on top
of it."
The incredible battle saw the top seven riders
enter the last lap seperated by a total of eight
seconds. FRE KTM's Adam McGill, winner of the
previous three GNCC rounds, fought with Ballance
on the last lap. The duo passed each other over
and over while Borich began a charge from the
back after getting stuck on a hill. But with
just a few miles to go, McGill's machine suddenly
quit due to an electrical problem, ending his
win streak. His teammate Kiser, running third,
ran into the same problem as well.
Ballance then held the lead, but Borich put
in one last charge. The finish came down to
a classic "Killer B's" battle, as
Borich got to Ballance's rear wheels but came
up short of making a pass.
Cook logged another consistent ride to net
his third podium of the season. National Guard's
William Yokley took fourth ahead of ATVRiders.com's
Jarrod McClure, who turned in his best result
ever with a fifth.
GT Thunder' Yamaha's Brandon Sommers took the
ITP Holeshot Award and finished sixth.
McGill was unable to get his machine refired
and did not finish the final lap with the leaders.
He was credited with 18th in the XC1 class and
103rd overall. Kiser was able to nurse his machine
home eighth in the class. McGill does still
hold the GNCC points lead, but Cook has narrowed
the gap to 13 points in the XC1 class. Ballance
and Borich climbed to third and fourth in the
rankings.
In the XC2 Pro-Am division, Joshua Kirkland
collected the Rekluse Holeshot Award, but GT
Thunder Yamaha's Don Ockerman was able to get
the early lead. Ockerman battled with Kyle Martin
and Spencer Dickerson and held on to grab his
fourth win of the season.
In the morning race, run under very muddy conditions,
Tom Clark Motorsports' Angel Atwell took the
win and the ATVRiders.com Morning Race Overall
Win Award. Lexie Coulter and Jennifer Albright
took second and third overall, also racing in
the Women's class. Defending Women's Class Champion
Traci Cecco struggled with front suspension
issues, leaving the Women's class championship
battle as tight as ever.
Sam Williams topped the U2 class on a Kawasaki.
Can-Am riders won the rest of the utility classes.
Michael Swift won the 4x4 Limited class, Bryan
Buckhannon continued his undefeated run in the
Open 4x4 class, and Cliffton Beasley also remained
undefeated in 4x4 Lites.
The Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series
continues with the Wiseco John Penton GNCC in
Millfield, Ohio on May 10 and 11.
