St. Clairsville, OH
- Bill Ballance dominated Saturday's
ITP Power Line GNCC at Power Line Park and,
in the process, he clinched his ninth GNCC ATV
Championship.. The Smiths Grove, Kentucky resident
took the lead early in the two-hour event and
was never headed en route to the checkered flag.
The event was the penultimate round of the 13-race
Can-Am Grand National Cross Country series (GNCC).
"I got a good start, was able to get
into the lead and ride away," said Ballance,
who sustained rib injuries earlier in the season.
"I'm just now healed up from my injuries
and it felt good to just ride without pain.
My crew and all the fans were telling me where
I was and I just tried to ride smooth and have
fun."
Ballance's race was largely uneventful as he
assumed the early lead and quickly established
a large gap between himself and newly crowned
XC2 champion Don Ockerman, who was competing
in his first ever XC1 race and surprised everyone,
including himself.
"I never even dreamed about racing in
the Pro class when I got into this sport,"
said Ockerman. "Now, I'm up here on the
podium and I can't believe it. I got a great
start and was leading it for a while. I just
went for it. Then, I made a mistake and Bill
got by me so I tried to settle in and stay up
there."
While Ballance and Ockerman put their Yamahas
out front the best racing of the afternoon took
place between Suzuki's Chris Borich and KTM's
Adam McGill. McGill had trouble early, but charged
through the pack to challenge Borich throughout
the last lap. The two were wheel to
wheel at the checkered flag with Borich getting
the nod for the final podium spot.
"I had a decent start and just started
picking guys off one at a time," said Borich.
"I was pretty comfortable in third until
I crashed on the last lap. My goggles were dirty,
I hit a big mud hole and went down. When I got
up I saw McGill coming and knew I had to get
going again quick."
Meanwhile, the day belonged to Ballance. His
ninth title is his fourth consecutive, which
further cements his status as the all-time king
of GNCC ATV racing. Ballance held his daughter
and his shiny new 2008 Can Am GNCC No. 1 plate
very proudly on the podium.
GT Thunder Yamaha's Brandon Sommers took the
ITP Holeshot Award for the second week in a
row in the XC1 Class and raced to an 11th-place
finish.
In the XC2 Pro-Am Class, Honda mounted Mark
Notman took the Rekluse Holeshot Award, and
rode well to a runner-up finish.
Yamaha's Traci Cecco earned the ATVRiders.com
Morning Race Overall Victory, and also won the
Women's class over Angel Atwell and Lexie Coulter.
Cecco was racing without rear brakes for most
of the race. Both Cecco and Atwell experienced
crashes on their way to the win and runner-up
finishes.
Josh Merritt won the Youth ATV Race ahead of
Jerry Welch and Mathew Harris
About
GNCC Racing:
The
Can-Am Grand National Cross Country series is
America's premier off-road racing series. Founded
in 1973, the 13-round championship is produced
exclusively by Racer Productions. Cross country
racing is one of the most physically demanding
sports in the world. The grueling three-hour
GNCC races lead as many as 1,800 riders through
tracks ranging in length from eight to 12 miles,
competing for more than $3 million in prizes.
With varied terrain, including hills, woods,
mud, dirt, rocks and motocross sections, GNCC
events are tests of both survival and speed.
GNCC featured sponsors include: Can-Am, Parts
Unlimited, Moose, Maxxis, Pirelli, Wiseco, Acerbis,
Elka, GEICO, Klotz, FMF, ITP and Weekend Warrior.
Associate sponsors include Alpine-stars, BRP,
Cometic, HiPer Technology, Laegers, Moose Utility
Division, The National Guard, Ogio, Powersport
Grafx, Rekluse, REM, Scott, Thor, Twin Air,
and MotoTee's ATVRiders.com.
For more information log on to www.GNCCRacing.com.
www.gnccracing.com
122 Vista Del Rio Drive,
Morgantown, WV 26508
304-284-0084
