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GNCC
ATV Racing
Round 3 - "Steele
Creek" |
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Morganton, NC - Four-Time champion
Chris Borich proved his merit once again at Saturday's
FMF Steele Creek GNCC, where he swept his third
consecutive win of the 2013 AMSOIL Grand National
Cross Country season. Although Borich only lead
two of the six laps, he surely made them count
when besting his teammate Chris Bithell in the
final moments of the two-hour race.
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GNCC
XC1 Pro ATV Podium (left to right)
Chris Bithell (2nd), Chris Borich (1st),
Adam McGill (3rd) |
Thousands of spectators were in attendance
for Round 3 of the 13-race series and there
wasn't a shortage of racing action at the picturesque
Steele Creek Campground in Morganton, North
Carolina.
Coming off two previous wins this season, Borich
came out swinging as the green flag dropped
for the 1 p.m. race, grabbing his first Team
Woodhead/DeRisi Racing Holeshot Award of 2013.
However, it was Borich's Maxxis-backed teammate
Chris Bithell who took over the lead on the
opening lap. Borich stayed close in tow, while
BNR Motorsports rider Kevin Yoho latched onto
the leaders to run in the third place position
early on.
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HMF's
Chris Borich grabbed the Holeshot on his
Suzuki LTR450, but he wouldn't stay out
front early on with Maxxis' #4 Chris Bithell
taking over the early lead |
Lonestar Racing/Precision/ITP's Adam McGill
quickly inherited third place before making
his way up to Bithell and Borich out front.
McGill made several attempts to inject himself
into the lead battle but the West Virginia native
decided to play it safe in hopes of later capitalizing
on the duo's mistakes.
All eyes were on the leaders for the final
hour of racing as the duo rode wheel-to-wheel
through the tight woods of the Steele Creek
Campground. As the Pennsylvania boys came through
to take the white flag, the order showed Borich
and then Bithell. But Bithell put a sly pass
on the inside of Borich just before taking the
white flag, thus kicking off the final lap ahead
of the champ.
However, Borich put his veteran racing experience
on the forefront once again as he ultimately
secured his third consecutive XC1 Pro class
win at the culmination of two hard fought hours
of racing.
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HiPer
Wheel's #1 Chris Borich would once again
regain the lead in the final lap to secure
his third straight win of the year at
the Steele Creek GNCC |
Bithell landed a very close second place finish.
"Today was a phenomenal day. Everything
on my ATV was spot on and it was just a lot
of fun out there. It was an awesome battle [with
Borich]. Usually we kind of wait for the last
lap to go for it but this time when the two-lap
card came out, we [Borich and I] just gunned
for it. I couldn't have had a better time out
there today, " said Bithell.
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Fly
Racing's #4 Chris Bithell held the lead
for most of the race with #1 Chris Borich
in chase till the final lap, but Bithell
held on to secure his first podium finish
of the year on his new Suzuki LTR450 ATV |
McGill held on for the final podium position.
"I pushed and pushed to catch back up to
Borich and Bithell after getting stuck in the
mud hole on the last lap. Once I caught them,
they were battling back and forth and I didn't
know if they were going to take each other out
or what. They were running hard and bumping
hard so I thought that might be my chance but
I'm happy to come out of here with a third,"
said McGill
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Precision
Racing's #521 Adam McGill charged his
way into the third spot as he shadowed
Borich & Bithell most of the race
to hold onto the final podium spot |
