2004 GNCC Round #5 Big Buck AM Race

[Admin]

Union, SC was the 5th stop of the GNCC Series, and again the weather was perfect for another round of racing. The "Big Buck" is known for its creek jump, so Marty and I heading down first thing Saturday Morning to check it out!

The Bank itself was about 6 - 8' above the creek, but it looked fairly easy to clear if you stayed on the gas in 2nd gear.

[Admin]

When you don't arrive at the track to late at night, the morning seems to fly by trying to get registered and through tech inspection. Before you know it, it 9:30AM and everyone is heading to over to line up for the 10:00AM morning race.

I would like the thank Marty for helping me with getting ready to race and taking some of the excellent photos for EXriders.com from the morning race.

The Morning Line Up!

[Admin]

Stefanie Verkade finally made the switch from her 300EX to larger machine the 450R.

[Admin]

Jean Lovely

[Admin]

Angel Atwell

[Admin]

Traci Cecco has been riding incredible considering she probably shouldn't even be racing with her injuried wrist. She knows what she can handle, and it is great that she continues to race.

[Admin]

John Gallagher had a great race going at Steele Creek until he ran into electrical problems, and he is determined to give it all has this weekend!! Go, Pappy C:macho

Check out those awesome looking EXriders.com sticker on the front fender. Rumor has it that they add atleast 5 horsepower:cool:

[Admin]

Mike Penland continues to have another great year and again is leading the Utility Stock class on his Kawasaki. This week Mike was sporting some of his new Oneal gear!

[Admin]

Utility Unlimited Team Green Doug Henke had won every race he entered this year until Steele Creek when he wrecked in the 1st lap and was unable to go on. Doug is a great guy, and I expect him to quickly pickup where he left off:macho

[Admin]

The Ballance Race Team as usual came over to watch the morning race action.

Jeremy, Justin, Bill, and Elliot

[Admin]

The Women & Super Senior were the first to start and heading into the woods!

Stephanie Parton was the first person around the first turn, but as usual Traci Cecco wasn't far behind.

[Admin]

A large crowd quickly developed at the Creek jump! As everyone waited to see who would be the first to make the leap instead of taking the bypass.

[Admin]

The Four Stroke Tech Team were down there along with many other race teams checking out the take off for the jump.

[Admin]

Jeff Stoess also assisted EXriders.com with taking pictures, but unfortunately, he accidently took my camera home with him!

[Admin]

Stephanie Parton was the 1st rider to emerge!

[Admin]

Team Safari/Alba rider Traci Cecco and her team opted not to do the creek jump because of the risk of reinjuring her wrist, so she took the alternate route around the jump, which was a smart thing for her to do!

[Admin]

Erika Jones also bypassed the creek jump.

[Admin]

Stephen Vasko was running 7th in the Super Senior Class

[Admin]

Johnny Gallagher and Traci Cecco battled for the lead all day, but he made the pass and took the lead, and he wasn't about the give it up!

[Admin]

Traci Cecco was right on his rear bumper and giving him as much pressure as possible as she looked to fine a line to regain the overall position.

[Admin]

Stephanie Parton's foot peg broke off in the 2nd lap, and she had to use her nerf bar to rest her foot to finish the race. It didn't slow her down much, but it was enough to allow both Traci and Angel to stay in front of her.

[Admin]

Johnny C Sr. was able to hold Traci off and take the Overall win!

[Admin]

Traci celebrated her first win since she injuried her wrist, and she was excited to be getting back into her groove again.

[Admin]

Angel Atwell crossed the finish line in third overall and 2nd in the women's Class after an incredible race!

[Admin]

Johnny Gallagher acheived his goal of making it on the podium, and he did it in style. Johnny gave a big thanks to all of his sponsors( HMF, Carb Parts Warehouse, Nacs, and etc..)

He proudly points out HMF for all that they have done for him and his son Johnny C.

Congratulations Johnny on your awesome win!!!

[Admin]

Traci Cecco was impressed at how well her Team Alba/Safari YFZ handled in the woods. They have been doing extensive testing and it is obvisously paying off.

Also, It has been great for Traci to not have to worry about getting a flat tire because she is running one of the best atv flat prevention systems available "Tire Balls."

[Admin]

Angel Atwell also earned her first podium position with a solid third overall! Angel is constantly becoming more and more of a threat to the top two women Traci & Stephanie, and it is great to see Angel on the Podium. Congratulations Angel!!!

[Admin]

Stock Class

The Stock Class were the 2nd group to head into the woods with over 25 riders on the line!

Richard Travalena grabbed the holeshot on his Polaris Predator and was off and running!

[Admin]

I finally had a decent start myself, and headed into the woods in 6th.

[Admin]

The 1st lap for the stock class was crazy with every one trying to work there way to the front of the pack. Everyone couple of miles there was a bottleneck with many of the riders bouncing off of each other and the trees. I found myself getting hit several times by riders trying to make passes that just weren't safe or possible.

I found myself going from 6th back to probably almost 20th in only a few miles and then back up to the top 10 only to get into another bottleneck. The 1st check point we had to stop at was crazy. There was atleast 15 off us trying to get through it at once and finally they stopped scanning everyone and sent us on are way through the woods.

I was delighted to see several riders bypass the creek jump, which allowed me to move back to where I started the race in the top 5.

Brian Vasko and many of the stock class riders bypassed the creek jump!

[Admin]

Chad Giffen got off to a great start, and was in the top 5 after the 1st lap.

[Admin]

#203 Richard Travalena was able to avoid most of the bottlenecks and gained minute over the rest of the class in the first lap, but was still was over 2 minutes down from overall after working his way through the Super Senior and Women Class Riders.

By the 2nd lap, I had worked my way up to 2nd place and I managed cut the minute gap between me and Travalena by the 3rd lapm, but my charge was quickly ended after I lost my rear brakes half way through the 3rd lap. Then, I went into survival mode and just tried to maintain my position.

Travlena began to pull away from me as I struggled to maintain the speed without wrecking.

Richard Travleana putting the hammer down on his Predator!!

[Admin]

Michael S Sioka Jr and I swapped position several times through out the race. Early in the 2nd lap, he over shot a turn which allowed me to make the pass to move into 2nd, but by the end of the third lap. He passed me again when I was pitting for fuel, but shortly afterwards he pitted, and I regained the 2nd position in the 4th lap. I tried my best to stay out front, but he picked a faster line on an uphill and made the pass for the 2nd.

[Admin]

I fell back to 3rd place, but I knew that I couldn't slow down too much because it wouldn't be long till someone else would be knocking on my rear bumper.

[Admin]

Will Cashion got wrapped up in the early bottlenecks and was only able to move up to 6th place

[Admin]

Richard Travlena stayed on the gas and almost bumped Angel off the podium if he would have been just a few seconds faster.

Michael Sioka Jr. the Stock Class Leader finished an impressive 2nd Place and 5th Overall.

[Admin]

I was able to maintain the speed and finish 3rd in the stock class and 7th overall. This wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for all the help of my fellow EXriders.com members and my sponsors (My Father (Ed), Elka, HMF, ITP, C&D Racing, T&T Racing,IMS, Fullbore, Laker Custom, Tireballs, Streamline Brakes, PRM-ATV, Tag, Quadshop, Rausch Creek, and many other fine companies)

[Admin]

Tyler lenig rode hard to a 4th place finish! Another great guy to race with!!!

[Pappy]

Mike Penland grabs the holeshot in Utility Stock

[Pappy]

Utility Unlimited start is always close and full of V-Force's!

[Pappy]

Rider #294 Rick Morales approached the creek jump on his V-force

[Pappy]

Rick Morales continued off the creek bank .....he wasnt hurt and continued the race!

[Pappy]

Kevin Schmitt piloted his polaris to 7th in his class and was the top finishing polaris

[Pappy]

Doug Henke took home 1st in class and 6th overall!

[Pappy]

Utlity Modified had Dan McConnaughy and Mike Chirdon battling to see who would be first in the woods

[Pappy]

Carbon Man went home with wood....and it had a big #1 on it:macho

[Pappy]

Mike Chirdon finished 2nd

[Pappy]

2 Stroke C

Matthew Copely and Wyatt Westmoreland battle hard into the first turn

[Pappy]

2nd turn action had exriders own wex300 caught up in a wreck

[Pappy]

1st place winner was Wyatt Westmoreland and he finished 11th overall

[Pappy]

C class 16-24 had James Lawson airing it out over the creek jump. he rode to a 15th place finish in class

[Pappy]

Erik Haspel, Brian Toney and Ryan Morphew all seek help from spectators as they got caught up in a soft section and buried themselves:p

[Pappy]

22nd place finished Eric Wykert proudly displaying his Budlight gear!

[Pappy]

Yes we caught you taking the creek jump bypass:D

[Pappy]

Jarrod Hoops finished 23rd on his pimped out raptor

[Pappy]

C class 25-32

Larry Shelton after he wrecked at the creek jump

[Pappy]

Wyndzer aka James Smith tackles the creek jump on his trusty cannondale:macho

[Pappy]

Soon after Wyndzer's cannondale broke a ball joint:(

[Pappy]

First Year Racer

Derisi Racing's Matt Hurdt rode hard to capture 4th in class

[Pappy]

What a Ham:p

[Pappy]

For all those that didnt hit the infamous creek jump here is one more look at the bypass. Maybe next year!!

[Pappy]

A huge thanks to Harlen and those that support EXriders.com in its efforts to bring you close to the action !!!

[JOEX]

Awesome job guys!:macho

[crazybuffalo]

great pix. keep up the good work:D

[CatMostFeared]

More Creek Jump:macho

[Admin]

There are plenty to come in the Afternoon Coverage, and thanks again CatmostFeared for helping with the awesome morning pictures.

[SGA]

Originally posted by Pappy
Rick Morales continued off the creek bank .....he wasnt hurt and continued the race!
Incredible pic CatmostFeared. Its my current background. Glad he was ok.:)

[jja125]

Originally posted by Pappy
22nd place finished Eric Wykert proudly displaying his Budlight gear!



that was me following the bud light man. i used him as my inspiration for the first half of the race - i just wish i could've found somebody with a bottle of gatorade strapped to their head for the second half of the race.

i got wood though, barely, but it was worth the trip and a fun track - liked it better than north carolina.

[Shawn H]

Just wondering
how much time is saved by doing the creek jump versus going around?

Awesome pics too wish I could have went
hopefully will be making it too Loretta's.

[cdalejef]

Originally posted by snowgasm
Just wondering
how much time is saved by doing the creek jump versus going around?

Awesome pics too wish I could have went
hopefully will be making it too Loretta's. Probally around 6-8 seconds

[seatec]

. 8 feet down on a lfat landing aint easy in my book. Great pics and comments as usual though.i wish there was a pic that showed the jump and landing spot to get a better appreciation for the leap scratch that. saw a pic on page 6.

[cdalejef]

It was an easy jump, you barely even felt the landing.

Looks like a piece a cake ta me:confused:

I'd bust a hill clicker goin over it...:eek:

[SGA]

Originally posted by Jeff@QuadShop
It was an easy jump, you barely even felt the landing.
I bet it was!, Im letting the cat out of the bag.
They really dont jump the creek, theres a camouflaged
crane hidden in the woods before the jump. Around the corner, they hook the quads to it and lift them safely across the creek. Spectators dont notice because thier so excited to be at the race.
Heres a pic from my hidden trouser cam:D

[cdalejef]

:mad:

[seatec]

that was good!:p

Observation: The pic that Jeff posted shows a stick planted in the stream bed. WTF!!! why would you put it right there? if somebody rolls of that hill he/she could be impaled. Granted, its not a safe sport to begin with but no sense in making anymore dangerous than it already is.

(Maybe the agnle makes it look worse then it is)

[lt250r91]

Originally posted by Pappy
Yes we caught you taking the creek jump bypass:D



THe one time I go around it and they take a picture and post it.:grr: :grr:

Oh well. I was planning on doing a no hand lander on the last lap, but I could barely hang on the last lap due to it being the first time since ST. Clairsville last year that i turned more than 3 laps.

[Meek]

Originally posted by snowgasm
Just wondering
how much time is saved by doing the creek jump versus going around?

Most of the people that took the jump, were passing 2 riders.

I saw one guy pass 5 people, because they were all hung up trying to cross the creek.

[CatMostFeared]

I passed people everytime on the jump.

More Jump Pics More Jump Pics :macho

[rowlrag]

You did not
:macho

[CatMostFeared]

:mad: I did too:mad: You didnt even jump you chicken liver dirt kicker:mad:

[WOOLIN]

Don't make me seperate you two!:macho