2005 6 Hours of ATV America - Greenville, TX

[Admin]

The 6 Hours of ATV America Series is back again in 2005 with an expanded schedule thanks to the success of the series last year. John Pellan has expanded the series to six races this season with Kahoka, MO, Arkansaw, WI, and Cambridge, OH added to the schedule.

The opening round was once again held in Texas at Caddo Point MX Park, which is just south of Greenville, TX. This year’s race was held the same weekend at the GNCC Series which was held just 80 miles down the road in Gilmer, TX.

Riders arriving for the race were greeted at the gate bytrack owner, Barbara Miller

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The rain held off for the GNCC races on Saturday, but the skies opened up Saturday night and dumped easily over 1" of rain on the area, which turned the low lands into a swamp.

As the riders pulled into the parking lot, the grass quickly disappeared and was replaced with a big mud puddle.

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Nathan Delebar (GNCCER) volunteered his time to help with the event and direct people to park, and he made it obvious that he was enjoying the Suzuki King Quad as he ripped through the mud.

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Many teams tried to just muscle their vehicles through the mud, but even with 4 wheel drive the mud wasted no time claiming vehicle after vehicle.

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Many vehicles needed the assistance of a tractor to get to their pit area, which was a sign of what was yet to come for the race and leaving the track after the race.

Joe Miller demonstrating the power of a tractor in the mud.

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I don't think this guy will be leaving anytime soon after the race without some help.

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Rocco Arno Jr drove in before the rain and had a descent parking spot by the MX track.

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Rocco Arno Jr will stay in Texas until the GNC MX race in two weeks at Lake Whitney, TX and Dustin Wimmer will fly back into town to join him.

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GNCC Overall Winner, Chris Borich, was one of the few GNCC racers that decided to put his/her body through another day of racing after brutal "Lonestar" GNCC race on Saturday. More riders had originally planned on making the trip to the 6 hour race, but after the GNCC race, many decided they had enough and headed home.

John Natalie Jr was going to fly in from St. Louis, MO to join Chris as his teammate, but John missed his flight after winning the Pro Quads Stadium Series Championship, so it didn't look good early for John to make it to the race in time to race, so Chris's Father, Joe Borich and Friend, Rick Cecco were going to take his place.

With the muddy conditions, and the Borich Hauler and trailer totaling over 70', parked along the entrance road. They discounted the trailer and towed it over to the track with the tractor to prepare for the race.

[Admin]

Just under 50 teams showed up to compete, which was an increase from last year even with the poor weather conditions before the race. Also, it was great to see so many local Texas riders participating in the event unlike the GNCC series were very few Texans showed up for the race and attendance was down from last year.

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The grass starting area was surrounded on both sides with teams setting up their pit area for the start of the race.

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A View down one side of pit row

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Many teams were busy making last minute changes to their machines by adding duct tape to front of the machines to keep the mud out of the radiators.

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This team decided they needed more ground clearance and wanted to switch to some larger tires, but the bolt pattern was different which left them out of luck.

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The kids did some prep on their machines as well:devil:

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JB Racing's, Jody Bateman, had two teams competing in the event, so he was preparing for a busy day with these brutal track conditions.

[Admin]

I was really impressed with this teams tool setup, which would make it easier and much quicker to find the tools you needed for repairs in a hurry instead of digging through a tool box.

[Admin]

This team had its Z400 ready to go:macho

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Chris Borich was one of a very few GNCC racers to make the short trip up the road to compete in the 6 hour race, and he was suppose to be joined by John Natalie Jr. John competed in the St. Louis Pro Quads Saturday and won the Championship and was suppose to fly in Sunday morning for the race, but he missed his flight and wouldn't make it to the track till the race was almost over.

Chris recruited his father and Rick Cecco to team up with him to compete in the event since John wouldn't make it to the race in time. Traci Cecco also was recruited by a women's team that was one member short.

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Chris Borich not only races his quads, but he also does most of the maintenance himself with some assistance from his father Joe.

Chris decided to switch out his new fenders for the muddy race because the mud would destroy them and no one would be able to see them after a lap anyway.

[Admin]

Team C&D Racing/ATVriders.com(Colby, Chancy, and John) were busy getting ready for the race. They brought along a pressure washer because they knew it was important to keep the engine and radiator as clean as possible to keep the machine from overheating.

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Mike Penland, Tom Farr, and Scott Kilby teamed up together to compete in the Utility Class.

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A local Texas team also was busy preparing their Kawasaki for the race.

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This youth team had the good idea to tape their fenders, so they could just pull out the tape to free their fenders of mud a few laps into the race.

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Team #17 Quad Zombie Race Team

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All the quads had to be tech inspected before the race.

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Nmotion 450R team waiting in line at Tech Inspection.

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Chris Borich gets the run down on the transponder scoring system that was used at this years opening round, which was provided by a different company than the previous events

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The LED display would show the riders number and the amount of time between him and the next team.

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Tom called all the riders to the registration area before the race for a riders meeting.

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Tom explained the layout of the track and clarified the rules of the event with all the riders, so their wouldn't be any doubts that anyone caught cheating would wish they were in another state after the race.

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The riders

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Big Al was seen heading back in after doing a test run of the track.

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It was very obvious from the looks of big Al's clothes that this was going to be one muddy race.

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The track was around 5 miles long and it had a mixture of different riding conditions. The riders would enjoy a few miles of wide open fields, but they also would have to navigate their way through some extremely tight wooded sections as well.

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Near the end of the lap, the riders were dropped onto the MX track which contained a nice mix of jumps, but with the muddy conditions, there wouldn't be many riders launching any jumps with an extra couple hundred pounds of mud weighing down their quad.

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With the race about to begin, the riders lined up their quads

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Colby started the race for the B Class, C&D Racing Team.

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Dirt Shack Racing Team with Johnny was ready to compete as well in the B Class

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Dirtworks Motor Team would be competing in the A Class.

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Alba Action, Chris Borich, was lead the way for his team.

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Mitch Reynolds, Jb Racing Team, was yet another Pro Team competing in the event with a total of 5 Pro Teams.

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All the quads lined up and ready for the start.

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Tom walks up the starting row ordering everyone out of the starting area as he makes sure the quads are lined up in the proper starting positions.

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The riders lined up on the opposite end of the starting area as they prepared to make the dash to their quads.

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The riders observed a prayer before the start of the race, but there wasn't a National Anthem:confused:

I think someone dropped the ball:eek:

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John Pellan yells to the riders "Are you Ready"

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John Pellan raised his shotgun into the air and with a pull of the trigger the 6 hour race was underway.

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The riders quickly reacted and sprinted across the field.

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Chris Borich held a slight lead over Mitch Reynolds as they dashed across the starting area.

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It was virtually a three way tie for Alba Action, JB Racing, and Outlaw team as they started their quads and took off down the straight away.

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The rest of the riders in chase of the Pros.

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Several hundred feet down the straightaway, Alba Actions,Chris Borich, would begin to pull away from Outlaw Racing Team's YFZ

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As the rest of the riders battle for position behind the leaders.

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Tom Farr was off to a good start for his team as he charged done the straight away toward the first section of trees.

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The riders would go through several small sections of trees as they darted from field to field before heading into the woods section.

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A few miles into the race Chris Borich already pulled a several sound lead over everyone as he splashed through the puddles

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Unfortunataley, Chris couldn't figure out where the track was headed as it opened up into a field and he spotted some markers near the finish line and headed in that direction, which was the wrong way.

By the time he figured it out, over half the teams were passed him before he could return to the race

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By the end of the 1st lap, the partially clean Outlaw Racing was out front by altleast a 10 second margin with JB Racing emerging in the background of the photo from the woods strip.

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Mitch Reynolds was hard on the gas through the slop trying to close the gap.

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This Yamaha rider was in the top five, but was completely covered in mud and unrecognizable to me after only one lap.

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Chris Borich quickly moved through the pack and was back up in the top 10 by the end of the 1st lap

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Tom Farr put his team out front in the Utility Class

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Behind Tom was a cluster of mud fleas looking for some traction through the mud.

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C&D Racing's, Colby, was battling his way through the mud.

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It was wild watching the riders carve their way through the densely populated woods section of the track.

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Outlaw Racing held on to the lead for several laps

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Mitch Reynolds was running strong in 2nd place for the JB Racing teams as he closed the gap.

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Borich's charge to the front was cut short as quickly as it started when his 450R began to sputter as he nursed his way back to the pits loosing all the positions he regained :(

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Several laps into the race, most riders & machines were covered with a couple hundred pounds of mud:eek:

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The mud slicked front and rear tires had trouble getting traction and steering was a challenge in many sections.

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This rider put some serious body English into his quad to steer around the turn.

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All I can tell from this riders is that he has a YFZ and it is Orange

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This Kawi Rider managed to stay fairly clean

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The Utility Riders :macho had an advantage early in the race with the rough conditions, but as the race conditioned the winds and sun began to dry things up out in the fields.

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This poor guy buried his quad so deep in the mud, the tractor was called in to pull him out.

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This guy gave up trying to get his free from the mud and waited for the tractor to come to his rescue as well.

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Other riders found themselves stuck in the woods where no one could easily pull them out, so they had to lift their quads out themselves, while riders began to pileup behind them trying to find a way around.

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Experienced GNCC rider had no problem plowing his Utility machine through the trees to make an alternative line with Chris Borich following behind.

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Honda Rider heading off the MX track and back to the finish line

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Traci Cecco was out putting some laps in for her adopted team.

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The C&D Racing team was able to keep their 450R running strong while other riders began blowing engines. The C&D Racing team would take over the lead and go on to win the B Class in Texas.

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Outlaw Racing dropped out of the race after 11 laps, which gave JB Racing the lead and would go on to win the Overall and the Pro Class with 29 laps as the Alba Team would drop several laps back after breaking several chains in the mud.

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Scott Kilby and the PBR Team would only complete 14 laps before dropping out the race with the local Texas team, "The Crackers" going on the win the Utility Class.

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By mid day the MX track and the rest of the track began to really dry up and turn into a great track, but the damage was already done on many of the machines that weren't able to finish.

Out of the nearly 50 teams that started the race only a little over half actually finished over 2/3 of the laps the leaders out front completed.

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The pits crews were busy all day doing their best to keept their quads in running order.

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The C&D Racing team owes a big thanks to Dusty for keeping them out on the track. She was extremely sore from racing the GNCC on Saturday, and it was very obvious that she would have rather been at home, but she hung in there for her team.

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This YFZ lost several of its clutch plate teeth and the team was forced to swap out the clutch and hoped to find all the metal chunks

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This team was busy scrapping off some of the mud as they switched riders.

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Another team in to switch riders and adjust the controls for the next rider.

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Even after all the rain and horrible track conditions, it seemed that almost everyone was making the best of it and having a good time.

The Caddo Point facility was an excellent location for the race, and if you live anywhere near the track, you don't know what you are missing if you haven't checked it out yet.

I must say, it would have been great to be a kid again with all the mud.

Click Here for Complete listing of Results (http://********.com//breakingnews/other-results/6hoursoftx05.htm)

Originally posted by Admin
John Pellan raised his shotgun into the air and with a pull of the trigger the 6 hour race was underway.

Was anyone else REALY scared for their life when this was happening. that man should not be aloud to go with in 100 feet of a fire arm.

Great coverage Harlen!!!!!!!!

[Johnny & Monica]

Ditto on the shotgun. Awesome pics Harlen. Love the last one of the little girl. My kids would have made mud angels. It's alot messier that snow.:D

[Silverfox@C&DRacing]

After a gruling 6 hrs it was time for some awards, John Natalie Jr spoke to the crowd about the event and the facility.

[Silverfox@C&DRacing]

Team Emu (Ryan, Jerome, Jason) 1st place A class 2nd overall

[Silverfox@C&DRacing]

FD Racing 2nd Place Utility

[Silverfox@C&DRacing]

This Brave sole decided to run 6 hrs 16 minutes and finish 18 laps Ironman Style :macho :eek2:

[Silverfox@C&DRacing]

Team C&D Racing/Atvriders.com (John Glann, Chancy Tomlinson, Colby Kostman) Finished 1st in the B class and 4th overall

[yamablaster24]

I wonder if they know that WD40 just makes a chain stretch on an o-ring chain


Originally posted by Admin
This team decided they needed more ground clearance and wanted to switch to some larger tires, but the bolt pattern was different which left them out of luck.