2007 GNCC Series Round #6-The Penton-Millfield,OH AM Race Coverage

[Pappy]

Sunday Creek Raceway played host once again to round #6 of the Can-AM GNCC series. Over 300 riders were registered to race the morning event, and with dry conditions on tap, that was going spell another dusty year at the John Penton

Stephanie Parton smiles for my lens as the bright sunshine greeted the riders as they assembled for the days action.

AM Race (http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/thumbpage.aspx?e=2892128)

AM Results by Class (http://www.atvriders.com/atvresults/gncc200706morningatvresultsclass.html)

[Pappy]

Angel Atwell made the switch to a Honda prior to the start of the season and has been charging hard ever since. She narrowly missed her chance to best series champion Traci cecco at round #5 and this round could be the one for her to be crowned the victor in this war.

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Jennifer Albright is another rider that has been off to a great start in 2007, logging 4 top 5 finishes and then dropped to a 7th place run at round #5.

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Jennifer Fulkerson has been running mid pack this year, and at any event is usually close enough to pull well into the top 5 if the chance presents itself.

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Lexie Coulter hails from Texas and is showing them Texan girls can ride! She has scores of top 5 finishes thus far and looks to break into the top 3 soon!

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Kristen Atwell had her best finish of the season at the "Big Buck" and if things worked right, maybe she could best her sister and have bragging rights leaving the Penton!

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I was looking around for Traci Cecco and did not see her at her quad....then an arm found it's way around my shoulder. Expecting to see someone besides her caught me by surprise:p Traci and I have been friends for many years now and it is always a pleasure seeing her trackside!

There is not much to say about her season so far, other then she is racking up wins. I'd say more but I couldnt live with myself if I jinxed her, and I doubt I can outrun her when she comes at me with a stick:p

I will call this shot "beauty and the beast":p

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Rick Cecco preps himself as he readies to make a run at the overall

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The Youth racers had already shown that dust was present even at 8 am in the morning. For the 10 am start, everyone was hoping the course would cut the racers a break and the dust wouldnt be a factor as it would prove to be in the afternoon race.

The 10 second call was given and the ladies of the GNCC series hammered to the first turn. Traci Cecco edged out Stephanie Parton for the holeshot, and then proceeded to pull away from the class and out of sight

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Angel Atwell's quad did not fire as fast as she would have liked and was busily making up ground

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U2 was off the line and a drag race developed as Michael Benson #500 and Can -AM mounted Hoyt Penland and the rest of U2 bring it through the first turn

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Hoyt Penland powered his way to the front and the chase was on!

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4x4 Open had Richard Cecco and Jacob Kirst blazing to the first turn aboard their Can-Am machines

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Flipping a machine this big can prove to be a real hassle, but he wasted no time getting it back on all 4 wheels

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He then proceeded to get more wheels off the ground:p

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Bill Ballance takes it all in as the rider shows everyone which way he wants to go!

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Ken Vickerd and John Gallagher go wheel to wheel into turn two as the Super Senior class hits the course, a row back from their usual starting position

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4x4 Limited had Micheal Swift pulling the holeshot

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4x4 Lites had some new faces reaching the first turn first!

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The familiar yellow Can AM's were on the move however!

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David Reese went over hard and was unable to compete, and after returning home from the event, it was discovered that he broke his shoulder blade, which will sideline him for approx 6 weeks, so most likely he will not return till after the summer break.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to David for a speedy recovery.

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Jim Pinkston grabs the holeshot in the Sportsman class!

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The 3rd turn proved to be bottleneck central for some classes

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Stephen McCulloch pulled a great holeshot over the Youth Production class!

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One Youth production rider found himself dismounted as his quad went flipping infront of the hard charging class!

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Landing after being pitched off, and getting on your feet only to face down the onslaught of riders is a scary deal and we are lucky he wasnt severly injured

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I made my way to a spot to head off the leaders as they headed in for the completion of lap one, and the first rider to make it to me was none other then Traci Cecco, riding flawlessly!

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Angel had made up for her bad start and was running in front of her class, and only Traci remained as she disappeared into the woods

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Stephanie Parton was doing well, and needed a solid race under her belt

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Mike Benson was once agin heading for the front, shown here giving another rider a look over as he makes the pass stick

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Richard Cecco was piloting his big Can AM through the Ohio terrain and I know he wanted a podium badly!

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Jonathan Bowers started the season with a second place class finish, but has been holding his own ever since. This round would add to his dismay as he chewed up a drive belt on the 4th lap.

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Bryan Buckhannon may have taken out some fencing at the start, but was charging hard and ended up finishing second in 4x4 Open!

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John Gallagher was working his Polaris Outlaw and making up time. He went on to win his class by just a few seconds over Ken Vickard

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Michael Swift came into this round with complete domination of the class, marking 5 straight wins! The Penton claimed his win streak however, as he went on to finish 2nd

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Cliffton Beasley left this round with another win in 4x4 Lites, and that makes 5 class wins for him as well!

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Traci Cecco came out of the MX section and headed back off to the woods, still running flat out in the lead

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Hoyt Penland had dropped off the pace he had set on the first lap

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Not every rider made it through the day unscathed

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After I helped get the quad off the downed rider, Traci came blazing past me once again, in perfect form and still out front!

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Benson was running in 2nd overall with Atwell closing in as I snapped a shot of the growing dust cloud forming in the valley

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The offcambers and slick turns made for quite a workout as the riders neared the scoring tent

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Tired arms after wrestling a 400 pound quad for 2 hours will work most anyone

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Walker Fowler charged his way to his class win and 57th overall out of just over 300 riders!

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Traci came in for the win and she seemed as fast on the last lap as she did on the first! 6 straight overalls for this outstanding rider!

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2 hours 10 minutes and 8 seconds was the official time for her win.

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Angel Atwell cruised in to the 3rd spot and tells her race to the crowd. She remains 9 points behind Cecco

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Micheal Benson remained seated, he had a possible broken foot and after another impressive ride, no one was going to tell him to stand if he did not want to!

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Traci beams in her glory for yet another round. As we head to Kentucky, those chasing her down have their work cut out for them as she will be working as hard as ever knowing she has a target on her back the size of a truck!

I will look forward to seeing it all unfold all over again at round#7!

[Pappy]

Rick Cecco rode a good solid race, claiming the 4x4 Open win aboard his Warnert Racing prepped Can-AM. His class win and great riding also placed him 8th overall!

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Hoyt Penland finished the day in the 6th spot, posting his best finish of the season in the U2 class

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Cliffton Beasley powered his way to another 4x4 Lites class win, proving his Warnert racing Can-AM can handle all rivals! Beasley has posted 5 class wins thus far this season.

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Joey Margaria rides the wheels off his Blaster, finishing with his 3rd straight Sport class win and finished 10th overall!