2007 GNCC Series-Round #12-Powerline Park-St. Clairsville,OH Pro Race Coverage

[Pappy]

Powerline Park lives up to it's name, being located amongst large columns of powerlines that cross the facility. nestled just off a major highway, but tucked back far enough into the Ohio countryside that you could enjoy the cool fall air that has finally overtaken the region.

Round #12 of the Can AM GNCC Series once again found itself at this long time stop on the schedule and the big buzz around the pits friday evening was the mudholes that everyone was sure to face. As I walked through a small section of track, dust bellowed from under my boots and i wondered exactly where anyone in the world could find mud but I was sure it was there....just waiting to make major changes to the running order in many classes!

Registration was filling up as the friday sunshine gave way to overcast and chilly conditions.

[Pappy]

Pre Entry sure saves some time, although they need to get the tent set up so that everyone knows what side to go to.

[Pappy]

A quick trip through the Pro Pits found it almost vacant as many set up and rolled out for the warmth of a comfy hotel room.

One of Chris Borich's mechanics tends to things as no bolt would go unchecked after mechanical failure cut down Borich's run at Yadkinville.

[Pappy]

Chris had been out on his mountain bike checking out the track and it appeared he had indeed found the mudholes that were at the forefront of eveyones chatter.

I think it's about time we see some mountain bike sponsorship seeing that is the mode of choice for strolling the pits. I will take a one if anyone is listening:p ofcourse I know I would face plant myself but for others it could be an outside sponsorship!

[Pappy]

Condons yard sale was in full swing as folks rolled back through the pits with ill gotten booty:p

[Pappy]

After a long day and drive, the sun finally started to set over the event as the smell of campfires wafted through the air.

[Pappy]

Darkness fell and good eats was only a few steps away as the Finish Line Cafe was busy keeping folks fed and supplied with coffee and hot chocolate.

[Pappy]

For many, night just meant more work preparing for the battle that was coming.

[Pappy]

The youth and morning race had shown that dust would be the huge factor in this event, and while the mudholes would play a role, piloting through the dust in almost zero visability would prove to be the challenge on this day.

Awaiting his call to the line, 7 time GNCC Champion Bill Balance was looking ready. The last few rounds have had him looking intense and focused but not confident. This round he seemed to have his game plan in place and was just waiting for the flag to drop to lay it out to everyone.

[Pappy]

Jarrod McClure had an excellent run at the last round, posting his best finish thus far in the XC1 pro class. McClure was wanting badly to back it up here at Powerline.

[Pappy]

Brandon Ballance has been MIA from the seat of his #10 Yamaha for the past few rounds. The young Ballance has some serious back issues and had to back off the throttle as it were, riding some MX to keep in shape. It was great seeing him back here at Powerline!

[Pappy]

If there is a shining star arising from the ranks this season it is none other then Brandon Sommers. He has spent this season annihilating the XC2 class and shredding most of the XC1 Pro class posting top 10 overall finishes since the opening rounds. Sommers clinched the XC2 championship at Yadkinville and took his first step for the 2008 season as he moved up to the Pro class for the last two rounds.

[Pappy]

Johnny G was looking like he wanted a piece of this fight as he was readied for his turn to line up. Known as a mud master, JG would be neededing a miracle in the form of rain to put him in his element this round...or would he:chinese:

[Pappy]

Andy Lagzdins tossed his Honda aside at round #11 and lept with both feet landing on the pegs of the new KTM. Andy can ride just about anything well, however taking such a new machine to the front of the pack comes with many risks. There is only one way to figure out these new quads and Andy is wringing the KTM out in it's element.

[Pappy]

Chris Bithell is hot property these days. Running upfront, posting his first win and is now proving himself to be a contender at each round. Bithell has a bright future ahead of him and seems to have the personality it will take to get him where he needs to be with sponsors and fans alike.

[Pappy]

William Yokely has been doing everything possible to put his factory backed Kawasaki upfront but bad luck has been striking him down. In any event, you can count on Yokelys country ways to keep him smiling and upbeat about any situation, and i was hoping he could pull out good finishes in the last few rounds of racing.

[Pappy]

Adam McGill arrived at this round on a cloud of outstanding news that he and fellow racer Taylor Kiser would be onboard with KTM for 2008. McGill is still clearing away the chips and dust that are required to make you a champion, but each round he seems to be taking a step closer to his goal of capturing his first win.

[Pappy]

The Ironman, John Natalie has been a regular at this round for the past few seasons. With another champonship on his mantle, John borroed a quad from Chris Borich and set out to do some XC racing.

[Pappy]

Chris Borich saw his chances slip when his rear shock line failed at Yadkinville. I would have to imagine that the determination at this round alone would be enough to will him to a win after having a few laps to ponder his first championship possibly dripping down his shock at the last round. (Hey I know he runs Fox but it sounds better then "The air went out of his sail"):p

Borich is mean, tenacious and down right fast! The kid can go bar to bar with anyone and he knows it. Having the skill at this level is a powerful thing and turning it loose on the competition is what Chris does best.

[Pappy]

Tim farr has played a huge roll in the development of the new KTM machine, and is playing a bigger roll in developing the KTM XC team. Showing everyone the machine in action at Snowshoe, and now at Powerline continues to show the level of commitment KTM has in the growth of their program.

[Pappy]

Brent Sturdivant was out at midnight, walking a few sections of the track with a flashlight:p I don't care if he goes on to win 350 championships, he will never loose his down to earth up-bringing. With some new support from LTEracing , Sturdivant could be on his way!

[Pappy]

#3 Duane Johnson was back on top at Unadilla, but fell to 8th at Yadkinville. Johnson was hoping for a another good finish this round.

[Pappy]

I took up a position at the bottom of the hill which would be turn two, and when the green flag waved, 25 XC1 riders ripped up the hill towards the first turn.

Bill Ballance was battling with #4 Chris Jenks as the pair slide through turn one. getting the holeshot at ths race was going to be paramount as anyone not out front on the first lap was going to suck dust for 11 miles!

[Pappy]

Jenks spun out as ballance was now unchallenged heading for turn two with Yokely in hot pursuit!

[Pappy]

Matt Smiley sets up for the turn as the field works things out. Smiley has been on a mission this season and with this type of track, he could be one to keep an eye on.

[Pappy]

#17 Taylor Kiser and #10 Brandon Ballance go wheel to wheel into turn two, has #2 Chris Borich works his way through the pack after a bad start.

[Pappy]

Derisi , Baker, Natalie and Jenks were going to suffer the worst dust of the first lap

[Pappy]

XC2 was up for grabs as Sommers was on the front row. Donald Ockerman looked to capitalize on his class change and was out front at the start

[Pappy]

Tim Farr was running in XC2 and had the new KTM right in the thick of things

[Pappy]

turn two would be full of action in many classes, and in XC2 #798 Nathan Thomas gets turned around as Greg Lott hits the dirt!

[Pappy]

Vet A 30+

Chad Wallace was the rider out front as the class heads into turn two

[Pappy]

Jonathan Shaff grabbed the holeshot in College A 16-21

[Pappy]

Glen Pritchard grabbed the holeshot in Senior 40+, but it was once again dave Simmons on the move. Simmons went on to win the class at todays event!

[Pappy]

Phil Cole and Brian Wolf get along GNCC style through turn two as Junior A 22+ takes the field

[Pappy]

Vet B 30+

#691 Blaine Shick grabbed the holshot and leads the rest of teh glass into turn two. Blaine went on to take home 3rd in class.

[Pappy]

Vet B forms a skirmish line to decided who had the jimmies to keep it pinned and hit the woods first!

[Pappy]

Junior B 22+

The #110 machine of Tyler Moore was out front and looking great! Moore went on to finish 3rd in todays race

[Pappy]

College B 16-21

#230 Ronnie Mills got out front and stayed there, securing his first class win of the season!

[Pappy]

The remainder of College B heads after Mills!

[Pappy]

With the dust still hanging around after the start, and billowing dust plumes coming from the woods in the bottom areas, I decided to head back to an area I had scouted during the AM race. With a steady breeze, I would hopefully be able to catch a few of the front runners befre the dust shut me out.

It wasn't long before the sound of the leader could be heard, as his exhaust note danced off the tree's. With clear woods and only his own dust trail to worry with, Bill Ballance came scooting through with the lead.

[Pappy]

William Yokely was still holding second and charging hard!

[Pappy]

Without having to run through most of the XC1 class, Brandon Sommers was in the 3rd spot and riding smooth!

[Pappy]

Johnny G did not have a ton of mud to deal with, but he was doing all the right things in the dust! Here he was running 4th!

[Pappy]

Borich knew what he had to do and was riding the wheels off his Honda to catch the leader

[Pappy]

The wind was working with me, keeping the majority of the dust cleared out between riders. The bad part for me is they were spaced just enough to keep me pinned to one spot while they raced past:p

Bithell works his way over stumps covered in brown powder

[Pappy]

Matt Smiley throws roost everywhere as he was dropping the hammer in the rough stuff

[Pappy]

Micheal Houston takes another line as he heads right for me

[Pappy]

The break away from XC racing over, Brandon Ballance was rockin'!

[Pappy]

John Natalie was doing his best to jump over anything he could:p

[Pappy]

Tim Farr was cruising through the tree's but seeing XC2 approach also mean the end of a somewhat dust free section

[Pappy]

The action heated up as passing oppertunities presented themselves

[Pappy]

Lines were there if you could see through the dust and take them

[Pappy]

Vet B rider Shawn Collins hammers down, on his way to a 5th place class finish!

[Pappy]

Brian Notman has company as the riders enter this section

[Pappy]

And to think i picked this area because it offered less dust:huh This was nothing!

[Pappy]

With the wind increasing, I sprinted like Jesse Owens across a field to catch some fresh air and some more racing action. (Ok...so it was more like walked a few hundred yards like Fred Flinstone but the previous sounds so much better:p )

[Pappy]

I was only out there for a fe minutes when I was told I had iindeed missed the leaders. i was also hoping to pick up some of the news from the running order but it was sketchy. The dust was making it hard for spotters to keep tabs on who was where

[Pappy]

The light was horrid in the fields, with dust filtering the sun and making it just damn nasty. So, i headed back to the woods where atleast I could have a break from the dust that was just raining down everywhere.

[Pappy]

Jeremy Rice was putting it down in XC2. rice went on to finish 11th in class.

[Pappy]

I am still coughing up this crap:p

[Pappy]

EJ Williams sets sail as he heads off for another lap

[Pappy]

Frank Grimplin works his Outlaw through the tight stuff

[Pappy]

Nick Regalia digs in as he rolls on for yet one more lap in Junior B

[Pappy]

When Natalie came through in the lead, there was more head scrtachin' goin on then at any flea circus in the world! The spectators at my location were pretty much stumped, but lets face it, Natalie kind of sort of knows his way around a quad , and going fast is as natural to him as morning wood is for C Class riders:eek:

[Pappy]

When Burrows came through right behind Natalie, I knew there was something big going down....but what? Bottlenecks? Did the top 5 all decide they had enough? I mean fast is fast but to lay down the smack on the top 5 in the GNCC Pro class.....wow:p

It wasn't long before we found out that Natalie had blown a turn and gotten off the course, only to re-enter ahead of the leaders. HOW? Trust me, easy enough in that damn dust!

[Pappy]

Ballance came by me and I wondered if he knew what was going on ahead of him

[Pappy]

Yokely was still holding down the #2 spot, but Borich had worked his way around Sommers and now sat poised to pick off the Team green machine

[Pappy]

Bithell had worked his way past Sommers as well, and now was putting his head down and riding to the front

[Pappy]

Pit action was happening as riders got fuel, gloves and googles

[Pappy]

Not everyone would leave unscratched:ermm:

[Pappy]

Ballance came in with 1 to go and still held the lead

[Pappy]

Borich was now in second, and ready to hound Ballance on the last lap

[Pappy]

Riders would pull in to pit and many vomited from the major amount of dust they were ingesting. It wasnt pretty and i will spare you those images:p

[Pappy]

With almost two hours of intense racing on dust choked track, it is a wonder more did not just throw in the towel and call it a day early!

[Pappy]

Shawn Collins #1 fan right here:D

[Pappy]

Joe Borich listens to spotters as now it was up to the two front runners to duel it out for 11 miles

[Pappy]

20 minutes later, it was Chris Borich who emerged first from the cloud of dust, taking the win!

[Pappy]

A few minutes later, Ballance pulled his YFZ out of the woods and headed for the checkered flag...taking second

[Pappy]

After another command performance aboard his LTEracing Honda, Chris Bithell rolls in taking the final podium spot!

[Pappy]

I, along with afew hundred others, made our way to the podium where we expected to see the top three riders......

[Pappy]

It seemed like forever, and the rumor mill was overflowing with the story. It appeared that Borich had been directed by spectators around a supposed bottleneck and he was being penalized. For 15 minutes that is what we all were hearing, and it was Bill Ballance who finally pulled up at the podium area. When he did not ride on up to take his second place spot i knew the issues were indeed real and not just spectator chatter.

[Pappy]

Bithell kind of got stuck in the middle of the unfolding drama but came out the btter for it with his position being improved to second.

[Pappy]

Ballance and bithell were directed to the podium as we were informed Borich would not be attending the post race area.

Let's face it, ballance had to be stoked to get a win but this issue wasn't his doing. Racer productions film crews were reportedly the ones who saw and taped the situation as it occured with Borich and the spectators and it led to the resulting penalty. I am sure ballance is in a "take it anyway I can get it" mode, as any of us would be, but i am just as sure he wasn't happy about how it all came down but thats racing.

[Pappy]

Chris Bithell was moved into the number two spot as Borich was docked 2 positions which moved him to third.

[Pappy]

It makes it hard to wrap up coverage because in alot of ways many will feel the issue isnt settled....and its not! Borich has protested the ruling to the AMA and we will all have to wait and see what the outcome is. I know Borich wouldnt cheat or cut the course with the intent of doing so for the win, but if the proof shows he did wether it be on accident or not, it is what it is. The penalty could be over turned or moved to a 1 position penalty setting up another chance for Borich and ballance to go at it in Indiana.

With that said, I do hope everyone enjoyed teh coverage and I pray the discussions about this issue will remain sensible and professional. You are free to comment on it, however your words would be better directed at those actually involved in this, not at the messenger:p the professional side stated, don't jack up my thread with a bunch of school yard crap as we saw in the live coverage thread...please;)

As for me, I will see everyone at a local or next season as we kick off 2008. I have had a blast running the circuit with everyone this year through the good and bad and we enjoyed bringing everyone who couldn't enjoy the races first hand all the info we could and pictures to boot!

Pappy and Cody out!

(I will substitute the trophy girl since I dont have a shot of Borich:blah: )

[my88r]

great pics pappy. i feel like i was at the race.:macho

[wilts42]

wheres the mud hole pics????? and the two pros swimming in the pond?? lol

[Admin]

Originally posted by wilts42
wheres the mud hole pics????? and the two pros swimming in the pond?? lol

Pappy is scared of mud, and he has a secret craving for eating dust, or he just didn't know where to find the mud hole.

[Pappy]

The site can supply me with a suitable pitbike so I can traverse more of the course....:o I will take a klx110 before i shoot another shot of racing....:chinese:

in all honesty, I just dont get around like I used to and without a pitbike etc im limited. i will say this is the first race where my foot did not hurt so maybe now i can hump more of the boonies (ofcourse i just spent 3 hours searching for a buck i shot this morning....my foot feels fine but man am i depressed:( )

[MOTORIDER68]

Thanks again Pappy for another great race report. I was there but didn't get the full scoop on the Borich mishap. So thanks for clearing that up. I was however in a position at one of the smaller but knarly hill climbs where spectators where having other amatuers make cuts around the hill but I did not see any pros do this while I was there; however, I could see where it would easily happen to anyone. This was my first GNCC this year but it gave me the bug bigger than ever. This is the greatest sport in the world with the families, and friendships. We are all so lucky to be apart of it. Thanks again Pappy and I hope to see everyone in Indy!

[burrows]

Thanks pappy for all the great pics all yr. You have done a great job. thanks to Harlen and Bonnie cook for hooking up with Monica to get us updates so us at home know what is going on there. Has been an exciting yr. Thanks mommab

[montycarlo]

Thanks from me too for the geat pics. It was nice to see my favorite MO riders #3 & #171 posted this round!

Any word heard yet on Borich's appeal???

[Simon MX49]

Borich's appeal was to no avail, the decision still stands it would seem :( :( Sucks, because Chris wouldnt cut the track on purpose. Hopefully Chris can take it home in Indiana, and hopefully his new ride will carry him to the championship next season... rumor has it he's possibly going to b riding a Suzuki?:confused:

[pbell75]

Thanks to racer productions for showing the video of the situation. It is clear Borich made a mistake and the penatly fits the crime. What really pisses me off are those two morons in the red shirts directing Borich to take the illegal line. WTF. You guys cost Borich the championship, or at least a good shot at it. I know from racing these races that your mind is racing for 2 hrs and your looking for any edge, unfortunatly these morons lead Chris down the wrong path.

Borich is my favorite rider, I wish the last two rounds never had happened. Hopefully he can repeat at the ironman with another win this year. I don't wish illfate on ballance, but should he finish 17th or back, i wouldn't mind.

Good luck to all the riders next weekend.

[seamonster]

Racer Productions posting that video was the smartest thing they could have done. All the hating and bashing was squashed. Mistakes happen, especially under those conditions.....good luck to all in Indiana