2008 GNCC Series-Round#6-"The John Penton"-Morning-ATV Race Coverage

[Pappy]

Can you believe that this round marks the seasons half way point! I can still feel the first warm rays of that Florida sun at round one, and here we are now in Ohio at the John Penton. This round is cursed, as mother nature usually throws us one extreme or the other.....dust or mud and neither are ever in short supply.

Last year the dust was so bad that you couldnt hardly breathe in the woods, and this year the mud was so thick and slick that you could barely trudge through it!

Arriving at 6:30 am, and looking down at the main area of the pit area, the morning calm was not showing how wet everything had become during the night

[Pappy]

Registration was flowing smooth for those that waited, and even during friday evening it appeared to be moving much faster then at previous rounds

[Pappy]

My plan was simple, wear sneakers so that I would not be apt to running off in the mud no matter how badly i wanted to. Lucky for me there really wasn't any way around it, bad for mr. tennis shoe:p

[Pappy]

I tried to get Taylor Kiser to give me a lift to keep my sneakers dry:ermm:

[Pappy]

Some folks are just way to damn happy in the morning, one of them is Jerime Dudding:p

[Pappy]

I usually miss alot of morning pit shots due to covering the youth race, however they moved the youth race from 8 am to 5pm due to the conditions.

Riders were busily getting ready as the 10 am race neared

[Pappy]

Traci Cecco shows me she was all pumped up!

[Pappy]

Bryan Cooks dad grooves his tires as every advantage would be needed in the sloppy race that lay ahead

[Pappy]

John Rowlings- "Who set the alarm clock so early" look:p

John told me an interesting story about his ride home from a race. Not sure, but he said he played with his rod the whole way to stave off boredom:eek2: Dont worry John, I will go fishin with ya!;)

[Pappy]

The announcers at the GNCC events are top notch, and do their best to keep everyone filled in on all the action

[Pappy]

If these were deer tracks, I would be in business:p

[Pappy]

The guys at AXIS were up early and hard at work getting shocks ready for their riders.

[Pappy]

With the ground so saturated, the starts were moved from the MX track to the far back field section. It was a hike for anyone pitted on the opposite end of the facility, but hey, we all need some exercise:p

Mike Penland chatting with fellow racers before the start

[Pappy]

Race face anyone:p I am pretty sure he is the stunt double for Bo Duke:blah:

[Pappy]

Rick Cecco in deep thought:p

[Pappy]

Stephanie Parton brings sunshine to line even when its cloudy;)

[Pappy]

You must be careful around the womens class. They tend to gather in small groups and discuss things that a man just doesnt want to hear:ermm: And god forbid you say anything manly, they will gang up on you!:D

[Pappy]

David Burton has been on my "annoy" list for several rounds. Burton has been finishing 2nd alot, and I had to properly motivate him:devil:

[Pappy]

What the hell are you smiling for:confused: In 30 minutes you will be covered in stinky mud:devil: :blah:

[Pappy]

What do you do when a guy this big TELLS you to take his picture:confused:

You take his picture:p

[Pappy]

It is always good to see family involved!

[Pappy]

John Gallagher checks out first few turns

[Pappy]

Taylor Kiser and Brandon Sommers starting trouble with Bryan Baker:devil:

[Pappy]

All the fun aside, we were just a few minutes away from starting another round of intense XC racing!!

[Pappy]

Rick Cecco grabbed the holeshot in the U2 class!

[Pappy]

Cecco heads to turn 3 as the pack trys to run him down

[Pappy]

The Womens class hit the track and it was Traci Cecco and Stephanie Parton going literally wheel to wheel as they exit turn one!

[Pappy]

Atwell was tucked into 3rd as the rest of the class gets on the brakes to make turn two

[Pappy]

Parton was hard on the gas as her and Cecco head to turn 3

[Pappy]

John Kenney battled with John Gallagher through the first turn, however Kenney grabbed the official holeshot and heads to turn 2

[Pappy]

Scott Kilby was hard on the gas as he grabs the holeshot in 4x4 Open

[Pappy]

Bryan Buckhannon did not get a great start, but would be moving up in no time

[Pappy]

Jordan Phillips has the starts figured out, as he grabs himself another holeshot in 4x4 Lites. He was able to complete 2 laps before issues forced him out of the race

[Pappy]

Ken Robey, Jeremie Dudding and Clifton Beasley battle for position at turn two!

[Pappy]

Micheal Swift narrowly edges out a hard charging Mike Penland for the holeshot in 4x4 Limited

[Pappy]

Once Swift cleard the second turn, and had open ground in front of him, he was GONE!

[Pappy]

Glenn McConnell grabs the holeshot in Sportsman

[Pappy]

Justin Kirchhoff and Micheal marley battle through turn 2 in 16-19 C

[Pappy]

Why people stand near me is beyond me...I always get roosted on:p Hurts dont it:D

[Pappy]

Cory Blinkiewicz grabs the holeshot in 20+ C

Why is the folks with the hardest last names decided to get the holeshots this round:p

[Pappy]

Johnathon Figley and 24+ C class exit turn 1

[Pappy]

Joey Duvall leads 30+ C out

[Pappy]

So you got a bad start, atleast i got a good picture of it!:p

[Pappy]

Tommy Mitchell all alone in front of 36+ C

[Pappy]

HMF's Hans Luenger did not get a great start, but would work his way to 6th when the race ended!

[Pappy]

Heather Krou Skoupf (And you thought i was kidding earlier) grabs the holeshot in Womans Novice

[Pappy]

I think you girls are in big trouble when Jesi Stracham joins your class in a month!

[Pappy]

James Miller grabs the holeshot in First Year Racer 16-24

[Pappy]

I think you have to get out of the race before you start to get a refund!:p

[Pappy]

Seth Mumford grabbing the holeshot in Schoolboy 13-15!!

[Pappy]

The Schoolboy class is one of the best classes of the day, and its numbers are always up there each round!

Cody said hello to everyone-6 more weeks to go !

[Pappy]

The starts complete, I did like everyone else and slipped and slid as I made my way to try and cut off the leaders. I had missed the overall leader (Doug Henke) but arived in time to catch Robert Smith as he works through the muck

[Pappy]

My wait was short as Traci cecco and Angel Atwell were already doing battle

[Pappy]

Rick Cecco crested the hill and I saw his flat tire and I knew his day was done. Trying to regain positions after running with a flat in these conditions would be almost impossible

[Pappy]

Stephanie Verkade works through the mud

[Pappy]

Stephanie Parton clears the road crossing and heads off into the woods

[Pappy]

I did a second or two of thinking and figured rain runs down hill, so if I wanted to avoid some mud I needed to take to higher ground. The idea was sound, and there was a bit drier ground up high, but getting there was the challenge:p The hillsides were as slick as owl chit!

[Pappy]

There wasnt much in teh way of excitement up there but I could atleast get withing 20 feet of the track without being covered in muck

[Pappy]

Mathew Close works his way through the course, but was only able to complete 1 lap

[Pappy]

Tyler Pinkston was riding great, and his performance got him to 4th in Schoolboy at the end!! Great ride Tyler!!

[Pappy]

Another great rider in Schoolboy is Ty Seivard, who finished 3rd at this event! You guys rock!

[Pappy]

Kyle Riley managed to get his Yamaha stuck and thats where he sat for over an hour!

[Pappy]

The second you did not pay attention to the ruts, you were high centered.

[Pappy]

The mud in some areas in the morning race was almost impassible for some

[Pappy]

The 4x4 machines were at a big advantage, and pre race speculation had a UTE filled podium being expected

[Pappy]

Swift was out front of his class and pulling away

[Pappy]

Rick Cecco's mount was re-shoed and he was back in business, albiet down in the class rankings but doing his best to pick off as many as he could

[Pappy]

Jamie Bougher was riding well, finishing 3rd in 4x4 Limited

[Pappy]

Shop towels were everywhere as riders pitted for goggles and better

[Pappy]

The view from my position was awesome, and if I had thought about it, i would have packed my big lens up there and coud have covered this portion of the course pretty well:p

[Pappy]

Angel Atwell had overtaken the lead in the Womens class and was riding very strong!

[Pappy]

Traci cecco had made it past me, and then came Lexie Coulter, who was having a good race as she found herself in 3rd. A few lappers were on the main line up this hill, so Lexie nailed the throttle to take another line

[Pappy]

While the line ws more difficult, it got her infront of 2 riders that would have slowed her down

[Pappy]

A few seconds sitting still here, a few minutes following a slower rider there.....all this time can hurt your finish!

[Pappy]

The "Mulch" pile was getting rough, but the afternoon race would see it get really bad

[Pappy]

Greg Condon working his Grizzly around the MX track to complete another lap

[Pappy]

The MX track was tame, but seeing how the riders were so covered in wet slick mud, any jump would be a challenge just to hang on to the quad

[Pappy]

Lexie Coulter gets the signal to pass as she comes in for another lap scored

[Pappy]

Gallagher and Buckhannon battle as they head to scoring

[Pappy]

Scott Kilby had lost the lead to Buckhannon and would finish in second in 4x4 Open

[Pappy]

The Can Am crew works to get riders re-geared and back on the track

[Pappy]

Dudding makes a pass on teh MX track. Jeremie finished 2nd in 4x4 Lites

[Pappy]

Rick Cecco kept pushing and would finish the day in the 4th spot in U2

[Pappy]

The race was winding down, but back in the woods things were getting heated

[Pappy]

When Condon passed me, he told me there was ahuge bottleneck forming back in the woods. I knew the leaders were bound to hit it and reported it to those doing our live coverage that it could affect the outcome of the race....

[Pappy]

When Stephanie Verdake emerged on the MX track, I knew i was correct. She tried telling the official she was the leader, however they sent her out for another lap. That had to be one long lap, knowing you had taken the victory and yet also knowing what confusion can bring to the party.

[Pappy]

When she cleared scoring, the checkered flag was brought out

[Pappy]

Within seconds, the MX track filled with quads as those stuck in the bottleneck had broken free and were now all closing in on the finish line

[Pappy]

Angel Atwell came sliding in

[Pappy]

Riders now clogged the scoring area as Atwell heads into the thick of things

[Pappy]

Traci Cecco arrived a few seconds later and was also plum in the middle of the congestion

[Pappy]

With all the machines clamering for position (not sure why, the race ended when the transponder line was crossed) something was about to get FUBAR and it happened to be the transponder:p

[Pappy]

With the race over, it was now coming to light that Verkade had went around the bottleneck and overtaken the lead. This wasn't sitting well with Atwell who claimed she was the winner.

When it was all said and done, and Verkade had completed her 6th lap, she was made the official winner of the race!

[Pappy]

It was an emotional podium as Verdake took the win, her first in the GNCC series.

[Pappy]

Stephanie also picked up some pocket money as she accepted the ATVriders.com overall award!

[Pappy]

Traci Cecco graciously accepted her 3rd place plaque as she once again stood proud on the podium!


That wraps up the morning coverage folks, see everyone in Kentucky!!

[Pappy]

As for Dave Burton, I guess my motivational speech prior t the race and the big stick I chased him through the woods with worked, the ol' boy found himself that 1st place finish he was looking for!

Congrats Dave, you get a special picture!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2259/2484492811_0ab6fb7cf1_o.jpg

[T2RACING]

Originally posted by Pappy
The second you did not pay attention to the ruts, you were high centered.

How did I know that this picture would end up on here..:blah:

But honestly thanks a lot Pappy for trying to help me get that darn thing pulled out of there I really do apprecaite it.....

[Pappy]

No problem bud, I wish I could have done more but I can barely lift my cameras due to my shoulder:p

[Dave400ex]

Of course your speeches help. lol. You da man!

[cletusEX]

Originally posted by Dave400ex
Of course your speeches help. lol. You da man!

Congrats man!:) Good ride on a tough track.

[Dave400ex]

Thanks Nick! The 450 ran and worked awesome through the mud. I'm just tired of cleaning the stuff. :eek2:

[cblinkiewicz]

Originally posted by Dave400ex
Thanks Nick! The 450 ran and worked awesome through the mud. I'm just tired of cleaning the stuff. :eek2:

Good job Dave, See everyone in Kentucky.

Thanks for the holeshot picture pappy.

[Dave400ex]

Awesome ride Cory. We earned those spots passing back everyone from the first lap.

[Simon MX49]

Looks like we hit that girl standing next to you pretty good in the 2nd corner :D

Too bad i only made it to the top of the motocross track first lap and fried my clutch out :mad: :mad: :mad: