Sport Class
5th Jacob Jones
8th Tom Bobrowicz
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Sport Class
5th Jacob Jones
8th Tom Bobrowicz
Women's Class
The competition in the Women’s Class is getting better each year with more women riders signing up to race in the GNCC Series. Stephanie Parton and Traci Cecco have dominated the Women’s class for years, but other GNCC women are quickly picking up the speed to compete with these two outstanding riders.
Stefanie Verkade has been racing 18 Years :eek2: after being born into a family of racers. She has been a top contender against the men for years in District 6 and moved up to A Class last year, so she decided it was time to race in the GNCC series against the best Women in the Country. In her first year, she finished 8 races in the top five and showed even improvement throughout the season. Congratulations Stefanie on a great start!
Erika Jones also moved up this season finishing 5th for the year and staying on the lead lap several races which was a goal of hers at the beginning of the year.
Jean Lovely is fired up about next season, and she has a secret weapon that she hopes will help her move up in the standings and that is Stepahanie Parton. They will be training together over the winter, and jean is hoping to pick up a few tricks from Stephanie along the way.
Stephanie Parton & Traci Cecco have done a terrific job of putting Women's Racing on the map. They are both extremely dedicated to racing and winning, but more importantly, they have set a great example for all women racers away from the track.
Congratulations to both of you for another great year, and I am anxious to see who will start out on top at Texas.
Pro Am Class
Jeremy Rice and Chris Jenks were a threat for the podium at almost every event this year, and they were able to crest the top three a combined three times this season.
In the end, Jeremy Rice was able to bring home the 1st GNCC Pro Am Championship by winning an impressive 7 races. Chris Jenks was forced to settle for 2nd place, but oddly enough Chris finished with a higher overall number for next season than Jeremy, and Chris did it with only two wins.
James wahl dominated the Open A class last year on his 250R, but this year didn't go as smooth for him at several races due to issues with his 250R, so he finally decided by the last round that he was switching to the 450R and finished 8th and 22nd Overall in his first race on the machine, so it should be interesting to see how he does next year.
1st Jeremy Rice
2nd Chris Jenks
3rd James Wahl
Rick Cecco finished out 9th in the Pro Am Class, but his first priority all season was his wife Traci Cecco. He put his racing second and focused on keeping her machines in tip top condition to represent her sponsors.
This husband/wife combination next year will both be able to focus on racing because of Alba Action's Support, John Rowlings will be Traci's new mechanic and Rick will be able to focus more on his riding.
Pro Class
Bill Ballance did it again!!! He won his 5th GNCC Championship and doesn't seem to be slowing down. Bill Ballance's strives to win every race, and it shows with his 7 Overall Wins this season.
Next Year, Bill will have even more drive with the backing of Factory Yamaha. Yamaha provided bill some help in the 2004 season, but they took their support for Bill in 2005 to a whole new level.
Bill Ballance is now an Official Yamaha Rider, and his Job will be to train and win races next season, which he has proven is well within his reach even before Yamaha stepped up to plate to support his program 100%.
It is great to see Factory Yamaha stepping up the support for Bill Ballance, and we all should be thankful that the factories are finally recognizing the sport of ATV Racing.
Congratulations Bill
William Yokley gave one the best speeches of the evening, and he had everyone laughing with his great sense of humor.
William Yokley also will receive factory support next year from Suzuki/Yoshimura. William Yokley finished the season with three wins and two of them coming in the last four rounds.
Chris Borich had a season that many riders wish they had just one time in their career, but for Chris Borich, it was a season that he would rather forget most of it.
Chris Borich was a dominating force the last fews years on his Laeger 250R machines, but the transition to the Production 4 Stroke Machines didn't go smoothly for Chris.
He ran the majority of the season on the YFZ450, but was faced with numerous issues that kept him from finishing on the Podium because of one issue or another.
In 2003, by the tenth round Chris finished on the Podium in half the races, but this year he only managed two podium finishes and they were both third overall.
Chris finally decided that he needed to make switch because the YFZ just wasn't working for his riding style, so he went to the 450R. He immediately found himself back where he left off last season.
Chris Borich went on to finish the last three races with two Overalls and one 2nd Overall on the new Honda machine, which was a breath of fresh air for the entire Borich family.
Alba Action recognized how talented of a rider Chris Borich is and signed him for 2005 to ride for Alba Action along with Traci Cecco. it is great to see companies like Alba Action stepping up and supporting the racers. With the support of Alba Action and his father, Joe Borich, I expect to see Chris pick up where he left off this season. It is a shame that Honda hasn't recognized such a talented and respected rider.
Matt Smiley had another successful season on his YFZ450. Unlike Chris, Matt was able to easily adapt to the YFZ, which is the case for most riders over 160lbs.
Matt found himself on the Podium 6 times and he finished 5 times in 2nd Overall, and was set to finish with the #3 Plate until Chris Borich made his late season charge to edge out Matt.
With the increased factory involvement, Matt is also more dedicated than ever to having a terrific season in 2005, and he knows that it will require him to train hard over the winter to be ready for next season.
Matt gives many thanks to Team Safari for putting together a great program of sponsors that kept him at the races this season, and if the rumors are true, Matt may have even bigger news to announce in the near future.
Chad Duvall just keeps on going year after year, and I don't know when he will ever slow down. Chad finished out the year in 5th Place even after recoverying from a serious crash at Rausch Creek which costed him a top finish at the race, and he was forced to skip the Patriot.
Chad never lost sight of his goal, and quickly picked up where he left off and went on to finish the next three races in the top 5 overall.
Am Pro Yamaha will once again support Chad for 2005 along with his other sponsors(ITP, IMS, Roll, AC Racing, Badger, and many more).