2006 GNCC Series Round #8 -The Spartan - Sparta, KY - Race Coverage

5 Time GNCC Bike Pro Champion, Scott Summers was out of the track this weekend on a Utility Quad with a Helmet Camera strapped to his helmet.

The Sparta GNCC was sponsored by Tireballs, which was founded by Scott and his father Wade Summers several years ago, which has since changed ATV racing forever as riders don't need to bring spare tires to the race because they no longer need to worry about flat tires.

Joey Margueria would go on to win his 5th consecutive race of the season in the Sport Class as finished his second best race of the year with a 10th Overall.

John Gallagher was leading the way until the last lap when he got not one, but three flat tires, which dropped him back to second place with Ken Vickerd taking the win.

As for me, after fighting to steer the Polaris the first two laps, I decided to end the race before the end of the third lap, so I could make it to the Podium for the Morning Race. If it weren’t for the steering issues, the Predator was really comfortable to ride and had plenty of power and torque, which allowed me to ride in a taller gear instead of constantly revving the engine. It was also very responsive and the thumb throttle was easy on the thumb as I didn’t get fatigued at all during the race.

Also, unlike other Sport ATVs, the Polaris machines have a connection plug for a kill switch, but I wasn’t aware of this prior to the race, so I ordered Pro Armor Kill Switches, which required us to splice the wires to install them on the Predator and Outlaw.

Michael Shelley would battle with Hoyt Penland to the checkered Flag and take his third win of the season, and John Bowers would finish in third, which kept him out front in the Points battle.

Kevin Johnston proved his determination to finish the race because when his throttle broke, he was left pulling on the throttle cable with one hand and steering with the other to finish the race out the race in 5th place.

Michael Swift would lead Utility Stock Class until the final lap when he apparently ran into problems, which cost him several minutes. This was the break that Sam Williams needed to claim the win, which was amazing considering what Sam went through to even make the race this weekend.

His ATV was stolen after the Penton three weeks ago, and he luckily was able to recover it, but not until it was basically destroyed by the vandals, which involved a collision with a truck. The Kawasaki was left with severe frame damage, which required Sam to use a Porter Power to straighten the frame, but he never gave up and amazingly he earned the win this weekend, which probably couldn't have come at a better time considering what he has been through the past couple of weeks.

With the checkered flag out, Traci Cecco claimed her 6th win of the season and is well on the way to winning yet another Championship. Less than two minutes behind her was Jeff Stoess in second overall on the Polaris Outlaw as he put in an incredible race on the Outlaw, which he had only ridden a few minutes prior to the race and hasn’t even rode an ATV since last November.

Unfortunately for Jeff, he wouldn’t be allowed on the Podium as well as John Rowlings finishing in third Overall.

Finishing 4th Overall was Glen Pritchard in the 35+ Class, which was enough to earn him a spot on the Podium after an impressive charge from several rows back at the start.

Stephanie Parton finished just 3 seconds behind Pritchard with adjusted time and claimed 5th Overall and the final spot on the Podium

To conclude the Morning Race Podium, Traci Cecco drew the name of one lucky person to receive a free complete set of Tireballs.