2007 GNCC Series Round #5-Loretta Lynns-Hurricane Mills-Afternoon Coverage

Smiley was up on Sturdivant as they raced up the hill. I couldnt help but wonder what was going on in Sturdivants head....here he had a real shot at the podium and now he has Matt Smiley on his grab bar. Smiley, the veteran of many a GNCC race and Sturdivant with youthful exhuberance. As they topped the hill, I was cheering on both of them as they went out of sight. No matter who ended up 3rd, both were putting in one hell of a good race.

In two and a half laps, Kiser had gone from leading to running in 5th. I am sure the stories will come out about the battles that raged out of everyone's view, but for now he needed to stay focused because others wanted his spot!

Craig Reed and another Pro passed me as I was set up for a shot and not looking at who was behind Reed. In a flash, reed cut a line that took him further to the left line and I am here to tell you, fans were scattering like crazy!

The rider chasing Reed was Chris Bithell, and he rocketed up the right line and out of sight!

Adam McGill had his sights on Bithell

jenks found the far left line as well and once again, spectators were diving for cover!

Yokely wasnt running where I am sure he would have liked to have been, but he was putting in a solid effort, shown here looking up at the hill

It is hard to show how rough the hill was getting, but when Brandon Ballance took a bounce on his way up people watching could see just what the riders were facing.

Brandon improved his finishes this round, and i am sure he would have like to keep climbing back up the ladder as the next few rounds are run.

Knowing the last lap was underway, I once again traversed the grounds to catch the leaders at the finish and see how it all would play out!

Borich was the first rider to hit the 2nd from last turn, and unless he boned it in the last 500 feet, he would take the win.
He did not infact nake any mistakes and reached out and took the win and the points lead from Ballance.

Chris Borich is now ready to race Ballance for the championship. He has taken the past few years mistakes and learned from the man infront of him, round after round. The expierence is now there, the speed is there, the confidence is there, and the wins are coming to him.

Ballance was heading for the checkered flag and 2nd place was securely his. He now sits one point behind Borich as we head to round 6.

This season has to be weighing heavily on the champs mind. The pressure of possibly breaking Hawks record, Borich performing at his level, both hitting him full on. Anyone who counts Ballance out is a fool, but we finally have 2 riders that are on equal footing once the flag drops each round, and that makes for great racing.

The champion of 2007 will be the rider who makes the least mistakes.