2006 GNCC Series Round #5 - Loretta Lynn's - ATV Race Coverage

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Hurricane Mills - Unlike South Carolina, the weather forecast for Saturday’s race was accurate with sunny skies and temperatures in the 80’s, which provided a beautiful day for racing, but the damage was already done on the track as it was a sloppy mess from all the rain that fell Thursday night into Friday.

For many racers, the muddy conditions were a welcomed treat especially for those “Swamp Fox” racers that look forward to racing in the mud as they have the art of mud racing under control.

For the first time this year, there wasn’t a youth ATV race, which meant the opportunity for me to finally sleep in and get some extra rest to prepare for trudging through the mud and puddles for the morning and afternoon races.

Just like last year, the rain and high gas prices, kept ATV race attendance from eclipsing the 700 marks as it did in 2003, but there were still nearly 600 riders signed up to compete in one of the toughest GNCC track of the 2006 season. Once again, the track was nearly 14 miles long, which meant the morning race was going to be limited to just three laps. With the increased attendance this year, the long tracks help eliminate the lapped traffic that has created some problems for the leaders in earlier races this year, but it has forced the racers to re-strategize their pit routine to accommodate for only a three lap race compared to 4-5 laps races in the past.

With a 10 AM start set for the Morning Race, the riders headed to the Loretta Lynn’s Motocross starting area to line up for the start of the race, but to the disappointment of many of the racers, the motocross track would not be part of the 14 mile course this year as it would be mostly run across the road in the woods.

Angel Atwell with Jeffrey Pickens by her side was preparing for the start of the morning race as they both hoped for a repeat performance from Big Buck with the pair taking wins in each of their classes with Angel Atwell claiming the Morning Overall and Jeffrey Pickens winning the Pro Am Class and finishing 9th Overall, which was career best for them both.

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With the Women racers lined up on the front row followed by the Super Seniors, and then it would be the three Utility A/B Classes followed by the Sport A/B, C Class, and First Year Racers. With the change in the starting lineup for the Utility machines by only rotating them in amongst themselves between the 3rd and 5th rows, the muddy races provide the perfect opportunity for these horsepower monster to have a chance at the Podium, and Brock Parker is one rider that has the ability to make it on the Podium as he did in 2003 & 2002 at Kirton Ranch for the season opener both years, which was one of the sloppiest GNCC tracks with many racers almost completely burying their ATVs there both years in the Florida swamp.

Brock Parker hasn’t raced a whole season since 2002, after he wrecked at Rauch Creek in 2003, which sidelined him for most of the year, and he has only dabbled with racing the past two years, but with the support of the LTE Racing Team, he is back this year chasing after the Utility Modified Championship, and his presence has really made this class an exciting one to watch as defending Champion Scott Kilby is looking to defend his title on the Bombardier Outlaw machine and maintains the points lead as Brock Parker has suffered two DNFs this year, but with 4 throwaways, the championship is still up for grabs.

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With the Motocross tables tops and jumps covered in race fans to catch the exciting dead engine starts of the GNCC Series, the start of the Loretta Lynn’s GNCC was only moments away.

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Alba/ Yamaha Racing’s Traci Cecco grabbed the Holeshot on YFZ450 followed by Stephanie Parton on her Polaris Outlaw with Lexie Coulter and Ashlie Whaley right behind two of the fastest women on four wheels.

By the end of the first lap, the battle remained on for the Women’s Class win and the Overall as Cecco and Parton were only a 3 seconds apart while Ashlie Whaley took over the third spot over 2 minutes behind the pair battling for the lead.

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The huge utility machines provided plenty of excitement as they roosted around the first turn battling for the lead, which was very intense amongst Bombardier teammates Michael Swift and Mike Penland as they rubbed tires rounding the turn and down a short straight away before a series of S-Turns before heading into the woods leading the Utility Stock Class.

Michael Swift would edge out Penland and lead the way for the first lap of the race before being passed by defending champion, Ken Robey on his Kawasaki Prairie, but his race would end after only two laps, which gave allowed Sam Williams to claim his first win of the season followed by Michael Swift, Kevin Trantham, and Mike Penland

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In the Sport Class, Billy Good would grab the Holeshot on his Hybrid 250X/400EX/Cannondale machine, and by the end of the lap, he was working his way up into the top 5 overall, but his engine case would crack at the end of the second lap, which left him with a DNF.

It appears this will be the last race for Billy Good in the Sport Class as there are rumors he will be appearing on a Polaris Predator at the next round and will be racing in the Pro Am Class.

With Billy Good out of the race, Joey Margueria would go on to dominate the class with over a 40 minute lead on Scott Sleppy in second place at the checkered, and Marqueria's helmet wings would carrying him to a 16th Overall finish

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For those that didn’t start out front, especially in the C Classes, they were almost completely covered in mud by the second turn as they bounced off each other through the S-turns from sliding and partially from not even seeing where they were going from the blinding mud.

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Out Front, Traci Cecco never let up and finally was able to break free from Stephanie Parton in the second lap, and she would extend her lead to over 2 minutes by the checkered flag. With Parton finishing in second place followed by Angel Atwell over 3 minutes behind her in third place with leslie Coulter and Ashile Whaley rounding out the top 5 women finishers.

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John Gallagher would claim yet another win on his Polaris Outlaw and just missed the podium with his 4th Overall finish.

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Mike Penland might not have won this weekend, but his son, Hoyt Penland was on his game as he took his first win on the Kawasaki VForce and was the top overall Utility finisher with a 13th Overall finish while Brock Parker finished with adjusted time right behind him as he claimed his third win of the season in the Utility Modified Class over Scott Kilby.