2005 GNCC "The General" Round #3 Afternoon Coverage

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After the windy conditions on Friday forced all the Pro riders to disassemble their pits and pull every back into the trailers, the winds tampered off Saturday Morning, which allowed everyone to safely setup their pit area and prepared for another exciting day of GNCC racing.

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By afternoon, their was only a light breeze coming out the west with temps up in the mid 60’s with beautiful blue skies, which was a welcomed site to Sunshine State (Florida) Native, Greg Trew, as he sat outside in the sun relaxing before the Afternoon race hoping for some better luck in Georgia after too disappointing rounds to kick off the season.

In the Opening Round, Greg snapped his Spindle before even completing one lap, which left him with DNF. His bad luck continued in Florida when he became extremely ill with the stomach flu the day of the race and was able to complete a lap once again, so hopefully things turn around for Greg Trew in Georgia.

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Chad Duvall was yet another rider looking to get back into the groove after skipping Texas to give his body some more time to adjust to his new medicine that he will need to take for the rest of his life to control his white blood cell count.

After looking great and feeling great in Florida during practice, Chad was forced to drop out of the race in Florida after clipping a tree in the 1st lap, which bent his steering stem.

Once again, Chad was feeling great and looking to get back on the podium once again this year after sharing the podium with Yokley and Balance last year in Georgia.

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Bill Ballance was all smiles around the pits as he held his little darling, Lauren. Bill has a true passion for ATV racing and it shows at every race, but Bill is also a devoted Christian and family man and is always quick to thank God and his Family with every visit to the podium.

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Shortly after 12PM the Pro Riders and Afternoon races headed over to the starting area to get lined up for 2 hours of intense racing.

After 4 laps of morning racing, the track deteriorated in several sections with deep ruts and mud holes forming as morning riders churned the standing water into the Georgia clay, which would play a big part in the afternoon race.

If a rider wanted a chance to finish near the top this round, they would need endurance to hang on for 5 laps of some rough riding and be very selective in picking their lines because one misplaced tire could easily cost them several minutes or more freeing their quad from the clay, which was especially true for those daring enough to take the shorter alternative line through the silt drainage area in an attempt to save time, which should make for some exciting racing action.

All eyes would be on #3 Chris Borich aboard his Alba Action Honda 450R, after starting out the season with two Overall wins and proving he has the speed to challenge 5 time Champion, Bill Ballance, for the Championship this season.

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#1 Factory Yamaha rider, Bill Ballance, was geared up and ready to prove that he still has what it takes to win.

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#9 Brandon Ballance also has started to make his presence known this season after an impressive 2nd Overall finish at the “Orange Crush,” and now Brandon feels even more confident heading into Round #3 after extensively training over the winter, which gave him the endurance he needed to overcome the extremely rough conditions in Florida.

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#14 Andy Lagzdins, Duncan Racing/Dirt First, talks with Pro Am rider #25 Brian Schmid before the race, and Andy has plenty to talk about after kicking off the season with an impressive string of Top 10 Overall finishes with and a career best 7th Overall in Texas to be followed up with a 9th Overall in Florida. Last year, Andy never crested the top 10 Overall all season, but was extremely consistent in the top 15 which earned him is #14 National Number, but he is looking to lower it in the single digits this season and at this rate, it seems within his reach.

Congrats Andy on a great start to the season, and now the ball is in your court

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#10 Greg Trew lines up beside of #69 Thomas Barrett

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#2 Factory Suzuki Rider, William Yokley, has persevered through two difficult situations in the first two rounds to overcome some obstacles and still finish in the top 4 Overall each round aboard his Suzuki.

The racer Production crew mounted a helmet camera on William capture a view of the race from his perspective for the upcoming television series.