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GNCC Pro
ATV Racer William Yokley - Then & Now
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GNCC
Pro Racer - William Yokley |
WilliamYokley’s life-long passion and dedication
to the sport of quad racing is apparent in his attitude
and enthusiasm both on and off the track. This mind-set
has helped propel him to icon status among his many
fans and supporters in the ATV racing community,
and his unstoppable drive, has established him as
a top competitor, no matter where or what he races.
Yokley’s fascination with quads and racing
started back in the early 1980’s when he
was just a kid. His family would go to the track
to support and watch his big brother, John, race
3-wheelers. Like most kids that look up to their
older brothers, William wanted to do everything
his big brother did, so at the age of nine his
parents bought him his first quad. “It was
a little Honda 70. I was riding it all over and
started doing a little racing.” He recalled
with a smile. “I started doing some local
motocross races and soon moved up to a Suzuki
LT80. Harold Goodman and I would race against
each other forever on our little LT80’s
until one of our clutches would burn up or something.”
Yokley said with a chuckle. “I raced the
LT80 for a long time and raced nationals on it
in the super stock class for about 4-5 years.”
Yokley raced the super stock class until he was
about 12 years old and then stepped up to the
80 modified class and raced that until he was
16. “When I turned 16, I went back to the
GNCC, which was what I always wanted to run.”
He said.
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William Yokley's
GNCC racing career began on a Suzuki LT80,
and he banged bars with Johnny Gallagher
& Harold Goodman
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William
Yokley in 1990 with one of his many ATV
Racing trophies, which was just the beginning
of a his career racing ATVs |
Yokley was also fortunate enough to race in the
last “Blackwater 100” cross-country
race. Also known as “America’s Toughest
Race” due to its rugged terrain, the Blackwater
100 was a GNCC race that took place in the small
town of Davis, West Virginia. The annual event
lasted from 1974 through 1993. “I remember
going to that race for about eight years and I
finally got to race the last race in ’93.
It was a pretty cool event.”
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The Blackwater 100 in Davis, West
Virginia attracted thousands of spectators
for one of the most grueling ATV racing
events, but unfortunately the race was cancelled
after 1993 due to environmentalist looking
after are better interest |
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| William
Yokley's older brother, John, had a very
successful racing career and inspired William
to push his own racing career to the next
level |
William raced the 250B class on his Honda 250R
for the ’93 race season and by the 1995
season, he made the move to the Pro class. “Barry
Hawk had just won the championship and Bob Sloan,
and Ricky Matteson, were racing as well. I felt
really privileged when I finally made it into
the top 5 with all those guys.” Yokley said.
However, Yokley did not land a podium position
until he was 19. “If I remember right it
was when I was 19 years old and I actually won
that race. It was at Starvation Point in Virginia.
I think I finished that race on fumes!”
For the last nine years Yokley has consistently
been ranked in the top 5 in the GNCC series. “This
last year (2006), I placed 5th. I think that’s
the lowest I’ve placed since ’98.”
He confirmed.
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| William
Yokley racing in the SCORE Baja 1000 in
1995 with the race going from Tijuana to
La Paz, Mexico |
Throughout his racing career, Yokley has been in
many different types of races, including the Baja
1000. “In ’95 I raced it with Wes Miller
and Joe Byrd. I had just got out of high school
and my mom was really nervous about me going to
Mexico.” As it turns out, his mother’s
concerns were somewhat justified. “It was
really an experience.” He continued. “We
didn’t really know anything about the race
and we didn’t really know anything about Mexico,
so we went down there for the race and all we had
was a pack of pecan swirls and a case of water.
If we would have known then what we know now, we
would have had a whole buffet in the back of that
truck!” Yokley stated retrospectively. “We
had some rough times down there, but you either
love it or you hate it. We really wanted to win
it, but it takes so much effort and planning.”
All the planning and preparation finally paid off
for Yokley’s team in 2001 when they went on
to be the overall winning team.
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William Yokley
& Former Top Pro GNCC Racer, Kim Kuhnle,
teamed up to race in the Best in the Desert
Series for three years on a Honda 400EX
and this dynamic duo won the BITD Championship
all three years
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