The Rain stole the show
at the Showtime! GNCC
2006 GNCC Racing Series
Seymour, MO (5/6/2006) -
With rain clouds on the horizon, the youth race was
spared, and it was one of the most exciting races of
the season as Cheyne Gravley jumped out to the early
lead to only be tracked down by Walker Fowler, but for
once, luck was on the side of Gravley as he was able
to regain the lead in the final lap to take the overall
win after Walker Fowler wrecked and derailed his chain,
which dropped him back to his first second place finish
of the season. The final podium spot went to 90 Mod
(8-10) winner, Kyle Riley, which was the first time
this year an (8-10) year old made the podium. Riley
was on a mission as he checked out on his class and
won with over 6 minutes to spare over Michael Ferraro
in 2nd place and 15th overall.
Jodi Stracham was able to edge out Brandon Boso to
take the win. Boso lead early on in the race, but a
flat tire slowed him down, which gave Stracham the opportunity
she needed to take the win. Kyle Hellyer would take
the win in the 90 Stock Limited over Dustin Adams, and
Michael Mussi was once again the winner in the 70cc
Production class
It starting raining halfway through the morning race
and rained the entire day, which turned the track into
a muddy mess, and with the huge hill climbs and rocky
terrain horse power was key and four wheel drive didn’t
hurt either, which gave the utility riders a huge advantage
in the morning as they dominated. Brock Parker was a
man on a mission and worked his way to the front with
a 3 minute overall lead over Clifton Beasaly in second
overall with Utility Stock Rider, Chad Hill taking the
final podium spot.
There was an intense battle for the lead early in the
1st lap between Traci Cecco and Angel Atwell for the
Women’s Class lead, but Angel would eventually
be able to pull away from Traci and take her second
win of the season with Lexie Coulter surprising everyone
by also working her way past Traci Cecco to finish in
the runners up spot.
John Gallagher would run away with the win in the Super
Senior Class as the Polaris Outlaw’s independent
rear suspension was right at home on the rocky and rough
Showtime! Track.
Several C Class riders also shined this weekend with
Scott Bush, Kevin Wallpe, Nathan Beyers, and Aaron Delancey
all winning their respective class and finishing in
the top 20 overall.
In the Afternoon, Factory Polaris Rider, Matt Smiley
grabbed the Holeshot, but less than a mile later he
stalled his Polaris and couldn’t get it started,
which sent him to the rear of the pack. By the end of
the first lap, Chris Jenks would work his way to the
front pack and he would remain end the front for the
majority of the second lap, and then he would check
out on everyone and go on to win the overall with over
3 minutes to spare.
Chris Borich would finish in the runners spot after
working his way through the pack after starting near
the rear. After the first lap, he was forced to stop
for a lengthy pit stop from being blast with mud as
he worked his way through the pack, but after he had
fresh goggles and gloves, he took off in 11th place
and was able to leap his way up into 2nd place by the
end of the second lap where he stayed for the rest of
the race.
Brent Sturdivant made the switch to the Pro Class,
and he charged his way into 3rd overall in the 3rd lap
and held it until 7 miles into the final lap when he
ran into problems, which dropped him back to 5th place.
Adam McGill was able to capitalize on the situation
and take over the third and final podium spot with Bill
Ballance moving up into 4th place in the final lap after
dealing with a twisted steering stem, which he suffered
early in the first lap.
William Yokley would finish only a few seconds behind
Ballance in 6th place, and Bryan Cook overcame adversity
to finish his first race of the season in 7th overall.
Cook almost didn’t even make the race due to a
last minute mechanical problem with his Honda, but he
worked on it into Thursday Evening and finally was able
to fix it and make the long trip from North Carolina
to Missouri.
Joshua Ribley finished in 8th place with the Missouri
boy’s Bryan Baker and Duane Johnson rounding out
the top 10 overall for the weekend.
The top Amateur in the Afternoon was Donald Ockerman
finishing 13th Overall and winning the 4 Stroke
A Class. Former Stock Class racers, Tyler Lenig
and Jarrod McClure finished back to back in the
Pro Am Class in 14th and 15th Overall.
About
Suzuki GNCC Racing Series:
The
AMA-sanctioned Suzuki Grand National Cross Country
series is America's premier off-road racing series.
The 13-round series is produced exclusively by
Racer Productions. Cross-country racing is one
of the most physically demanding sports in the
world. The nearly three-hour long GNCC races lead
as many as 1800 riders through tracks ranging
from eight to twelve miles in length. With varied
terrain including hills, trees, mud, dirt, rocks
and motocross sections, GNCC events are tests
of both survival and speed. GNCC featured sponsors
include Parts Unlimited, Moose, Maxxis, Pirelli,
Wiseco, Klotz, FMF and ITP, and riders compete
for over $2.8 million in series prizes and contingency
money. Associate sponsors include Moose Utility
Division, Scott, Acerbis, Alpinestars, Cometic,
Outerwears, Twin Air, Polisport Plastics, Thor,
Motion Pro, Hyper Wheels, Elka Suspension, MotoTee's,
Weekend Warrior, Owens Motorsports, Tom's Marina
Polaris, EK Chain and Laeger's. Media Sponsors
include Dirt Rider Magazine, ATV Sport Magazine,
www.ATVRiders.com
and Racer X Illustrated. For more information
log on to www.GNCCRacing.com.
www.gnccracing.com
122 Vista Del Rio Drive,
Morgantown, WV 26508
304-284-0084
|