Jarrod McClure
Race Report:
GNCC Round 2, The General - Pro ATV Racing
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Jarrod McClure
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Washington, GA (3/17/2008) - The
never-ending trip home from Florida was now over,
and I only had a few days to get the bike ready
for the upcoming race this weekend in GA. I gave
it a good washing which took a while to get all
of the Florida sand off, then straightened out some
parts that got mangled in my first turn crash in
FL, and did my routine pre-race check and she was
ready to go.
We made the 12-hour trip to GA on Friday, and
on the way down we ran into a lot of rain! I was
predicting that this would be a muddy race. Getting
to the track, the pits were just as expected a
sloppy, muddy mess. I really didn’t check
out the track at all, but I could tell it was
going to be muddy. I got my shock serviced by
Jay over at the Elka, who said it was due after
the pounding it took in Florida. Next I got my
set of Maxxis Razr 2 rear tires mounted up on
the quad, because I know how deep the ruts get
in Georgia, and these tires work great in the
deep stuff! After that it was back to the hotel
to get some shut-eye.
Saturday I woke up all congested with this cold
I somehow caught in the three days I was home
from FL. The sun was shining, and I though cool,
some nice weather. Then I walked outside and got
blown across the parking lot! I arrived at the
track to catch the end of the morning race, which
Traci Cecco ended up winning on her Yamaha, and
then headed to registration.
It was time to head to the start and after talking
to Scott Norton, who raced in the morning he told
me the track was fast and starting to dry up.
The flag waved, and I was off to a great start,
probably my best ever! I was up inside the top
10 and riding hard. The track was awesome, fast,
with only a few problem areas.
First lap I checked in 6th right behind Taylor
Kiser, we were rolling good, with KTM guys in
the woods showing him the best lines I followed
right behind him making up some time and some
passes. Then lap two I was forced to stop and
take my chest protector off, because I forgot
to tighten one of the screws I replaced after
installing my name plate-my bad! That set me back
to around 9th on the 2nd lap.
Lap three I came up to a huge bottleneck neck
somewhere around the three-mile marker, I think
everyone was stuck there. The track was really
developing some “quad-swallowing”
ruts. I patiently waited and got through, and
ended up coming out of there in seventh place
or so. I then saw Chris Borich with his chain
slider all jammed around his sprocket (tuff luck
Chris). By the last lap I was into sixth, with
Cook, and Ryan Lane right in front of me. I saw
an opportunity to make a pass and I jumped at
it leaving me stuck in the mud for about a two
minutes! Allowing Matt Smiley to pass and pull
away from me.
I got unstuck, and rode the last lap as hard
as I could with all of the mud on my gloves. I
ended up seventh at the checkers, which I was
happy with after all of the chaos on the track
today. What a race, with Ballance and Borich dropping
out it opened up the podium for some new faces.
Adam Mcgill got the win by six minutes, with Taylor
Kiser coming in second and Brandon Sommers in
third an impressive finish for KTM today!
With two rounds out of the way I am currently
in seventh place in points, and I am really looking
forward to NC in three weeks. I’ll be aiming
at a top five finish there so watch out for me!
See ya there!
www.gnccracing.com
122 Vista Del Rio Drive,
Morgantown, WV 26508
304-284-0084
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