Jarrod McClure
GNCC "Steele Creek" Pro ATV Race Report
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Jarrod McClure placed
17th in the Pro class at Steele Creek
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Morganton, NC (3/25/2009) - After
running in a top ten position all day, my race came
to a halt as I experienced some troubles with my
rear shock. I ended up completing 4 out of the 5
laps, and settled for 17th in the pro class.
Thursday before the Steele Creek GNCC North Carolina,
I left home and headed for South Carolina to do
some suspension testing. I decided to go to Carolina
Adventure World. I met with my suspension builder
Mike Hallock, and after a few hours of testing we
got my Yamaha working real nice.
I arrived at the track on Friday, and after walking
a short section, it seemed like it was going to
be a fairly dry race. I prepped the bike after riding
all day Thursday and got everything ready to go.
Saturday arrived and the weather was perfect for
racing. Highs were in the mid 60’s, and the
sun was shining. I headed to the starting line and
was feeling good about the conditions. I had a decent
start, and headed into the woods somewhere around
12th. The track was basically one lined, and was
hard to make any passes. I picked off a few riders
in the first two laps, and was feeling good sitting
somewhere around 8th place.
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Jarrod had to deal
with a broken rear shock reservoir
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As the race went on the track kept getting rougher
and rougher. The steep uphills got rutted out and
in the turns a lot of deep holes began forming.
On the fourth lap I was still running somewhere
around eighth just behind Ryan Lane and Brandon
Sommers. I had a nice pace going, when all of a
sudden I felt my rear shock topping out really hard.
I rode a little longer, and then I realized something
wasn’t right. I pulled over to find out that
the mount for my rear shock reservoir had cracked
and now my reservoir was hanging and bouncing off
of my swingarm! From bouncing around the fitting
spun loose and all of the oil and nitrogen leaked
out of the shock making it feel like it was blown
out. I decided I would finish the lap to salvage
some points, and then call it a day.
I was a little bummed out that my race ended like
this, but it could have happened to anyone, that
is just the way racing goes. This weekend I will
be gone to Arizona to race in round 3 of the WORCS
series, but I will be back next weekend for South
Carolina and ready to put my Yamaha on the podium!
See you there!
www.gnccracing.com
122 Vista Del Rio Drive,
Morgantown, WV 26508
304-284-0084
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