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Steel Creek GNCC
ATV Race Report by William Yokley
Round 3: Morganton, North
Carolina - March 29, 2008
Morganton, NC (3/31/2008) -
William Yokley was on the podium today finishing
3rd Overall under cold and wet conditions in the
North Carolina Mountains. There were 296 total
entries with 23 XC1 Pro Riders. Team Rider Mark
Notman finished 30th Overall and 11th in the 39
rider XC2 Pro Am Class.
Summary
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William Yokley
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We had a 3 week break between the last race in
GA, which gave us some time to recover and do
some additional fine tuning on my bike. We got
everything freshened up, and were able to work
on a few things with the suspension. I felt like
I had some good settings that would work well
at Steele Creek.
We arrived at the track on Friday afternoon to
warm temperatures and a forecast of a chance of
showers. I met SGT Adam Coffey, the Recruiting
Officer who was overseeing the National Guard
Display, and he reviewed the plans for the weekend.
They had their cool spider tent and a Humvee at
the display. Polaris provided a brand new Sportsman
ATV for the National Guard to use at the races
to ride around and meet potential recruits; thank
you very much Polaris!
I woke up early Sat. morning to heavy thunderstorms
and cold temps; at least I didn’t have to
worry about dust today! It rained hard all morning
and eased up some before our race. We prepared
for lots of mud and water, because we always run
in and out of Steele Creek several times per lap;
it’s great for the spectators but not so
much fun for the riders. It took the GNCC workers
a while to clear all the wounded machines out
of the creeks and mud holes from the morning race,
but the conditions were not too bad under the
circumstances.
The flag dropped and my National Guard Honda
fired quickly; I found myself in 3rd behind McGill
and Ballance going into the mountain trails. The
first lap was mainly trying to set a good pace
and get used to the conditions, and not get stuck
in the many mud bogs, steep hills, and deep ruts.
On lap 2, I got in a battle with Matt Smiley and
Bill Ballance where we went back and forth, knocking
me back to 4th place. On lap 3, I had the fastest
lap time of all the competitors, and moved up
to 2nd. On the 4th and final lap, my bike started
stalling out and I had to restart it several times.
I also lost time in some bottlenecks behind lapped
riders, but I finished 3rd for the day, which
was my best result so far this year. It was nice
getting back up on the podium!
Team Rider Mark Notman had a decent day in the
very competitive XC2 Pro-Am class. He got a great
start in the top 5, but got slammed from behind
in the first corner knocking him out of the top
20. There were many traffic jams on lap1, and
he came through in 22nd out of 39 in his class.
He put his head down and worked his way up to
10th going into the final lap. He was getting
through the problem areas well until the very
end. About 40 yards from the finish line was a
creek crossing that was getting extremely difficult
with huge ruts as well as deep mud, and was a
real hazard especially when riders got stuck and
blocked the trail. Mark got behind a rider that
blocked him causing him to get buried in the mud.
It took him several minutes to get out, but he
did finish in 11th in class. Mark is 4th in points
through the first 3 races, and is working hard
to get on the podium.
The next race is in Union, SC in 2 weeks. I have
a lot of work ahead of me, not only do we have
to completely go through my race bike, but we
have to race prep the Polaris RZR that I’m
going to race in the side by side races there.
Polaris has provided me with the opportunity to
have some fun and promote their machines. It should
be interesting; I’ll talk to you soon!
Yokley Racing Team Sponsors:
The Army National Guard, Rocky Mountain
ATV, Polaris Industries, ITP Tires, Elka Suspension,
Roll Design, HMF Exhaust Systems, IMS/Roll, Tire
Balls, Andrews Cycle, Douglas Wheel Technology,
Baldwin Motorsports, CGR, O’Neal Clothing,
Panolin Lubricants, IMS, Hinson, 317 Graphics,
Intense Fabrication & Design, Tsubaki Chains,
Hardkor, Shoei Helmets, Axcaliber Axles, Streamline
and Powermadd.
www.YokleyRacing.com
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