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The Yadkin Valley
Stomp GNCC ATV Race Report by William Yokley
Round 8: Yadkinville, North
Carolina - June 21, 2008
Sparta, KY (6/23/2008) -
William Yokley finished 7th Overall today in hot,
humid and dusty conditions. There were 201 total
entries with 23 XC1 Pro Riders. Team Rider Mark
Notman finished 21th Overall and 7th in the 23
rider XC2 Pro Am Class.
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William,
#11, in the dust storm!
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This is the time of the season when it’s
usually hot and dry, and your conditioning is
tested. Yadkinville is a beautiful area of North
Carolina with many wineries and lots of ATV enthusiasts.
This year, hot, humid weather and lots of red
clay dust greeted us as we set up on Friday. It
looked like it was going to rain Sat. morning,
which we really needed, but it never came and
just got hotter. Using your head and staying on
4 wheels would be important today, as well as
a good start. I hydrated myself well on Friday
and Saturday, did my pre-race warm up and stretching,
and headed to the start area.
I got a pretty decent start and as everyone piled
into the first turn, the typical chaos began.
I was sandwiched in between Matt Smiley and Chris
Borich coming into the turn when I tried to make
the hole bigger and squeeze through. I caused
a big mess when my rear tire jumped Borich’s
front tire and launched my rear end straight up
into the air. I just hung on tight and was able
to set it down and throw it into the turn without
crashing. Borich wasn’t as lucky as he tumbled
hard. I went into the woods in 8th and worked
my way to 7th going into lap 2. Just when I thought
this would be a decent day, my bike started running
really badly; I thought it was a little rich and
just needed cleaning out, but as I went down each
straight it got worse instead of better. Did I
mention the dust was bad?
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Mark Notman banging
wheels at the start on his National Guard
Honda
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Without being able to open it up and cleanly
run out of corners and open areas, it made it
kind of rough for the rest of the day. I ran in
6th for most of the day behind McGill, but in
the open areas, it just would miss and sputter,
and I would get caught in the dust and loose more
time. Borich caught me on the last lap; I was
trying to hold him off, but I hit a stump with
my rear tire shooting me into a tree where I got
stuck. I limped to the finish in 7th Overall with
my air filters plugged up. I hate something like
that holding me back during the race, but it could
always be worse. I’m just glad that race
is over, it was getting old eating all that dust!
My teammate Mark had a good day after overcoming
some adversity. He got a good start going into
the woods in 5th. The heavy dust made it difficult
to see most of the time; he overshot a turn and
hit a small creek at a bad angle resulting in
smashing his knee into the handlebars. It took
awhile for the pain to subside and get in a rhythm,
but after a few miles he caught back up to the
lead pack. Toward the end of lap 1, his seat somehow
popped off and he had to stop to retrieve and
reinstall it, costing him several positions. Mark
put his head down and rode mistake free working
his way to 5th right behind 4th going into the
last lap. His knee was really bothering him at
this point, and he made the decision to not attempt
the big creek jump, costing him a couple of positions.
He ended the day in 7th XC2 Pro AM and 21st Overall,
and sits in 4th place in the season points.
I plan to keep training and preparing for the
rocky conditions we will face in 2 weeks in PA.
I will also be racing the Polaris RZR there in
the UTV Race, and hopefully I’ll get back
on the box! See you there.
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, Axcalibar Axles, Streamline,
Powermadd, Moto Pro Training, and KG Clutch Factory.
www.YokleyRacing.com
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