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Utiilty
Racers lined up for the Main Event, and
Josh West & Pat Brons barely made
it to the line for the start of the race,
and where forced to the second row |
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Can-Am's
Josh Frederick grabbed the Holeshot over
teammate Rory Beckman followed by Arctic
Cat's Jesse West |
The Expert Sport class was filled with excitement,
but Utility Expert class was just as impressive
with lap times rivaling and even beating some
of the Sport class rider’s times. Josh Frederick,
who was on a Can-Am Outlander 650 for this race
instead of his DS450, flew off the gate and grabbed
the holeshot. Frederick was laying down some impressive
lap times, but WPSA QTC Pro Champion, Jesse West
was gaining momentum and had worked his way up
from fourth place until he was hot on Frederick’s
heels.
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Arctic
Cat's Jesse West blasted his way to the
front to claim his second Utility Championship
of the year |
“I was making some really fast lap times
and was in the lead, but in the third lap my
drive shaft broke and Jesse took the lead,”
said a disappointed Frederick. Once Jesse got
the lead, he stayed in front and never looked
back. “I was out here to just have fun.”
Said Jesse. “ It was kind of a typical
start for me, the Can-Am’s buried me off
the line as usual but I was able to get by them
pretty quickly after that. It was great, I had
a blast and I can’t wait to do it again!”
Jesse said enthusiastically.
Meanwhile, Daryl Rath and Josh West were busy
working their way up from the back. By the sixth
lap, Rath and West had made their way up to
the second and third places. Josh seemed to
be gaining on Daryl, but did not have enough
time to catch him before the eight laps were
over. In the end, it was Jesse West in first,
Daryl Rath in second, and Josh West in third.
Rick Cecco’s consistency allowed him to
finish fourth, and Patrick Brons’ efforts
earned him the last top five position.
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| Rath
Racing's Daryl Rath looked at home on
his new Suzuki King Quad as he claimed
the 2nd Spot ahead of Josh West |
Black
Magic Racing's Josh West charged his way
from the 2nd Row to join his brother Jesse
West on the Podium |
Racing wasn’t the only excitement going
on at this event. Several riders were sporting
new machines. Rory Beckman was making his debut
on a new Can-Am, while Daryl Rath sported a
new Suzuki. “Can-Am approached me and
made me a good offer so I signed on with them
a couple of weeks before the last WPSA race,”
said Beckman. Rory did well for his first race
on his new ride, taking sixth place overall.
Daryl Rath announced that Rath Racing will
be putting together a race team for next years
WPSA QTC Pro class and a 450 support team. “This
was a stepping stone for us to see where we
want to go with it,” Said Daryl. “We’ve
put together a program with a couple of dealers
and Yoshimura got involved as well. This was
a great test to see how it (the Suzuki) would
work. I couldn’t ask for a better test.
I’m glad we came out here!” He concluded.
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Former
GNCC Pro Racer, Ryan Morphew, showed up
on a KTM 525XC |
Another announcement made this weekend by 2006
GNCC Pro-Am Champion Ryan Morphew did not bring
good news, as Morphew announced that he will
be retiring from racing. Ryan’s 2007 has
been plagued by injury with a broken thumb earlier
in the season and then a broken wrist shortly
after his return. “My thumb is still really
messed up and a couple of my fingers are still
numb.” He said. Even though Ryan will
not be racing, he is not going to disappear
from the industry. Morphew will be partnered
with his father running a KTM/Suzuki dealership
called Performance Super Cycle, located in Livingston
Tennessee. “We took over ownership in
August, and it’s been doing good. It is
kind of hard for me personally though because
there are a lot of racers that race out of the
shop, and it makes me want to race. I want to
stay involved in what I love and this is a great
way to do it,” Said Ryan.
Involvement is a big part in making any racing
event a success, so there is already planning
going on for the next year’s Maxxis ATV
Endurocross, which includes talks of expanding
the event to a series for ATVs with venues back
east. Another idea series officials are working
on is to start the series after the GNCC racing
concludes, to avoid conflicts in scheduling
and bring in more riders to make the series
an ongoing and successful one.
