Crawfordsville, IN -
Pennsylvania's Chris Borich clearly has his Rockstar
Yoshimura Suzuki LT-R 450 figured out, as he completed
a book end of the 2008 Can-Am Grand National Cross
Country tour with a victory at the Klotz Ironman
GNCC in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Borich won the
series' opener in Florida but struggled at mid
season before winning a dramatic duel at the final
series' round.
"We were all just battling all day, it
was wide open out there," said Borich.
"We've got this Suzuki figured out on the
muddy tracks, should be good for 2009."
GNCC XC2 Champion Don Ockerman finished second
for the second-straight race on his GT Thunder
Yamaha, an impressive debut in the XC1 pro class.
GNCC Champion Bill Ballance rounded out the
podium on his Yamaha, edging FRE KTM's Adam
McGill by inches.
Ballance grabbed the ITP Holeshot Award and
battled with Borich all day. Borich led as the
pack took the white flag, but Ballance made
a move to get into the lead. By then Ballance
had lost his goggles from following Borich through
the mud, and he took a bad line through a mud
hole, allowing Borich and Ockerman to get past
him.
"I thought we had it won, but I couldn't
see that well, Chris was really throwing it
on me," said Ballance. "I took a line
that I thought looked pretty good, but it turned
out to be a terrible line and I almost got stuck."
Ockerman followed Borich through to take second,
which resulted in major cheers from his local
Indiana fans. "We tried a different strategy
in the pits, we pitted a lap late," said
Ockerman. "It helped us get in front and
pull a gap, and we almost pulled it off. Once
I had to pit I went back a few spots, but when
I got around Ballance, I couldn't believe it.
I was so excited, I just held it wide open to
the finish."
Ballance kept battling with McGill, and the
two pushed side-by-side through the final whoop
section before the finish. Ballance held off
McGill by half of a tire length for third. McGill
took fourth, while Warnert Racing Can-Am's Chris
Bithell completed the top five.
After clinching the 2008 GNCC Bike Championship,
David Knight entered the ATV race in the XC1
pro class for fun. Knighter finished the full
two hours, claiming 22nd in the class and 49th
overall.
With Ockerman out of the XC2 division, Tom
Clark Motorsports' Josh Kirkland railed to another
win ahead of National Guard's Mark Nottman and
Kawasaki rider Dustin Canipe, who also grabbed
the Rekluse Holeshot award.
While Ballance and McGill had already wrapped
up their titles in the XC1 and XC2 classes,
respectively, the Women's Championship remained
up for grabs between Yamaha's Traci Cecco and
Tom Clark Motorsports' Angel Atwell. Both riders
suffered through crashes, bad luck and misfortune
throughout the day, at one point even locking
their two machines together in a field section.
Late in the race, Cecco rallied to get the class
win and with it her seventh GNCC Womens Title.
"I was nervous, I admit it," said
Cecco. "I haven't even been able to sleep
lately. I got a bad start, I hit a tree on the
first lap, and then Angel and I came together
in a field, I couldn't believe it, we were locked.
She got out ahead of me, but I just told myself
to calm down and take my time. I managed to
pass her and it was looking good, but then I
went over the bars on the last lap. I'm just
so relieved right now."
Bryan Buckhannon led wire to wire to win the
ATVRiders.com Morning Race Overall on his ATV
Parts Plus/LTERacing.com Can-Am. Scott Kilby
finished second and Robert Smith finished third,
winning the U2 class.
Josh Merritt won the Youth Race overall and
also claimed the 2008 GNCC Youth Championship
on his Cobra.
The Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series
concludes with tomorrow's bike racing at the
Ironman.
1. Chris Borich (Suz)
2. Don Ockerman (Yam)
3. Bill Ballance (Yam)
4. Adam McGill (KTM)
5. Chris Bithell (Can)
6. Brandon Sommers (Yam)
7. Bryan Cook (Hon)
8. Jarrod McClure (Hon)
9. Ryan Lane (Hon)
10. Matt Smiley (Hon)
About
GNCC Racing:
The
Can-Am Grand National Cross Country series is
America's premier off-road racing series. Founded
in 1973, the 13-round championship is produced
exclusively by Racer Productions. Cross country
racing is one of the most physically demanding
sports in the world. The grueling three-hour
GNCC races lead as many as 1,800 riders through
tracks ranging in length from eight to 12 miles,
competing for more than $3 million in prizes.
With varied terrain, including hills, woods,
mud, dirt, rocks and motocross sections, GNCC
events are tests of both survival and speed.
GNCC featured sponsors include: Can-Am, Parts
Unlimited, Moose, Maxxis, Pirelli, Wiseco, Acerbis,
Elka, GEICO, Klotz, FMF, ITP and Weekend Warrior.
Associate sponsors include Alpine-stars, BRP,
Cometic, HiPer Technology, Laegers, Moose Utility
Division, The National Guard, Ogio, Powersport
Grafx, Rekluse, REM, Scott, Thor, Twin Air,
and MotoTee's ATVRiders.com.
For more information log on to www.GNCCRacing.com.
www.gnccracing.com
122 Vista Del Rio Drive,
Morgantown, WV 26508
304-284-0084
