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Ballance Finally gets it at the Tire Balls Spartan GNCC
Another hard battle puts Bithell and Borich on the
podium
Sparta, KY – It's been a season
of upsets in the Suzuki Grand National Cross Country
Series, but all year long six-time GNCC ATV Champion
Bill Ballance has remained confident that he is still
the man in the series. Ballance was just hoping for
a clean race to prove himself again, and he finally
got it at the Spartan GNCC in Sparta, Kentucky, taking
his third win of the season on his factory Yamaha YFZ450.
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| Matt
Smiley was geared up and ready to race the Polaris
Predator this weekend, but unfortunately for Smiley
his footpeg was broke off early in the race after
Bryan Baker bounced off a tree and into Smiley. |
"This is what we had been looking for all season
long," said Balance, who won another close one.
"I know I'm in the best physical shape of my life.
I can ride the whole race and not get tired. It's just
a matter of not having stupid little things happen,
and today it finally came together for us."
But the competition put up one heck of a fight, as
LTERacing.com's rookie threat Chris Bithell put in another
inspired ride and fought Ballance all the way through
the last lap. "I had a good start and I just tried
to ride smart and stay with them," said Bithell.
"At one point Bill and Chris (Jenks) tried to make
a run and they started to get away, but then they made
a mistake and I was back on them. On the last lap, Bill
made a couple mistakes in the trees and I almost got
around. I was just pushing as hard as I could to get
that win, but he rode really well."
East Coast ATV Honda's Chris Borich ended up third
after a come-from-behind effort.
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| Bill
Ballance's Yamaha YFZ450 launched him out front
once again with the ITP Holeshot |
After grabbing the $100 ITP Holeshot Award, Ballance
jetted away out front. The pack stayed close all day,
but GT Thunder's Chris Jenks made the big move by pitting
a lap later than everyone else to take the lead. Jenks
was trying to win his third GNCC in a row, but Ballance
managed to catch up to him and then pass him when Jenks
had to pit on lap three. "I knew he had to pit,
so I just tried to get close to him," said Ballance.
"It was a good strategy on his part. I just didn't
need to take any chances and force it since he was going
to pit."
When Jenks pitted on lap three he dropped back to third,
but instead of mounting a charge, he made a few mistakes
and dropped back.
"Just wasn't my day I guess," said Jenks.
"I made too many mistakes. I couldn't keep it out
of the trees."
On the last lap Jenks came under fire from Borich,
who was charging hard after crashes of his own. "I
didn't get a good start and the track was so tight,
it was hard to make up ground on these guys," said
Borich. "A holeshot would have helped today. I'm
happy to get in here in third, I was pretty far back.
I just charged as hard as I could on the last lap. Me
and Chris had a good battle, he made a mistake and we
ended up wedged between the trees. I just couldn't make
up the time after that."
"I apologized to Chris for that one," said
Jenks. "I have respect for all of these guys."
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| Chris
Bithell finishes 2nd Oveall and claims his second
Podium finish of the year making it a Killer B's
Sweep |
Borich accepted a third-place finish, but the former
series points leader knows he needs to win again to
prevent Ballance from getting on a roll.
Team Excell Motorsports/DeRisi Racing rider Bryan Cook
put in his best ride of the season to finish fourth.
After a shoulder injury early in the year, Cook is marching
his way back to the front. "I'm just trying to
get the mindset back," said Cook. "It feels
really really good to get back up here in the top five."
Jenks was fifth and Yoshimura Suzuki's William Yokley
ended up sixth after a horrible start. "I don't
know what happened," said Yokley, who rides the
LT-R450 Suzuki. "I thought I had it all ready,
but it just didn't crank on the line. We're just learning
things with this new machine. The track was so tight
it was hard to get around guys, and I didn't want to
start pushing people out of the way or end up getting
myself hurt."
In the GNCC morning race, Alba Yamaha's Traci Cecco
took another overall win on her factory Yamaha YFZ.
Polaris' Stephanie Parton took fourth overall on an
Outlaw 500, and Novice rider Glenn Pritchard put in
the best race of his career with fifth overall. Michael
Shelley was the top utility rider with 12th overall.
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| Traci
Cecco dominated in the Morning Race once again
as she claimed yet another Overall Win for Yamaha |
Jeff
Stoess raced the Sportsman Class in the Morning
and finished 2nd Overall on a completely Stock
Polaris Outlaw |
The Suzuki GNCC Series continues in two weeks with
the Parts Unlimited Wisp GNCC in Deep Creek, MD. For
more information, log on to GNCCRacing.com.
Suzuki GNCC Series ATV Racing
Results
Round #8 - "The Tire Balls Spartan GNCC"
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ATV
Top Twenty Overall |
1. Bill Ballance Oakland, KY YAM 01:59:40
2. Chris Bithell Irwin, PA HON 01:59:42
3. Chris Borich Sunbury, PA HON 02:00:15
4. Bryan Cook Casar, NC HON 02:00:18
5. Chris Jenks Washington, WV HON 02:00:21
6. William Yokley Thompkinsville, KY SUZ 02:02:14
7. Duane Johnson Trenton, MO HON 02:02:17
8. Brent Sturdivant Montrose, WV HON 02:02:19
9. Tyler Lenig Shamokin, PA HON 02:03:00
10. Michael Houston Hickory, NC HON 02:03:58
11. Brandon Ballance Oakland, KY YAM 02:04:00
12. Johnny Gallagher Aurora, OH HON 02:04:06
13. Santo Derisi Casar, NC HON 02:05:25
14. Kyle Martin Winona, MO HON 02:05:51
15. Jarrod Mcclure Kaska, PA HON 02:05:56
16. Rob Hertz Brookhaven, PA HON 02:06:22
17. Ryan Morphew Cookeville, TN HON 02:06:26
18. Bryan Baker Knob Noster, MO HON 02:06:35
19. Jeremy Rice Fombell, PA SUZ 02:06:45
20. Andris Lagzdins Baltimore, MD ROL 02:06:54 |
The
AMA-sanctioned Suzuki Grand National Cross Country series
is America's premier off-road racing series. The 13-round
series is produced exclusively by Racer Productions.
Cross-country racing is one of the most physically demanding
sports in the world. The nearly three-hour long GNCC
races lead as many as 1800 riders through tracks ranging
from eight to twelve miles in length. With varied terrain
including hills, trees, mud, dirt, rocks and motocross
sections, GNCC events are tests of both survival and
speed. GNCC featured sponsors include Parts Unlimited,
Moose, Maxxis, Pirelli, Wiseco, Klotz, FMF and ITP,
and riders compete for over $2.8 million in series prizes
and contingency money. Associate sponsors include Moose
Utility Division, Scott, Acerbis, Alpinestars, Cometic,
Outerwears, Twin Air, Polisport Plastics, Thor, Motion
Pro, Hyper Wheels, Elka Suspension, MotoTee's, Weekend
Warrior, Owens Motorsports, Tom's Marina Polaris, EK
Chain and Laeger's. Media Sponsors include Dirt Rider
Magazine, ATV Sport Magazine, www.ATVRiders.com
and Racer X Illustrated. For more information log on
to www.GNCCRacing.com.
www.gnccracing.com
122 Vista Del Rio Drive,
Morgantown, WV 26508
304-284-0084
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