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Bill Ballance Wins Wild Yadkin Valley Stomp GNCC
11-rider fight concludes
in a huge bottleneck, Yokley, Houston, lose it in the
final mile
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| Bill
Ballance extends points lead to 6 points over
Chris Borich for the Pro ATV Championship |
Yadkinville, NC – Nearly every
round of the 2006 Suzuki Grand National Country ATV Series
has featured incredible racing, but the Yadkin Valley
Stomp might have been the best yet. An 11-rider pack broke
out in a knock-down drag-out battle for the lead and the
action continued right into the final stretch of the two-hour
race, when bad luck snagged the leaders, Yoshimura/Monster
Suzuki’s William Yokley and LTERacing.com’s
Michael Houston. Defending GNCC Champion Bill Ballance
was able to bust past them and win, with HMF/GT Thunder
pro rookie Duane Johnson in second and K&K ATV veteran
Bryan Baker in third.
“We got into a bottleneck, and William was leading,
and I think he jumped in there before he knew what was
going on, basically,” said Ballance. “He
got into the trail right behind a guy and he was too
close to back up. So we pushed around the guys who got
hung up. Then Houston’s clutch went out, and we
went around him and cruised on in.”
It was a heartbreaker for Yokley and Houston, who
had come from way back in the pack before disaster struck
within sight of the finish.
“I had it,” said a dejected Yokley. The
popular Kentucky rider got a bad start, and then pitted
on the first lap. But even on the tight track, Yokley
was able to work his way toward the front of the pack
late in the race. He passed Ballance and Houston on
the last lap and was ready to take off before he got
stuck behind a slower rider. This opened up the door
for Houston.
“I was back far enough to where I could see
William,” said Houston, who had his clutch blow
out on the last lap. “So I took a different line
and got away, I think Bill was right behind me. I pulled
up and had to stop and let one guy move his quad out
of the way. As soon as I started going, I heard it chatter
and I was done. Man, it’s heartbreaking, to be
in the lead that close to the finish.”
Ballance busted through with Johnson and Baker behind
him. “I got all tangled up at the start, I must
have been 18th,” said Johnson. “I just kept
working my way through. I caught the tail of all of
the fast guys, and then Borich, Bithell and Cook all
got stuck in a ditch. I was into the top five there,
and then people just kept making mistakes. It was crazy,
there was a big bottleneck. I just stayed on Bill’s
grab bar because I figured he would get through there
as well as anyone else.”
Baker had similar good luck. “We were literally
a half a mile from the end, and it was a real thick
section,” said Baker. “There were quads
sitting everywhere and pros sitting everywhere. A bunch
of pros went to the right and then the guy that clogged
it got undone, and I just went through and got into
third.”
GNCC Title contender Chris Borich ran up front most
of the day but ended up fourth. In the early laps, Borich
battled with Ballance and LTERacing.com rookie Chris
Bithell. Later, Ballance got stuck in a ditch, and Borich
bumped him out. Then Borich got stuck and soon Bithell
and Team Excell Motorsports’ Bryan Cook got stuck
with him. Chaos was breaking out all over the course,
as GT Thunder’s Chris Jenks was up front, but
he made a mistake and ended up dragging his leg under
his machine, until he was stuck completely under it!
Cook and Bithell stopped to help him off.
It was that kind of day, but the results board will
show Ballance continues to extend his points lead over
Borich, with just three races to go before a champion
is crowned.
In morning race action, Team Yamaha’s Traci
Cecco won another dramatic battle with Stephanie Parton
and Angel Atwell. The overall win locked up Cecco’s
fifth GNCC Women’s Championship.
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Traci
Cecoo Wins 8th Race of the Year and Receives the
#1 Plate
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The Versus Network (Formerly the Outdoor Life Network)
taped all of the Stomp action for the Racer TV Series.
Races air every Saturday and Wednesday at 3 pm.
The Suzuki GNCC Series continues in two weeks at historic
Unadilla Valley Sports Center in New Berlin, NY with
the Unadilla GNCC.
Suzuki GNCC Series ATV Racing
Results
Round #10 - "Yadkin Valley Stomp GNCC"
| ATV
Top Twenty Overall |
1. Bill V Balance Oakland, KY YAM 02:03:28
2. Duane Johnson Trenton, MO HON 02:03:36
3. Bryan Baker Knob Noster, MO HON 02:03:43
4. Chris M Borich Sunbury, PA HON 02:03:48
5. Adam McGill West Union, WV HON 02:03:50
6. Taylor Kiser Alva, FL YAM 02:03:55
7. William Yokley Tompkinsville, KY SUZ 02:03:55
8. Chris Bithell Irwin, PA HON 02:04:05
9. Bryan Cook Casar, NC HON 02:04:40
10. Jarrod Mcclure Kaska, PA HON 02:04:44
11. Chris Jenks Washington, WV HON 02:04:53
12. Santo Derisi Casar, NC HON 02:04:57
13. Donald Ockerman Marshall, IL HON 02:05:30
14. Craig Reed Crawford, TN HON 02:05:45
15. Brandon Sommers Millersburg, OH YAM 02:05:50
16. Ryan Morphew Cookeville, TN HON 02:06:04
17. Tyler Lenig Shamokin, PA HON 02:06:07
18. David Crane Golden, MS HON 02:06:10
19. Kyle Martin Winona, MO HON 02:06:22
20. Andris Lagzdins Baltimore, MD ROL 02:07:14 |
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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