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Borich wins race, Ballance Locks up Record-tying Seventh
GNCC Title
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| Bil
Ballance was joined on the podium by his entire
family (left to right) Tyra, Leah, Bill, Lauren |
St. Clairsville, OH – With yet
another consistent finish, Yamaha's Bill Ballance rode
his factory YFZ450 right into the GNCC record books. Ballance
locked up the 2006 Suzuki Grand National Cross Country
ATV title at the FMF Power Line Park GNCC over the weekend,
tying Barry Hawk's all-time record with his seventh-straight
GNCC number one plate.
"I just can't believe it," said Ballance.
"I remember way back when we were struggling, it
was hard to even imagine winning a championship, let
alone all of these. And we've gone through so many changes
as we've tried to make the sport better, changing rules
and equipment, and the amount of races we count for
a championship. I have the big target on me, and I have
to make sure I say and do things right, because everyone
is going to be watching me. So it's been tough. It feels
real good to be able to pull it off. The sport just
keeps growing and growing. It's good for all of us to
try to be good role models and be good to these fans.
That's part of it. I love the sport and love racing,
and with the way it's elevating right now, it's great
to be part of it."
Ballance needed only a fourth or better to win the
title, and he finished second. The win went to his closest
competitor, East Coast ATV Honda's Chris Borich, who
also won the race last year. "This track fits my
riding style," said Borich. "It's high speed
and I just let it all hang out. Me and Bill were going
through the water leading, and I just started laughing,
because (Brent) Sturdivant just went wide open through
the water. He was gone! Bill let me by and I tried to
reel him in. He was going pretty good. I finally got
around him, and he got back by me, and then I gave him
the thumbs up and told him to use his head so we could
roll together. I think he ended up doing pretty well."
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| Honda’s
Chris Borich Wins the Powerline Park GNCC for
the fourth consecutive year in a row |
Brent
Sturdivant converted his Honda into a submarine
to take over the lead in the first lap but just
missed the Podium at the end of the race |
Sturdivant, who raced the Pro Am class earlier in the
year before moving up, finished a career-best fifth.
"We got down into the first water crossing and
all of a sudden Sturdivant just came in there wide open,"
said Ballance, who grabbed the ITP Holeshot Award money
at the start. "I was like "Wow, that guy is
going to drown out or something. He's going somewhere."
He was pretty much balls to the wall, all over the rev
limiter, and I was just letting him go. I know Chris
was wanting to win the race, so he came up on me and
I moved over. He gave me the thumbs up and went charging
ahead. He ran a good race, but I ran a pace that would
maybe put me in position to win, but I was a little
more on the conservative side."
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| Monster's
William Yokley was finally able to put his bad
luck behind him and pull out a Podium finish after
coming so close the past two races. |
Mr
Consistent Duane Johnson takes home a 4th place
finish and hasn’t finished out of the top
10 overall all year, and now has moved into 3rd
Overall. |
Behind Borich and Ballance came Monster/Yoshimura Suzuki's
William Yokley in third. "I had some trouble getting
my race face on, I was back there cruising," said
Yokley. "Duane Johnson got around me and he kind
of picked me up. That's what I needed, somebody I could
set everything off of. We went after Bill, and I got
close with lappers, but I couldn't get close enough
to make a move or anything."
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| #1
Bil Ballance tied Barry Hawk at Powerline Park
by wrapping up his Seventh GNCC Nationals Titles,
and Barry Hawk Congratulated Bill Ballance on
the Podium |
The ever-consistent Johnson was fourth, and thanks
to bad luck suffered by GT Thunder's Chris Jenks, Johnson
now sits an amazing third in points heading into the
finale in Indiana in two weeks.
The other seven-time GNCC ATV Champ, Barry Hawk, was
invited to the podium for photos with Ballance. "I
never imagined I would get seven in row, and once I
retired from the ATV side, I thought Bill might win
a couple of championships, but I never thought he would
win seven," said Hawk. "So I congratulate
him on that. This has come a long way. When I won my
championships, the factories didn't do much for me.
It's a shame that it took so long, but I'm glad it finally
happened, because these guys deserve it."
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| Chris
Borich is smiling again after taking home his
thrid win of the year |
Much like last year, Borich appeared to be a championship
favorite early when he won the season-opening event
in Florida by a huge margin. "We had a couple of
bad races and let it slip away from me," said Borich.
"I don't want to let him get that eighth title
next year."
But Ballance won't stop working. "Actually, I'm
doing nine days of suspension testing next week,"
said Ballance. "The work doesn't stop. Hopefully
we show up at Ironman ready to win. It's been tough,
there was a lot of competition this year. I didn't think
I could wrap it like this, five or six races ago I thought
it was going to come down to the wire. We made some
good decisions and we had luck on our side."
The race was taped for an airing on the Versus Network
(formerly OLN). The shows air weekly on Saturdays and
Wednesdays at 3:00 p.m.
Suzuki GNCC Series ATV Racing
Results
Round #12 - "Powerline Park GNCC"
| ATV
Top Twenty Overall |
1 Chris M. Borich Sunbury, PA 01:58:58
2 Bill V. Ballance Oakland, KY 01:59:28
3 William Yokley Tompkinsville, KY 01:59:30
4 Duane Johnson Trenton, MO 01:59:48
5 Brent Sturdivant Montrose, WV 02:00:57
6 Chris Bithell Irwin, PA 02:01:18
7 Adam Mcgill West Union, WV 02:03:35
8 Jeremy Rice Fombell, PA 02:03:37
9 Brandon Sommers Millersburg, OH 02:04:08
10 Brandon Ballance Oakland, KY 02:05:22
11 Matt J. Smiley Kunkletown, PA 02:05:25
12 Tyler Lenig Shamokin, PA 02:05:34
13 Ryan Morphew Cookeville, TN 02:05:39
14 Craig Reed Crawford, TN 02:05:41
15 Jarrod Mcclure Kaska, PA 02:05:43
16 Taylor Kiser Alva, FL 02:05:58
17 Andris Lagzdins Baltimore, MD 02:06:05
18 Santo Derisi Casar, NC 02:06:13
19 Todd Demaree Varsailles, IN 02:07:21
20 Bryan Baker Knob Noster, MO 02:07:30 |
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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