GNCC ATV Racing Round 13 "Klotz Ironman" Results Photo Galleries Videos Afternoon National Numbers Morning National Numbers

Birds eye view of the Ironman

Crawfordsville, IN - The final Grand National Cross Country race of the 2006 season once again was held in the beautiful fall landscape of Crawfordsville, Indiana. The Ironman GNCC always has record racer and spectator turnouts, with this year's event continued the tradition with 600 ATV racers battling through a 10 mile course lined with spectators and fans. The rough and challenging track always guarantees an exciting race, even though the championship had already been wrapped up by the now seven-time champ Bill Ballance. With Chris Borich locking up the runner-up spot in the series once again, the biggest battle was for third place in the championship. William Yokley, Chris Jenks and Duane Johnson all had a shot at it going into Indiana, with Johnson being the standout because of his rookie status. William has won the Ironman more times than even he can remember and Jenks has won two rounds previously this year, so these three were ready to put on a show. Chris Bithell and Adam McGill were both in contention for sixth overall in the series, and this would be a good showdown as both riders had scored two podiums each during the season. Chris had taken a second overall at the Ironman in 2005, in what proved to be his break-out ride. MXer Pat Brown made another GNCC appearance for Yamaha, Brandon Sommers would also tackle the Pro Class after a great debut ride in Ohio, and Sean Neidlinger moved up from ProAm for a shot at the front row.

The track held up fairly well despite the rain earlier in the week, but there were still some serious mud holes, which challenged even the best of riders.	After some technical and slippery racing through the trees, the wide open corn fields came as a breath of fresh air and provided a chance to hold it wide open.

The Ironman course is a mix of open fields and flowing woods, punctuated by deep creek crossings. The freshly cut corn fields make for high-speed passing opportunities, as the course twists and turns through the hay bales across the gradually sloping terrain. The area around the track looks deceivingly flat but the hill climbs and down hills throughout the venue are serious, with even a slight miscalculation resulting in your quad doing snap rolling somersaults into a tree or two while you do your best Seth Enslow impersonation. The uphill ravine climbs that have caused numerous bottlenecks in the past were finally left out, and I can't imagine anyone missed them. The weather was a bit chilly in the morning, but turned out to be perfect at race time. A little precipitation earlier in the week wet down the area enough to eliminate any dust, but didn't soak the trails down too much.

With the GNCC Championship wrapped up, Yamaha & Bill Ballance celebrated Friday night at FastTimes Indoor Karting in Indianapolis. Ofcourse, Bill Ballance and his team was able to outrun everyone with yet another win	This may come as a huge surprise for many, but William Yokley will be settling down with his soon to be wife, Tina. The wedding bells will be ringing in Kentucky on November 11th. Congratulations William & Tina Yokley !!!

The 25 rider Pro Class was stacked with talent, and with several points chases going on the anticipation at the start was at an all-time high. Spectators lined the start straight, the entire first turn, and almost the whole way into the woods to watch the start of the race. Duane Johnson pulled the holeshot followed by Bill Ballance and Chris Borich. Adam McGill and Chris Bithell tangled on the start and were at the back of the pack.

#15 "Rock" Duane Johnson claims the ITP Holeshot Award over #1 Bill Ballance

I pulled my best start of the year, and tucked in behind Matt Smiley to hold fifth place as we entered the woods. The pace was fast, but it was obvious that no one wanted to be the first to make a mistake on the technical sections throughout the track. I held onto fifth until we came into the cow fence section, where Chris Jenks and Pat Brown took a line across a ditch and went by me. In the very next turn, they both collided and went sliding off into the grass. Brent Sturdivant and Bryan Baker got past me, but I felt good getting the first lap in without any hangups. Chris Borich held the lead after the first lap, with Bill Ballance and Duane Johnson close behind. Then came Smiley, Baker, Brent and I within ten seconds of one another. Chris Jenks did not complete the first lap and ended his season with a DNF after snapping a lower front spindle on his Honda, while Yokley had front end issues and had to pit to correct the problem on the first lap. With Johnson running near the front, it was looking like he would be wearing the #3 in 2007.

#4 Chris Jenks hit a ditch after a creek crossing, which sent him flying off the side of his Honda, and only a mile later his race ended with a snapped lower spindle	#3 William Yokley dismounted a front tire in the first lap, which forced him to pit for a tire chance in lap two and dropped him back to 15th Place

The second lap was quite a bit faster than the first, with the good lines being established at the water crossings and mudholes. Bill Ballance worked his way into the lead just ahead of Borich, and they put half a minute on Johnson. Smiley was in fourth, and I moved in behind him and tried to stay in touch. McGill and Bithell had overcome their bad starts and were already in the top ten by the end of lap two. The course was holding up well, and there were so many fans at all the tricky spots that most of the time you could just follow the fingers that pointed the way to the best line. At one point I came to a creek crossing and didn't see any fingers and I realized how much I was relying on them to direct me through! I dropped into the last creek one lap and the fans directed me to go straight up the bank ahead. People were stuck in every other line so I went for it. As I motored through the foot deep water toward the other side, I realized there would be no run at this 8 foot high wall that looked like a quarter pipe at a skatepark. I got enough drive to make it up and launched off it a bit with my front end straight up in the air. When I hit the ground the quad stalled, and I could not get my kickstarter out. I had some mud fleas trying to pull it out, but it was locked. About four guys started pushing me down the trail and I tried bump starting it about three times as I was rolling toward a rutted mudhole. I had one more chance to get it to fire, and as it came to life I wheeled off through the mud while the crowd cheered wildly! Brandon Sommers was having another great ride, and went by me on the fourth lap as he worked his way up to sixth place in the last lap before flipping over in the creek, which drowned out his hopes for another top ten overall finish. Chris Bithell and Adam McGill were on a tear, and took advantage of some mistakes by Johnson to move into third and fourth.

#9 Adam McGill "Pin it to Win It" attitude earned him third overall and his third podium finish of the year as Pro Rookie Year, which is one more than either Duane Johnson or Chris Bithell	#15 Duane Johnson just missed the podium with a fourth overall for the third consecutive race in a row, but his consistency earned him the #3 plate for 2007 over Jenks and Yokley

Ballance and Borich battled tooth and nail to the finish with Chris just edging Bill by a few seconds to claim his second win in a row, gaining valuable momentum for next season. Adam McGill put in an inspired ride, starting way back and still managing to get on the podium for the third time this year. Duane Johnson worked back past Chris Bithell on the last lap, and they finished fourth and fifth. Johnson proved his consistency throughout his rookie year with no finishes outside the top ten, and nailed down third overall for 2006. Jeremy Rice, probably the most underrated rider in the pro class, scored another amazing finish on his LTR450 by steadily working his way up into sixth at the finish. I held for seventh just ahead of a hard-charging Bryan Cook. Matt Smiley had a broken footpeg drop him back to ninth in front of William Yokley.

The battle for the lead between Bill Ballance and Chris Borich was one of the most intense this year with Ballance leading one minute and chasing after Borich the next, but in the end, it was Chris Borich in lead to claim his fourth win of the year

Yamaha's Bill Ballance was presented a commemorative 7th Championship Plaque

The 2007 GNCC series is shaping up to be even better than this year with Bill Ballance once again having to hold off Chris Borich, but if he does it one more time he will without question be the greatest ATV cross country rider of all time with eight championships. The new order of riders has emerged, with the likes of Chris Jenks, Duane Johnson, Chris Bithell and Adam McGill all capable of winning on any given day. The veterans are ready to, with William Yokley now dialed in on his LTR450 and Matt Smiley going back to more competitive equipment for the new year. Throw in wild card young guns like Brandon Sommers and Brent Sturdivant, and the future definitely looks bright for some excellent GNCC racing action in 2007. See you in Florida!

Afternoon Top Three Overall (left to Right) Bill Ballance, Chris Borich, Adam McGill

GNCC ATV Top 10 Overall in Point Standings
Position	Rider Name	Machine	Total Points
1.	Bill Ballance	Yamaha	335
2.	Chris Borich	Honda	304
3.	Duane Johnson	Honda	221
4.	Chris Jenks	Honda	201
5.	William Yokley	Suzuki	190
6.	Chris Bithell	Honda	164
7.	Adam McGill	Honda	151
8.	Bryan Baker	Honda	107
9.	Michael Houston	Honda	103
10.	Brandon Ballance	Yamaha	103

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.

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