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Parts Unlimited/Moose/Maxxis/Yamaha/Wiseco/Klotz/FMF/Dunlop/ITP
Suzuki Grand National Cross Country Series
Chris Jenks Wins again at
the Wiseco John Penton GNCC
Streaking local takes second-straight
 Millfield,
OH – For the first time in years, the hottest
property in Suzuki Grand National Cross Country
Racing isn’t one of the Killer B’s of Bill
Ballance and Chris Borich. GT Thunder’s Chris
Jenks is on fire, and he used another smart,
solid run at the Wiseco John Penton GNCC to
score his second-straight GNCC win. And he’s
creeping back into the points chase, too. Jenks,
who lives only a half hour from the Sunday Creek
Raceway motocross facility that hosted the race,
has everything going his way.
“I’m ready to do two more laps!” said Jenks
after the race. “I’m pumped up and ready to go.
I know I can run this pace. Anything can happen
out here, you just have to ride as hard as you
can and hope the cards unfold for you. That was
the name of the game today.”
It was another wild race in the wide-open
GNCC Series. Ballance ended up second after
leading most of the day. Luck, however, was not
on his side. “I’m still waiting for that one
race where nothing goes wrong,” said Ballance,
the factory Yamaha rider. “I got out there today
and pulled away. I had a minute and a half lead.
I felt good, I didn’t even feel like I was
charging, I was just going smooth. Then my bike
choked up. I went to fire it back up, and I must
have had a loose connection on the battery or
something. I was sitting back there, and I waved
and waved hoping somebody would help. Finally
one of the guys started pushing me so I could
get it bump started. I just lost way too much
time there. I just charged the last lap and got
back up into second.”
Chris Jenks |
But Ballance had better luck then Borich, who
lost the series points lead for the first time
this year. Borich took the ITP Holeshot award
off the start but bent a tie rod minutes into
the race. He changed it and went back out, only
to crash hard on his way back. He managed to gut
out a tenth.
Meanwhile, impressive rookie pro Duane “The
Rock” Johnson impressed even more by notching
his first-ever podium with third. “I was
training all winter,” said Johnson, who has
turned heads this season with a string of
top-five finishes. “I didn’t want to get smoked
by all of these pro guys. I mainly just wanted
to get as many top tens as I could, but the way
things have been going, I though I could get up
here. Everything went my way on the last lap. We
were real close. Going into the last lap I was
in fourth, I saw (Chris) Bithell in the woods,
broken down. Then we got to a mud hole, and I
just saw lappers everywhere, I took my time. I
made sure I made a good move, because that’s
what cost me last time.”
Johnson was able to displace Yoshimura
Suzuki’s William Yokley, who was battling Jenks
for the lead on the last lap until he ran into
some mechanical problems. This opened the door
for another Suzuki rider, privateer Jeremy Rice,
to take fourth on his LT-R450. GT Thunder’s
Johnny Gallagher took a season-best fifth.
It was a wild race day, which is no surprise
since just about every Suzuki GNCC ATV race this
year has been exciting. Borich grabbed the
holeshot but dropped out when he broke his
tie-rod. Then Ballance seized the lead until he
stalled his machine and could not restart it. He
had to convince lapped riders to help give him a
bump start. “It was funny, I was yelling and one
guy was like ‘Hey, you’re Bill Ballance! Of
course I’ll help you!’” The bumped the machine
to life, and Ballance rode like mad to get back
into podium contention – pulling his buddy
Gallagher through the pack with him.
Jenks and Yokley took advantage of Ballance’s
bad luck, and they went into the last lap
dueling for the lead. In one tough mud hole,
Yokley nearly got into the lead before his own
bad luck set in with some mechanical troubles.
From there Jenks put his head down and charged
to a very popular win.
“Yokley pushed me the whole last lap, and I
didn’t think he was the only one there,” said
Jenks. “We came to this bottleneck, and luckily
all of my friends pointed me in the right
direction. I pinned it through there and skipped
it across. Then I got to a field and I looked
and there was no one back there.”
Jenks still works a full-time job during the
week, and many of his co-workers were on hand to
watch him win. “I haven’t rode since Missouri if
that tells you anything,” said Jenks. “The
weather didn’t work in my favor this week – it
sucked, and I trashed this bike in Missouri and
spent all my time getting it together.”
Ballance wasn’t happy to finish second, but
he does have the points lead now. “This Yamaha
is working so good, and I’m training harder than
I ever have. I’m just trying to get my ducks in
a row. That last lap I was charging with
everything I had. I was just mad. It seems like
every race I go to stupid things that have never
happened before end up taking us out. With all
the things that are going bad, it’s good to get
into the points lead. I just felt good out there
– I was pulling away and checking out. All in
all it was a good day.”
Johnson credits hard work with his big
improvement this year. “Last year I was getting
bad holeshots, and now I figured out how to do
that. I started running more and trying to eat
more healthy. I’ve just done more of everything
over the winter – I’ve got two bikes this year
and it’s the first time I’ve ever had two. It
really helps.”
In the GNCC morning race, Alba Yamaha’s Traci
Cecco got back into victory lane after another
big battle with Miller Yamaha’s Angel Atwell.
Polaris’ Stephanie Parton was third. Kawasaki
rider Marcus Gonzalez was the top utility rider
with 11th overall.
The Suzuki GNCC Series continues in three
weeks with the Tire Balls Spartan GNCC in
Sparta, Kentucky. For more information, log on
to GNCCRacing.com.
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, woods, 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, ITP and Tire Balls, and
riders compete for over $3 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.
Chris Jenks photo by Raymond Gundy.
Results:
Suzuki Grand National Cross Country Series -
Round 7
The Wiseco John Penton GNCC
May 20, 2006
ATV Top Twenty Overall
1. Chris Jenks Washington, WV HON 02:00:42
2. Bill Ballance Oakland, KY YAM 02:02:14
3. Duane Johnson Trenton, MO HON 02:02:45
4. Jeremy Rice Fombell, PA SUZ 02:03:50
5. Johnny Gallagher Aurora, OH HON 02:05:10
6. Andris Lagzdins Baltimore, MD HON 02:06:10
7. Sean Neidlinger Flagtown, NJ HON 02:08:14
8. Ryan Morphew Cookeville, TN HON 02:09:05
9. Bryan Baker Knob Noster, MO HON 02:09:28
10. Chris M Borich Sunbury, PA HON 02:10:04
11. Tyler Lenig Shamokin, PA HON 02:10:11
12. Michael Burrows Gilman City, MO HON
02:10:33
13. Ryan Lane Bicknell, IN HON 02:10:58
14. Mark Notman Hubbard, OH HON 02:11:31
15. Todd Demaree Varsailles, IN HON 02:12:22
16. Donald Ockerman Marshall, IL HON 02:13:06
17. Chris Earlywine Dover, KY HON 02:14:39
18. Kim Kuhnle Newbury, OH YAM 02:14:56
19. Brian W Schmid Colden, NY HON 02:14:58
20. Todd Rothermel Shamokin, PA POL 02:15:03
Suzuki GNCC Points Standings (After 7 of 13
rounds)
1. Bill Ballance 166/2 wins
2. Chris Borich 164/2 wins
3. Chris Jenks 150/2 wins
4. Duane Johnson 112
5. William Yokley 110
6. Chris Bithell 77
7. Michael Houston 68/1 win
8. Adam McGill 67
9. Andris Lagzdins 63
10. Bryan Baker 62
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