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Borich Grabs Can-Am
Unadilla GNCC, Inches Away from Ballance in
Championship
Ballance is second, Duane Johnson
third
Chris Borich |
New Berlin, NY – The threat
is real now. East Coast ATV’s Chris Borich
notched another Grand National Cross Country win
after a big battle at the Can-Am GNCC at
Unadilla, extending his lead to eight in the
GNCC point standings with three rounds to go.
After a crazed race that saw five riders with a
shot at the win on the last lap, Yamaha's Bill
Ballance—the seven-time and defending GNCC
Champion working on a record breaking eighth
title—was second, with Duane Johnson third.
Borich had to work his way back from early
trouble. He started the final lap in fourth and
even suffered from some clutch problems, but
then put on a charge that got him into the lead.
“I just had a bad beginning there,” said Borich.
“A rock got stuck in the wheel and I went pretty
far back and just started pushing hard,” said
Borich who started the last lap in fourth. “I
got by Bill and all those guys that got bottled
up on the last lap. I tried to set sail and he
(Bill) caught back up and passed me right at the
end. I got back by him and just tried to hold
him off.”
Ballance
came oh-so-close to grabbing the win. “There
were a lot of guys riding good out there today,”
said Ballance. “It was passing all over the
place. Actually going into the last lap, it was
McGill and me, Duane Johnson and Borich was
behind him. I felt pretty confident that I might
be able to make a pass on McGill and maybe get a
win and have Chris finish third or fourth, but
it didn’t work out quite like that. Adam locked
wheels with another rider, and I just had
nowhere to go. I slid up under him and we were
trying to get the bikes apart, and Chris and
Duane went around there. I charged up and caught
Chris, made a pass with not even a half-lap to
go. I went up on the top of the ridge, which was
the fastest line through the day, but there was
a lapper there, and I think he kind of freaked
out when he heard Chris down there revving so
hard, so he kind of eased off and Chris jumped
right back in front of me.”
The duo raced
hard all the way through the final turns, with Borich winning by just a few bike lengths after
two hours of racing.
“You have to
get worried when it’s this close, getting down
to championship crunch time,” said Ballance.
“I’ve been in some real pressure points before
where I had to make things happen.”
As for
Johnson, his podium was a long time coming. “I
got the holeshot and I still didn’t have the
confidence to run that speed the first lap,”
said Johnson, who collected $100 from ITP for
nailing the start. “I finally tried to stay with
the top leaders and see what they’re doing. We
got into lappers and it was just crazy out
there. Everybody would get hung up; you’d get in
the lead and then you’d drop back to forth or
so. I caught McGill and Bill in another jam up
with lappers and got back into second. Bill got
around me and I just hung on for third.”
Bill Ballance |
For most of the race, it looked like Baldwin
Motorsports’ Adam McGill was the man to beat, as
he wrestled the early lead from Johnson, stayed
up front most of the day, and then held it as
the white flag came out. “I just run into some
dumb luck,” said McGill. “I was leading going
onto the motocross track. Right before we got
there, a guy on a Yamaha, I don’t know what he
did but we were flying up this road and all of a
sudden he just come to a stop.”
McGill locked wheels with the rider and dropped
to fourth. Fifth went to LTERacing.com’s Chris
Bithell, who overcame yet another bad start to
get close to the leaders. Sixth went to East
Coast ATV’s “Mr. Consistency” Matt Smiley, with
seventh to Brent Sturdivant. Taylor Kiser was
eighth.
Ninth went to XC2 Pro Am winner Brandon Sommers,
his ninth win in ten races. He also grabbed the
ATVRiders.com Holeshot Award. Kevin Yoho and Don
Ockerman finished behind him in the class, with
the top ten overall rounded out by Jarrod
McClure.
In the two hour morning race, the ATV Women’s
Class jumped to the front of the pack, with
Angel Atwell taking the overall win on her
LTERacing.com Tom Clark Honda. Second went to
30+ C rider Michael Young and third to Atwell’s
title rival, Yamaha’s Traci Cecco. The 4x4 Open
class went to Rick Cecco on a Can-Am, with
fellow Can-Am rider Cliff Beasley taking the 4x4
Lites class. Kawasaki riders won the other
classes, with Michael Benson topping U2 on the
Four-Stroke Tech KFX700 machine and Kevin
Trantham winning 4x4 Limited.
The Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series
continues in two weeks with the Yadkin Valley
Stomp GNCC in Yadkinville, NC on September 29
and 30.
Photos by Jason Hooper:
jasonh@racerxill.com
Results
Can-Am Unadilla GNCC
New Berlin, NY
September 15, 2007
ATV Overall
1
Chris M Borich
Sumnbury, PA
HON 02:03:18 XC1
2
Bill V Ballance
Smith Grove, KY
YAM 02:03:22 XC1
3
Duane Johnson
Trenton, MO
HON 02:03:45 XC1
4
Adam McGill
West Union, WV
HON 02:04:04 XC1
5
Chris Bithell
Irwin, PA
HON 02:04:55 XC1
6
Matt J Smiley
Kunkletown, PA
HON 02:04:57 XC1
7
Brent Sturdivant
Montrose, WV
HON 02:04:59 XC1
8
Taylor Kiser
Alva, FL
YAM 02:05:21 XC1
9
Brandon Sommers
Millersburg, OH
YAM 02:06:00 XC2
10
Jarrod McClure
Kaska, PA
HON 02:07:00 XC1
11
Chris Jenks
Washington, WV
HON 02:07:35 XC1
12
Kevin Yoho
Hopedale, OH
YAM 02:08:23 XC2
13
Donald Ockerman
Marshall, IL
HON 02:08:47 XC2
14
Jeffrey Pickens
Union Town, PA
HON 02:09:39 XC1
15
Craig Reed
Crawford, TN
HON 02:09:42 XC1
16
Johnny Gallagher
Aurora, OH
SUZ 02:09:56 XC1
17
William Yokley
Tompkinsville, KY
KAW 02:10:36 XC1
18
Michael Burrows
Gilman City, MO
HON 02:10:38 XC1
19
David Crane
Golden, MS
HON 02:11:20 XC2
20 Rob
Hertz
Brookhaven, PA
HON 02:11:44 XC2
Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series
Standings
(After 10 of 13 rounds)
1. Chris Borich 270/6 wins
2. Bill Ballance 262/4 wins
3. Chris Bithell 182
4. Matt Smiley 148
5. Taylor Kiser 145
5. Adam McGill 145
7. Brandon Sommers 123
8. Bryan Cook 110
9. Chris Jenks 110
10. William Yokley 94
About GNCC Racing:
The AMA/ATVA-sanctioned Can-Am 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 1,800 riders through tracks ranging from
eight to twelve miles in length. GNCC Racing
airs weekly television shows on Versus (formerly
Outdoor Life Network) every Saturday at 3 p.m.
and Thursday at 4 p.m. beginning on April 14.
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 BRP Can-Am, Parts
Unlimited, Moose, Maxxis, Pirelli, Wiseco,
Acerbis, Elka, Geico, Klotz, FMF, ITP and
Weekend Warrior, and riders compete for over $3
million in series prizes and contingency money.
Associate sponsors include Alpinestars, Cometic,
EK Chain, HiPer Technology, Laegers, Moose
Utility Division, The National Guard, Powersport
Grafx, Race Tools, REM, Scott, Thor, Tire Balls,
Twin Air, and MotoTee’s. Media Sponsors include
Racer X Illustrated, ATV Rider, ATV Sport,
ATVRiders.com, Quadzone.com, Dirt Rider and ATV
Insider. For more information log on to
www.gnccracing.com.
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