|
Bithell Takes First GNCC Win, Ballance Moves
Back into Points Lead
Shock problems drop Borich to 17th
Bill Ballance |
Yadkinville, NC – Luck turned in the Can-Am
Grand National Cross Country Series, as
sophomore pro Chris Bithell of Irwin,
Pennsylvania snagged his first career win by
topping Bill Ballance of Smith Grove, Kentucky
and Brent Sturdivant of Montrose, West Virginia
at the Elka Yadkin Valley Stomp GNCC in North
Carolina. Series points leader Chris Borich
struggled to 17th on his East Coast ATV Honda
after blowing a rear shock. Now Yamaha’s
Ballance, who is looking for a record-breaking
eighth-straight GNCC title, holds a 13-point
lead in the series with two races to go in the
series.
In front of
that, Bithell rode his heart out for his first
win. “I knew I really wanted this win,” said
Bithell. “I didn’t get a great holeshot at all.
I was probably sitting tenth into the woods. I
started putting my head down and knew I could
slowly make passes—that’s the only thing I could
do.”
Bithell
eventually made his way all the way to the front
of the pack, as Borich, the early leader and
winner of the ITP Holeshot Award, started
struggling when his shock gave out. Then
Ballance made a mistake and Bithell ended up
with the lead on the last lap. Ballance dug deep
to try to get him back.
“Honestly, I
really thought I had this thing in the bag,”
said Ballance. “About the nine mile marker, I
had a line picked out and charged into it and
just hit the line three inches too quick, and
got wrapped up in a grapevine and had to break
it get on through the line. But we come out of
here in second and made up some valuable points
today. Chris Bithell was riding awesome out
there today, got to take my hat off to him. It’s
good to be up here and have the point’s lead
with two races to go.”
“I’d like
to thank everybody in the family,” said Bithell.
“Everybody that gets me here, the pit crew,
everybody does their job so I can be here.”
Sturdivant
took his first-ever GNCC podium ahead of a big
battle throughout the top ten, holding off Matt
Smiley and Adam McGill for the spot.
Chris Bithell going through one of the
creek crossings. |
“I gave Borich a run for the holeshot award there; I
thought I almost had him,” said Sturdivant, a
college student from West Virginia. “I was just
following him for the first couple of laps. Then
his bike started beating him up, and he let me
go and I pulled away. I kept pulling away and
got down in a big muddy section, and I overshot
the turn, ended up in the mud and everybody went
by me. I had to dig my quad out, but man, this
is a dream come true. Not too long ago, I was
standing out there in the crowd watching
everybody get up here and this is a dream come
true for me.”
Traci Bradon |
Sixth overall
went to GT Thunder Yamaha’s Brandon Sommers, who
also won the XC2 Pro Am Class and clinched the
class championship for the season. Don Ockerman
and Jeff Maloney rounded out the top three in
that class.
“I came into
this year just looking to get some solid
finishes, and it turned out real well for us,”
said Sommers. “It’s the whole combination. It’s
like spokes in a wheel. You have to have the
training, the determination, the bike, and
sponsors, my dad and everybody behind me. It’s
awesome. We’re going to go run the Pro class in
the last two races, and I’m real excited about
that. No pressure, just go out and give it
everything you got.”
Borich
struggled to score any points at all, with his
machine pogo-sticking him around the course. The
Sunbury, Pennsylvanian rider grabbed the
holeshot and the early lead in the race and
looked ready to check out, until the shock faded
and he was left to just try to survive and
finish 17th.
In the
two-hour ATV morning race, the sport class
jumped all the way to the front of the pack when
Joey “Bam” Mageria held off Scott Sleppy for the
win. Margaria rides a Yamaha Blaster 200 and
Sleppy a Honda 300EX, showing the depth of the
morning race competition. Third overall went to
16-19 C class rider Chris Newton. Angel Atwell
won the Women’s class for the third straight
race on her LTERacing.com Honda, but Traci
Cecco’s second-place finish on her Yamaha landed
her the Women’s Championship for the year.
“It’s been a
great season, but you can’t win championships
without having people behind you,” says Cecco.
“Without having all my sponsors behind me,
without Yamaha. I can’t do this alone, and I’m
just so grateful that they’re there helping me,
and I’m just happy that I can go out there and
do my thing and win races for them.”
Can-Am
mounted Bryan Buckanon topped Rick Cecco and
Scott Kilby in the 4x4 Open class, while Jerime
Dudding won the 4x4 Lites class over Cliff
Beasley and Michael Swift won the 4x4 Limited
class. Four-Stroke Tech’s Michael Benson won the
Utility Unlimited Class on his Kawasaki KFX700.
Chris Borich |
The Elka
Yadkin Valley Stomp was run under nearly perfect
weather conditions, with temperatures in the
80s. The course was tight compared to most on
the tour, but there were enough passing zones to
mix up the racing. “I think the virgin stuff
that they cut out for us this year offered at
least a few lines, a handful maybe, but it’s
just tough,” said Ballance. “This track is so
tight that it seems like a lot of people can run
the same pace. I was surprised we weren’t more
bunched together than what we were today, but it
was still a tight race and I feel pretty good
about it.”
The Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series
continues in two weeks with the Power Like Park
GNCC in St. Clairsville, OH on October and 30.
Photos by David Scearce
Results:
Elka Yadkin Valley Stomp GNCC
Yadkinville, NC
September 29, 2007
ATV Overall
1. Chris Bithell
Irwin, PA
HON
02:16:48
2. Bill V Ballance
Smith Grove, KY
YAM
02:16:50
3. Brent Sturdivant
Montrose, WV
HON
02:18:20
4. Matt J Smiley
Kunkletown, PA
HON
02:18:23
5. Brandon Sommers Millersburg, OH
YAM
02:18:51
6. Adam McGill
West Union, WV
HON
02:18:59
7. Jarrod McClure
Kaska, PA
HON
02:19:14
8. Duane Johnson
Trenton, MO
HON
02:19:32
9. Craig Reed
Crawford, TN
HON
02:20:29
10. Michael Houston Hickory, NC
YAM
02:20:48
11. Santo Derisi
Casar, NC
HON
02:21:24
12. Bryan Cook
Casar, NC
HON
02:21:57
13. Donald Ockerman Marshall, IL
HON
02:22:01
14. Jeff Maloney
Hudson, NC
HON
02:22:16
15. David Crane
Golden, MS
HON
02:22:31
16. Michael Burrows Gilman City, MO
HON
02:22:44
17. Chris M Borich
Sunbury, PA
HON
02:23:14
18. Taylor Kiser
Alva, FL
YAM
02:23:49
19. Shawn Hess
Muenster, TX
HON
02:26:38
20. Richie Brown
Dahlonega, GA
HON
02:26:43
Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series
Standings
(After 11 of 13 rounds)
1. Bill Ballance 287/4 wins
2. Chris Borich 274/6 wins
3. Chris Bithell 212/1 win
4. Matt Smiley 166
5. Adam McGill 160
6. Taylor Kiser 148
7. Brandon Sommers 139
8. Bryan Cook 119
9. Chris Jenks 110
10. Duane Johnson 104
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.
|
