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Ballance Could Win Record-Breaking
Eighth-Straight GNCC Title at Series Finale this
Weekend
Crawfordsville, IN – Eight years and 105
races. That works out to about 5000 miles of
mud, rocks, hills, dirt and trail in America’s
largest off-road series, the Can-Am Grand
National Cross Country Series, and one thing
remains the same through it all: Bill Ballance
is on the verge of winning the GNCC
Championship. If the factory Yamaha rider from
Kentucky finishes 12th or better at this
Saturday’s final round of the ’07 season, the
Klotz Ironman GNCC in Indiana, he’ll lock up his
eighth-straight number-one plate, breaking the
tie on top of the all-time leader board with
seven-time champion Barry Hawk.
Not
surprisingly for a championship won over rugged
terrain, the path to Ballance’s eight-straight
crown has been anything but smooth. Long-time
rival Chris Borich has pushed Ballance to the
brink for the last three seasons, and on several
occasions this year it looked like he would
finally knock Ballance off.
“I’ve been in
some pressure situations before and it always
seems like we’re able to rise through them,”
says Ballance.
At the mid
point of the year, Borich launched a four-race
win streak and held a decisive edge in the
series standings. The pressure nearly broke
Ballance. But instead of coming to the track
with the familiar fire in his belly, intent on
nothing but winning, Ballance started to take it
all in stride. “You know, whatever happens this
year, I’ve got to look back and be proud of what
we’ve already accomplished,” said Ballance when
the series resumed in September after a summer
break.
By keeping
cool under fire, Ballance never cracked. He’s
finished on the podium in every race this
season, including five wins and six runner-up
placings. Borich has six victories, but bad luck
at two races—brake troubles in Kentucky which
resulted in a six-place finish, and a blown
shock in North Carolina which pushed him back to
17th—will make it tough to collect the crown
now. Borich must race to win in Indiana and hope
for a lucky break in the form of a Ballance
crash or mechanical failure.
Of course, Ballance hasn’t had many of those in the last
eight years, and he doesn’t expect to start now.
With the year
coming to a close, expect several riders to gun
for their first victory, including West Virginia
sophomore pro Adam McGill, Pennsylvania veteran
Matt Smiley and popular Kentucky rider William Yokley. Missouri’s Duane “The Rock” Johnson will
be in the hunt, as well as Chris Bithell, who
held Ballance off for a win in North Carolina a
few weeks ago. Also, 2007 XC2 Pro-Am Champion
Brandon Sommers will race the XC1 Pro class
again after finishing fourth in his pro debut at
the previous GNCC in Ohio.
Saturday’s
action also includes Youth ATV racing at 8 a.m.
and a 10 a.m. morning race featuring the Women,
4x4 and Sport ATV classes. At 5 p.m. Side by
Side/UTV machines will race for the first time
ever at a GNCC, on a custom-built course.
The Klotz
Ironman packs one of the largest crowds of the
season. The Indiana fans are rabid about ATVs,
and the event is named after the only GNCC
Champion to hail from the state, Bob “Ironman”
Sloan. The course features nearly every terrain
imaginable for an ATV to cross, from rocks, mud
and water to Ironman Hill, one of the steepest
climbs on the entire Grand National tour.
A full bike
program competes on Sunday, as well, with the
same racing schedule as the ATVs. Tickets for
the event cost $12 for the full weekend. The
track is located south of Crawfordsville off of
Route 47. The address for Tom’s Marine is
1317 W Offield Rd. For more information, log on
to
www.gnccracing.com or call 304-284-0084.
Can-Am Grand National Cross Country ATV Series
Overall Standings
(After 12 of 13 rounds)
1. Bill Ballance 317/5 wins
2. Chris Borich 295/6 wins
3. Chris Bithell 237/1 win
4. Matt Smiley 182
5. Adam McGill 160
6. Brandon Sommers 157
7. Taylor Kiser 154
8. Bryan Cook 119
9. Duane Johnson 117
10. Chris Jenks 110
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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