|
GNCC Racers Celebrate Biggest Season Ever at
Annual Banquet
Bill Balance 8 Time GNCC Champion
XC2 Bikes |
Cranberry, PA –The
Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series drew
more racers and spectators this year than ever
before, so the big blowouts that marked the end
of the 2007 season—the annual GNCC Banquets—were
also bigger than ever. Over 1200 riders,
friends, families and fans attended the shows at
the Four Points Sheraton in Cranberry,
Pennsylvania. The banquets—held on Friday night
for ATVs and Saturday night for
motorcycles—recognize the top-ten riders in
every GNCC class and also present a variety of
specialty awards to riders as voted on by their
fellow racers.
Among the awards, GNCC Champions David Knight
and Bill Ballance were voted Riders of the Year.
The bike ranks voted Kawasaki privateer Garrett
Edmisten as the Most Improved Rider for
finishing fifth in the final standings.
Ironically, GNCC Womens’ Champion Amanda Mastin
won the Sportsman of the Year Award for putting
together fund-raisers for the U.S. ISDE Team.
PowerSport GrafX’s Bart Hayes won Sport
Ambassador of the Year for his positive
contributions to the series, and photographer
Jason Hooper won the Media Excellence Award. The
Hard Luck Award went to GNCC Scoring Official
Chris Dudley, who was hit by riders in two
different incidents this year. The Hardcore
Racing Youth Team won the Rough ‘N Ready Pit
Crew Award, and the Good Samaritan Award went to
Keith Jeziorski, who stopped during his race at
Loretta Lynn’s to help an injured rider.
On ATVs, XC2 Pro Am Champion Brandon Sommers won
the Most Improved Award, with funny man Adam
McGill winning the Sportsman Award for his
fun-loving attitude—and of course McGill cracked
everyone up with his acceptance speech. Vet A
Champion Jeff Miller won the Good Samaritan
Award for raising money to help an injured racer
in his own class, and the Sport Ambassador of
the Year Award went to QuadZone.com, a site made
of GNCC members. The Hard Luck Award went to
youth racer Jesi Stracham. The Award of Media
Excellence went to ATVInsider.com, a newspaper
which provides first-rate coverage of GNCC ATV
racing. The Rough ‘N Ready Pit Crew Award went
to the team of Ronald Wright and Larry Kirkland.
“Best Bod” |
A highlight of the evening came from the annual
“Best Bod” contest, in which racers in the GNCC
Women’s classes nominate six GNCC males to
compete for the trophy. McGill’s strip tease won
the award on Friday for ATVs, and XC2 Lites
contender Thad DuVall won on bikes—his dancing
skills certainly aiding him there.
Racer Productions also created Championship
rings for Ballance and Knight, complete with
eight diamonds for Ballance celebrating his
championships, and one for Knight celebrating
his first. Ballance also presented the Youth
Rider of the Year Award to ATV Youth Champion
Dylan Bradford, asking Bradford when he planned
on switching to a Yamaha, to which Bradford
showed no interest. Yamaha fans were happier on
Saturday, when eight-time GNCC Champion Barry
Hawk handed out the bike Youth Rider of the Year
Award to Walker Fowler, but this time Fowler
used the opportunity to announce he is switching
to Yamahas on both bikes and ATVs next season.
Yamaha’s good news continued when they claimed
the Manufacturer’s Cup on bikes, based on the
top-two overall finishes for each brand at each
race. American Honda won the Manufacturer’s Cup
on ATVs.
The Stash, Trophies, Trophies, Trophies! |
Sponsor of the Year on both nights went to
series title sponsor Can-Am, which provided the
funding for the GNCC TV Series to air on Versus.
Can-Am’s Bernard Guy was on hand to accept the
award, and he also handed out $2,500 checks to
each of Can-Am’s ATV class champions: Michael
Swift, Cliff Beasley and Rick Cecco.
Racer Productions also memorialized members of
the GNCC racing family who had been lost
throughout the year; Chris Earlywine, Lee
Hammond, Gus Larson and Robert Patterson.
The top five riders in each class received piles
of contingency product from GNCC sponsors. Class
Champions were also picked at random to win a
variety of prizes, including Elka Suspension,
Laeger’s steering stems, Tire Balls, Risk Racing
stands and Hiper Technology wheels.
All that winning added to the fun, but the
banquet really presented one more chance for
each member of the GNCC racing family to hang
out around the holidays. Once the banquet
closed, DJ Jeff Horton (the Maxxis Man) spun
songs as riders, friends, fans and families
danced late into the night. GNCC racers stay up
late celebrating at the banquet, but they’ll
surely be in bed early getting ready to race
when the 2008 season begins in March in Vero
Beach, Florida.
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.
About Racer
Productions
A West Virginia-based motorcycle and ATV event
production company, Racer Productions has been a
leader in the off-road racing industry for more
than 30 years. It’s repertoire of events
includes the 13-round Can-Am Grand National
Cross Country Series, since 1973; The
Kawasaki/Monster Energy High Point National in
Mount Morris, Pa., since 1977; The ATV Dirt Days
at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in Hurricane Mills,
Tenn., since 1985; The U.S. World Motocross Gran
Prix at Steel City Raceway in Delmont, Pa. in
1987; The Monster Energy/Kawasaki Steel City
National, since 1988; The ATV Stampede National
Motocross at High Point Raceway, since 1994; The
Wrangler ATV National Motocross at Oak Hill
Raceway in Decatur, Texas, since 2006; The AMA
Pro ATV Open at Steel City in 2007; as well as
numerous other amateur motocross events. In
addition, Racer Productions staffs the
prestigious Air Nautiques/AMA Amateur
National Motocross Championship at Loretta
Lynn’s Ranch, since 1982. For more
information, please visit
www.racerproductions.com.
|
