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Warnert Report GNCC Round 8
Warnert
Racing’s Beasley and Swift Conquer the Dust to
Continue Winning Streaks
Rick Cecco
Clifton Beasley
Scott Kilby and Michael Swift |
Yadkinville, NC –
All though this season has been dubbed the “Year
of Mud”, dust was the culprit that clouded
vision and clogged air filters this weekend, but
that did not seem to bother Warnert Racing’s
Cliff Beasley or Michael Swift one bit as
Beasley continued his sweep of the 4x4 Lites
class and Swift claimed his 7th 4x4 Limited win
of the season. The dry conditions also seemed to
favor Chris Jenks as well as he finished with a
time of 02:01:30 in the Pro class.
Cliff Beasley, who is known for his back of the
pack starts stayed true to form this weekend.
Beasley charged from the back and had taken over
the lead by lap two. “I started in the back like
normal, but my biggest weakness is dust, so it
took me a while to catch up,” said Beasley. Once
Beasley took over the lead, there was no
stopping him. Cliff took his lead all the way to
the finish line with a time of 02:01:32. “I got
beat here at Yadkin last year, so it feels
really good to take the win,” stated Beasley,
who admits that wide open tracks such as
Yadkinville are not his cup of tea, as he
prefers the tighter, more technical, rocky style
tracks such as Mountain Ridge in Somerset, PA,
where round nine is scheduled to take place.
The fast, open track seemed to suit Michael
Swift just fine. Swift grabbed the holeshot and
never looked back. “It was a fun course. It was
pretty dusty in the open fields, but I just
played it safe. The bike worked great and I had
no problems. The only time I stopped was to pit
for gas,” said Swift, who finished with a time
of 01:59:17, which earned him 15th overall.
Swift is hoping to capture his 8th win of the
season at Somerset next round.
Scott Kilby also grabbed the holeshot in the 4x4
Open class, but was misdirected by a spectator
out on the track during the first lap and ended
up having to backtrack, which put him back to
2nd place. Scott maintained his 2nd place all
the way to the checkered flag and finished with
a time of 02:02:03. Kilby currently holds second
in the points race with 148 points.
Rick Cecco ran a solid race as well in the U2
class. Rick ran his fastest lap time in lap
three where he laid down a time of 00:23:22.
Cecco ran without any major complications to
claim 4th place with a time of 1:59:58, which
got him 18th overall for the A.M. classes.
In the Pro ranks, Chris Jenks’ luck seemed to
improve this round despite a slow start. “I got
tangled up with a couple people, which sent me
towards the back, but I worked my way back up to
15th by the end of the 1st lap,” said Jenks.
After the first lap, Jenks did run into a little
trouble when he ended up with a flat tire, which
slowed him down a bit. In the last lap, luck was
definitely on Chris’s side. “I went for the
creek jump and ended up casing it really hard. I
thought I was going to break the bike in two,
but it took the impact,” Jenks said. Jenks
finished with a time of 02:01:30, which put him
in 13th place.
Chris Bithell was having a tough time of things.
Bithell came off the line in mid pack and was
doing well, but hit a tree early in the first
lap, which sent him back to last place. Bithell
began a charge to the front, and worked up to
7th, but got tangled up when another rider spun
out in front of him, once again sending him to
the back. Bithell just couldn’t seem to catch a
break this round as every time he would work
himself up, things just went wrong. “It was dry
and dusty out there and of course I had to be
the guy that found the only mud hole out there
and get stuck in it!” Bithell said
disappointedly. Chris managed to complete 2 laps
in 1:02:27, which put him in 19th place. “I’m
really looking forward to Somerset. That’s my
home track and I’m looking forward to the
hometown support,” said Bithell.
Round nine of the GNCC will have the Warnert
race team heading to Mountain Ridge in Somerset,
PA, where Beasley and Swift hope to continue
their winning streaks and Bithell and Jenks will
be chasing podium positions.
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