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The Snowshoe GNCC ATV Race Report
Snowshoe, West
Virginia, June 27, 2009
William Yokley finished 27th Overall and 14th
in the XC1 Pro Class today. There were 172
total entries with 19 XC1 Pro Riders. Team
Rider Mark Notman finished 28th Overall and 9th
in the 22 rider XC2 Pro Am Class.
Summary
It’s always a privilege to come race at the
Snowshoe Resort with the first class hotels and
restaurants right by the course. Snowshoe
is very unique with a live engine Grand Prix
style start and the 20 mile lap is the longest
of all GNCC events. Snowshoe is the
highest elevation in West Virginia at 4848 feet,
and the views are spectacular. The Racer
Production crew makes this event the most
difficult one of the year, but with a $50,000
purse on the line, it should be tough!
I started in row 6 and was 15th in the XC1
Pro Class at the end of lap 1. The course
takes you through all kinds of terrain.
There are many wet springs that make for deep
ruts and mud holes; add to that the exposed tree
roots that like to swallow up your wheels.
There are extreme elevation changes including a
steep 1000 foot climb leading into the finish
check. One of the most challenging things
about this area is the rocks, they are
everywhere; the ones you don’t see are the most
dangerous! I saw pieces of skid plates,
heel guards and foot pegs scattered around the
course after meeting up with all the rocks.
I got pitched over the handlebars once and was
hung up several times in bottlenecks, but all
the riders I talked to experienced pretty much
the same thing. I finished the race 14th
in my class and my Polaris was still running
great and not too beat up!
Mark Notman had a good day running in the top
10 in his class the entire race. He got a
high as 5th but was slowed by thick dust on some
of the fire trails, and a rock smashing his heel
guard into his back tire. He hopped off
the bike and was able to finally pull the guard
off his tire. He ended up in 9th place in
his class, even after getting stuck several
times. The changes he made to his bike the
past few weeks really helped, and he is looking
forward to working hard over the summer break to
get things working even better.
We have a summer break until the next GNCC on
Sept. 12 in Unadilla New York. We will
regroup and finally have some time to further
develop our bikes. As always, a big thanks
go out to all our great sponsors and the fans
that support us. I’ll be making
appearances for the National Guard, Polaris and
Monavie Energy Drink during the summer at fairs
and promotional events. It should be fun
and I’ll see you at the races soon.
Yokley Racing Team Sponsors are The Army
National Guard, Polaris Industries, Kenda Tires,
Elka Suspension, Roll Design, HMF Exhaust
Systems, IMS/Roll, PURE Polaris Lubricants &
Fuels, Intense Fabrication & Design, Douglas
Wheel Technology, Moto Pro Training, Tire Balls,
Andrews Cycle, Tsubaki Chains, IMS, Four
Apparel, ASV Levers, CV4 Hoses, Hygh Octane
Design, PIER Graphics, Universal Handlebars,
Scott Goggles, ATVRiders.com, Hetrick
Motorsports, Powermadd, Recluse Clutches, and
Monavie Energy Drinks.
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