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The Ironman GNCC ATV & UTV Race Report
Crawfordsville,
Indiana, October 24, 2009
William & Tomas Scheckter before the UTV
Race
After the battle with a stump! |
William Yokley finished 81st Overall and 18th
in the ATV XC1 Pro Class today after a big crash
on the 3rd lap. There were 207 total
entries with 20 XC1 Pro Riders. Team Rider
Mark Notman finished 200th Overall and 28th in
the 28 rider XC2 Pro Am Class after experiencing
mechanical problems on the first lap.
Yokley and designated passenger Tomas Scheckter
did not finish the UTV Race after leading on the
1st lap.
Summary
The Ironman marks the end of the season and
is a very challenging track with creek
crossings, steep hills, tight woods, and wide
open field sections. Quite a bit of rain
fell leading up to the race, and the property
was soaked on Friday. The water crossings
and steep hills were going to be difficult.
A huge crowd of dedicated fans gathered on
Saturday in spite of the conditions, and most
were positioned by the deep water crossing and
steep hills.
The race began and the first lap was mostly
picking the best lines and getting settled in.
I was not having a very good day, and on the
last lap the “Ironman Hill” got me. I came
out of the water and there was a bottleneck at
the base of the hill causing me to get a poor
run up the hill. I did not have the
momentum to reach the top, so I just pinned it
and held on. Right at the top, it caught
traction in a rut and flipped over backward.
It cart-wheeled down the hill and got stuck on a
tree. I got it turned back over and
discovered the handlebars were severely bent,
and a lot of oil had leaked out through the vent
tube. I tried the hill again and realized
I could only turn the bars about half way.
So, the end result was I did pretty much exactly
the same thing and flipped down the hill again.
The bars were pretty much destroyed at that
point and my day was over.
Mark Notman had a very brief race after a
great start and first lap. He was unable
to finish due to some unknown engine problems.
I made it back to the pit area just in time
to get ready for the final UTV Race. I was
fortunate to have Monavie Indy Car driver Tomas
Scheckter riding with me today. We started
out great and got the lead about halfway through
lap 1. We were just cruising and not
taking any chances. Then it happened!
We hit a small stump which was perfectly
camouflaged by some leaves and brush. We
went from about 40 MPH to zero in about 12
inches! I felt bad about introducing Tomas
to woods racing that way. The impact
ripped the front wheel and suspension off.
Someone finally brought some tools to us so we
could remove the dangling pieces. I was
able to drive it back to the pit area on 3
wheels which brought an end to a pretty tough
day for the team. We have some exciting
news for next year which I will pass along soon,
but right now, I’m ready for a break!
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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