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Wolf Wins MotorcycleUSA.com Snowshoe GNCC
Brian Wolf claims the $10,000 top prize at the
Motorcycle-USA.com Snowshoe GNCC
Walker Fowler, Brian Wolf and Chris
Borich graced the overall podium.
Chris Borich holds the inside line off
the start.
Brian Wolf claimed $10,000 with the win.
Chris Borich won the XC1 class
Walker Fowler, Brian Wolf, and Josh
Kirkland rounded out the XC2 podium.
Photos By: Shan Moore |
Snowshoe, WV (June 26, 2010) - Although the
results are still unofficial, it appears that
Brian Wolf will be $10,000 richer after winning
the prestigious MotorcycleUSA.com
Snowshoe GNCC in Snowshoe, West Virginia - round
nine of the Can-Am Grand National Cross Country
Series. This is the second year in a row that
the HMF Honda rider has claimed the top prize at
this race, despite the fact that he's an XC2
Pro-Am rider. What made it even more exciting
was that Wolf battled back and forth with
eventual Pro class winner Chris Borich in a
thrilling race that was only decided in the
final few miles.
The Snowshoe GNCC is a special event in that
$50,000 bonus money is paid out based on the
overall finish of the race, and factoring in a
time differential (the XC2 class started a
minute-and-a-half behind the XC1 class, Wolf was
awarded the overall win despite physically
crossing the finish line behind Borich. In the
meantime, Borich went home with a $5,000 check
for finishing second overall, while another XC2
rider, Walker Fowler, claimed $3000 for
finishing third overall.
"This is crazy," said Wolf. "I never thought
it was possible to win this two years in a row.
I guess you just play the game and see what
happens. This is the toughest race of the year
and it's just a matter of who can play the game
the longest. Nobody wants to run hard though
this stuff and take chances and we built this
bike so we could run hard and take chances and
that's what we did today."
The overall results are pending and will be
reviewed by the AMA the first of the week based
on a report that the XC2 riders took an
inadvertent "alternate" line during the first
two miles of the course, although Racer
Production's Tim Cotter made it clear that "no
one appears to have taken a different line to
intentionally gain an advantage."
In the meantime, Borich extended his lead in
the XC1 division by taking his seventh win of
the year, putting his Yoshimura Suzuki across
the line nearly a minute and a half ahead of
Yamaha rider Donnie Ockerman, while Can-Am's
Adam McGill finished third.
"I got the holeshot and I really didn't want
to lead, then all of a sudden the Pro-Am guys
came out of nowhere," said Borich. "I knew it
was going to be a long day because Wolf was
riding pretty good, he had some pretty good
lines out there. I got the lead on the final lap
and put the hammer down and tried top make up as
much time as I could but it wasn't enough for
the overall. It was kind of a survival race out
there but I was able to add to my points cushion
for the championship so it was a good race."
Ockerman's runner-up finish marked his best
of the year and his third podium of the year.
The Illinois rider made the best of a good start
and it paid off.
"I knew those guys had horsepower on me so I
start outside and cut inside in the first turn
and it worked out - I was third when we went
into the woods," said Ockerman. "I just kind of
followed everyone on the first lap and kept the
hammer down for the rest of the race."
Despite getting off to a poor start, McGill
worked his way into third by the end of the
two-hour race.
"No matter what you do it seems it's the
wrong move or the wrong decision," said McGill.
"It just seemed everything I did today was
wrong, but that's racing."
Taylor Kiser kept himself in the championship
hunt by putting his Ballance Racing Yamaha into
the fourth place position in the XC1 class,
while Can-Am's Chris Bithell rounded out the top
five.
FRE/KTM's Bryan Cook finished sixth, with
Polaris rider Jarrod McClure finishing seventh
ahead of a trio of Yamaha riders: Brandon
Sommers, Jeffrey Pickens and Johnny Gallagher.
In addition to the overall win, Brian Wolf
also topped the XC2 division - his third win of
the year - leaving him 10 points ahead of Walker
Fowler in the XC2 points standings.
Fowler was second in class on his Yamaha (to
go along with his third overall finish).
"I'm super-pumped with third overall, I've
never done that before, so this is cool," said
Fowler. "I didn't really know where I was all
day, I didn't check the scoring monitor."
FRE/KTM's Josh Kirkland finished third, with
Kevin Yoho (Yam) and round-five winner Gabe
Phillips (Yam) rounding out the top five.
In the morning race, U2 class rider Clifton
Beasley took the overall win on his Can-Am - his
first time to do so - and by doing so also
claimed the GT Thunder ATV Amateur $100 Overall
Award. Beasley finish a little over a minute
ahead of Women's winner Traci Cecco. Meanwhile,
another U2 rider, James Miller (CAN), was third
overall.
In the Youth race, Marshal Goings took the
overall win and topped the 90 Modified (12-15)
division in the process.
Racing resumes tomorrow at the
MotorcycleUSA.com Snowshoe GNCC, with a full
slate of motorcycle classes.
XC1 Results:
1. Chris Borich (Suz)
2. Don Ockerman (Yam)
3. Adam McGill (CAN)
4. Taylor Kiser (Yam)
5. Chris Bithell (CAN)
6. Bryan Cook (KTM)
7. Jarrod McClure (POL)
8. Brandon Sommers (Yam)
9. Jeffrey Pickens (Yam)
10. Johnny Gallagher (Yam)
XC1 Standings:
1. Chris Borich (256/7 wins)
2. Taylor Kiser (216/1 win)
3. Adam McGill 178)
4. Don Ockerman (150)
5. Chris Bithell (145/1 win)
6. Johnny Gallagher (118)
7. Bryan Cook (116)
8. Brandon Sommers (105)
9. Jeffrey Pickens (104)
10. Jarrod McClure (95)
XC2 Results:
1. Brian Wolf (Hon)
2. Walker Fowler (Yam)
3. Josh Kirkland (KTM)
4. Kevin Yoho (Yam)
5. Gabe Phillips (Yam)
6. Blake Kramer (Suz)
7. Mark Notman (Yam)
8. Eric Hoyland (Yam)
9. Nathan Thomas (Hon)
10. Joey Margueria (POL)
XC2 Standings:
1. Brian Wolf (196/3 wins)
2. Walker Fowler (186/3 wins)
3. Josh Kirkland (178/1 win)
4. Kevin Yoho (168)
5. Gabe Phillips (157/1 win)
6. Eric Hoyland (119/1 win)
7. Corbin Knox (113)
8. Mark Notman (107)
9. Blake Kramer (102)
10. Dustin Canipe (99)GT Thunder - Clifton
Beasley
About GNCC Racing
The Can-Am Grand National Cross Country series
is America's premier off-road racing series.
Founded in 1973, the 13-round championship is
produced exclusively by Racer Productions.
Cross-country racing is one of the most
physically demanding sports in the world. The
grueling three-hour GNCC races lead as many as
1,800 riders through tracks ranging in length
from eight to 12 miles. With varied terrain,
including hills, woods, mud, dirt, rocks and
motocross sections, GNCC events are tests of
both survival and speed. Riders compete for more
than $3 million in prize money, which draws
talent from all over the U.S., Europe, Australia
and New Zealand. GNCC Racing is televised and
airs every Saturday and Thursday on the Versus
Network. For more information, please visit
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, held since 1973; The
Kawasaki/Monster Energy High Point National in
Mount Morris, Pa., held since 1977; The ATV Dirt
Days at Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Hurricane Mills,
Tenn., held 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, held since 1988; The ATV Stampede
National Motocross at High Point Raceway, held
since 1994; 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, held since 1982. For more
information, please visit
www.racerproductions.com.
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