Photo By: Racedaypix.com
Team Mona Vie dropped in on the action.
For some new perspective on the event, I'll open this up to our own live GNCC race announcer Rodney Tomblin, the voice of GNCC racing, for sure. Here's Rodney's take on the Ironman.
The Klotz Ironman GNCC has come and gone and it is hard to believe we have already completed another season. What a race too! The entire weekend was full of drama from championships being sealed to folks experimenting with some ideas for next year. The excitement started for me on Friday as "Double- D" and I had the opportunity to talk with the newly crowned ATV GNCC Champ, Chris Borich on Track Smack Live. He seems so full of confidence right now and rightfully so. He has worked long and hard to be where he is today. And to be crowned ATV GNCC Champion is something few have had the opportunity to do. Eight wins in a row with 11 wins for the season, what else can I say but "Utterly Amazing!!" and the cool thing is he should get to defend it against a healthy Bill Ballance who announced that he would be back to chase the championship one more time in 2010.
Saturday was very interesting to say the least. Rains from Thursday night and Friday morning had rendered the pit area a total disaster area, but the track was not as bad as one may think, unless you were on a 70 or 90cc ATV. The 10:00 a.m. race was set up for a classic "Ute" showdown with Bryan Buckhannon and Scott Kilby battling to the last race for the title in the 4X4 Open Division. Michael Swift was going for the perfect season, 13 wins and was more nervous for this race than any in quite some time. As well, we also had the biggest Wayne County West Virginia contingent (or as some of them are known "The East Lynn Ridge Runners") I have ever seen at a GNCC. These boys were led by Matt Copley (XC 2 Pro Am) and Glen "Jody" Pritchard (SSr 50+). Pritchard had another phenomenal race running for the over all in the morning before getting stuck at Twin Hills on the last lap. He said it was like he had been "flea dipped" before the race, because he could not get any "GNCC Mud Fleas" to lend a hand. When the checkers came out...Swift was perfect in the 4X4 Limited...Kilby suffered some more of his Ironman bad luck and Buckhannon came back after the mid season injury and captured the coveted 4X4 Open Class Championship.
I have to say the most exciting part of the day for me was the battle for the XC2 Pro AM title. Brian Wolf and Josh Kirkland had both put together an outstanding championship season. It seemed Kirkland was a shoe in for the podium every race. You could say the same of Wolf too, when he did not break anything. Wolf had the championship all but locked up heading in to Ohio at the next to the last round. A mechanical failure and scoring no points took him from a comfortable points lead to a huge deficit. But Kirkland was eighth heading into the last lap and needed to finish 7th if Wolf won. Wolf was in second and made the pass on the last lap to take the lead. He had done what he needed to do, now what about Josh Kirkland? Could he make the one pass he had to make and capture the championship? Yes, he did. And the wild thing is, Kirkland had his worst finish of the season, but it was just enough. The worst he had finished any race previous this season was 4th one time and all of his other finishes were 2ndth place prior to the 23rd place finish in Ohio 23rd. That was one for the history books no doubt. It is unfortunate that the likelihood of seeing Wolfe for the whole season next year is low, he may not have the funding to race the full tour next year. Here is something else that seems wild. Brian Wolf won 8 races on the season and his worst race being a 5.
Also a farewell to William Yokely and his GNCC ATV racing endeavors. He announced on Saturday morning he would be stepping off the quad, but not out of the racing. He is currently putting a team together next year that he will manage, and focus more on the UTV racing for him.
On Saturday night after the UTV races we got the TSL show underway about an hour and a half late. Kanney and Caselli had to take off before the show, but Jeff Fredette, Mandi Mastin (Women's Cup Team) and Corey B (Junior Trophy Team) stuck around for some interesting insight on the 2009 ISDE efforts. It was Corey's first ISDE experience, Mandi's 9th and Jeff Fredette's 29th. Whoa!!! 29 times at the ISDE!!! Way to go Jeff and thanks for stopping to talk with us.
Sundays racing was great. Track was perfect all things considered. The Mini race got off late which set everything late for the day. Minus from the line up this youth race, was Chris Meadows, who was standing trackside cheering on Lane Michael. That was different, as Meadows was now the Youth Overall Champ and he was graduating to the big bikes. He rode the Sportsman 12-35 class and had some horrible luck on the start. He passed from next to last to 2nd in a 55-rider field on row 1 alone, and Meadows had the second overall wrapped up it looked like, before running out of gas on the last lap. He was stoked. He did what he wanted to do by running up front most of the day. Now he says on to next season. Will he go A or B...he says it depends on the kind of sponsorship he is able to muster up for next year, but is leaning heavily toward the A. Whatever he decides, it will be exciting to watch him mature into a Pro GNCC champion someday. Congrats too to Whibs on the XC1 Pro Class Championship...excellent season and way to keep your cool under pressure.
I wanted to say thanks to all this year for another great GNCC Racing season. And it shall not be long before we, the GNCC Racing Nation, join together and await the call of "TENNNNNN SECONDSSSSS!!!!!!". God Bless Your Heart and All Your Vital Organs!!!!
Excellent, excellent job, Rodney.
Yes, Rodney mentioned it here and if you haven't already heard, William Yokley has indeed retired. He actually broke the news to me at St. Clairsville and Ironman marked his last race as a full time XC1 pro ATV racer, although don't rule out seeing The Yoke on an ATV again at some point just for fun. He really has a lot ramping up right now, as he will run his team next year with a new XC1 rider Jarrodd McClure, and still with support from Polaris. Yokley also has cool stuff going with Mona vie, including his drive at the Ironman with Indy driver Thomas Scheckter. Check out the video of that here:
http://www.monavietv.com/monavietv-channels?channel=103
You may remember going into the race that we profiled some close GNCC Title fights. Now the results are in, so let's look closely.
First, a letter from Brian Temple, who had a great battle going on with Steve Thaxton for the bike
Photo By: Courtesy Temple
Brian Temple's ankle, post Ironman.
Race day came and we both showed up to the line along with hundreds of other racers. The green flag started flying on the rows in front of us and the tension was rising. It would come down to the next three hours, who would get thru the lappers, who would make the right decisions at the mud holes, and who would take home this championship. The green flag flew and I kicked to bring the beast to life. Needless to say it just wasn't much interested in getting in this fight from the get go. I continued to kick as I watched everyone in my class speed away and round turn 1.
This was NOT on my plan. My wife and best friend, Pete, and my wife were behind me and they yelled that they were going to push me. Off I went, a little bump and it fired to life. Ricky Towery had already moved out to let the next row go. He quickly jumped out of the way and into turn one I went. I knew that I would have my work cut out now. Letting Steve get a jump like that is not a good thing. I continued my pursuit and pushed as hard as I could. When you start catching guys on the first lap they really don't like to get out of the way as they know that they aren't getting lapped yet and you may be in their class.
I had my share of problems and actually on the 4th lap I thought I had broken my ankle. I was catching a guy headed to the "twin" hill climbs. He picked the steepest and quickest hill and I followed suit. I figured I would catch him at the top and pass him then. He made a mistake and all of a sudden I was right on him before we got to the top. I went left to pass him and lost my balance. I had to dab my left foot to keep my balance and got it caught in a rut. I grabbed a hand full of throttle to make sure I made it passed him and to get to the top. As I realized that my rear tire was running over my foot I knew that was a bad idea. When I got to the top I looked down at my foot and it was pointing 90 degrees left. I straightened it out and when I did it made some ugly pops. I thought for sure that it was broken so I headed to the pits. I took off my boot and taped it up and back out I went. The ankle isn't broken and it is healing at home. I never did catch back up to Steve and he finished in 2nd and I finished in 8th. Steve took home the championship with 3 points to spare. Congratulations to Steve.
I don't know what my plans are for next year. I would love to race the series again but as of now I don't know how the budget looks. I had a great year and a lot of fun, met some awesome people and had some epic races. As a friend of mine told me "You're living the dream, racing the GNCC series." Thanks to everyone at the GNCC! It was an awesome year.
I would like to thank CheapCycleParts.com, MSR, IMS, Arai, Yamaha, Boyesen, Motul, and S & S Powersports in Clarksville, Indiana and Louisville, KY, and the members of Saddleback east. Also a big thanks to all my friends and family who came out on Sunday and supported me. Thanks!
We also had AJ Stewart versus Greg Funk in Four-Stroke Lites B. This was a great fight between two riders who worked their way through the GNCC Youth ranks. We had a letter from Stewart leading into the race, and he had to make one heck of a comeback bid to get the title. And he did it, winning the last two rounds to grab the crown. Congrats to AJ on the title under pressure, and also good job by Funk to keep it close.
AJ also wrapped up yet another charity ride. Here's a note:
Photo By: Courtesy the Stewarts
AJ Stewart won the Four-Stroke B title and then put together his charity ride.
Sincerely,
The Stewarts
In bike Open A, we had a battle going on between Jordan Ashburn and Chris Bach. These two have had great battles all year and the fight went down to the last round. Bach ended up throwing a chain on his Kawasaki four times, and the last time it went through his cases and stopped his engine for good. Ashburn took the Open A win for the day and the top amateur overall award for the race. This left Ashburn tied with the same points, the same number of wins and the same number of seconds. After that, the tie goes to the best finish in the last race, so that makes Ashburn the Open A Champion. But Bach edged him out for a lower overall national number. So consider the year a tie between the two.
Other class battles included the Master's B/C class on bikes, and Charlie Johnson and Brian Jasper ended up tied for the year. Jasper won the last two rounds, giving him six on the year, one more than Johnson. So congrats to Brian Jasper.
In the Super Senior C 45+ class, Jeff DeVincent and James Moore came in slugging it out for the crown, and Moore came up with the win and the title. Congrats to Moore.
We also had a letter before the race from Indiana's own Garon Davis, who was aiming for a win at the Ironman in hopes of upsetting Will Cashion for the Sport ATV Title. But 'twas not to be, Cashion won the race and the title. Will's been running around the morning race since the old four-stroke stock days, good to see him rope in a number-one plate.
One class that did not go down to the wire at the Ironman was the ATV 40+, where Shawn Javens won every single round. Check out Rachel "Birthday Girl" Fluharty's Tuesday Toolbox with Shawn HERE.
In our ATV Youth race at the Ironman, Emily Wise landed in third overall. At the time we called her a second generation GNCC star, but it turns out she's really a third generation talent! Here's a letter and a pile of awesome photos from her family.
Hi Jason, This is Emily Wise. When you interviewed me in Indiana, you said that I was a second-generation GNCC racer. Really, it's third generation. My Grandpa, Don "Scud" Huggins, won the first ATV Blackwater 100 in 1983. My Father was an ATV 4-stroke champion in 1984. My mother was the 1985 women's ATV champion. She was also the national motocross champion in 1985. And my Aunt was the women's champion in 1987. Just thought you might want to know.
Thanks
- Emily
Photo By: Courtest Wise
Grandpa "Scud" Huggins through the river.
Photo By: Courtest Wise
Scud takes on the Rt. 93 crossing.
Photo By: Courtest Wise
Check the jacket on the starter. "Warning: I drive on three wheels."
Photo By: Courtest Wise
They called the woman racers in the family "Scudette." Here she meets up with GNCC founder Big Dave Coombs.
Photo By: Courtest Wise
Three wheelers prepped and ready.
Photo By: Courtesy Wise
You forget how rocky it was at the Blackwater.
Photo By: Courtest Wise
Early GNCC hardware.
How about those photos, eh?
Also credit out to the nine-year old racer who finished second overall in the Youth race, Hunter Hart out of Newfield, NY. As Hunter explained, "I have the same name as my birthday. I was born on Valentine's Day and my last name is Hart. But it's spelled H-a-r-t and not H-e-a-r-t." Gotta' love the kids.
And finally, our new GNCC Champion Paul Whibley celebrated his title by going out and racing again, of course. He took the Moose Run, the last round of the OMA Series, to complete a perfect 10-for-10 season. Well done again, Whibs.
GNCC TV keeps rolling on Versus. This weekend the Power Line Park GNCC bike show airs on Saturday at 4 p.m. And click HERE to read the full schedule.
And also fan us up on Facebook. Click HERE
That's it for this week. We'll be back next week with more GNCC info.
Photo By: David Scearce
Whibley swept the OMAs this year, too.
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