By Chad Ford

The Ironman GNCC held in Crawfordsville IN is named for the original GNCC Ironman Mr. Bob Sloan. Bob was one of the first riders to compete at the top level on Saturday on his quad and then ride again on Sunday on his bike. He was a fierce competitor and a resident of Indiana. The 2007 GNCC Youth Bike series crowned another Ironman in the form of overall champ Walker Fowler. Walker had already moved on to the 3 hour afternoon bike race and put in a strong ride for second place in 200A on this day after winning his 2 hour quad race on Saturday. The Ironman spirit continues and the youth riders would do well to remember the original Ironman while striving to fill the shoes of the current one.

Zach Nolan

The 2007 Ironman GNCC was refreshing as it was the first race in many that was not dusty. Rains on Friday evening and overnight brought about near perfect race conditions for the 8 AM Sunday youth bike race. The field of 110 riders took to the track with many point battles to be settled on this day. As a reminder the GNCC Rules state "Ties for class championships will be broken by the most first place finishes, then by the best finish in the final race of the season if necessary. Ties for other class positions will be broken by the best finish in the final race of the season."

The Big Wheel 14-15 class battle for second and third place for the series was settled on this day with Gregory Funk of Clinton OH taking the win and ending up in a tie with Cody Mummert of Glenville, PA for second. Cody finished third on the day so Mr. Funk took second for the year. Second place class finish at the Ironman was Seth Murray of Bostic, NC. Ryan Lojak took fourth and Zack Nolan moved up from the 12-13 class to take fifth.

The winner of the Big Wheel 12-13 class was Derrick Shaw from Buckhannon, WV. A.J. Stewart from Lake Lynn PA was second, Tanner Hughes of Macolenny, FL was third, Quinn Wentzel from Canfield, OH rode to fourth and Justin Sode from Zanesville, OH was fifth.

In the 85cc 14-15 class a battle continued for second and third series points and one rider won the battle with another winning the war. Cody Carr from New Marshfield, OH won the Ironman. Bryce Martin of Newnan, GA was locked in a battle with Cody for second place in the series and his third place ride on this day was good enough for him to secure second place for the year by one point over Carr. Clinton Hale from Stollings, WV was second in class at the Ironman, Wes Hill from South Bloomington, OH was fourth and Drew Quillen from Camby, IN finished fifth.

The 85cc 12-13 class has been one to watch especially after the summer break. Chris Meadows who hails from Athens, OH made clear his intentions of "winning out" at the remaining five rounds to take the class championship. To do this Chris would be up against fierce competitor Layne Michael from Fairmont, WV who had secured 6 wins before the summer break. Layne put in a valiant effort at each event but in the end Chris Meadows secured the 85cc 12-13 class championship with his fifth straight win at the Ironman. Layne fought hard the entire race finishing second. The two riders ended up tied but the tie breaker rule awards the championship to Mr. Meadows. Matthew Sims from Greencastle, IN finished third, Derrik Allen of Veedersburg, IN was fourth and Miss Ashely Crouch from Pittsburg, TX put in another consistent ride for fifth.

Layne Michael

Aaron Plessinger from Hamilton, OH put an exclamation point on his championship season with a win at the Ironman. Grant Baylor from Belton, SC had recently moved up from the 65 after winning the 7-9 class and took second on this day. There was a real "Hardcore" battle between Jarrett Dudley of Whitmer, WV and Hardcore teammate Samuel Evans of St Albans, WV for third place in the points. Mr. Dudley finished third at the Ironman and secured third place for the series over his teammate by only one point. Sammy finished sixth on this day. Fourth place went to Dieter Willenbrock of Downington, PA and Tyler Vore from Porter, IN was fifth.

Another tight points battle was settled at the Ironman in the 65cc 10-11 class for third place for the year. Tristian Stumbo from Laurelville, OH took the Ironman win and secured third place for the series over Austin Lee of Bedford, IN who finished fourth on the day. Once again the tie breaker rule came into play as these riders ended up with 147 points each. Class champ Jake Froman from Lynnville, IN was second, Ryan Slopko from Londonberry, OH was third, and Zach Dubois from Rochester, IN rounded out the top five.

A couple of Indiana riders took the top spots in the 65cc 7-9 class. Keagan Lee from Crown Point, IN took the win with Jaden Smith of Greensburg, IN was second. Mack Jones from Boomer, NC finished third while Anthony Stone from Reedsville ,WV finished fourth leaving these rides tied for year end awards at 143 points. The tie breaker rule settles this one with the riders finishing for the year just as they did at the Ironman.

Remember the top ten points earning riders who competed in at least 8 series races for 2007 will receive awards at the banquet to be held on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. The top five riders will receive contingency awards and their series awards with places six through ten getting only series awards. The awards banquet is a good opportunity to reflect on the year, do some bench racing, and honor the riders and families that invest so much in their achievements.