Elka Yadkin Valley Stomp GNCC
By Jenn Sheppard
The track in North Carolina was so tight it nipped the bark off the trees at handlebar’s width and a freight train of riders played follow-the-leader through the Yadkin Valley Stomp GNCC at the Welborn family farm.
The Pro track was nearly 11-miles long, but the first lap was three miles shorter and loaded with one-time affairs, including this sweet, snug trail which then forged through a steel culvert where water flowed over the foot pegs. Miles of rough, rooted hillside darted riders down by the Can-Am creek jump where spectators gathered here around the “dancefloor” like it was Saturday night at the club—drinks and all!
“It was real tight,” one rider said. “There was a lot of new trail though. I liked it. It was starting to get a little rough but it’s pretty quick, there’s some tight sections and definitely some passing to be had.”
Out of 259 riders in the ATV morning, including eleven Women entries on the front line, Pennsylvania’s Traci Cecco put her Yamaha out front over Jennifer Albright, with Stefanie Verkade, Stephanie Parton and Angel Atwell in fifth after the first lap. Atwell passed all the way into second just one lap later, running hot behind Cecco and turning up the pace. Atwell and Cecco went back and forth in a fight for first overall, while Albright, Parton and Verkade battled inside the top three throughout the race. Atwell scored the lead by the white flag, while Parton held third over Albright and Verkade. When the checkered flag dropped, Atwell had with the win with Cecco just seconds behind, making it three wins in a row for Atwell. Still, with two races to go, Cecco had secured her sixth GNCC Overall Women’s ATV championship.
Jacob “The Cannuck” Kirst caught the huge holeshot in 4x4 Open, with a crowd of Can-Ams behind him. By the first lap, Richard Cecco had the lead ahead of Scott Kilby within minutes of the Women class overall leaders. Martin Laurich and Bryan Buckhannon battled for third while Kirst was a steady fifth. Buckhannon went from fourth to first by the second lap, and Cecco held second over Kilby the entire race. Buckhannon now has three points over Cecco, with only two wins on the season to Cecco’s four wins. Kilby also has four, and sits fourth in points after missing three races.
 The Cannuck got out front early. Hooper photo |
Tennessee ’s Michael Swift had his Can-Am leading from the start in the 4x4 Limited class, leaving the battle for the top five to fellow Can-Am Mike Penland and Jordan Phillips and Kawasaki’s Kevin Trantham and Anthony Voight. Trantham had passed into second by the second lap, while Swift was checking out with a five-minute lead.
By the last lap, Voight found third, and Phillips was fourth and the last Limited rider to complete the full five laps. Swift would finish with a ten-minute lead over Trantham, taking his ninth win of the season. He leads the series with eighteen points over Trantham.
West Virginia’s own Jerime Dudding grabbed his second win of the season in 4x4 Lites, after a hard, fought battle with Cliffton Beasley much of the race. On the first lap, a four-way fight for the lead had Dudding with three seconds over Ken Robey two seconds ahead of Kevin Johnston who had one second on Cliffton Beasley. Six seconds separated first through fourth position. Beasley found second on the next lap, and charged on Dudding who was just seconds away. Beasley caught first by the white flag, but Dudding came back to take the win on the fifth lap over Beasley, still seconds behind. Johnston was third with just four laps completed.
As for the overall morning race podium, neither the Women nor the Utility class put riders on the podium. After hearing of the upset kids, it turned out the top spot went to Joey Margaria in the Sport class, followed by Scott Sleppy in second. Third overall was Christopher Newton in the 16-19 C class.
Riding a basic 200cc Yamaha Blaster complete with Racer X shield stickers and all, Margia took his fifth win of the season and first-ever overall win.
When asked about the Blaster, Margaria said on the podium, “I like that two stroke power. I figured before the end of the year, I was pushing to put it up here in the number one spot. The past three races, I’ve had some bad luck. This time I really wanted to turn it around, especially starting up front, it gave me a better chance to get up there and put it up here. Right at the end, Scott got around me and I thought ‘Man, I don’t know if I’ll be able to pull this one off.’ I knew a line at the end and I pulled out in front of him and kept it pinned. I don’t know what to say pretty much.”
Second place was Scott Sleppy, who spoke of the Sport class advantage from the podium. “Oh yeah, it was a lot of fun. I just kept pushing and pushing. Everybody was moving over real good, except for those utility guys; those Can-Ams don’t like to move for some reason. I caught wind of them there, but just couldn’t get around them. You don’t need 800ccs to go around trees. It’s great for when you’re going wide open up the ski slopes, but something that handles is good. You don’t need all that power. I had the lead for a second, yeah. Joey was hung up or something and I got around him. He took the better line and busted out right in front of me. It was a couple of hundred yards before the finish.
I was hoping to get up here. The third row—that helped wonders. A couple less rows of utility’s to get around. I’m real happy.”
Christopher Newton had his hometown Morganton, NC crowd in attendance for his first ever podium and second win of the season in 16-19 C. “Honestly I don’t even know how I got up here,” he said. “I never have seen anybody come from the C class to get a podium except for Buzz Deer. I got a good start. I was second going into the woods behind Buzz, and stayed right with him. When he messed up, I got up front, and then I got stuck, I was like fifty seconds behind, and I just put my head down. I said, ‘Well, the only way I’m going to catch them is to ride hard,’ so I just rode my heart out and I caught them. When I passed them and got a couple of riders between us, I just went with it. I never dreamed of winning a podium; I just said I want to win my class. I haven’t done well the last couple races, so I just took some time off and have been exercising and working out. I said ‘Well, what the heck, just go for it.’I don’t know. I don’t know what to say.”
