Meat Posted March 17, 2004 Report Posted March 17, 2004 GNCC News Parts Unlimited/Moose/Maxxis/Yamaha/Wiseco/Klotz/FMF/Dunlop/ITP ATVA Grand National Cross Country Series Hurricane GNCC The conditions at the Hurricane GNCC were familiar: wet and muddy. And the winner was too: defending GNCC Champion Bill Ballance. But it's what Bill was riding that made all the difference. After several close calls, the Kentucky rider finally claimed a win on his Yamaha YFZ 450. "This is the most fun bike I've ever ridden, and it's the most comfortable I've ever felt on a bike," said the four-time and defending GNCC Champ. Ballance won a torrid battle with the elements and the competition at The Hurricane. His stiffest competition came from Florida's favorite son, Greg Trew. Greg put together his first-career podium finish with a second place. Third went to the winner of the season-opening Lone Star GNCC, William Yokley. Yokley, like a pack of others, led the race at some point. Due to the muddy, swampy conditions, there were numerous changes in the conditions throughout the race, but when it counted the old champ was out in front. GNCC News Parts Unlimited/Moose/Maxxis/Yamaha/Wiseco/Klotz/FMF/Dunlop/ITP ATVA Grand National Cross Country Series General GNCC Ballance Blasts Through Florida and Georgia GNCCs Two wins in a week for the defending GNCC Champion Washington, GA - The naysayers aren't saying anything now. Yamaha's Bill Ballance put his stamp on another ATVA Grand National Cross Country Series championship charge with back-to-back wins in Florida and Georgia. "I guess I could tell people to never second guess me," said Ballance. "I'm having so much fun on this bike. And now we've got a nice points lead." In Florida Ballance had to battle a muddy, sandy track to take the Moose Dunlop Hurricane GNCC. "That was the kind of race where you just knew you were going to make up time somewhere. It was a battle of survival." In Georgia the riders were treated to perfect track conditions and perfect weather, and Ballance dominated to win the Maxxis General GNCC by a huge margin. "These are my kind of conditions: hard, rough and fast," said the Kentucky boy. "I've been waiting for a track like this for six years. I was just running a smooth pace, not trying to pull away, and I ended up with a big lead." The only rider to keep Ballance in sight on the track and in the point standings is Yoshimura/Roll/Suzuki's William Yokley, who cared a pair of solid third-place finishes. "I'm just trying to ride smart and smooth," said Yokley of his new-four consistency. "I'd rather be lucky then fast or smart!" Yokley is smart to thank his good fortune. Other contenders have suffered a variety of problems in the early rounds. Am-Pro Yamaha's Chad DuVall put together a solid runner-up ride in Georgia, but snapped a chain in Florida while running with the leaders. Team Safari's Matt Smiley battled a slipping clutch in Florida and a damaged shift lever in Georgia. And East Coast ATV's Chris Borich had to do battle on his practice quad in Georgia, since his race quad started blowing out oil - and losing power- in Florida. The weekends did launch two up-and-coming racers into the spotlight. At the Hurricane, Florida's own Greg Trew finally snagged his first GNCC podium by taking second. "I've been dreaming of this moment for so long and we finally made it," said Trew. "I didn't get stuck once all day. I never had to get off and push." Trew's podium ride was a popular one with the Sunshine state fans. But he would suffer in Georgia while riding with a pulled muscle in his arm. There it was time for a new rider to step up, Four-Stoke Tech's Bryan Cook. Riding strong all day, the 2003 GNCC Four-Stroke A Champion was in podium contention all day, and took fourth overall. "I never ever thought I would be this far up here," said Cook. "This is like a dream. I'm the happiest guy in the pits." And he probably was, except that Ballance guy is obviously pretty pumped to be starting a win streak on the thumper. After the back-to-back weekend stretch in Florida and Georgia, the GNCC Series takes a weekend off before heading to the Steele Creek Campground Morganton, North Carolina. Quote
Meat Posted March 17, 2004 Report Posted March 17, 2004 Ballance at the Hurricane Yokley at the Huricane Quote
tats4life Posted March 18, 2004 Report Posted March 18, 2004 Tats I love the bumper. I got it bolted on allready, the old AC mudscreen has been retired. I'll have to take some pictures. I also like the fact that the bumper came with 2 seasons of nationals experience. Its got history Tats what class did you race ? Open A ? You'll kick ass on the yfz, you should race it for shur. Have you ever raced a gncc ?? Do you know jason dunlkeburger? he's a local boy here, lives about 8 miles down the road. Hellava racer. I raced open-pro-am. I raced a couple of 250a's but got killed!!!! I raced wasinghton, ga it's about 45min from my parents house. That track is SOOOOOOO easy, that's why there's so many wrecks cause it's such a fast track. You mainly ride 3 and 4 sometimes 5 for a second or two, and that's on a dr built shee. The 450 at the shop is badass!!!! It's got a houser long travel +1 front end a stock houser LONG TRAVEL swingarm, houser steering stem. The axle is a custom 1/4in. shorter per side, dominator axle from rpm Running a full sit of Douglas shamrock beadlocks. Sporting 6ply kenda klaws. And a BADASS SET UP CUSTOM AXIS shocks, with the long travel rear shock. Motor work was done by Four Stroke Tech, and that is the strongest quad i have ever ridden bottom end wise!!!!!! Gonna try and get pics and a video of me and my boss on hes yz426 woods bike, breaking the new quad in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When went to TNT where my best friend Kevin pasted away on. I'd didn't go throught he woops cause my head wouldn't let me. I uncorked a couble 68ft doubles for him with a little look up and point to him. DUNK got the whole shot ever time last year in Macon, on a CANNONDALE MOTO. Jason's a great guy with a huge heart!!!!! Sorry for the long ass post Quote
Meat Posted March 21, 2004 Report Posted March 21, 2004 1. Jan 31 & Feb 1 The Lone Star Gilmer, TX NHS 1st Place-William Yokley LTZ400 2nd Place-Bill Ballance YFZ450 3rd Place-Matt Smiley YFZ450 2. Feb 29 & Mar 2 The Hurricane Palatka, FL 1st Place-Bill Ballance YFZ450 2nd Place-Gregory Trew YFZ450 3rd Place-William Yokley LTZ400 4th Place-Chris Borich YFZ450 38th Place-Santo Derisi YFZ450 40th Place- Matt Smiley YFZ450 3. Mar 6 & 7 The General Washington, GA 1st Place-Bill Ballance YFZ450 2nd Place-Chad DuVall YFZ450 3rd Place-William Yokley LTZ400 4th Place- Bryan Cook YFZ450 5th Place-Chris Borich YFZ450 14th Place- Matt Smiley YFZ450 4. Mar 20 & 21 Steele Creek Morganton, NC 1st Place- Bill Ballance YFZ450 2nd Place- Matt Smiley YFZ450 3rd Place- Chad Duvall YFZ450 4th Place- Brandon Ballance YFZ450 5th Place- Bradley Page HON 6th Place- Todd Knippenberg HON 7th Place- Chris Borich YFZ450 8th Place- William Yokley LTZ400 9th Place- Santo Derisi YFZ450 There where seven Yamaha YFZ450's in the top ten Pro class. Overall points standings have Bill Ballance in first place 1st YAM Bill Ballance total of 115 2nd SUZ William Yokley total of 85 3rd YAM Chris Borich total of 66 4th YAM Brandon Ballance total of 57 5th YAM Bryan Cook total of 56 6th YAM Gregory Trew total of 54 7th YAM Matt Smiley total of 53 8th YAM Chad Duvall total of 46 9th HON Todd Knippenberg total of 35 10th HON Jathan Seale total of 34 Stephanie Parton won the womens class AGAIN.... with local girl Traci Cecco coming in second place. Parton leads the overall points 79 to Cecco's 77. Mike Penland came in 1st in the Utility Stock class, he still leads the overall in that class. Next GNCC is Apr 3 & 4 at Big Buck in Union, SC Bill Ballance is looking hard to beat. Thats three 1st place finishes in a row. Quote
Meat Posted March 24, 2004 Report Posted March 24, 2004 Ballance Bests Steele Creek GNCC Kentucky rider tops 580-ATV field in National Cross Country Action Morganton, NC - Four-time ATVA Grand National Cross Country Series Champion Bill Ballance is showing no signs of letting up on his quest for title number five. The Oakland, Kentucky native bested over 580 riders on a rough, high-speed race track at the Steele Creek Campground in Morganton, North Carolina. It's his third-straight win of the young 2004 GNCC season. "It was rough out there," said Ballance, 27. "But it can't get much better than this. It was a great day to race, and I really appreciate all the people out there cheering us on. It makes a big difference on a rough track like this. We were battling hard, and I wanted to win it bad." Ballance battled stiff competition, especially from Pennsylvania's Matt Smiley. Smiley chased Ballance throughout the final 11-mile lap, and nearly pulled off a pass for the lead in the final mile. "I was running right there," said Smiley. "I didn't know where to get around him, but then all of a sudden this big bush just started moving! I didn't know what was going on, I guess some fans were pulling it back so I could get through, but I wasn't sure. I didn't even see them. So I missed my chance to go for it." After two-hours of racing, Smiley ended up second by just five seconds. Third went to West Virginia's Chad DuVall. "I like this course here. It was a Chad style course," joked DuVall. "It got really rough, the holes and bumps were really big. I had a good start, but I made a mistake and hit a tree, and I stood the quad straight up and came off. I lost a lot of time there." DuVall would eventually crawl all the way back to the leaders, Ballance and Smiley, but couldn't execute the pass needed to take a win. Other favorites struggled, like Suzuki's William Yokley, who led early but got stuck behind slower, lapped riders on a hill climb and lost time. Pennsylvania's Chris Borich also led the race, but he got caught on a vine and was pulled from his machine. Both riders were uninjured, but they had hoped for better results. The GNCC event also featured a two-hour race in the morning for beginning riders and amateur classes. The race was won by a female rider, Ohio's Stephanie Parton, who also works at an ATV shop back at home. "It was a good day," said Parton. "I just tried to be smart and get around the slower riders. The Steele Creek course is definitely a tough one." Traci Cecco, another female racer, was second, with a several hundred male competitors coming in behind them. Quote
Meat Posted March 24, 2004 Report Posted March 24, 2004 Thought this was interesting. Stephanie Parton and Traci Cecco came in first and second place overall in the morning race. They finished ahead of 299 other racers, most of em guys. The morning races include the Womens class, all 3 Utility classes, 2 and 4 stroke C classes, 4 stroke stock, super senior and 1st year racers. The GNCC event also featured a two-hour race in the morning for beginning riders and amateur classes. The race was won by a female rider, Ohio's Stephanie Parton, who also works at an ATV shop back at home. "It was a good day," said Parton. "I just tried to be smart and get around the slower riders. The Steele Creek course is definitely a tough one."Traci Cecco, another female racer, was second, with a several hundred male competitors coming in behind them. Quote
Meat Posted April 19, 2004 Report Posted April 19, 2004 1. Jan 31 & Feb 1 The Lone Star. Gilmer, TX NHS 1st Place-William Yokley LTZ400 2nd Place-Bill Ballance YFZ450 3rd Place-Matt Smiley YFZ450 2. Feb 29 & Mar 2 The Hurricane. Palatka, FL 1st Place-Bill Ballance YFZ450 2nd Place-Gregory Trew YFZ450 3rd Place-William Yokley LTZ400 4th Place-Chris Borich YFZ450 38th Place-Santo Derisi YFZ450 40th Place- Matt Smiley YFZ450 3. Mar 6 & 7 The General. Washington, GA 1st Place-Bill Ballance YFZ450 2nd Place-Chad DuVall YFZ450 3rd Place-William Yokley LTZ400 4th Place- Bryan Cook YFZ450 5th Place-Chris Borich YFZ450 14th Place- Matt Smiley YFZ450 4. Mar 20 & 21 Steele Creek. Morganton, NC 1st Place- Bill Ballance YFZ450 2nd Place- Matt Smiley YFZ450 3rd Place- Chad Duvall YFZ450 4th Place- Brandon Ballance YFZ450 5th Place- Bradley Page HON 6th Place- Todd Knippenberg HON 7th Place- Chris Borich YFZ450 8th Place- William Yokley LTZ400 9th Place- Santo Derisi YFZ450 5. April 3rd & 4th Big Buck. Union, SC 1st Place- Bill Ballance YFZ450 2nd Place- Matt Smiley YFZ450 3rd Place- Chad Duvall YFZ450 4th Place- Chris Borich YFZ450 5th Place- Greg Trew YFZ450 6th Place- Santo Derisi YFZ450 7th Place- William Yokley LTZ400 6. April 17 &18th Loretta Lynn's. Hurricane Mills TN 1st Place- Bill Ballance YFZ450 2nd Place- William Yokley LTZ400 3rd Place- Chris Borich YFZ450 4th Place- Chad Duvall YFZ450 5th Place- Brad Page HON 6th Place- Matt Smiley YFZ450 7th Place- Gregory Trew YFZ450 There where seven Yamaha YFZ450's in the top ten Pro class. Overall points standings have Bill Ballance in first place 1st YAM Bill Ballance total of 175 2nd SUZ William Yokley total of 124 3rd YAM Chris Borich total of 105 4th YAM Matt Smiley total of 93 5th YAM Gregory Trew total of 85 6th YAM Bryan Cook total of 84 7th YAM Chad Duvall total of 81 8th YAM Brandon Ballance total of 78 9th HON Jathan Seale total of 52 10th HON Todd Knippenberg total of 43 Steph Parton came in first place in the womens class and Traci Cecco came finished 3rd. Stephanie Parton now leads the points race 117 to Cecco's 115. Mike Penland came in 1st in the Utility Stock class, he still leads the overall in that class. Scott Kilby took 1st place in the Utility Modified class. Kilby has five first place finishes this year, but his DNF at the Big Buck hurt his overall points total. Mike Chirdon leads the points race in the Utility Modified class, Chirdon has 108 points to Kilbys 100. Next GNCC is May 1 & 2 The Spartan. Sparta, KY Quote
Meat Posted May 9, 2004 Report Posted May 9, 2004 1. Jan 31 & Feb 1 The Lone Star. Gilmer, TX NHS 1st Place-William Yokley LTZ400 2nd Place-Bill Ballance YFZ450 3rd Place-Matt Smiley YFZ450 2. Feb 29 & Mar 2 The Hurricane. Palatka, FL 1st Place-Bill Ballance YFZ450 2nd Place-Gregory Trew YFZ450 3rd Place-William Yokley LTZ400 4th Place-Chris Borich YFZ450 38th Place-Santo Derisi YFZ450 40th Place- Matt Smiley YFZ450 3. Mar 6 & 7 The General. Washington, GA 1st Place-Bill Ballance YFZ450 2nd Place-Chad DuVall YFZ450 3rd Place-William Yokley LTZ400 4th Place- Bryan Cook YFZ450 5th Place-Chris Borich YFZ450 14th Place- Matt Smiley YFZ450 4. Mar 20 & 21 Steele Creek. Morganton, NC 1st Place- Bill Ballance YFZ450 2nd Place- Matt Smiley YFZ450 3rd Place- Chad Duvall YFZ450 4th Place- Brandon Ballance YFZ450 5th Place- Bradley Page HON 6th Place- Todd Knippenberg HON 7th Place- Chris Borich YFZ450 8th Place- William Yokley LTZ400 9th Place- Santo Derisi YFZ450 5. April 3rd & 4th Big Buck. Union, SC 1st Place- Bill Ballance YFZ450 2nd Place- Matt Smiley YFZ450 3rd Place- Chad Duvall YFZ450 4th Place- Chris Borich YFZ450 5th Place- Greg Trew YFZ450 6th Place- Santo Derisi YFZ450 7th Place- William Yokley LTZ400 6. April 17 &18th Loretta Lynn's. Hurricane Mills TN 1st Place- Bill Ballance YFZ450 2nd Place- William Yokley LTZ400 3rd Place- Chris Borich YFZ450 4th Place- Chad Duvall YFZ450 5th Place- Brad Page HON 6th Place- Matt Smiley YFZ450 7th Place- Gregory Trew YFZ450 7. May 3rd The Spartan. Sparta KY 1 Jeff B Stoess Pro 014 ATK 2 Chris Jenks Pro Am 013 YAM 3 Chad Duvall Pro 004 YAM 4 Jeremy Rice 016 HON 5 Santo Derisi Pro 008 YAM 6 Bryan Cook Pro 012 YAM 7 Bill V Ballance Pro 001 YAM 8 William Yokley Pro 003 SUZ 9 Jathan Seale Pro Am 316 HON 10 Gregory Trew Pro 006 YAM There where six Yamaha YFZ450's in the top ten Pro class. Overall points standings have Bill Ballance in first place 1 YAM 001 Bill Ballance 189 2 SUZ 003 William Yokley 137 3 YAM 004 Chad Duvall 106 4 YAM 002 Chris Borich 105 5 YAM 005 Matt Smiley 97 6 YAM 012 Bryan Cook 96 7 YAM 006 Gregory Trew 95 8 YAM 010 Brandon Ballance 78 9 HON 316 Jathan Seale 64 10 YAM 013 Chris Jenks 59 Quote
Meat Posted May 9, 2004 Report Posted May 9, 2004 Wondering why the Spartan became the first GNCC in a long, long, time to get cancelled? These photos might help illustrated our plight. But dispite the conditions, nearly 600 brave ATV riders attacked mother nature on Saturday, mercilessly riding machines covered in mud over some of the slickest soil known to man. Yet amazingly, plenty of riders claimed they had a good time sliding through the muck. That's the GNCC spirit. Congratulations go out to Kentucky's own mud specialist Jeff Stoess, who took the first overall win of his 15-year GNCC career on his ATK/Cannondale machine. Congrats also to Chad DuVall and Pro Am rider Chris Jenks, who finished up on the podium. And thanks most of all for everyone who braved the conditions to race with us. You made one heck of an effort. Quote
Meat Posted May 9, 2004 Report Posted May 9, 2004 (edited) TRACI CECCO from my hometown\shamokin.... Traci sliced through the jungle on way to the morning overall win Edited May 9, 2004 by Meat Quote
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