GNCC Round 9
The Wisp GNCC
McHenry, MD
June 25, 2005
Story and photos by Bonnie Hamrick
Bill Ballance claims the holeshot, leaving the rest of the pack in his dust.
It’s the last race before the summer break — Round Nine at The Wisp Ski Resort in McHenry, MD. The GNCC golf challenge kicked off Friday at noon. Many racers had visions of being pro golfers, but most were pro “goofers” than anything. Stick to racing guys!
The Wisp once again lived up to its name. This year’s eleven mile course consisted of: rocks, rocks, more rocks, boulders, dust, stumps, new trails and water ditches. Even with a mile of pavement racing in the mix, finishing a lap on this course would be no easy task. The Pro riders headed to the line in anticipation for the 1:30 start, while fans flocked to the side of the ski slope, ready to witness the exciting start.
“Ten Seconds.”
Rounding turn one first was Bill Ballance holding off Chris Borich and William Yokley. Rounding into turn four a bottleneck occurred when Chris Jenks and Todd Knippenberg both tried to squeeze through the barrels, giving the first six pro riders a chance to break away early and leaving the rest to fight their way out of the jam up.
With just over thirty minutes of racing complete in lap one, the Pro riders made their way down the ski slope, winding their way into the half pipe. A three way battle for first crossed under the bridge with Matt Smiley putting his Predator in the lead and Bill Ballance and William Yokley right on his Maxxis tires battling for second. Chris Jenks was just a few seconds back in fourth. Ten seconds later, Chris Borich made his way down the half pipe towards Pro Pit row. Battling for sixth was Brandon Ballance, Jeremy Rice, Santo DeRisi, Bryan Cook, and Todd Knippenberg. Just outside the top ten was Mike Houston and Greg Trew.
Matt Smiley comes down the half pipe with the lead over Bill Ballance and William Yokley.
With many lead changes taking place out on the track, the pit crews were lined down the asphalt waiting for the end of lap two. Coming down the ski slopes was a new leader, Bill Ballance. Chris Jenks took over second place. Matt Smiley was just seconds back, holding off Chris Borich as William Yokley was holding onto fifth place. Thirty seconds back in sixth was Bryan Cook with Santo DeRisi holding off pressure from Jeremy Rice. Making an early pit stop was Bill Ballance, giving Chris Jenks the lead heading into lap three. Ballance regained second place with Smiley still in third. Another battle heating up was from the Pro Am Class between James Wahl and Adam Mcgill. After nearly a dead last start, Mcgill was working his way up the pack, pressuring Wahl.
At check point two, nearly nine miles out on the course, Matt Smiley had taken over the lead with Chris Jenks, Bill Ballance, Chris Borich, and William Yokley all still right together, battling just seconds apart in the rocks.
The white flag came out to Matt Smiley, who held just a five second lead over Bill Ballance, but would loose the lead once he had to make his pit stop. Yokley was holding onto third place with Four Stroke Tech teammates Chris Jenks and Bryan Cook rounding out the top five. Both teammates pulled into the pits for a splash of gas, allowing Santo DeRisi to pass, but DeRisi was on the second row of Pro Pits and had to make a pit stop as well, putting Jenks and Cook back in the top five.
Bill Ballance claims yet another overall victory in traditional Ballance fashion — a big lead.
Last lap update from the four mile marker was Ballance, Yokley, and Smiley. Borich still had not been seen through the scoring tent, but word came in that Borich was hurt just miles from the finish with a possible broken collar bone. Just a few years before, Chris Borich broke his arm here at the Wisp on the pavement section of Pro Pits, so this track has caused him an injury once again. Earlier, coming into the pits injured was Mike Houston. After flipping through the rock pile, Houston had to take several minutes to regain his surroundings, and rode back to the pits to call it a day. Also bringing an end to their race day before the checkered flag was Greg Trew.
Update from the six mile marker, Bill Ballance all alone with more than a twenty second lead. Battling neck and neck for second is Smiley and Yokley. Update from the eight mile marker, Ballance was stretching his lead out more, to nearly forty-five seconds. Yokley all by himself in second with Smiley nearly fifteen seconds back in third. So who would it be for second? Could the fourth place pack of DeRisi, Jenks, and Cook work their way up to catch Smiley?
William Yokley dropped back a spot to finish third after he broke the sub frame on his Suzuki Z400.
Finishing Up
Taking the checkered flag for the Overall win was none other than the Champion himself; Bill Ballance — taking is fifth overall victory for the year. Over a minute later, Matt Smiley came down the half pipe with no competition on his rear wheels. Smiley took his fourth podium appearance for the season, but has yet to take an overall. Ten seconds back in third was William Yokley. Taking fourth overall twenty seconds back from Yokley was Santo DeRisi, one of his highest finishes, the last being a fourth overall at the season opener in Texas. Right on the heels of DeRisi was Four Stroke Tech rider, Chris Jenks in fifth overall, with his teammate, Bryan Cook, who finished sixth overall forty seconds back. In seventh overall, Jeremy Rice crossed the finish line, two minutes after Cook took the checkered flag. Adam Mcgill took eighth place overall just seconds after Rice. Rounding out the top ten overall was Andy Lagzdins and Todd Knippenberg.
With a two month summer break ahead of us, hopefully Chris Borich can heal and be ready for the GNCC battles that await. Or will Bill Ballance take yet another GNCC Championship? Only time will tell, so stay tuned for GNCC racing action here on ATV Scene.com to find out.
