Bryan Cook leads his Four Stroke Tech teammates through the first turn. Cook went on to hunt Chris Jenks down to take the first-ever GNCC Unadilla victory.
Unadilla GNCC Round 11
New Berlin, NY
September 24, 2005
By Nathan Delabar
Photos by Chuck Debault
Earlier this year GNC ATV racers took to the Unadilla Valley Motorsports Complex for the first time ever. This weekend, at the very same venue, quad racers tore through the woods for the first time ever, as the Suzuki Grand National Cross Country series thundered into New Berlin, New York. “This track looks like it has a little bit of everything, said defending champ and Yamaha Factory support rider Bill Ballance before the race. “It reminds me of how the tracks used to be, — technical. The track looks to have tight woods, rough terrain, and steep hills.”
This would mark the first time since 1969 that any kind of off road race has been held in these woods. Everyone seemed excited about the conditions. Of course some of the most exciting news of the weekend was the return of Bill Ballance who missed the last round due to an injury. “I broke my ankle seven weeks ago . I was cleared by the doctor last week to be able to race,” said Balance. “I think in the last seven weeks I maybe have 15 minutes worth of ride time on my quad, and paid for that the few days following. Today I am just here to go out get some seat time and try to earn some needed points.” Coming into the weekend Ballance still held the championship points lead over Chris Borich. Borich needed a good ride to gain some points if he still wanted a chance at his first national championship.
Polaris was at Unadilla in a big way, bringing their tractor trailer along with two new Polaris Outlaws for people to see. There were several different reps and engineers from Polaris along with a video display. Check out our video section for more information on the all-new Outlaw.
Factory Polaris was in attendance in a big way. Not only supporting their factory racer Matt Smiley but showing off their new 2006 Outlaw with independent rear suspension. “We want to let as many people see this machine as possible,” said Jeff LeFever of Polaris. “Look for their involvement to grow next season. We will have the quads along with our rig and our display at the remainder of the races as well just like we have here.” Polaris factory pro, Matt Smiley, unfortunately had a hard get off early in the race, turning him into a spectator for the rest of the day.
With a light rain early the day before, cool breezy 70 degree temperature at race time and not a cloud in the sky — conditions looked perfect for a GNCC race. Reports from a morning class rider were that the track was getting whooped out and rutted up deep in some areas.
Traci Cecco’s women’s class win and third place overall in the morning race puts her in a tie for the women’s championship point’s battle. Her. along with Stephanie Parton, have five wins, three second place finishes and one third place finish — totaling 175 points for each. It doesn’t get any closer than that!
After recently taking his first win of his career last round, Chris Jenks looked to be running strong at Unadilla. Unfortunately for Chris, while leading, he got stuck in a mud hole late in the race, which dropped him back several spots.
Only seven weeks after breaking his leg, Bill Ballance managed to grab the holeshot, ride strong and finished the day in 2nd place. With Chris Borich having troubles, Ballance is once again in complete control of yet another title. Bill only need two more points to secure his 6th consecutive Championship.
The return of the champ means the return of another Bill Ballance holeshot as he and his Yamaha YFZ pulled four quad lengths over the rest of the field by the second turn, just as he has been doing the entire season. Followed early by Chris Borich, who’s day was cut short by clipping a tree and breaking a ball joint on his Honda 450R, close to where the tie rod attaches. While in the pits, changing the spindle out, his crew also realized that the fan was not working on his quad. It was already overheating. “We tried several things from directly connecting power to the fan to switching it out for another,” said Chris. “We just couldn’t’t get it to work.” Borich did take the quad back out on the track to get some seat time in and have fun but was back too far to be a threat.
With Chris not being a factor this round it looked as Ballance would be back in control of the championship points race as long as he could ride smart and finish. It looked as though that is just what Ballance was thinking. While concentrating a smart ride to the checkers, his lead quickly disappeared with several riders getting by. Chris Jenks, last round’s winner, was the first to get by and looking very strong. Mickey Dunlap’s entire Four Stroke Tech Team was looking good early in the race holding down the top three positions with Jenks out front followed by Bryan Cook and Michael Houston. Houston would later fall victim to Yoshimura Suzuki’s William Yokley as he was charging strong through the rough track. Yokley’s drive toward the front was halted as he experienced some equipment problems however. His LTZ400 was stuck in one gear and wouldn’t’t shift. With all the different conditions this track had to offer racing in only one gear would have been extremely hard, so William pulled into the pits and called it a day.
Ballance continued to battle for a respectable positions with his brother Brandon Ballance in tow. K&K’s Bryan Baker and Four Stroke Tech’s Michel Houston were also right in the hunt. “I got crossed up in some ruts and threw myself off the quad,” said the champ. “Luckily there were some spectators around that helped me out. They got my quad back up-right and pointed in the right direction. I’m really thankful to them. That must have dropped me back to 7th place or so.”
Matt Smiley, who has had an up and down year, didn’t have much luck at Unadilla. A first lap tangle with another rider cut his race short. Matt will be back at Powerline Park racing strong.
The front two riders, Jenks and Cook, looked to be getting stronger as the race wore on. “I got around him (Jenks) a couple times, either here in the pits or when we would get tangled up with some lappers,” explained Cook. “He would catch back up to me and I would let him around. He was running a very strong pace.” The battle for the lead went into the final lap where Jenks had some problems. “Bryan (Cook) and I were right there together down by the rail road track,” Jenks explained of his final lap. “Every lap there was people stuck down there and I kept going to the right. This time it didn’t work for me. I was stuck deep in the mud for a while. I ended up completely flipping the quad over to get it out and dropped back to 10th place.”
Long time GNCC pro Bryan Baker’s persistency paid off as he earned the third place position, reaching the podium with his K&K backed 450R for the first time in seven years. “It’s been a long time since I have been up here and it feels great not only for me but to know I am giving back to my sponsors who stand behind me,” said a very happy Baker. “I was at a point in my life where I had to take some time off from racing, but kept a good attitude and knew I could return as strong as before my break.”
Missouri’s Bryan Baker’s 20 plus hour drive to New York was well worthwhile – as his 3rd place finish put him on the podium for the first time in seven years!
William Yokley was running strong early in the race. But a transmission problems left his Z400 stuck in one gear which put an end to his day.
Bill Ballance proved why he is a champion. The guts, dedication and mind set that it takes to overcome the pain in his leg and still be one of the fastest guys in the country is amazing. “I really hoped I could get up here and earn some points today,” said Ballance from his second place podium position. “Deep down even though I wanted it I didn’t think I could pull of this ride today.” Ballance was clearly in pain as he hobbled around his trailer after the race, but there was a smile on his face. Maybe he knows he only has to finish in the top 20 one time in the last two races to win his 6th consecutive Grand National Cross Country Championship.
No one on the property was more excited about their first time at Unadilla than Bryan Cook, (well, except maybe his dad, and maybe his fiancee Bonnie Hamrick). “Last season I earned an overall but actually came across the line in second place. A couple riders had been penalized for something and that moved me up to first,” said Cook. “It really feels great to come out here and show everyone I deserved a fair and square win by clearly crossing the finish line first.” Cook a second year pro and last years GNCC Rookie Of The Year clearly did show he deserves an overall win by stretching the lead out to win by just over 1 minute. “They kept telling me I had a huge lead toward the end,” said Cook. I just wanted to slow down a bit and keep it smart ensuring I didn’t make any big mistakes.
Bryan Cook carves through a hard left hand turn in route to the checkers. The win marked his second career overall.
The points race in the always competitive Women’s class keeps getting tighter as last year’s champion Stephanie Parton and Alba’ Actions Traci Cecco have been trading wins all year. This weekend Cecco was able to fight hard right down to the finish line just edging out Parton for the win and the third overall position for the morning race podium. After Parton’s overall win for the whole morning race last round, it was the four stroke stock boys back in front this round with Jarred McClure taking the win.
Jim Stack has talked his smack for years and this weekend he actually backed it up. He easily took the win in the Utility Modified class over Scott Kilby. He won with four minutes to spare.
