General GNCC, Washington, GA 2005
- Updated: March 12, 2005
The General GNCC
Washington, GA
March 12, 2005
Story and photos by Bonnie Hamrick
On the Starting line, Bill Ballance knew what he was coming into. Borich held a two race win streak over him and today would not make three.
Round Three of the GNCC Series was at The General in Washington, Georgia, held at the Aonia Pass Motocross Park. Coming into the race, Chris Borich held a two win race streak, could he make it three in a row? Five time GNCC Overall Champion, Bill Ballance was frustrated coming into round three. Ballance was over coming a torn ACL from before Texas and he was determined nothing would hold him back from a win today. The Pro’s made their way to the starting line after riding by the mud hole after the scoring tent that would prove to be more of an obstacle than people realize. Chris Borich led the way to the starting line and the rest of the Pro’s got lined up and ready to race. With the call, “Ten Seconds,” the crowd went wild cheering for their favorite Pro rider.
That is right, here are riders stuck up to the plastic in the mud – and just the next lap, Chris Borich makes it through here!
The green flag went up and Chris Jenks took the holeshot aboard his Four Stroke Tech Honda. Jenks was using the No Stall Auto Clutch this weekend and it appears to be working great for him. Right on his tail was Bill Ballance and Jeremy Rice. Making their way through the motocross jumps and then into the woods. Just two miles later they were coming onto the back of the motocross track and Jenks still held onto a ten second lead. Holding onto the top five was Jenks, Rice, Ballance, Chris Borich, and Santo DeRisi.
After ten and a half miles of tight Georgia clay, the Pro’s emerged from the woods to the end of lap one. Chris Jenks still held a fifteen second lead as he dove into the deep mud hole as Chris Borich and Bill Ballance battled side by side coming out of the woods. Just five seconds later was William Yokley as he dove into the mud hole and easily made it up the bank. The fans were going wild; with just four Pro riders through the mud hole now, it already looked like it was getting eaten up fast, and that would mean people would be getting stuck. Thirty seconds later was Bryan Baker putting in an incredible ride for fifth, but had many Pro riders all over his rear tire fighting – Andris Lagzdins, Michael Houston, Matt Smiley, and Bryan Cook. Just before coming into the scoring tent, the little woods section held a creek jump or a path around, Santo DeRisi took the path around unknowingly and three Pro’s passed him, dropping him back to tenth, a position he would not be happy with.
Coming into the last lap, here Bill Ballance has the lead.
“Update from the three mile marker – Chris Jenks is way out front with Borich and Yokley battling for second. Bill has dropped to ten seconds back.”
The crowd was getting tighter at the mud hole, waiting to see what would happen now. As the end of lap two came, Jenks still held onto the lead, but Borich and Ballance were all over his Maxxis tires, trying to get by. The mud hole held up while the first three jumped through to the bank to get back on the motocross track. Yokley dropped to twenty seconds back then Matt Smiley came out of the woods holding onto fifth with Mike Houston right on his rear tires. Going into the mud hole Smiley went right and Houston went left and Houston was the first to jump out of the embankment. The crowd saw Smiley struggle in the deep mud to get his quad free, all the while, Andris Lagzdins and Cook were able to get by before he could break free.
Here Chris Borich is right on Bill Ballance’s dust as they head out for the last lap.
The updates were saying Jenks wasn’t able to hold them off; the Four Stroke Tech pits were getting nervous. Just before the race, Jenks admitted to not being ready for the Overall position, saying he wasn’t there yet in his riding abilities, but with his performance so far, the crowd thought Jenks was ready. Coming in for lap three Bill Ballance led the way to the scoring tent with Borich and Jenks right on his rear tires. The Yamaha pit crew yelled for Bill to go around the mud hole, since there were three riders stuck in the right line and one stuck in the line to the left. The mud hole was deemed impassable. Bill went the long way around the mud hole and Borich and Jenks followed. Over a minute back in fourth was William Yokley, with Team Suzuki pit crew telling him to go around the mud as well. Nearly two minutes back, Mike Houston came in for fifth place and the Four Stroke Tech pit crew told him to go around the mud since there were still riders trying to get pulled out with four-wheel drive ATV’s. Houston was fighting to hold off Matt Smiley and Santo DeRisi, who were just seconds apart.
Chris Jenks has put in an incredible race with holding onto the lead till now, where he is fighting to keep third overall.
The white flag was coming out and Chris Borich wasn’t in the lead. His pit crew was playing at the mud hole, trying to determine if it would be worth sending Chris in to save the fifteen seconds longer it took to go around the mud. The crowd watched and waited. Ballance came out of the woods first with Borich on his rear tires. Jimmy Duff, Ballance’s crew chief was telling him to go around and he went to the right, but Team Alba pit crew was positioned in the mud, so Chris dropped the clutch and dove in; the crew grabbed a hold and helped him up the embankment. Borich shot out of the mud hole right beside Ballance coming around, leaving them going into the woods practically side by side. Forty-five seconds later Chris Jenks came through the scoring tent for his last lap charge. With William Yokley just thirty-five seconds back, Jenks would have to stay on the gas to hold off the Team Suzuki rider. Over two and a half minutes later, Brandon Ballance came in holding onto fifth, taking an end of the race charge to the front, making the fastest fourth lap, even compared to his brother – Bill. Just twenty-five seconds back was an intense battle between Houston and Smiley. The Team Four Stroke Tech rider had his hands full of the Factory Polaris rider and doing great to hold him back.
The battle between Mike Houston and Matt Smiley has been going on for nearly two laps and right now, no one is backing down!
“Update at the six mile marker – Chris is stuck in the mud and having to get it out on his own. Bill Ballance is pulling away.”
And that was what it looked like when the checkered flag went waving, Bill Ballance all by himself for the first time all day. His hands went up into the air, as he finally took the overall victory. “This has been a frustrating start to the season! Knowing you are ready, the bike is ready, and it just not happening for you is hard to deal with.” Bill made his way up onto the podium and did a burnout for the entire crowd to take part of his excitement of finally putting one under his belt for the start of the season. “Before Texas, I really messed up my knee. Then coming into Florida – I was ready and the Yamaha was working great, but all it took was a small stick to jam between the shock and A-arm and I couldn’t control it; In other words, Bad luck and bad luck for me. Today, I felt confident. My bike stalled once and I said, ‘Alright baby, let’s do it from here.’ And when Chris went right and I went left, and I came out first, I knew I got him.”
Bill Ballance puts his Team Yamaha up on the podium with the Overall win and he does a burnout for the crowd.
Battling a cold all week and just being hit with the news of his grandmother’s death, Chris Borich had a lot on his mind today. “It was a good battle. The last lap, I had a few lines picked out that I was going to save till then, and then I go and get hung up in one. I went through the mud hole at the beginning of the last lap cause my pit crew told me to do it. They knew I could do it, so I held it wide open and they pulled me the rest of the way out. I knew I was going to have to get by Bill with little lines at a time. That last lap, we passed back and forth.”
Taking third overall, by just ten seconds was Chris Jenks. “I took the holeshot and held onto the race early on. Those last two laps, I was doing the best I could. Friday, we installed a Precision steering stem and it worked awesome out there. I am just happy with where I am right here.” With fourth overall just ten seconds behind, Jenks had no idea Yokley was that close to him till he crossed the checkered flag, but he was able to keep on the charge that last lap and make it happen.
Bill always puts the fans first – here he signs away the Champagne bottle to a fan!
Three minutes back was fifth overall, Brandon Ballance. After coming off a podium finish at the Orange Crush, Brandon is putting his focus together and fighting for another podium finish, but made his charge too late in the race to capitalize on his speed. Bryan Baker put in his best overall finish with sixth overall, two minutes behind Ballance. Taking seventh overall was Adam McGill from the Pro Am Class, with the class lead by nearly two minutes. Eighth overall went to Matt Smiley with Andris Lagzdins just forty seconds back for ninth. Rounding out the top ten overall was Rhett Butler, who finished just behind Lagzdins, also making his best overall appearance.
So what happened to Mike Houston and Santo DeRisi, two riders who were in the top ten all day? Houston and DeRisi took fate to the mud hole where the bride collapsed. With the two being good friends, they helped each other out of the mud to come in and finish just outside the top twenty overall.
