Steele Creek GNCC, Morganton, NC 2004
- Updated: March 20, 2004
The overall Champion at Steele Creek, making it three in a row, is Bill Ballance.
Steele Creek
Morganton, NC
March 20, 2004
By Bonnie Hamrick
The weather was perfect; the sun was out and the temperature was in the 70’s. A freak rain cloud blew over, just dusting the ground with a few drops. After that the pro riders were ready for the rocky, hilly, rough terrain that the Steele Creek GNCC has provided for five years. There were a few changes made in the pro pits, starting with the appearance of Brad Page, the 2003 overall number seven rider. Page showed up on the new 450R Honda. “I have been at home with my new baby and finally finished building my house. I have gotten all that stuff straightened out, so I got a quad and decided to come racing. I have only been on a quad twice maybe since last year’s Ironman. Today should be interesting,” Page admitted in the pits. Number 15, Andy Lagzdins, broke out the Honda; after a rough race in Georgia aboard the Yamaha, Lagzdins decided it was time for a change.
Borich is back to getting holeshots aboard the Yamaha. Here he has 20 hungry Pro riders behind wanting a taste of his lead. Last year he was just a few seconds away from winning the overall at this event.
Who’s this guy?
It’s Brad Page. He’s back for a few races and finished extremely well.
Here at round four of the GNCC series, Bill Ballance was holding onto the first place in the point’s race. After being on the podium at the first three races, (a third and two firsts), Ballance was sitting in the same position as he was in 2003 about this time. Second to the line was William Yokley on the Yoshimura Suzuki aboard the number three machine. Third to the line was Greg Trew with East Coast ATV aboard the number six Yamaha. Fourth overall in points so far was Chris Borich aboard the Yamaha as well, although Borich is yet to get on the podium here in 2004, he is not to be counted out. Rounding out the top five overall in points is Bryan Cook with Four Stroke Tech aboard the Yamaha; like Borich, Cook is due to get on the podium after gaining in finishes at the first three events.
Smiley said it felt good to stand on the podium in front of so many fans. He worked hard to get there and was glad to support Team Safari the best he could.
On lap two, Yokley took over the lead with Champion Bill Ballance on cruise control behind the Suzuki.
Green Flag
When the green flag went out, Borich pulled the holeshot with Yokley, Chad Duvall, Ballance and Cook right on his rear tires going into the woods. “Update, Update half way round the course, Borich, Yokley, Bill, Smiley, Trew.” After tackling the ten mile course for the end of lap one, Borich held onto the lead with Yokley, Ballance, Matt Smiley, and Trew all within seconds of one another. Less than ten seconds later was Cook for sixth battling Knippenberg in the fields. In the Pro Am Class, Chris Jenks was out front with Jeremy Rice battling close for second. Eric Conner was ten seconds back for third.
Twenty-eight minutes later for lap two, the crowd was going wild as rookie Cook worked his orange Yamaha up to the top. Yokley and Ballance were still seconds apart swapping back and forth before making it through the final scoring area. Turning the fastest second lap was Cook, coming around in third after holding sixth place the lap before. Cook admitted to catching up with the leaders by the climbing the tricky hills without any troubles. “I was able to make it up the hill and get by most of the other riders, moving up to third,” Cook said with a grin on his face. Just twenty seconds back was Smiley with Duvall and Brad Page thirty seconds later, stopping in their pits for a splash of gas. Knippenberg came by in seventh, holding off Team Safari’s Santo DeRisi. Jenks was still out front for the Pro Am Class, holding a minute and a half lead over the battling duo, Brian Schmid and Rice.
Here Matt Smiley hammers down to try to catch Ballance for the win with only a minute to go in the race.
Making the home crowd turn some heads, Bryan Cook moved his Four Stroke Tech Yamaha to third place and looked for his first podium finish.
“Update. Update. Smiley moved out front with Ballance and Duvall in tow. Yokley and Cook were held up on the hill.”
News traveled fast over the intercom as the fans waited for the leaders to cross under the bridge that made Steele Creek notorious. The hilly terrain here in North Carolina brought on the challenge for the day; this being the first round so far that consisted of multiple hills and ravines. As they came along side of the creek, Ballance led by just a few seconds over Smiley with Duvall eating up his rear tires. Forty seconds back was Page and Brandon Ballance fighting neck and neck. Five seconds later was Knippenberg holding onto a great ride. A minute later was Borich trying to work his way back to the front after being first on lap one. A minute and a half back in seventh was Cook with DeRisi fifteen seconds back and on the gas. Yokley and Andy Lagzdins were wheel to wheel on the white flag lap, twenty seconds back from DeRisi. Jenks rounded the turn within the top ten overall, still holding onto the Pro Am lead.
After Yokley got tangled up in a bottleneck, Ballance made it up the hill quicker and left him in his dust. Smiley moves into second and charges hard to keep Ballance in sight on lap three.
“Update. Update. Ballance and Smiley battling hard, wheel to wheel with only minutes to go.”
Coming in for the checkered flag was Ballance and Smiley kicking up dust as they rounded the last half mile of the fields before the finish. Ballance never letting off the throttle aboard his Troy factory Yamaha YFZ thundered across the finish line with just a three second lead over team Safari’s Smiley. The battling duo pulled a minute and thirty seconds over third overall, Chad Duvall.
“There was a bottleneck out in the woods at one of the hills. I swung wide and got around it and I was gone from there. Everyone is stepping it up this year and it is amazing. I just hope to stay up on the podium. It was exciting as all the fans were cheering us all on, yelling for us to go faster,” Ballance said up on the podium with a big smile on his face. “I am glad to be up here, representing Troy Racing, Yamaha, ArsFx, Moose, Douglas Wheel, Maxxis, Smith, Regina Chains, Rebel Gears, GT Thunder, HMF, DP Brakes, Carb Parts Warehouse, Power Madd, Pro Armor, IMS, Klotz, tireballs, WER, and more.”
With consistent finishes, Todd Knippenberg is looking to make another top ten overall this year.
Getting air along side of the creek holding onto third, Duvall works his way to a podium finish.
Matt Smiley was glad to be back up on the podium after round one in Gilmer, TX. “I want to thank Team Safari, Maxxis, Big Gun, Moose, Custom Axis, Shoei, ArsFx, HiPer Wheels, Pro Armor, IMS, GPR, and more.”
Chad Duvall took a hard fought third. “Am Pro Yamaha has done a lot for me to keep me running smooth and fast, and on the podium. Duncan Racing, IMS, Elka, ITP, RK Chain, GPR, Motion Pro, Hinson also have been strong supporters for me this year.”
Missing out on the podium by forty-two seconds was Brandon Ballance. Brad Page, making his first race of the season, finished an impressive fifth, – only a minute and twenty seconds back. Making another great finish for the season was Todd Knippenberg, coming in for sixth overall less than a minute back from Page. Two minutes back was Chris Borich falling off to seventh overall with William Yokley all over his Maxxis tires to the checkered flag. “I lost the lead over in the fields. There were a lot of bottlenecks out there. It was rough, real rough and whooped out. I quit having fun after I lost grips with the lead. I just wish I had better luck that’s all,” Yokley said with a shrug of his shoulders. Yokley is easy to bounce back, so don’t count him out for Cross Anchor in two weeks.
Ballance and Smiley pushed one another hard to the finish. As usual, Ballance poured it on and took top honors.
For his first race back in the seat, Page looked just as fast as his old self.
The next battle was for ninth overall as Santo DeRisi came blazing through the fields with fellow North Carolina resident, Bryan Cook trailing. Andy Lagzdins was hot on Cook’s heels. DeRisi was able to get by Cook while he was held up with lapped riders, but there will always be the next race. Mike Houston put in another great ride as he topped out with twelfth overall aboard the Honda 450R.
Dereck Litterini from Sutersville, PA took thirteenth overall from the 4 Stroke A Class. Fourteenth overall went to a Vet rider, Eric Lemly aboard a Honda. Chris Bithell was less than twenty seconds back for sixteenth overall and second in the 4 Stroke A. Jeremy Rice was able to take over the Pro Am Class win with seventeenth overall after Chris Jenks experienced a hand full of troubles in the last lap. The end taker for Jenks was when he bent a tire rod, ending his success for the day. In eighteenth overall and five seconds back from Bithell was Scott Dailey for third in 4 Stroke A. Nineteenth overall went to first place in the 265A Class, Sean Neidlinger, with Brian Schmid rounding out the top twenty overall from the Pro Am class.
In two weeks, the GNCC Series will be in Cross Anchor, SC at the Big Buck. The track there is fast and has always been dusty. Come out and see it for yourself. Hope to see you there!
