GNCC Round 4
Bill Ballance on top at North Carolina Grand National Cross Country
April 5, 2005 – If there were any questions as to how five-time Suzuki Grand National Cross Country ATV Champion Bill Ballance would respond to a serious title threat, he has answered them with a resoundingly positive response.
After two hours of battling through mud, woods and hills, Ballance fought off the stiffest competition this year to win the fourth round of the ATVA Grand National Cross Country Series at Steele Creek in Morgantown, North Carolina, April 2-3.
It was the second-straight GNCC victory for the factory Yamaha YFZ450 rider.
"It feels good to win again," said Ballance. "No more problems, no more bad luck. It was an awesome race. We all got hung up around the third lap, and I made some passes and got into the lead. I got through those mud holes clean and kept the hammer down. It's time to get this ball rolling."
To get the ball rolling, Ballance had to push it past a determined pack of pro ATV racers, including Polaris' Matt Smiley and Yoshimura Suzuki's William Yokley, who finished second and third, as well as Lewis Racing's Greg Trew and Alba's Chris Borich, who are all in the hunt for most of the day.
"It was a wild day, man," said Yokley. "My luck went like a teeter-totter, it was up and down and up and down. Everything in the world happened today, so I was just glad to get on the box."
Yokley was just part of the five-rider freight train that pushed and shoved their way around the scenic Steel Creek facility. Heavy rains greeted the track the night before the race, and with everyone getting stuck in the mud, it opened the door for Ballance to pull away with the lead, and Smiley to move up from deep in the pack to get second.
"I got a horrible start, I must have been dead last, but I kept digging," said Smiley. "I just kept pulling my way to the front. I got up into second at the end, and I had made up my mind that I wasn't letting go of it. There was no way anyone was getting by me, I just kept it pinned!"
While the track worked in Smiley's favor, it didn't help Alba's Chris Borich, who came into Steele Creek with the series' points lead. Borich was fast all day, but a few mistakes on the last lap dropped him to fifth overall, and a tie with Ballance at the top of the standings.
Trew put on his best race of the season by running with the leaders for most of the race, but he got stuck in a mud hole while running second, dropping him out of a podium spot.
Through all of the carnage, Ballance was able to get into the lead on his Yamaha, and once he was there he was able to steadily pull away to another win.
"It's good to be back on an equal playing field," said Balance of sharing the points lead with Borich. "It's like a fresh start, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the year."
The 13-round series is produced exclusively by Racer Productions. Cross-country racing is one of the most physically demanding sports in the world. The nearly three-hour long GNCC races lead as many as 1,500 motorcycle and ATV riders through tracks ranging from eight to 12 miles in length. With varied terrain including hills, mud, dirt, rocks and motocross sections, GNCC events are tests of both survival and speed.
For more information on GNCC events, please visit: www.gnccracing.com/