Racing
2004 ATVA/AMA
Grand National Cross-Country Series
Bill Ballance dominates South Carolina GNCC
By Jason Weigandt
Jun.
1, 2004 – All the pre-season speculation that Bill Ballance would deal
with a serious championship challenge this year in the ATVA Grand National Cross
Country Series was wrong.
Ballance is just as fast and just as dominant on his Yamaha YFZ450 as he was on his old 250Rs. He's now won four races in a row. He's pulling away in the points chase. And everyone else seems to come close to stopping him but haven't gotten the job done.
"It can't get much better than this," says the HMF/Yamaha-backed rider after taking the FMF Big Buck GNCC April 3-4 in Union, South Carolina. "I didn't get a good start. I passed a few people heading into the woods, but I had to work my way up to the lead. Matt (Smiley) and I passed each other a couple of times on the last two laps."
Yes,
once again Team Safari's Smiley was close to taking the win, but he came up
just a few lengths short. Smiley is usually more comfortable letting someone
else lead the race, but he grabbed the holeshot and took off early. He led most
of the day until he lost his rear brakes.
Ballance got by him on the last lap, but Smiley took the lead back again with a slick line choice on a hill. Unfortunately, he didn't have the stopping power to stop Ballance from passing him on the final grass track section.
"He's hard enough to hold back when you do have brakes," Smiley says. "Things were going well, but I knew Bill was coming. When he came up behind me I could tell he wanted to pick up the pace. I hung with him, but I had a tough time getting the bike slowed down in the field sections."
Am
Pro Yamaha's Chad DuVall (right) put in another solid ride for third, his third
straight trip to the GNCC podium. He battled all day with Chris Borich, until
Borich had trouble starting after he tangled with a lapper. It was just enough
to let the veteran get away.
"Something must be wrong with the charging system because the battery wouldn't crank it," says Borich, who had to bump start his machine.
Team
Safari's Santo DeRisi (right) and Lewis Racing's Greg Trew put on a battle for
fifth, passing several times on the final lap. Trew rode until his right palm
had grown into one giant blister, but he dug deep and held on for fifth. But
DeRisi's ride was his best of the young season.
Seventh went to Yoshimura Suzuki's William Yokley, the first rider not mounted on a Yamaha YFZ450. It appears the riders are figuring the blue and white bikes out, although some, like Borich and DeRisi, feel there's still lots of potential that will be found once they dial in their suspension.
"I'm getting a lot of kick in the rear end," DeRisi said before the race.
Said Borich: "I have problems with the bars tugging when I'm in ruts. It's killing my arms."
But
Yokley (right), on the Suzuki LTZ400, struggled with suspension settings as
well.
"We changed the shock settings and also tried some different pressure in the tires with the Tire Balls," said the popular Kentucky rider. "We shouldn't have changed anything. I was getting bounced around and I didn't want to ride over my head and crash."
The morning race was captured by John Gallagher Sr., who is racing the Super Senior class this year. Women's Class competitors Traci Cecco and Angel Atwell finished second and third, while Stephanie Parton struggled when she broke her footpeg off on the second lap.
For more information, log on to GNCCracing.com