For me, round 1 of the GNCC series is one of if not my most anticipated event of the year. The sun is usually out; the weather is warm and this year the GNCC series kicked off in an all-new location. The new location was Westgate River Ranch in River Ranch, Florida, a beautiful facility filled with palm trees and everything a GNCC rider could hope for. But just like any previous GNCC held in Florida, the traditional tough obstacles that we have all come to expect would litter the track such as knee-deep whoops, palmetto roots and even a little rain for race day. On Saturday, temperatures were in the 80's with great weather, as the promoters would allow several hours of practice for this one round only.
One of the unique and interesting facts about this race in particular is that this could very well be 9 time GNCC Champion Bill Ballance's last GNCC race in Florida. At the end of 2008, Ballance announced that 2009 would be his very last full season as a Pro GNCC racer as he will officially retire at the end of the year. As you can imagine, every Pro rider will be doing everything they can to keep Ballance from obtaining his tenth consecutive GNCC championship title. And to throw a wrench in that plan, over the off-season Ballance had a surgery on his ribs that is preventing him from entering round 1 at 100 percent. This is going to be an interesting year no doubt.
Entering Sunday morning, the temperatures were in the 60's with light rains in the forecast and a lot of anticipation to get this season kicked off. In the women's class, yours truly pulled the holeshot. Due to a crash earlier in the week, I suffered some injuries that caused me some trouble during the race. Angel Atwell took the lead early in the race and ended up taking the overall win after some good battles between Angel and Jennifer Albright, a Florida native. Jennifer Albright ended up taking second overall while Michael Swift rounded out the third place. Just out of the top 3 overall was Yamaha's Traci Cecco taking 4th overall for the morning class.
As the PM race was just about to kick off, it began to get cooler, more rain was falling and the track was getting extremely rough. Chris Borich took the holeshot and led the Pro Class into the never-ending sea of whoops. During the first lap, Borich charged hard with Adam McGill and Taylor Kiser on his chops. At one point, McGill took the lead but eventually began experiencing problems with his throttle and fell back. But the problems did not stop there as Borich began experience problems with his clutches as he began to fall back out of the lead as well. Florida native Taylor Kiser eventually grabbed the lead and brought it home for the very first Pro Class win in the 2009 GNCC series. When asked how he felt on the podium after the race, Kiser had two words to say. "I'm tired", claimed Kiser.
One important name that you may have noticed that was not mentioned in the report was that of 9 Time GNCC Champion Bill Ballance. Ballance attempted to run the course and obtain as many points as he could. Unfortunately for the Champ, he continued to struggle from pain due to his surgery only weeks ago. He ended up pulling off the track this round so that he could save himself for future rounds. The General GNCC in Washington is only days away. So keep your eyes peeled for our Round 2 race report.
1. TAYLOR KISER
2. CHRIS BORICH
3. ADAM MCGILL
4. BRYAN COOK
5. DONALD OCKERMAN
6. BRANDON BALLANCE
7. CHRIS BITHELL
8. JEFFREY PICKENS
9. JARROD MCCLURE
10. JOHNNY GALLAGHER