By Jenn Sheppard

The course at Unadilla featured miles of rugged terrain typical to the north, from high points to lowlands and everything in between. After the start, the first section caught riders by surprise with a long and muddy rutted out straightaway. Eventually a ridgeline to the right kept riders out of the mud; then came a fairly steep hill climb. The easy line around was much longer and muddier, so spectators gathered to watch the leaders motor up the hill. Some launched so hard off the face that they bottomed-out on the landing. Others decided after take-off that they would rather go around. Patches of deep-rooted woods separated the slippery rock sections from the scenic lakeside trail that snaked around the swamp. Then riders followed lines through the mountains to the infamous Unadilla motocross track, except the arrows pointed backward. “Do you know where the gravity cavity is?” someone asked. Only at the GNCC.…

Of the 561 total ATV entries, 59 Youth riders hit the track, and Ohio’s Joshua Merritt had the overall lead from the start in 90 Modified (11-15). The battle for second between Dylan Bradford, Seth Mumford and Kyle Riley lasted until the last lap. Riley was second over Bradford and Mumford at the white flag. After five laps, Mumford finished second with Bradford in third, while Riley finished four laps and still had eleventh overall.

ATV a.m.

The morning class podium had a slight change of heart this last weekend at the Unadilla GNCC. With Can-Am 4x4s sweeping the podium at the last two rounds, the Utility Quads were here to stay. Except LTERacing.com’s Angel Atwell gave 262 riders a run for their money when her Honda sport quad came through the scoring chicane in first overall. The Can-Am 4x4 of Rick Cecco was in first overall after the first lap, but Atwell made a comeback and got into the lead. Once there, she pulled away from the pack and held her position the entire race.

“We took off and actually I had it in neutral,” Angel said. “I got it to start on the first kick, but it was in neutral—I came back pretty quick, about third or fourth into the woods. I picked an inside around Traci and I checked out. I never saw anybody the rest of the day.”

Yamaha’s Traci Cecco had the lead after a holeshot and looked to pull away from Angel early. “I was leading,” Traci said. “Angel picked a better line than me said, and got around me going down a downhill. I clipped a tree on the way down and got hung up. About five girls got around me, so quite a bit of time.”

Cecco took second in the Women's class. Hooper photo

This left Atwell wide open out front as Cecco made her way through the pack. On the first lap, the absolute top six riders in the morning race were wheel-to-wheel in the Women’s class; Stephanie Parton had second over Lexie Coulter, Kristen Atwell, Traci Cecco and Stefanie Verkade!

“I made my time up through the class again,” Traci continued. “I got behind Stephanie [Parton] and got to a hill climb. I went one way and she got hung up the other way, and I passed her there. Ever since then, I was just in traffic the whole time and it was hard to really make up that time to catch Angel.”

Atwell took the checkered flag after 2 hours and 15 minutes and Cecco finished second a few minutes later. With time adjustments coming into play, 30+ C’s Michael Young on the podium over Cecco by just six seconds!

A surprised Michael Young took a podium finish. Jason Hooper photo

Young made his way to the podium after learning he finished second overall. “I was back at the trailer getting undressed,” Young said. “I really don’t know [how I got on the podium,] I just put my head down and took off; I had to come in for a change of goggles. Then the second lap, my chest protector broke so I had to come in and take all that off. I have no idea how I caught everybody and passed them. This is awesome. I have no idea. I’m just mixed emotions. It’s great; it’s—I don’t know!”

Still, the Women’s class took two spots back on the box, and Atwell got to the heart of the difference. “No, we’re not [going anywhere,]” Angel said of the sport quads on the podium. “I’ve just been riding a lot and training, trying to get used to this bike. I think I finally got it. It’s taken seven years to get relaxed up front, but I am.” Cecco appears to have the Women’s title in her grasp after starting this season with seven-straight wins. But can Atwell continue her momentum and win some more? “I think time will tell and I’m not going to make any promises because every time I do, they get broken.”

ATV p.m.

The subject of suspension was dear to heart in the Pro class, as the track at Unadilla added motocross, woods, mud and rocks to the mix. In the pre-race interview, Bill Ballance offered his best advice on the matter. “The more you think you know about suspension, the more you realize you don’t,” he said.

The rain sprinkled down on opening ceremonies; the uphill grassy start getting slick by the second. Twenty-two XC1Pro ATVs lined the first row, in front of thirty-one XC2Pro-AM riders. All eyes fell on Duane Johnson for the ITP Holeshot, with Adam McGill coming around the outside and Bill Ballance in tow.

Bill Ballance--close but second. Hooper photo

“I got the holeshot and I still didn’t have the confidence to run that speed the first lap, so I kind of let McGill go,” Johnson said. After an amazing rookie season last year where “The Rock” nailed third in the final series standings, this year has been a struggle. “I was battling with him on the first couple corners—I kind of let Bill go and Chris got by me. I finally tried to stay with the top leaders and see what they’re doing.”

McGill disappeared first into the woods, as XC2 shot off the line in a fury. Brandon Sommers pulled a huge ATVRiders.com holeshot and the rest was history. “I think you usually run better if you start like second or third, and pass a couple of guys and get on it—that’s nice,” Sommers said. “[But] you can’t complain if you get the start and roll, clear track and everything.”

The race through the woods saw more lead changes to count as McGill fought off the hard-charging Killer B’s of Borich and Ballance after the start. “There was a little bit of pressure to stay out front,” McGill said. “Just trying to pick good lines and keep the speed. I just didn’t know how far to push it. Whether go all out the first lap or kind of hold back a little bit. I just didn’t know what to do. I lead almost the whole first lap. I lost the lead when I got stuck in a rut, and got back out and I was still in third. We got to racing there. Me and Bill, Borich, Bithell and Duane was in the mix.”

"The Rock" Duane Johnson grabbed the ITP Holeshot. Jason Hooper photo

The Killer B’s hit the motocross track first in XC1, with McGill, Johnson and Taylor Kiser in the fifth spot. “There were lots of lines out there today and it allowed for some really good racing out there,” Ballance said. “There was a lot of passing; from the first lap to the last, it was passing all over the place.”

Meanwhile, sparks were rumored to be flying from McGill’s machine, then McGill came around in first place. “It was smoking, ya know—maybe it’s because I’m sexy,” McGill said. “I think what happened is my dad put some antifreeze in it and I think we had it a little bit full and was blowing out over the overflow. It was nothing to worry about; the bike never did get hot to my knowledge. I’m going to go home and tear it apart and have my dad look at it. I might send it Baldwin and see what he can do for me.”

Johnson had second behind McGill on lap two, followed by Ballance, Chris Bithell and Kiser in fifth. By lap three, Johnson came through in first place. “We got into lappers and it was just crazy out there,” he said. “Everybody would get hung up; you’d get in the lead and then you’d drop back to forth or so.”

Borich was back in sixth after the first lap. “I just had a bad beginning there,’ Borich said. “A rock got stuck in the wheel and I went pretty far back.”

By the white flag, McGill was wide open out front ahead of Ballance, Johnson and Borich. “The last lap, I just run into some dumb luck,” McGill said. “I was leading going onto the motocross track. Right before a guy on a Yamaha just come to a stop. When he did, I ran up on his tire and then Bill was close to me, he hit me and drove me up into his foot peg, and there we were locked. We got out and I fell back to fourth and that’s where I ended up.”

Ballance had nowhere to go when he made contact with McGill and both riders took a hit. “I thought I was going to be able to make up some pretty valuable points today,” Ballance said. “I was riding McGill trying to get around him and no time to react and I slid up under him and we were trying to get the bikes apart, and Chris and Duane went around there. I charged hard and tried to make some lines work that I didn’t figure would, but oh well.”

Big win for Borich. Hooper photo

The win came down to the wire for Chris Borich, who went from fourth to first on the last lap. “The last lap, I had to come in and adjust [my clutch] and my dad and my mechanic got it for me,’ he said. “We got back out there and I just pushed as hard as I could. I was just staying calm and wasn’t doing anything stupid, just riding a smooth race. I caught up to [Bill] and I knew if I could get him in sight, it’d be a pretty good race to the end.”

Indeed it was, as Johnson held the third spot to the finish. “I just tried to pit late so I could stay with them as long as I could. Luckily Chris had a long pit and I was able to get out in front of him and he kind of helped drag me back up there. I caught McGill and Bill in another jam up with lappers and got back into second. Bill got around me and I just hung on for third. I definitely wanted to stay with them. Once these two got hooked together, they went through the lappers really quick. They got a little ways out front, but I stayed with them, half the lap anyway.”

Sommers is on one heck of a run. Hooper photo

McGill settled for fourth, his interview after the race still in good sprits. “That’s just how it goes,” he said. “I’ll just go back and work even harder. I don’t know if it’s a lot of inexperience as much as it just luck. I’d rather be lucky than good any day. I just think that’s all what it boils down to. I’ve got the speed. I’ve got the equipment. I show I’ve got the talent. I just got to get the luck. That’s all I need to get. Once I get that going, it’s going to be one heck of a party.”

Bithell finished fifth overall after a seventh place start, ahead of a top ten overall battle with Matt Smiley, Brent Sturdivant and Taylor Kiser in XC1 and Brandon Sommers in XC2.

Sommers had the lead over Donald Ockerman and Kevin Yoho after his holeshot in XC2. “On the second lap, I think Kevin got around me,’ Sommers said. “He was riding real good. I stuck in behind him and picked up the pace a little bit, caught a couple [XC1] Pro riders and then we got hooked up with them and started rolling with them.”

By lap three, Sommers had regained the lead over Yoho and continued to pick through the Pro class. “I got a good start,” Yoho said. “I was probably sixth. I got up behind Brandon and them. I was leading probably the second lap until I pitted and got behind, and stayed in second the rest of the race. I’m pretty happy with it to get going, but I want to win. (Yoho actually turned the fastest lap time in the XC2 class on that second lap.)

Donald Ockerman was third and thirteenth overall behind Yoho. “I got a great start and rode with Kevin and Brandon on the first couple of laps,” Ockerman said. “We got to pitting and we lost track of each other, but I had a real good run and had a lot of fun. It was rough. Whew. Yeah, I’ve had enough. My back hurts pretty bad. I’m tickled to death.”

Rounding out the top five in XC2 was David Crane and Rob Hertz, with Mark Notman passing into fifth at one point. Jeremy Rice brought the KTM 525 to the seventh spot, behind Ryan Lane in sixth.