With 2007 and 2008 GNCC Champion David Knight not racing at round 12 of the GNCC series in St. Clairsville, OH, the door was wide open for a handful of racers to put themselves on top of the podium. After stringing together three GNCC podium finishes, Knight's Red Bull KTM teammate Nate Kanney was well aware of the opportunity available to him and headed to Ohio looking to grab his first win of the season. Unfortunately for Kanney, who sits in 4th place in the overall series points, a stomach bug woke him in the middle of the night prior to the race dashing his hopes of a win.

Kanney fought through a stomach problem to finish fifth.

"I was pretty sick all morning prior to the race and knew that it was going to be a long day. My strategy was to just ride a smooth consistent race and make sure I made it to the finish line and scored some points," said Kanney. Getting off to a smooth race proved to be harder than expected as Kanney spun badly off the starting line nearly causing a major pile-up 5 feet off the start. "I really want to apologize to Paul Whibley and everyone else that I almost took out. I spun pretty bad and ended up bumping Paul. Thankfully we were all able to stay on two wheels," said an apologetic Kanney.

Despite the rough going out of the blocks, Kanney made it through the first few turns in 2nd place behind Team FMF Suzuki's Charlie Mullins. Nate was able to slip into the lead after a mistake by Mullins and put it on cruise control, trying to save himself for the long three hour race. Kanney rounded the first lap still holding onto the lead, but began to feel the effects of his upset stomach at the beginning of the 2nd lap. "My stomach started hurting really badly on the second lap. I couldn't sit down and hit any bumps and I was really starting to worry about simply finishing the race, let alone trying to keep the lead."

Kanney began feeling pressure from a trio of Suzuki mounted riders including eventual race winner Paul Whibley and 2nd place finisher Josh Strang. "When Strang made his way around me, I really knew that I was in no condition to try and put up a fight for the lead. I just decided that finishing the race and gaining valuable points was the priority and just rode my own pace for the rest of the race," said Kanney. His "own" pace would eventually put Kanney into a 5th place overall position on the day. "On days like this, I know it's all about just going out and surviving. I'm disappointed that the door was open for me to grab a win and I ended up missing the podium, but it could've been worse and I'll just set my sights on the final round in Indiana."

For the latest news and updates, check out Nate Kanney's personal website at www.kanney116.com.

Photos: Jason Hooper @ www.digitaloffroad.com

Results:
1. Paul Whibley
2. Josh Strang
3. Charlie Mullins
4. Jimmy Jarrett
5. Nate Kanney

Next Up:
October 26
Crawfordsville, Indiana
Klotz Ironman GNCC