Welcome to Quick Fill. Another one bites the dust.

Again. Hooper photo

Once again a season of GNCC Racing has come and (nearly) gone, and the best riders on the planet did all they could to top Bill Ballance for the GNCC Title. And they came up short, again. The Chris Borichs, Matt Smileys, William Yokleys, Brad Pages, Bryan Cooks, Adam McGills, Chad DuValls, Chris Jenks and Chris Bithells of the world have certainly dug deep and ridden well. They generated fans and race wins and sponsorships. A few of them even had Bill against the ropes in the point standings (Smiley, Yokley and Borich have all led the points standings at different stages during Bill's amazing run). But no one has been able to keep Bill Ballance from a championship. It's not a failure on the part of those racers. In fact, those racers are the ones that really make Ballance shine. If they weren't good, Bill wouldn't look as great as he does. Do you ever hear people say, “Bill only wins because of the lack of competition?” You never do.

And just to make sure everyone knows where he stands, Bill went out and dominated over the weekend at the ITP Power Line Park GNCC. He won this title in style. You will never match the emotion of last year's chase, where Ballance was still aiming for Barry Hawk's all-time ATV record and had to go down to the Ironman to get it. But to win this one pressure free had to be sweet.

No one could touch Bill on a track that was a little dusty. He grabbed his customary good start and no one could ever really see him after that, and Bill made sure to go fast enough and cut back on his mistakes enough to where no one ever got in front of him. We've seen so many good ATV races over the last few years that you almost forget that Bill used to check out and make things boring all the time. This was like the 2003 Bill Ballance in action!

By the way, I must give GNCC announcer Rodney Tomblin credit for Ballance's win. Rodney says he purposely pumped up all of Ballance's comp during the morning interviews, telling riders like McGill, Cook and Borich that they still had a mathematical shot at the championship. Rodney figures that fired Bill up a little bit, and he went out there and put that number one plate on ice!

Rockin Ockerman. Hooper photo

So how about Donnie Ockerman finishing second! Donnie was so worried that he couldn't cut the mustard in the XC1 class that he actually called our office before the race and asked if he could possibly switch back to XC2 last year. Well, he may just want to stick to XC1 because he's already up on the podium.

Good battle between McGill and Borich for the final podium spot, those boys should continue that one at the Ironman. And here's a tip of the cap to a couple of visitors who raced. AMA Pro ATV MX racer Josh Upperman gave Power Line Park a shot and took 21st, and fellow MXer “Downtown” Pat Brown gave it a shot, too, and finished 14th. Brown has raced a few of these now and he's determined to get into the top ten. Check out the cool interview with him about racing GNCC over on the ATV MX site. LINK

Also congrats to Josh Kirkland for taking his first ATV XC2 win. And look out for Parker Jones. The Indiana native won five races and the championship this year in the College A Class and is making the move to XC2. He snagged fifth at Power Line. Jones may just replace his Indiana neighbor Ockerman on the XC2 podium soon.

But the entire ATV crowd is in for a show at the Ironman. Yes, it's the real deal. David Knight is going to race an ATV at the Ironman! Here's what Knight had to say:

"I'm really looking forward to competing in the quad race at the final GNCC of the year. But first I've got to make it to the race because I'm racing in a two-man endurance road race event this Sunday on the Isle of Man. A mate and I have just brought a GSXR750 and we're getting it prepped for the race. I've already had 160mph out of it. It's a race at a local airfield, so it's just for fun. I've wanted to do it for years but it's always clashed with other races. I'll fly to the States on Monday, providing I'm still in one piece.

Knight on an ATV! photo by Laranjeira N.

"The quad race is just a bit of fun. I've always said that if I was able to wrap up the championship early I'd do it. Last year I wasn't able to, this year I am. I've done the hard work now so it'll just be a bit of fun. I'd love to do both races but I can't, or at least I don't think I can. I guess I'll just have to mechanic for Scotty, my mechanic, on Sunday. I'm sure that there'll be some folk that will be expecting me to do well in the quad race, but I've only ever raced a quad three times, so I know I'll learn a lot. I'm not expecting any great results, it just a bit of fun. I've only raced a quad at Weston Beach Race, and that's a lot different to a GNCC course. I'm just hoping to finish and have some fun doing the race. Then on Sunday I'll get some time to say good bye to all the friends I've made in the last two years."

Yes, GNCC rules do not allow Knight to try for full Ironman status and race both pro bikes and pro ATVs on the same weekend. But the man may be for real on a quad. He led for a while at that beach race and ultimately finished fourth out of 374 riders.

There's so much cool stuff going down at the Ironman that it's hard to keep track of it all. Besides our final round of racing, which will see wide-open battles in our pro classes (all four titles are now wrapped up), we've got one heck of a showdown in the ATV Women's class. Traci Cecco needed to win all four races after the break to top Angel Atwell, and she has won three so far. Atwell is not going to settle for second again, so this should be a full-tilt battle for the ages next weekend!

We're also racing UTVs at the Ironman. William Yokley's crazy fast Polaris RZR took the win again in Ohio, but the Ironman track is gnarly so you never know what will happen there. Also, we're going to add a class there in the UTV ranks, for Honda Pilots/Odysseys (the old buggies, not the current Honda SUV or minivan). There are way more of those old things out there than we thought, as eight of them showed up in Ohio. Honda hasn't made the Pilot since 1990. And you thought the '89 250R had legs!

Brownie took a KTM test ride. Hooper photo

The Ironman GNCC has gotten so big that we now consider it an outdoor tradeshow as much as a race. Big demo rides are coming to the Ironman. Yamaha and Can-Am are setting up ATV test ride courses, and Yamaha will also have a big championship celebration for Bill Ballance, with some t-shirts to throw out to lucky fans. Polaris will have their 2009 models on display. And KTM is planning some big demo rides for both ATVs and bikes, all across the street on a special track. Here are the details from KTM:

Jason,
We have one of every XC and XCW dirt bike plus we will have all 4 quads (450XC, 525XC, 450SX, 505SX) on the KTM Ride Orange Semi. I plan on doing demo's Friday afternoon, all day Saturday and Sunday morning weather permitting. Riders must have their own gear. The minimum requirements are helmet, eye protection, gloves, boots, jersey and pants. You must be 16 years old (must show drivers license) for motorcycle demo and if you are 16 or 17 your parent has to sign the waiver. To ride the quads you must be 18 years old. I plan on showing up Thursday to lay out a demo loop and have already talked to JR about it. The plan is to have it across the road so we can get some woods in the ride. See you next weekend.

Mark Hyde
KTM Ride Experience Manager

So save some energy around your racing schedule and take some new machines out for a spin!

Since this is the last race of the year, and times are tough, we're bringing the swap meet back to the Ironman. Have old parts to sell? Need something at a discount? There's no cost to participate, just bring your stuff and try to sell it in your pit area.
We'll also have monster truck demos at the race, and all the super fun Ironman obstacles will be back. As always, our goal is to make the Ironman the best was to end your season.

Back to Power Line Park. Let's congratulate our Award Winners:

Racer X Holeshot Bike XC1: Charlie Mullins
Thumpertalk.com Holeshot Bike XC2: Kailub Russell
ITP Holeshot ATV XC1: Brandon Sommers
Rekluse Holeshot ATV XC2: Mark Nottman
AXA Advisors Holeshot Bike Morning Race: Robert Kondick
ATVRiders.com Morning Race Overall: Traci Cecco
Bike Top Amateur: Chase Bishop
ATV Top Amateur: Josh Sacchetta

Robert Kondick. Hooper photo

THIS JUST IN #1: Our 2009 dates have changed. We posted the dates for the 2009 GNCC tour back in July, but we've had to make a change in order to accommodate the ISDE next fall. We're pushing the 12th and 13th rounds of the series back a week. So now we'll race on October 17-18, 2009 and November 31-1, 2009. Our schedule page has been updated accordingly.

THIS JUST IN #2: We've received some calls regarding the GNCC TV schedule, which apparently hasn't been accurate for the last few weeks. Well we now have an updated schedule from Versus, and the TV schedule page has been updated accordingly.

Okay that's it. We'll make sure to have Quick Fill up nice and early next week so you'll have the scoop before you head out to the track. See you in Indiana.

Like we predicted last week, big things happened for Scotty Watkins in his home race.

Cory B made the Ohio faithfull proud, too. Hooper photo