McClure would control the lead in the early portions of the race before championship points leader CST/PirateMX.com/LSR/DeRisi/Tireblocks/SG’s Adam McGill would work his way into the lead on lap three, and hold that lead until the final lap. However, as the white flag flew, Fasttrax/Wolf Racing-backed Brian Wolf had worked his way into the lead on adjusted time with McGill and N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha/Maxxis/Lonestar’s Walker Fowler out front with the physical lead.

With just one mile to go, McGill would find himself stuck in the thick, deep mud of the infamous “Howard’s Hole.” McClure capitalized on the mistake and would find his way into the lead. Fowler would challenge him to the final corners, but McClure was able to hold on to come away with his first ever GNCC Racing overall win.

“It all really came down to Howards Hole, that’s where I got around Adam and Walker in the same spot,” said McClure. “Adam hit a tree trying to take the line I took which enabled me to get around him and Walker.”

Fowler would come away with second place overall. This strong finish coupled with McGill’s misfortune, resulting in an eighth place finish, and has tightened up the championship points gap as the series heads into summer break. McGill‘s point lead has now dropped to just nine points, which will ultimately result in exciting racing when the series resumes on September 15^th with the Parts Unlimited Unadilla GNCC.

Brian Wolf would work his way through the pack to claim his best finish of the season with third place overall. Wolf has always excelled in the rough Snowshoe terrain as he claimed two overall wins from the XC2 Pro Am class in 2009 and 2010. Coastal/Waynesburg Yamaha-backed Jay Shadron would also work his way through the ultra-competitive XC1 class ranks to come away with fourth place overall ahead of Maxxis/B. Neal Motorsports’s Brycen Neal who would round out the top five.

Bithell Racing/Maxxis/Precision’s Chris Bithell would start the race on the second row and work his way up to fourth on the first lap, however when the rain began to fall and conditions worsened Bithell would fall back as far as eighth place before a last lap charge for sixth place overall. Team Maxxis’ Chris Borich finished seventh overall for the day, while McGill took eighth. West Virginia native Brent Sturdivant came in ninth, and BNR/GBC’s Kevin Yoho rounded out the top 10 in the XC1 class. 

The rough, rocky and muddy terrain creates a unique challenge for riders and machines alike and as rain fell on the late portions of the race, the course would become and even bigger challenge for man and machine. This would be an even more fitting tribute to the original GNCC event, the Blackwater 100, which began 40 years ago just around 30 miles from Snowshoe. 

In the XC2 Pro Am division, it was N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha/Maxxis/Lonestar’s Cole Richardson who earned the win, along with eighth overall. Richardson would lead the race from start to finish topping his fellow competitors, JMR/ATVRiders.com’s Randy Hamilton and RYCO Racing’s Cody Collier.

"The track was actually really nice to start off at the beginning and it started to downpour, and it just ended up becoming a river through the woods," said Richardson. "It just started sucking in water and had to pay conservative we made it to the finish which was a plus, my quad wasn't too happy but we made it."

Honda’s Martin Christofferson would finish fourth in XC2 Pro Am and 18^th overall, followed by Yamaha’s Thomas Koontz Jr in the fifth place position.

Westley Wolfe captured the American Kargo Top Amateur award with another College A (16-21) class win, and a 14^th overall.

In the 4x4 Pro class, Team UXC Racing’s Kevin Trantham emerged victorious after battling through the rough Snowshoe conditions, capturing his fourth win of the season. Can-Am rider Robert Smith earned his fourth podium finish of the season with a second place in 4x4 Pro. West Virginia’s own Bryan Buckhannon rounded out the top three of the 4x4 Pros with a third overall. 

Ronnie Rusch continued his dominance in the ATV Youth Super Mini (12-15) class with his ninth win of the season. Rusch remains undefeated this season, and holds a 17-point lead ahead of Tim Sroka, who finished second overall. Ohio’s Joey Ocel would round out the top three overall in the ATV Youth race.

The 1 p.m. race was broadcast LIVE in its entirety on RacerTV.com and can be viewed as archived videos now online by visiting the GNCC LIVE page online.

The 2015 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series resumes September 19 and 2 with the Parts Unlimited Unadilla GNCC in New Berlin, NY. For more information on the series, visit www.gnccracing.com.

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