by: Chelsea Taylor
Saturday, October 3, 2015 | 11:25 PM
Fowler Further Extends Points Lead in the XC1 National Championship Chase
Richardson Clinches XC2 Pro Am Championship
The Car-Mate Mountain Ridge GNCC made for an exciting day of racing at the 11th round of the 2015 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country series (GNCC), presented my Maxxis, an AMA National Championship. N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha/Maxxis/Lonestar’s Walker Fowler captured yet another win, adding valuable points to his current Overall National Championship lead. In the XC2 Pro Am class, Fowler’s teammate, Cole Richardson, clinched the XC2 Pro Am championship two rounds early here at Mountain Ridge.
As the green flag dropped for the XC1 Pro ATV race, it was Showhauler/Maxxis/Cycle Barn’s Landon Wolfe who claimed the $250 AMSOIL Holeshot Award, and led the pack into the opening lap of racing. The track conditions were less than desirable due to the substantial amount of rainfall from Hurricane Juaquin, allowing for Fowler to quickly take over the lead position.
As the race wore on, Fowler held onto a consistent first place throughout with little pressure until the white flag lap when McGill picked up the pace.
“You can’t win the championship on a day like today, but you can lose it quickly,” said Fowler. “McGill started pushing on that last lap and I knew it would either be good or bad. He made up a lot of time and got within striking distance right when my hands went numb. Thankfully things got quite and I was able to cross the finish line first.”
Unfortunately McGill had suffered a small bobble, causing the silence, and allowing Fowler to pull ahead. In the end, there would be a ten second gap between first and second as they crossed the finish line.
“I made a good push to catch Fowler on the last lap and was within five second of him,” said McGill. “I miscalculated the front end, clipped a tree, and dumped it. Hats off to Walker for the overall, but I’ll be ready for Powerline Park and looking for the win there.”
JMR/ATVRider.com’s Jarrod McClure came into this round with his first overall GNCC win behind him, along with a handful of podiums. McClure proved that his momentum is not slowing down as he worked his way from sixth on the first lap to standing in the third place spot on the podium.
Team Maxxis-backed Chris Borich finished fourth in XC1 Pro for the day, followed by Maxxis/B. Neal Motorsports’ Brycen Neal in fifth and Coastal/Waynesburg Yamaha’s Jay Shadron crossed in sixth. Following behind them would be Fasttrax/Wolf Racing’s Brian Wolf in the seventh position, eighth place was Maxxis/BNR/Moose-backed Josh Merritt, GBC Yamaha HMF’s Johnny Gallagher in ninth and West Virginia’s Brent Sturdivant held tenth place in the XC1 Pro division.
N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha/Maxxis/Lonestar’s Cole Richardson was able to clinch to XC2 Pro Am Championship after a big win at the 11th round. After capturing the $100 All Balls Racing XC2 Holeshot Award, the Pennsylvania native left the rest of the pack and never looked back. Richardson will be moving to the premier XC1 Pro class for the remainder of the 2015 season, before ultimately making the official transition in 2016. New York’s Marty Christofferson captured yet another solid podium finish with second place in the class, where he also sits second in the championship standings. Thomas Koontz Jr. made his first appearance on the podium finishing in third.
“It feels good to be the XC2 champion, especially with the way the weather was,” said Richardson. “I’m definitely looking forward to stepping up to the front row at these last two races to see how I can do against them. I can keep up with them at local races, but a National race is on a different level.”
College A (16-21) class winner Westley Wolfe took the Top Amateur honors, finishing 14th overall for the day.
The 10 a.m. race was full on intense battles, but it would be Team UXC Racing/Factory Polaris’ Michael Swift at the head of the pack. Swift’s performance not only earned him a class-win, but the Tennessee native also topped the entire morning overall with his fourth victory of the season in the 4x4 Pro division. Can-Am rider Bryan Buckhannon finished second overall, with Schoolboy Sr. racer John Glauda Jr. who rounded out the top three overall and took home the GT Thunder ATV Amateur Overall Award. Buckhannon maintains the points lead in the 4x4 Pro class, over Team UXC Racing/Factory Polaris teammates Swift and Kevin Trantham.
Battling on the track the same time as the 4x4 Pro class was the WXC division. Honda rider Angel Knox defended her championship points lead finishing an astounding 55 seconds ahead of Pennsylvania native Traci Pickens. Although, even with the time gap after the checkers flew, the win would not come that easy as Pickens put up a hard battle during the first half of the race swapping positions throughout. New York’s Kara Frederick pushed from sixth place to round out the podium in third.
In the Youth division, Pennsylvania’s Ronnie Rusch captured his tenth overall victory of the season allowing him to wrap up the Overall Youth ATV championship. “Rocket Ronnie” has been hard to beat this season, winning 10 out of the 11 rounds. Ohio’s Joey Ocel finished second in 125 Sr. and overall for the day, while Yamaha rider Mikey Nickles stood in the third spot atop of the podium.
The future stars of the sport took to the track for their last round of the season. The 50cc Micro classes proved that the next generation can handle the rough and muddy conditions, with the crowning of an additional two champions. In the ATV Micro division Indiana’s Niko Graham walked away as the new overall champion, while New York’s Paul Best claimed the Bike Micro overall championship.
The 1:00 p.m. race was broadcast LIVE in its entirety on RacerTV.com and can be viewed as an archived video now. Please click HERE to view the full three-hour race coverage. In addition to the archived live race coverage on RacerTV, a highlight show featuring the event will air on NBC Sports Network will feature a highlight show Sunday, December 6 at 4:30 p.m. Complete results from today’s ATV racing can be found HERE.
The 2015 AMSOIL GNCC series will head to St. Clairsville, Ohio on October 17 and 18 for the ITP Powerline Park GNCC. For more information on the series, visit the official website at www.gnccracing.com or call (304) 284-0084.
Stay up-to-date with exclusive content from the 2015 AMSOIL GNCC Series by following the official Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts.
Car-Mate Mountain Ridge GNCC
Somerset, Pennsylvania
Round 11 of 13
Saturday, October 3
XC1 Event Results:
- Walker Fowler (YAM)
- Adam McGill (HON)
- Jarrod McClure (HON)
- Chris Borich (YAM)
- Brycen Neal (YAM)
- Jay Shadron (YAM)
- Brian Wolf (HON)
- Josh Merritt (YAM)
- Johnny Gallagher (YAM)
- Brent Sturdivant (HON)
*Overall National Championship Standings
- Walker Fowler (265)
- Adam McGill (251)
- Jarrod McClure (201)
- Chris Borich (183)
- Brycen Neal (174)
- Cole Richardson (152)
- Chris Bithell (129)
- Jay Shadron (125)
- Brian Wolf (123)
- Johnny Gallagher (111)
*Indicates that the Overall National Championship Standings will determine the 2015 National Champion.
XC2 Event Results:
- Cole Richardson (YAM)
- Martin Christofferson (HON)
- Thomas Koontz Jr. (YAM)
- Cody Collier (YAM)
- Randy Hamilton (HON)
- James Green (HON)
- Levi Coen (HON)
- Bryson Hoppes (YAM)
- Danny Rogers (YAM)
- Robbie Pecorari (HON)
XC2 Series Standings:
- Cole Richardson (303)
- Martin Christofferson (240)
- Cody Collier (226)
- Randy Hamilton (197)
- Thomas Koontz (127)
- Blake Tornes (123)
- James Green (121)
- Bryson Hoppes (119)
- Michael Lancaster (111)
- Brad Aman (98)