Team NAC Racing Report: Round 5 - Powerline Park GNCC
Thursday, October 6, 2016 | 1:20 PM
Team NAC Racing returned to action on Saturday for Round 12 of the Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series in St. Clairsville, Ohio. Coming into the penultimate round with a 5th place position in the championship standings, the team was eager and ready to finish the season on a strong note in the XC1 Pro Side-by-Side Championship.
Team driver John Barnes and his co-pilot Philip McGhee Jr. began on Row one for the first time this season, where they charged hard on the opening lap to position themselves in 5th place early on. The duo then made the pass for 4th by taking a great line on an uphill section. From there, they settled into a comfortable pace to run with the lead pack.
However, on lap three the team ran into some issues when they lost the four-wheel drive capability and were forced to navigate the course in two-wheel drive only. That didn't stop them from climbing back into the 5th place position by the end of lap four but unfortunately the team ran into more issues when they lost the power steering.
On the fifth and final lap, Barnes and McGhee came into a wide-open field section with one thing on their minds - salvaging a top five position in the race. As they held the throttle wide open through the field section, they experienced another issue on the course. Luckily a team mechanic was nearby and was able to diagnose a broken throttle cable and determine how to finish the race.
"My co-pilot and I took turns reaching down in the floorboard and pulling the throttle cable while the other steered for the remaining four and three quarter miles," Barnes said. "It was extremely brutal on the final lap getting beat up by the shifter, constantly losing the throttle and fighting to get around several people broken down the middle the trail. We had to climb hills in two-wheel drive and in floorboard, which was also tough. But at the finish line it was amazing to see the group of people there cheering us on to the final checkered flag for the day."
Barnes charged as much as he possibly could on the final lap, where he ultimately finished 13th place in the XC1 Pro class.
McGhee added, "Powerline Park is one of my favorite tracks at the GNCC. We were doing great riding right behind Cody Miller and Tim Farr and the car was handling great up until the front differential broke and the power steering failed. Even with those two components broken we still were pushing the car to its limits. After we saw the white flag our throttle cable broke, but that didn't stop our dedication as we salvaged a 13th position with a pair of pliers and me steering the car from the passenger seat for 5 miles. We will be hard to beat at Ironman."
Team NAC Racing now sits 7th place in the XC1 Pro Championship Standings with one round remaining in the season.
Next round: GNCC Round 13 - October 29, 2016 in Crawfordsville, Indiana
We are pleased to be working with Maxwell Industries in the development process of a new product that isn't on the market yet. All we can say about the product is that it has held up to a tremendous amount of stress. Steve at Maxwell Industries has been a huge help in getting us to where we are now and where we plan to
The team would like to extend a big thanks to its sponsors for the 2016 season: STI Tire & Wheel/Roctane HD tires, OMF, Yokley Racing Suspension, Super ATV, SSi Decal, New Appearance Cabinet, Total Medical Solutions, CCAD, RZR Extreme, Alba Racing, America's Motorsports, Dragon Alliance, O'Neal and Slick Products. Also, the team would like to extend a special thanks to CP - Carrillo.
Powerline Park GNCC
St. Clairsville, Ohio
Saturday, October 1, 2016
XC1 Pro SXS Results
1. Kyle Chaney
2. Cody Miller
3. Tim Farr
13. John Barnes (POL)
XC1 Pro SXS Championship Standings
1. Cody Miller (131)
2. Kyle Chaney (105)
3. Tim Farr (89)
4. Steven Matko (52)
5. Jamie McCoy (51)
6. Sean Bogdan (50)
7. John Barnes (41)