Borich takes eighth-straight in 2009 GNCC

Cross-Country, Headlines — By Release on October 26, 2009 at 7:56 am

Crawfordsville, Indiana (October 24, 2009) – In the final round of the 2009 Can-Am Grand National Cross Country series, the Klotz Ironman in Crawfordsville, Indiana, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Chris Borich took his eighth-straight XC1 victory and his 10th of the season after taking the lead after his typical last minute campaign for the win. Yamaha’s Bill Ballance finished in second with Indiana native Ryan Lane in third.

Borich battled in third for most of the race while FRE KTM’s Adam McGill and Yamaha’s Taylor Kiser led him through one of the toughest tracks of the 13-stop GNCC tour. The track has some of the steepest hills on the circuit and rain the day prior had made it one of the muddiest, too.

“I like the last lap,” Borich said. “It was pretty tough out there but it was an awesome day. The hillclimbs were gnarly. This is one of the best tracks on the circuit and there were fans everywhere.”

“I didn’t know where I was at the top of the hillclimb so I just put the hammer down,” Borich said. “The bike is great. It’s going to be hard to knock the number one plate off.”

“It’s been a tough year but things have progressed to where they should be,” Ballance said to huge cheers from the fans. “I will be back for the whole season.”

Lane made his first podium appearance at the Ironman and the Indiana native said he was happy to overcome a rough year.

“I’ve had bad luck all year,” Lane said. “Nothing’s really come together but today it all worked. Going into the year I thought I could get on the podium but I had bike problems, and then I just wasn’t riding well.”

Warnert Can-Am’s Chris Bithell finished fourth, followed by Yamaha’s Donnie Ockerman in fifth. McGill finished in sixth followed by Houser Racing’s Bryan Cook in seventh. Kiser recovered to finish in eighth and Yamaha’s Johnny Gallagher, who had a strong start, finished in ninth followed by Duane Johnson in tenth. Walker Fowler, in his XC1 Pro debut, finished 11th.

“Today was unbelievable,” Wolf said. “I made more mistakes on the first lap than I probably did all season. Everybody really stepped it up today. I’m really happy I could win one for this crowd.”

Parker Jones took home another second place finish today and Big Nutz Racing’s Kevin Yoho took home third.

Kirkland was awarded the number one plate after the XC2 Podium celebration. Kirkland had to finish in the top seven to win the championship and had no room to spare.

“I definitely had the worst race of the season,” Kirkland said. “I got stuck a lot but I ended up in seventh where I needed to be.”

Josh Beavers led most of the race after nabbing the $100 Rekluse holeshot award but was unable to finish on the podium.

“It means a lot to take home the championship,” Buckhannon said. “I was scared to death of getting sick this week. I haven’t slept since the last race. After tonight though, we will all sleep good.”

Yamaha’s Traci Cecco finished second overall, and Warnert Can-Am’s Michael Swift finished a perfect season in the 4X4 Limited class with a third place overall. Swift has won all 13 of his races this season, something that hadn’t been done before in that class.

Cecco took first in the Women’s class, followed by FRE KTM’s Angel Atwell in second and Kristen Atwell in third.

In the Youth Race, Jay Shadron took first overall, followed by 9-year-old Hunter Hart in second and Emily wise, a second-generation GNCC’er in third.

XC1 Finish

Chris Borich (SUZ)
Bill Ballance (YAM)
Ryan Lane (HON)
Chris Bithell (CAN)
Don Ockerman (YAM)
Adam McGill (KTM)
Bryan Cook (HON)
Duane Johnson (HON)
Jarrod McClure (YAM)
Johnny Gallagher (YAM)

XC1 Point Standings

Chris Borich (342/8 wins) 2.Taylor Kiser (245/1) 3. Adam McGill (241) 4. Bill Ballance (237/1) 5. Brandon Sommers (206) 6.Bryan Cook (205/1 win) 7.Don Ockerman (179) 8. Duane Johnson (152) 9.Jarrod McClure (149) 10.Johnny Gallagher (134)

XC2 Finish

Brian Wolf (YAM)
Parker Jones (HON)
Kevin Yoho (YAM)
Josh Beavers (KTM)
Gabe Phillips (YAM)
Blake Kramer (SUZ)
Josh Kirkland (KTM)
Joey Margueria (POL)
Eric Wilezek (SUZ)
Nathan Thomas (HON)

XC2 Point Standings 1.Josh Kirkland (332/5 wins) 2.Brian Wolf(331/8 wins) 3.Parker Jones (213) 4.Eric Hoyland (196) 5.Kevin Yoho (160) 6. Gabe Phillips (144) 7. Josh Beavers (137) 8.Blake Kramer (132) 9.Rob Hertz (126) 10.Scottie Rich (117)