Borich Wins Moose Mountain Ridge GNCC

Borich Wins Moose Mountain Ridge GNCC

Kiser and McGill round out the podium.

Photo By: Shan Moore
Chris Borich won his fifth race of the year.

A steady and sometimes driving rain moved in over Somerset, Pennsylvania, just as the flag dropped to start the afternoon race. And exiting the first turn with the lead was Yamaha rider Jeffrey Pickens, who claimed the $250 Motorcycle-USA.com Holeshot Award by doing so. Following Pickens was a tightly spaced group consisting of Borich, Ballance Racing/Yamaha's Taylor Kiser, FRE KTM's Bryan Cook, and Warnert Racing Can-Am teammates Adam McGill and Chris Bithell.

During the first half of the race, Pickens, Borich, Kiser, McGill and Bithell, all held the lead at one point or another, although Bithell held the lead for the longest stint. However, after pulling his goggles off when they got covered with mud, Bithell caught a stick in the eye and pulled off the track to recover, leaving Kiser, Borich and McGill to battle for the win.

Photo By: Shan Moore
Taylor Kiser turned in another solid performance.

"This was a tough one. In these conditions you could go from first to fifth and back to first in a heartbeat," said Borich. "I was behind McGill and Kiser on the last lap, and I got a good line on McGill and passed him. Then I sat Kiser up and just held on for the win. This [win] is awesome. That last race [in North Carolina] - it just wasn't my day, but today was my day so I'm happy."

Kiser got off to one of the better starts of the year, but encountered problems on the opening lap and dropped to mid-pack, forcing him to work even harder to get back in touch with the leaders. After getting passed on the final lap by Borich, Kiser held on to take the runner-up position, his fifth such finish of the year.

"I was running second after the start, and then I got hung up in a mud hole and dropped back a ways. After that I just told myself to relax," said Kiser. "Once I relaxed, I was able to work my way back up to the front."

"All in all it, it was a good day," added Kiser. "Not quite the result I was looking for, but we'll get there."

Photo By: Shan Moore
Can-Am teammates Chris Bithell and Adam McGill go at it.

"That last lap was tough," said McGill. "The conditions were horrible, but we were in the hunt. Bithell was out front and Borich was behind him, and I knew if I kept them in check I knew I would be all right. So I kept pushing all day and tried to stay up front. I ended up getting stuck three or four times on the last lap. Me and Borich and Kiser went into a mud hole at the same time and the next thing I knew they were gone and I was stuck. In desperation I held it pinned for a good 30 minutes and came out third."

Bithell managed to salvage fourth, while Yamaha riders Don Ockerman, Johnny Gallagher, Brandon Sommers, and Jeffrey Pickens finished fifth through eighth.

Honda-mounted Sloan Jackson was ninth and Suzuki rider Todd Demaree was 10th.

After seven races, Borich leads the championship standings with 196 points, followed by Kiser with 173, McGill at 132 and Bithell with 114.

In the XC2 race, HMF's Brian Wolf grabbed the $100 Motorcycle-USA.com holeshot award to start the race, and held a solid lead for a good portion of the time, before encountering problems. In the meantime, Yamaha's Walker Fowler took advantage of Wolf's misfortune and claimed his third win of the year, while Yamaha riders Gabe Phillips and Mark Notman rounded out the podium with second and third place finishes, respectively.

Impressively, Wolf came from nearly last to take the win.

"I got off to a terrible start and I worked my way up to seventh on the first lap, but then I got stuck in a bad waterhole on the second lap and dropped back to 12th or 13th," said Fowler. "After that I just put my head down, and I have to say, I've never had that much go wrong to have that much go right. Once I moved into 10th, everything went right for me from that point."

Photo By: Shan Moore
Notman, Fowler, and Phillips on the XC2 podium.

"We just wanted to make sure we had enough gas in the rocks and the mud, so we decided to pit twice for gas," said Phillips. "I didn't know if I could make it and that last stop cost me two position, but I was able to get back by Notman coming into the finish, which gave me second."

Notman's third place finish marked his first podium since the 2008 Ironman.

"I had a rough year last year, and we've just been trying to get back in the groove," said Notman. "I got out with Wolf and everybody and I just picked the right lines and made sure I didn't get stuck and just kept rolling."

Fourth place went to Honda rider Corbin Knox, with Yamaha riders Eric Hoyland and Kevin Yoho finishing fifth and sixth. Meanwhile, Josh Kirkland (KTM), Nathan Thomas (Hon), Dustin Canipe (Kaw), and Joey Margueria (POL) rounded out the top 10.

In the morning race, 4x4 Open class riders swept the podium with Brian Buckhannon taking the win - in addition to the GT Thunder ATV Amateur $100 Overall Award, while Zackary Zakowski and Richard Cecco finished second and third.

"We started out third row and got third off the line, but I knew it was going to be a long race," said Buckhannon. "We went through the rock section and everyone was bottled up, and I just slowly worked my way around these guys and got into the lead in my class. From there I just tried to pick smart lines and play it safe. Then I just started picking off the classes in front of me. When I saw the Women and started passing them in the mud, I knew we were running pretty good overall."

Photo By: Shan Moore
Team National Guard was second in the Open Modified division of the UTV race.

In the Youth race, Levi Cohn led from flag to flag, taking the win by 1 minute and 12 seconds. Levi dedicated his win to his good friend Ryan Earley, who was killed last weekend in a racing accident.

The Moose Mountain Ridge GNCC also featured UTV races, and with light growing dim, Team Krcelich took the win in the Open Modified division over Team National Guard and Team Kerr (all three teams on Polaris). Meanwhile, Team Faith (Yam) won the Lites Modified class over Team Haymaker (Yam).

In the Open Limited division, Team H&H Racing (POL) beat Team Webber (POL) and Team Miller Racing (POL). The Lites Limited class was won by Team Travalena (Kaw), with Derrick Shaw (Yam) and Team Leichleiter (Yam) rounding out the top three. Meanwhile, the Pilot race was won by John Dains (Hon), with Joe Warrick (Hon) and Michael Doolittle (Hon) finishing second and third.

Racing resumes tomorrow at the Moose Mountain Ridge GNCC, with a full slate of motorcycle classes.

XC1 Results:

1. Chris Borich (Suz)

2. Taylor Kiser (Yam)

3. Adam McGill (CAN)

4. Chris Bithell (CAN)

5. Don Ockerman (Yam)

6. Johnny Gallagher (Yam)

7. Brandon Sommers (Yam)

8. Jeffrey Pickens (Yam)

9. Sloan Jackson (Hon)

10. Todd Demaree (Suz)

XC1 Standings:

1. Chris Borich (196/5 wins)

2. Taylor Kiser (173/1 win)

3. Adam McGill (132)

4. Chris Bithell (114/1 win)

5. Don Okerman (104)

6. Johnny Gallagher (95)

7. Bryan Cook (85)

8. Jeffrey Pickens (85)

9. Brandon Sommers (78)

10. Jarrod McClure (75)

XC2 Results:

1. Walker Fowler (Yam)

2. Gabe Phillips (Yam)

3. Mark Notman (Yam)

4. Corbin Knox (Hon)

5. Eric Hoyland (Yam)

6. Kevin Yoho (Yam)

7. Josh Kirkland (KTM)

8. Nathan Thomas (Hon)

9. Dustin Canipe (Kaw)

10. Joey Margueria (POL)

XC2 Standings:

1. Walker Fowler (146/3 wins)

2. Brian Wolf (141/2 wins)

3. Josh Kirkland (136/1 win)

4. Kevin Yoho (134)

5. Gabe Phillips (129/1 win)

6. Eric Hoyland (93)

7. Dustin Canipe (86)

8. Blake Kramer (85)

9. Mark Notman (83)

10. Corbin Knox (74)

MotorcycleUSA.com $250 XC1 holeshot - Jeffrey Pickens

MotorcycleUSA.com $100 XC2 holeshot - Brian Wolf

GT Thunder - Brian Buckhannon

About GNCC Racing:

The Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series is America's premier off-road racing series. Founded in 1979, the 13-round championship is produced exclusively by Racer Productions. Cross country racing is one of the most physically demanding sports in the world. The grueling three-hour GNCC races lead as many as 1,800 riders through tracks ranging in length from eight to 12 miles, competing for more than $3 million in prizes. With varied terrain, including hills, woods, mud, dirt, rocks and motocross sections, GNCC events are tests of both survival and speed. For more information, please visit www.gnccracing.com.