Ontario, Calif. - Team ITP ATV racers won seven classes at round 10 of the 2013 Amsoil Grand National Cross Country series, which was making its return after a two-month summer break. ITP Pro Adam McGill finished fifth in the XC1 Pro class, and Dave Simmons won his age class and earned third overall on the morning podium at the Can-Am Unadilla event.
"ITP GNCC racers came out of the summer break with championship determination, winning seven total classes," Pat McGuire, public relations/race support for ITP, said. "We had seven total victories, but we're in the running for at least eight GNCC championships this year with plenty of racing remaining. Our veteran racers, led by Dave Simmons, had an outstanding Saturday at Unadilla, winning the A/B 40+, 45+, 50+ and the 35+ C."
New Berlin, NY's Unadilla Motorsports park event was held in near perfect conditions, but featured its trademark hills, tight woods and, of course, a portion of its legendary motocross track, including the famed Skyshot jump. Adam McGill (Lonestar/Precision/ITP) came out of the break with ideas of taking over the No. 2 spot in the XC1 Pro class point standings. After the first lap was complete, McGill held the lead and was gunning for more. However, during lap two McGill had a run-in with a lapped racer and dropped two positions. Two laps later McGill dropped to fourth. He ended the day fifth overall in the XC1 class, but maintained his third-place position in the Pro class points race with three rounds remaining.
Dave Simmons led the way for the rest of the ITP-supported GNCC racers, winning the Super Senior 45+ class and recording the third-place position on the GNCC overall morning podium. He has eight podium finishes, including seven class wins, in the nine rounds he's competed in this year. Senior A/B 40+ class racer Brian Schmid put in a convincing win (his sixth of the season), leading every lap to expand his points lead to 11. Another veteran racer, Kenny Rich Sr., tallied an overall class win in the Masters 50+ class during the 10 a.m. portion of round 10. He led every lap with his ITP tires to notch his fifth class victory in the last sixth rounds as push his way into the points lead. Speaking of wins, 35+ C class racer Mark Batson was on a roll prior to the summer break, and picked up where he left off winning his class. After his sixth-consecutive class victory, Batson now is the front-runner for the class title.
Youth racers also had a good showing riding on ITP tires at Unadilla, winning three classes. Kristen Deloach earned her sixth win of the season with a stellar wire-to-wire win in the Women's Amateur (15+) division at 10 a.m. During the early-morning youth racing session, ITP riders won both the 90 Limited (8-12) and the 125 Sr. (12-15). Jordan Digby took home the win in the 90 Limited class (his fifth this year), and has steadily been climbing the class points ladder, having won the last three rounds using ITP tires. Carter Kerens also won for the fifth time this year, taking the overall in the 125 Sr. (12-15) class, but has reached the podium in eight of the nine rounds he has attended this season.
Two other ITP racers earned podiums at Unadilla. Sam Williams (JB Racing/ITP) took the holeshot in the 4x4 Open class and battled for the win the entire race. Ultimately, he ended up second and is second in the points race after 10 rounds of racing. Kenny Rich Jr., also earned a podium, finishing third in the 24+ C class. With six total podiums and two wins, the younger Rich is the current class points leader heading into the next round.
Round 11 of the 2013 AMSOIL GNCC series is scheduled for Sept. 21-22, the Car-Mate Gusher in Foxburg, PA.
