Ontario, Calif. - Team ITP racers came away with three class victories and nine total podium finishes at round two of the 2014 Amsoil Grand National Cross Country series in Washington, GA, which also featured the opening round of the six-round GNCC SxS Championship series.
Kenny Rich Sr., Dave Simmons and Mark Batson each won their respective ATV classes, while Schoolboy class ATV racer Westley Wolfe and XC1 Modified side-by-side class Pro Tim Farr each tallied a second-place finish on their respective overall podiums.
"With far less mud, the Georgia GNCC round was much more friendly on both man and machine" said Pat McGuire, Public Relations/Race Support. "Our team of riders did well, earning three wins and almost 10 total podiums. Wolfe and Farr put in outstanding performances and it was great to see fast, old guys like Kenny Rich Sr. and Dave Simmons earn class victories on ITP tires."
Coming off his big victory at the opening round, Schoolboy A/B (12-15) class racer Westley Wolfe took second in his class and on the 10 a.m. overall podium at The General GNCC. After the first two rounds of ATV racing, Wolfe, who runs ITP Holeshot GNCC tires, is the current class points leader.
Class victories went to Kenny Rich Sr., Dave Simmons and Mark Batson. Rich Sr., the defending Masters (50+) class champion, has won two straight events to start the 2014 GNCC season. Simmons, the reigning Super Senior (45+) title holder, will race select event this year, but kicked off his 2014 campaign with a convincing victory, winning his class by more than nine minutes. He also finished fifth overall in the 10 a.m. session. Mark Batson, who was also a class champion a year ago in the 35+ C class, was making his season debut in Georgia, too. Only he made the switch to the afternoon ATV session and competed in the Vet B (30+) class. Of the 17 racers in his class, only Batson and one other racer finished the race. The win was the ninth straight for Batson, who has entered nine of the last 11 events dating back to last year.
ITP-backed ATV racers also nabbed four other podium finishes at The General round. Kelley Deloach, who leads the class in points, took second in the Women's Amateur (13+) class. Justin Paul also ended up on the box in the Junior B (22+) class, taking third. Both Dale Batson (35+ C) and Greg Covert (College A 16-21) earned a second and third spot on their respective class podiums. Covert has two third-place finished to start the season and is currently second in the class points race. In the new WXC (Women's Premier) class, ITP-supported racers Kristen Deloach finished fourth and Angel Knox was eighth. ITP youth racer Jordan Digby rallied to earn a fourth-place run in the 125 Sr. (12-15) class.
The opening round of the GNCC Side-By-Side Championship series was held in Georgia, with a record turnout of 86 racers competing. JB Off-Road/Can-Am/ITP racer Tim Farr also scored an overall podium finish for ITP, taking second in the GNCC UTV division and second in the talent-laden XC1 Modified class. Farr used ITP TerraCross R/T XD tires on his SxS to dissect the narrow UTV course on his way to a solid second-place finish. Jack's Excavating/ITP racer Mouse Pratt drove his Can-Am SxS, equipped with ITP TerraCross tires, to a strong seventh-place finish in the XC1 Modified class. Farr's JB Off-Road/Can-Am teammate Larry Hendershot Jr. was 12th. In XC2 Limited class action, Jack's Excavating/Can-Am/ITP racer Marcus Pratt was ninth.
Round three of the AMSOIL GNCC series is scheduled for March 29-30, The FMF Steele Creek at Steele Creek Campground in Morganton, NC.
