Morgantown, W. Va. (April 11, 2012) – Winning races hasn’t come easy this season for defending ATV champion Chris Borich, and after round three’s exciting finale in North Carolina, Taylor Kiser and the rest of the field have shown Borich that winning a fourth championship may be an even bigger feat. Round four of the Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series heads to Union, South Carolina for round four of the 13-race tour, the VP Racing Fuels Big Buck GNCC, and the ATV racing competition is more intense than ever before.
Maxxis/Yoshimura’s Borich tops the leader board with a pair of wins after three rounds of racing, but Ballance Racing Yamaha’s Taylor Kiser secured his first win of the season and heads into this weekend’s race with mounds of confidence behind him. Kiser made a bold statement with his bar-banging attempt to uphold the lead in North Carolina and with a little help from a last minute mistake by Borich, Kiser was able to best his biggest challenger in the final minutes of the two-hour race.
Borich has a tendency to position himself at the tail end of the lead battle at first, but as soon as the white flag flies, the Maxxis/Yoshimura rider almost always charges himself into the lead position in time to secure the win. But perhaps his competitors have finally figured him out, as the racing continues to become closer and more intense each weekend.
Ballance Racing Yamaha’s Walker Fowler has put in consistent rides so far but the rookie is quickly learning how hard it is to piece together two-hours of high intensity racing in his debut year of XC1 competition. But it’s Precision/Moto X Perts/ITP/Lonestar/RG Motorsports’ Adam McGill who sits tied with Fowler for third place in the championship point standings despite a fourteenth place finish at round two due to mechanical issues. Although McGill has yet to land a race-win, the West Virginia native is always a solid candidate for a podium finish and is expected to land on top of the box soon.
The XC2 Pro Am division boasts a full slate of competition already with three different winners in the first three rounds. Tireballs-backed Patrick McGuire, Waynesburg Yamaha’s Gabe Phillips and Pro Am rookie Braden Henthorn share the honors but DeRisi Racing’s Eric Hoyland proves to be most consistent as he holds the second place position in points. Phillips is fighting an early points deficit after a mechanical issue in Florida, but the Pro Am veteran looks to bounce back in the coming rounds of racing.
Spectator passes run $15 for the full weekend, with pro pit access and pro autographs at no additional charge. On Saturday, youth riders race at 8 a.m., amateur racers and the top utility and Women riders race at 10 a.m., and the top amateurs and the pros race at 1 p.m., with UTV competition following at 4:30 p.m.
To get to Big Buck, take I-26 to Exit 44, then to Highway 49 North 7 Miles and look for the signs. For more information, check out the official series website at www.gnccracing.com.
About GNCC Racing:
The Can-Am Grand National Cross Country series is America’s premier off-road racing series. Founded in 1975, 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 1,500 riders through tracks ranging in length from ten to 12 miles. With varied terrain, including hills, woods, mud, dirt, rocks and motocross sections, GNCC events are tests of both survival and speed and draw talent from all over the U.S., Europe, Australia and New Zealand. GNCC Racing is televised and airs every week on NBC Sports Network. For more information, please visit www.gnccracing.com.