Race Briefs
Cook Wins Elka Yadkin Valley Stomp GNCC
Yadkinville, N.C. (June 21, 2008) -- The home state fans roared when North Carolina’s own Bryan Cook grabbed the win at the Elka Yadkin Valley Stomp GNCC. The privateer Team Excell Motorsports Honda rider has run strong all year, but this time he took advantage of a good start on a dry track to outlast Yamaha’s Bill Ballance and ATVRiders.com’s Jarrod McClure to take the win.
“Man it feels so good,” said Cook. “I heard the fans cheering all day, every time you came around a corner there were people cheering. You know, it gives you some motivation over the winter when everyone is talking about everyone else, and they’re not talking about you. I wanted to get back up there and get my name back out there. Today I had a good start, and then Branden (Sommers), something must have happened and his engine just quit. I got lucky and I was able to get around. After that, I just kept my head down. I got a little fatigued but not too bad, and I held on.”
After grabbing the lead from Sommers at mid-race, Cook held off a last-lap charge from Ballance. “I knew a good start would be key today, and my Yamaha got me off the line quick,” said Ballance. “I pulled a little bit of a wheelie, so I had to clutch it and everyone got by me. I just put my head down. On the last lap I was getting pit boards that I was closing in, and I thought I might see Bryan up ahead. I was giving it everything I had, and I must have just barely clipped a tree. I went over the bars a bit.”
Still, Ballance extends his GNCC Series points lead over KTM’s Adam McGill, who ended up fifth. Third went to McClure, his first-ever XC1 Pro Class podium finish.
“It’s hard racing against these guys,” said McClure. “They have the big trucks and the equipment, we just have our little trailer, but we do what we can. Today I had a good start and I just stayed up there all day, didn’t make many big mistakes.”
Ryan Lane scored his best finish of the season with fourth, ahead of McGill. Rockstar Yoshimura Suzuki’s Chris Borich turned in an amazing ride after crashing in turn one, shaking off the pain, and making up nearly a minute of time to fight through the pack. Next came National Guard Honda’s William Yokley, who was fighting a clogged filter in the dust. KTM’s Taylor Kiser, XCBob.com’s Matt Smiley and Excell Motorsports’ Santo DeRisi rounded out the top ten.
