Yokley Racing Report: Big Buck GNCC

National Guard / Polaris / Coastal / Yoshimura / DragonFire / Yokley Racing Team driver William Yokley finished first overall and first in the Side by Side XC1 Modified Class at the Big Buck GNCC in Union, SC, while teammate Scott Kiger finished fourth overall and fourth in the same class. Meanwhile, National Guard / Coastal / Bowers Motorcycle Supplies / Yokley Racing Team rider Jarrod McClure finished fourth overall and fourth in the XC1 Pro ATV Class.

Summary – Side by Side

The GNCC Series moved on to the Big Buck in South Carolina for Round 2 of the Side by Side machines. Since the area has had very little rain leading up to the race, the track was very dusty. The course was rough with lots of ruts, and a good start would be very important. Other than the dry conditions, the weather was great with temps in the low 80’s.

The start flag dropped and after the first few turns, Yokley was in second place with Kiger in fifth. Yokley made a pass for the lead in the first open field section where he could really open up the Yoshimura-tuned Polaris. He then proceeded to open up a sizable gap heading into the second lap of the four-mile course. Meanwhile, Scott Kiger was mired behind a nose-to-tail group of machines which were churning up clouds of vision-blocking dust. At times, he had to come to a complete stop in order to see the course. Once he worked his way past those machines into some cleaner air, he was a considerable distance behind teammate Yokley.

Even though he was now turning lap times as fast as Yokley, he could not close the gap. Kiger finished in fourth place on adjusted time. Yokley was able to build a nice gap over the field, and controlled the pace while taking care of his Ranger RZR XP900. He finished the one hour race with more than a two minute lead. Both of the National Guard / Polaris / Coastal machines ran and handled great.

The next GNCC Side by Side race is the Mountaineer Run in Masontown, WV on May 26. The team is scheduled to display the race cars and team hauler at the National Guard presentation at Thunder over Louisville on Saturday, April 21. This is one of the largest air and fireworks shows in the country, and is the signature event leading up to the KY Derby the first week of May.

Summary – ATV

After a solid finish at the last GNCC, Jarrod McClure was looking forward to another strong showing. The Big Buck course features lots of ruts, technical sections and the famous creek jump where, if you come up short, you are in big trouble. After walking the course on Friday, McClure knew that the race was going to be extremely dusty. The start would be most important.

At the start of the pro race, McClure’s ATV would not fire, and only after several kicks did it finally start. He was now dead last and looking straight into billowing dust clouds. He cautiously started to run down his competitors, and by the end of lap 1 he was up to eighth place. He lost a lot of time on the first lap, but was now moving toward the front. On lap 2, he was up to fifth. He moved up to fourth going into the final lap. McClure continued to try to make up positions on the last lap, but clipped a tree, damaging his tie rod. He limped his machine to the finish.

McClure rode a great race today under the adverse circumstances, finishing a season best fourth place. He is very optimistic heading into the next GNCC, the Mammoth in Park City, Ky. in two weeks. This is a new GNCC location, and all indications are that it will be quite rugged with rutted, wooded trails that include lots of elevation changes. The racing will take place over an old golf course which should make it very interesting.