Borich Strives for Five at Mammoth GNCC

Chris Borich looks for his fifth straight GNCC win this weekend. (Photo by Ken Hill)

Maxxis-backed Chris Borich has opened the 2013 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series with four straight wins. He’ll try to make it five in a row this weekend when the series heads to Park City, Ky. for the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Mammoth GNCC.

With 63 career wins to date, Borich is attempting to dethrone nine-time champion Bill Ballance – who has 67 wins – to become the winningest ATV racer in GNCC history. Seven-time ATV champ and 2003 bike champ Barry Hawk currently holds the all-time win record with a combined 68 wins between both disciplines, an achievement that could be reached and exceeded by Borich in 2013.

In just its second year hosting a GNCC, the Park Mammoth Resort offers some of the freshest trail on the circuit with plenty of single-track sections and technical terrain. Borich took the win at the inaugural event in 2012 but it wasn’t without a fight from AmPro Yamaha’s Walker Fowler as the duo ran side by side through the final turns of the race.

Walker Fowler (right) is looking for his first win of the season. (Photo by Ken Hill)

Fowler holds second place in the overall standings but Reliable Tool Supply/Maxxis rider Chris Bithell only trails Fowler by five points heading into this weekend’s race. While Fowler has put in a more consistent string of finishes so far this season, Bithell has shown the kind of speed and determination that could land him a race win very soon. However, as a former resident of the Park City area, Fowler has acquired a Kentucky fan-base that could give him the edge he needs to top the field this weekend.

And then there’s Lonestar/Precision/ITP’s Adam McGill, who sits fourth overall in the standings. McGill is still adapting to a new race program and machine set up but the West Virginia native has shown the speed to contest race wins.

Is this the week Adam McGill finally gets over the hump? (Photo by Ken Hill)

The battle for the fifth place position has been intense all season long. Yamaha/GBC/HMF’s Johnny Gallagher leads the fight by just one point over BNR’s Kevin Yoho, while XC2 Pro Am rookie Brycen Neal sits only three points back in the seventh place position. Neal’s impressive performances this season have landed him in the XC2 Pro Am class lead over defending champ Patrick McGuire and rookie Landon Wolfe heading into Round 5 this weekend.

Less than 10 points separate seventh through tenth place in the overall standings so far this season. Team Woodhead/DeRisi Racing’s Braden Henthorn holds eighth place overall, just ahead of JB Offroad/Can-Am’s Jarrod McClure who sits in ninth after failing to score championship points at one round this season. Waynesburg Yamaha/GT Thunder’s Jeff Pickens rounds out the top ten overall, and still sits within striking distance of fifth place.

Youth ATV racing will take place Saturday at 8 a.m., followed by amateurs, 4×4 and Women at 10 a.m. and the top amateurs and pros at 1 p.m. 50cc Micro racing returns to the schedule this weekend, taking place on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.