Richardson Wins Inaugural Yamaha Mountaineer GNCC
The Yamaha Mountaineer GNCC, round 12 of the 2019 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series presented by Specialized, an AMA National Championship, kicked off Saturday at Summit Bechtel Reserve near Beckley, West Virginia. Rain showers greeted the morning riders, with overcast and chilly temperatures continuing throughout the day.
Yamaha/AmPro/Action OffRoad/GBC’s Cole Richardson battled through the pack to earn the inaugural Yamaha Mountaineer GNCC win. This is Richardson’s first win of the season, and second in his XC1 Pro career. Richardson currently sits fourth in the points standings, but is looking ahead to the finale in just two weeks, where he could earn another overall win and improve his overall standings.
Making his return to the podium with a second overall was LanMills XC/CST Tires/Houser/Yamaha’s Brycen Neal. On the opening lap Neal sat back in the seventh place position, but would put his head down and push throughout the duration of the race. Neal would work his way up to fourth then up to second as the white flag came out. Neal remains second in the points standings as the series heads into the last round of racing in two weeks.
Brycen Neal battled his way back onto the podium, coming through second overall. (Photo by Ken Hill)
Holding the lead for the first couple of laps was WFR/GBC/Fly Racing/Yamaha’s Walker Fowler. After a mid-race mishap, Fowler would find himself battling back from the fifth place position. As the checkered flag came out Fowler worked his way into the final podium position, earning his 12th podium finish of the season.
Maxxis/Fly Racing/Ye Olde Cycle Barn’s Chris Borich had his work cut out for him as he fell back to the eighth place position on the second lap. Borich would battle back to sixth as the white flag came out, and then work his way to fourth overall just in time for the checkered flag to come out.
West Virginia native and OBOR/Moose Racing/Parts Unlimited/McGill Mafia’s Adam McGill came through to earn fifth overall in his home state. McGill was working hard to make a run for a podium finish, but would run out of time to make the necessary passes. McGill heads into the season finale sitting sixth in the points standings, just 13 points behind fifth.
Walker Fowler kept his podium streak alive with a third place finish on the day. (Photo by Ken Hill)
After landing on the podium at the past two events, JMR/Maxxis/Elka/Moose Racing’s Jarrod McClure would come through sixth overall. It was a hard-fought day for McClure as he battled from as far back as eighth to running sixth as the riders came through to the checkered flag after four laps of competition.
Earning seventh overall on the day was Maxxis/Ithaca Recreation Sports/Fly Racing’s Hunter Hart. As the riders came through on the opening lap, Hart was running in the fourth place position. However, as the race wore on Hart would find himself back in seventh. The XC1 Pro rookie, Hart also sits in the seventh place position in the points standings.
Ryland Johnson Racing, GBC Motorsports/Ye Olde Cycle Barn’s Westley Wolfe would start back in the 11th place position as the riders came through on the opening lap. As the race continued on, Wolfe would work his way through the pack to finish in the eight place position.
BNR Motorsports/GBC Motorsports/HMF Racing’s Joshua Merritt came through ninth in the XC1 Pro class, 10th overall on the day. Merritt currently rounds out the top 10 in the points standings as the series heads to Ironman in two weeks. Custom Axis/Goldspeed/Houser Racing’s Greg Covert rounded out the top 10 in the XC1 Pro, finishing 11th overall on the day in West Virginia.
Jordon Poplaski (center), Drew Landers (right) and Wyatt Wilkin (left) rounded out the XC2 Pro-Am class podium. (Photo by Ken Hill)
Taking home the XC2 Pro-Am class win was Jordon Poplaski. This was Poplaski’s first-ever XC2 Pro-Am class win. After working his way through the pack, Poplaski would battle throughout the entire 2-hour race. LanMills XC/CST Tires/Moose Racing’s Drew Landers came through second in the class. Landers currently sits second in the points standings, and will be aiming for his first class win of the season at the season finale in Indiana. Rounding out the XC2 class podium was Wyatt Wilkin. Wilkin came through to earn his third podium finish of the season.
Landon Wolfe clinched his first 4×4 Pro National Championship. (Photo by Ken Hill)
In the 4×4 Pro class it was Can-Am/OBOR Tires/Derisi Racing’s Landon Wolfe and Pierce Performance/Moose Racing/Spider Graphix’s Cody Collier battling back and forth throughout the morning ATV race. Wolfe would grab the upper-hand on the last lap and manage to pull a gap over Collier by 1 minute and 57 seconds. Collier would take second in 4×4 Pro, and third overall. Wolfe clinched his first-ever 4×4 Pro National Championship, and has 10 wins in the season with one round remaining in 2019. Derisi Racing/Cometic Gasket/Savage Designs’ Robbie Pecorari came through to take third in the 4×4 Pro class and fourth overall. Layne McCormick made his way around from the Schoolboy Sr. class to earn second overall on the day with adjusted time.
Taking her first-ever WXC class win was Ryland Johnson Racing/Precision Racing/Tireballs’ Hannah Hunter. After coming through second on the opening lap, Hunter put her head down and pushed throughout the remaining laps of the 2-hour race. Hunter made the pass on Action OffRoad/Moose Racing/GBC Motorsports’ Katelyn Osburn during the last lap to take her first win.
Hannah Hunter (center) earned her first-ever WXC class win. Katelyn Osburn (right) and Sadiee Gorrell (left) made up the WXC class podium. (Photo by Ken Hill)
Osburn would lead the first three laps of the race, however, would fall to second as the checkered flag came out. Osburn sits second in the points standings with just one round remaining. Making her way to third in the WXC class was Pierce Performance/560 Graphics/Maxxis’ Sadiee Gorrell. After battling with GBC Motorsports/Yamaha/Fly Racing’s Traci Pickens, Gorrell made a last lap pass to take the final spot on the podium.
As the youth race took off it was Damien Hawkins leading the way. Hawkins would run in the number one position throughout the first five laps, however as the riders made their way to the checkered flag it was Parker Henderson checking in first to take the youth overall win and YXC1 Super Mini Sr. class win. Henderson was also able to secure his first-ever Youth ATV Overall National Championship.
Parker Henderson (center) earned the Youth Overall ATV National Championship. Charlie Stewart (right) and Tyler Cox (left) rounded out the 8 a.m. youth overall podium. (Photo by Ken Hill)
Moving up to the YXC1 Super Mini Sr. class was competitor Charlie Stewart. Stewart worked his way up to second overall throughout the duration of the race. Stewart started in the seventh place position, but then consistently moved through the pack each lap. Coming through to earn the final spot on the youth overall podium was YXC2 class winner, Tyler Cox. This was Cox’s first YXC2 class win of the season, and as the season heads into the final round he sits third in the class points standings.
In the Micro ATV division, it was Khyler Davis coming through first, taking home her third overall win of the season, and her first win in the MXC1 (8-9) division. Tyler McLaughlin came through to earn second overall with Bodie Buckhannon rounding out the podium.
In the Bike Micro division, it was Colby Goodman clinching the overall win, and the Bike Micro Overall National Championship. Nash Peerson came through to take home second overall followed by Landon Husted in third overall.
Cole Richardson (center), Brycen Neal (right) and Walker Fowler (left) rounded out the Yamaha Mountaineer overall ATV podium. (Photo by Ken Hill)
XC1 Pro Event Results
- Cole Richardson (YAM)
- Brycen Neal (YAM)
- Walker Fowler (YAM)
- Chris Borich (SUZ)
- Adam McGill (HON)
- Jarrod McClure (HON)
- Hunter Hart (YAM)
- Westley Wolfe (SUZ)
- Joshua Merritt (YAM)
- Greg Covert (YAM)
Overall National Championship Standings
- Walker Fowler (377)
- Brycen Neal (242)
- Chris Borich (235)
- Cole Richardson (228)
- Jarrod McClure (190)
- Adam McGill (177)
- Hunter Hart (138)
- John Glauda Jr. (133)
- Westley Wolfe (132)
- Johnny Gallagher (114)
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