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Buttrick
Wins Wiseco John Penton GNCC
Jesse
Robinson wins XC2 class.
Photo By: Shan Moore
Cory Buttrick took his first ever XC1 win in Ohio.
Millfield, OH (June 6, 2010)
- XC1 rookie Cory Buttrick joined ranks with Josh
Strang and Charlie Mullins as the only riders to have
taken wins in this year's Can-Am Grand National Cross
Country Series with a scrappy performance at the
Wiseco John Penton GNCC - round eight of the series in
Millfield, Ohio.
With a hometown crowd urging him on,
the FMF/KTM factory rider claimed his first-ever XC1
win in one of the toughest races of the year.
After heavy morning rains left the
course in less then desirable condition, GNCC
officials made the call to move the race program back
an hour to allow the water to drain. In addition, the
afternoon race was shortened from three hours to two.
By start time the sun had come out, which might in
fact have made matters worse, because instead of
having slippery Ohio mud, the riders had to deal with
the kind of mud that sticks to fenders and wheels and
everything else. However, Buttrick was undeterred by
the adverse conditions, and kicked off the race by
grabbing the $250 MotorcyceUSA.com
Holeshot Award, leading Am Pro/FMF Yamaha riders Paul
Whibley and Thad DuVall, Obermeyer/Am Pro/FMF Yamaha's
Charlie Mullins, FMF/KTM's Nate Kanney and a host of
others through a short section of the motocross course
and into the woods. Meanwhile, series points leader
FMF/Makita Suzuki's Josh Strang was near the back of
the pack after getting off to a poor start.
DuVall pushed Buttrick through the
first few deeply rutted sections, before Buttrick
decided it would be better to follow instead of lead.
"On the first lap it was bad
because all of the downhill's had all this water at
the bottom of them and I was breaking all of this wet
trail, so I let Thad go by," said Buttrick. The
decision was a good one, since DuVall eventually got
stuck in a deep mud hole and lost ground.
Photo By: Shan Moore
Josh Strang extended his points lead with a second.
On lap two, Strang got into a rhythm
and moved up into second place behind Buttrick, with
Kanney, Mullins and Ohio native GEICO/JG
Racing/Monster Kawasaki's Jimmy Jarrett not far
behind. However, not long afterwards Mullins
encountered problems and dropped out due to a derailed
chain.
Strang took the lead on the third
lap and held it until the fourth and final lap, when
Buttrick retook the point on the motocross section of
the course. The order seemed set until the two
front-runners encountered a bottleneck near the end of
the race.
"I got there and there we bikes
everywhere - it was a bad situation," said
Buttrick. "I got there about 30 seconds before
Josh and I looked up one line and there we bikes all
over and the other way didn't look any better. Then
Josh pulled up and we were sitting there for a while
and then we started trying to get through and I
dropped into this deep rut and I thought I was done at
that point. But then Josh helped me drag the bike out
and gave me a shove up this hill to get me going. I
stopped at the top of the hill and got off the bike to
help him and then I saw Whibley go to the right of us
and I saw Kanney go that way too, and then I saw Josh
get going so I took off. I can't thank Josh enough for
what he did - it was the best thing anyone has ever
done for me during a race. Big thanks to Josh Strang,
he's a class act."
The shove from Strang was enough to
keep Buttrick in the lead and the Ohio native crossed
the finish line with fists in the air, taking the win
with over a minute to spare.
Photo By: Shan Moore
Paul Whibley rounded out the podium.
"I'm so happy. This is the best
feeling in the world, but it sure was
nerve-wracking," said Buttrick. "I passed
Strang on the last lap and as soon as I did I put the
hammer down, but then I started worrying I would burn
up all my energy. I was worried about a thousand
things. I was wondering if I was even going to make it
back around, but then I pulled it all together."
Strang finished second in what he
considered a battle of survival.
"It was only two hours but it
seemed like forever," said Strang. "The
track was kind of hard, with a couple of difficult
hills and a few bog holes. I was in the back on the
first lap and I got bogged down, but then I got going
on the second lap and got up there with Cory. This
event got real rutty and slippery and it was pretty
gnarly, but a second was good today and I was able to
stretch the points lead a little."
Whibley finished third for his
fourth podium of the year.
"This was a tough race,"
said Whibley. "On the second lap I got stuck in a
rut and it took me so long to lift it out that I lost
a lot of time. But then I started picking off riders.
I saw Charlie stuck out there, I think he lost a
chain, so it was just one of those days. I was
actually pretty happy that it rained. I don't like the
dust and I had done well here before in the mud, so I
just went out there and tried to pick good
lines."
Jarrett finished the day in fourth,
his best ride since injuring his shoulder earlier in
the year. Meanwhile, fifth went to Clockwork/Ride PG/KTM
rider Chris Bach, with Husqvarna factory rider Glenn
Kearney taking sixth. Kanney ended up eighth after
suffering a damaged radiator on the final lap. He was
sandwiched between Kawasaki riders Kenneth Gilbert in
seventh, and Matthew Miller and Eric Bailey in ninth
and tenth.
Photo By: Shan Moore
Charlie Mullins was 13th.
Mullins was credited with 13th and
trails Strang by 20 points in the series standings
(196 points to 176). Buttrick moves into third overall
with 154, followed by Whibley with 152 and Bach with
125.
In the XC2 division, another
first-time winner stood at the center of the podium.
KTM rider Jesse Robinson claimed his first XC2 win
after battling all race with GEICO/JG Off Road/
Monster Energy Kawasaki's Scotty Watkins and Monster
Energy Andrews Cycles' Jason Thomas.
"Me and Thomas rode together
all day and I just let him be a guinea pig," said
Robinson. "I followed him until the two-lap card
and then I decided I needed to go on so I passed
him."
Robinson held a big lead until he
got stuck in the mud, which allowed Watkins to catch
up.
"Scotty and I raced together
until he got stuck and I just kept it going to the
finish," added Robinson.
Watkins got unstuck quick enough to
maintain second, matching his best finish of the year.
"Since I'm from Ohio, everyone
in the pits said this was a good day for me since it
was raining, so I just put my head down and just tried
to get around out there with out getting too
stuck," said Watkins. "As the laps went on I
got going better and started making good
decisions."
Photo By: Shan Moore
Jason Thomas, Jesse Robinson, and Scotty Watkins
graced the XC2 podium.
Thomas claimed the $100 Motorcycle-USA.com
Holeshot Award and finished third despite losing a lot
of time on one of the muddy hills.
"I was running up front until I
came to this hill and it seemed like every lapper in
the race was stuck there," said Thomas. "I
decided to go up and maybe I should have waited
because I got stuck and I dropped in this ravine and I
didn't think I was going to get out. I set at the
bottom and lost five or six minutes. But then I just
let the clutch out and the bike shot up the hill and I
ran up and got it and got going again."
Husqvarna rider Mark Fortner took
his best finish of the year with a fourth, just ahead
of 2008 XC2 champ Justin Williamson on a Yamaha.
David Snyder (Yam) was sixth, while
Steward Baylor Jr. (KTM), Nicholas Hunter (KTM) and
Brian Lawson (Yam) where seventh, eighth, and ninth.
FMF/KTM rider Kailub Russell got
wire wrapped around his rear wheel and lost an entire
lap. Despite finishing the day in 10th, Russell still
maintains the series points lead with 207 points,
while Thomas sits second with 190.
Meanwhile, Jordan Ashburn won the
Open A class and finished an incredible eighth overall
to claim the Overall Amateur Award.
"I got the holeshot in Open A
and just pushed hard all day," said Ashburn.
"I crashed more than I can count, but it was
still a good day."
In the morning race, Gary Fridley
won the Sportsman A class and in the process also
claimed the top overall position. While in the Youth
race, KTM rider Grant Baylor won the Super Mini
(12-13) class and took the Youth Overall.
The Can-Am Grand National Cross
Series will return on June 26th and 27th for the
MotorcycleUSA.com Snowshoe GNCC, held in Snowshoe,
West Virginia.
XC1 Results:
1. Cory Buttrick (KTM)
2. Josh Strang (Suz)
3. Paul Whibley (Yam)
4. Jimmy Jarrett (Kaw)
5. Chris Bach (KTM)
6. Glenn Kearney (Hsq)
7. Kenneth Gilbert (Kaw)
8. Nate Kanney (KTM)
9. Matthew Miller (Kaw)
10. Eric Bailey (Kaw)
XC1 Standings:
1. Josh Strang (196/4 wins)
2. Charlie Mullins (176/3 wins)
3. Cory Buttrick (154/1 win)
4. Paul Whibley (152)
5. Chris Bach (125)
6. Glenn Kearney (121)
7. Nate Kanney (112)
8. Barry Hawk Jr. (93)
9. Kenneth Gilbert (91)
10. Eric Bailey (76)
XC2 Results:
1. Jesse Robinson (KTM)
2. Scotty Watkins (Kaw)
3. Jason Thomas (Yam)
4. Mark Fortner (Hsq)
5. Justin Williamson (Yam)
6. David Snyder (Yam)
7. Steward Baylor Jr. (KTM)
8. Nicholas Hunter (KTM)
9. Brian Lawson (Yam)
10. Kailub Russell (KTM)
XC2 Standings:
1. Kailub Russell (207/5 wins)
2. Jason Thomas (190/2 wins)
3. Jesse Robinson (180/1 win)
4. Scotty Watkins (147)
5. Steward Baylor Jr. (132)
6. David Snyder (100)
7. Dustin Gibson (93)
8. Mark Fortner (90)
9. Brian Lawson (86)
10. Nicholas Hunter (80)
MotorcycleUSA.com
$250 XC1 holeshot - Cory Buttrick
MotorcycleUSA.com
$100 XC2 holeshot - Jason Thomas
Overall Amateur Award - Jordan
Ashburn |
