Press Release –

KTM’s Adam McGill must endure a difficult transition as he battles for the Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series Championship.

The 20-year-old from West Union, West Virginia used to be known as the funny man of the GNCC tour, but the competition doesn’t find his three-race win streak a laughing matter. As a result, the pro pits are now a lonely place for McGill.

“Nobody talks to me anymore,” says McGill. “Nobody comes up and jokes around with me anymore. But I don’t want to change anything. Winning these races is fun, too.”

Fun for him, yes, but the competition hopes to put an end to his streak this weekend at the Acerbis Loretta Lynn’s GNCC in Hurricane Mills, TN.

The longest-running event on the GNCC tour, Loretta’s offers high-speed whooped out terrain that will test the stamina of the world’s best four-wheeled woods pilots.

The GNCC “Killer B’s” of Bill Ballance and Chris Borich hope to rebound at Loretta’s. The duo usually dominates the races, but they currently sit fourth and fifth in the 2008 standings.

Borich switched to the Rockstar/Yoshimura Suzuki team this season and won the season opener in Florida, but has yet to finish on the podium (top three) since.

Ballance suffered uncharacteristic mechanical troubles at the second race of the season in Georgia and is still winless four rounds into the year.

Another young rider sits second in the standings. Yamaha’s Brandon Sommers, the 2007 GNCC XC2 Pro-Am Champion, has mixed consistent finishes with developing speed to get closer and closer to a victory.

Sommers battled McGill hard for a few miles at the last race before logging another podium finish.

Veteran Bryan Cook has been the surprise of the season. The privateer sits third in the standings, and the Team Excell Motorsports rider is thrilled to have so much factory-backed talent behind him.

“It gives you that little extra drive late in the race when you know you’re out front of those guys,” says Cook.

The GNCC field may be deeper than ever, with additional competition coming from Safari Motorsports’ veteran Matt Smiley, the National Guard’s William Yokley, McGill’s KTM teammate Taylor Kiser, Can-Am Warnert Racing’s Chris Bithell and Chris Jenks, and LTERacing.com Can-Am’s Duane Johnson and Brent Sturdivant. The list of riders that could win this weekend’s race easily goes into double digits.

The 10 a.m ATV morning race will feature a battle for the overall between top contenders in the Women’s class and the best Utility and 4×4 riders.

Yamaha’s Traci Cecco, Tom Clark Motorsports’ Angel Atwell and Yamaha of Troy’s Stephanie Parton will duke it out in the Women’s ranks.

In the 4×4 divisions, Bryan Buckhannon (4×4 Open) and Cliff Beasley (4×4 Lites) are undefeated in the first four rounds of racing.

In addition, Michael Swift (4×4 Limited) and Mike Benson (Utility Unlimited) figure to be contenders for the morning race overall win.

Saturday’s action begins with youth racing at 8 a.m. The morning race begins at 10 a.m., and Pro classes race at 1 p.m.

Dirt bike racing will follow the ATV show on Sunday. Red Bull KTM’s David Knight looks for his third-straight win after a victory in South Carolina two weeks ago.

Fast Facts:

What: The Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series (GNCC), America’s Largest Off Road Racing Series. Cross-country racing is one of the most physically demanding sports in the world. The nearly three-hour long GNCC races lead as many as 1,800 riders through tracks ranging from eight to 12 miles in length. With varied terrain including hills, woods, mud, dirt, rocks and motocross sections, GNCC events are tests of both survival and speed.

When: April 26 and 27, 2008

Where: From Nashville, take I-40 West to Exit 143.  Turn right and follow Route 13 North 7 miles to the Ranch on the left.

Who: The Can-Am GNCC Series pits the best of the best in off-road racing against each other. More than 1,400 amateur racers are expected to compete on custom-built dirt bikes and four-wheeled ATVs. Top pro motorcycle riders include David Knight, Barry Hawk, Jr., Charles Mullins, Jimmy Jarrett and Shane Watts. ATV pro riders include Bill Ballance, Chris Borich, Chris Bithell, Matt Smiley and Adam McGill.

GNCC Point Standings
XC1 Pro

1. Adam McGill (106/3 wins)
2. Bryan Cook (75)
3. Brandon Sommers (73)
4. Chris Borich (63)
5. Bill Ballance (62)
6. Matt Smiley (61)
7. Taylor Kiser (60)
8. William Yokley (58)
9. Ryan Lane (48)
10. Jarrod McClure (44)

Press Release –

The Bluegrass ATV National at Kentucky’s Ballance MX, really had a little of everything. The weather was all over the map but mostly cold. Sunday it really went wacky.

Team Manager Kory Ellis described the action “Dustin got off fourth in the first moto and caught up with the John Natalie pretty quickly. John was riding hard but made a slight mistake and crashed really hard. Fortunately he was OK and got going again but was way back.”

Chad Wienen got off the gate well, but was caught up in 1st turn pile-up, ending up around 19th on the first lap. He started charging like a maniac, moving forward quickly. The track was on the verge of being muddy – but slowly started drying out.

As the moto started developing, it settled in with Wimmer in the lead and Gust a steady second. Wimmer ended up with the win, Doug second and Chad came all the way back up to 4th.

“The track was pretty good really.” Wimmer said after the moto one win. “It was pretty tacky and I found some pretty good lines. Once I got out front – I just rode smooth and pulled away.”

The second moto was a lot different! The track was really muddy for the start of the second moto. The rain really started coming down and it was going to be one of those “survival” deals. Gust – knowing that the start was all-important pulled the hole-shot. His clean goggles were a huge advantage as the race progressed.

Dustin had a lousy start in the muddy mess. “At the start it was pouring down rain, I didn’t prep my gate enough and when the gate dropped, just slithered all over the place. I got roosted so bad on the first lap, the mud was so heavy that I couldn’t hardly hold my head up – my helmet was just kinda rolling around!”

It got even worse for the series points leader, “My goggles were wasted and I was going off jumps blind- it was really scary. With about four laps to go I had to take my goggles off. I also started to my bike. There was so much weight in mud on the thing that I wanted to be sure and be as smooth as possible. There were a lot of people who DNF’d out there, I didn’t want to be one of them.”

The end of the race was true survival according to Dustin: “Everyone was just more or less rolling all the jumps. It had become dangerous to try and jump them, especially with all the mud weight on the quads.

Meanwhile, back up front, Natalie was riding hard and Doug was having trouble shifting his bike as a rock had stuck between his shifter and the cases. Fortunately the quad was stuck in second gear and in the muddy conditions that wasn’t such a bad thing. Natalie passed Doug for the lead, with about two laps to go, and about the same time Doug’s rock finally fell out. “I couldn’t jump the jumps being stuck in second but no one else was doing them anyway. Once it fell out and I could shift again, it really didn’t make that much of a difference.”

While everyone else was making mistakes or blowing up their bikes, Doug carefully chose his lines knowing that he just needed to follow Natalie home for the overall win. Doug’s 2-2 scores did indeed net him the overall win, and the top podium step – a place Gust is very familiar with.

Doug was really excited after the race, “I had a great weekend. It feels really good – awesome. I did it today,” the Wisconsin native said. “The second moto really rained pretty hard. The track was soupy and very slick. I knew I had to get a good start and I really concentrated and got the holeshot. Then I got a stinkin’ rock stuck in my shifter and John got by me. But by then, I had the overall locked up so it was OK.”

The remaining Team Rockstar/MSR/Suzuki/Yoshimura/Pro Taper rider Chad Wienen bottomed out on a rock and poked a hole in his engine cases. He was forced to DNF. Chad has been getting all of his bad luck out of the way in the beginning part of the season. He will have to wait for a top result at the next round in Virginia.

Press Release –

Monster Energy Kawasaki ATV rider Josh Creamer finished a cold and rainy race with an impressive fourth-place overall during round three of the AMA ATV Motocross Series in Bowling Green, KY. Teammate Russell Shumaker finished in the top-10 with a strong eighth-place overall, while Keith Little finished 14th.

Creamer has shown notable speed in the past few races. In Kentucky, he raced two solid motos to prove he can run at the front. In the first moto, he tangled with another rider and came from 18th place to finish third. In the second moto, he rode through the rain to finish eighth, taking fourth overall.

“The quad was feeling really good,” said Creamer. ‚ÄúIn the first moto, I didn’t get mad about where I started and just got in a groove. I kept making smart passes and was really happy with my finish.”

Shumaker earned his best result of the series with his consistent performance in both motos. When the rain came, he rode smooth and came across the finish with an eighth overall.

“I didn’t get the start I wanted in the first moto, but I worked through it,” said Shumaker. “In the second moto I had to throw off my goggles because they were getting fogged up. I did what I could and overall pretty happy with how I rode.”

The weather in Bowling Green, Ky. had been cold all weekend. On Sunday, it was raining off an on all day but about 20 minutes before the second moto started, the skies opened up and it just poured.

“We were just covered in mud by end of the first lap,” said Creamer. “My neck was getting sore from holding up my helmet that was just covered in mud. It was crazy.”

Little finished just outside the top-10 in the first moto and 14th during the second moto to finish with a 14th overall for the weekend.

The last few rounds of the AMA series have helped the team continue to develop the bike for the start of the WPSA in May. With the results proving the Kawasaki KFX®450R can run up front, the green team could be the ones to beat at the season opener.

For all the pictures, videos and most recent Kawasaki racing action, visit www.kawasaki.com/racing

AMA Pro ATV Championship Series

ATV Pro Class (Moto Finishes)

1. Doug Gust, Salem, Wis., Suzuki, 2-2
2. Jasmin Plante, Norte Dame, QC, Yamaha, 6-3
3. Dustin Wimmer, Center Valley, Pa., Suzuki, 1-12
4. JOSH CREAMER, N. STONINGTON, CONN., MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI, 3-8
5. Rocco Arno, Jr., Bridgeton, N.J., Honda, 9-4
6. John Natalie, Houtzdale, Pa., Can Am, 17-1
7. Pat Brown, Pittstown, N.J., Yamaha, 10-7
8. RUSSELL SHUMAKER, BRISTOL, WIS., MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI, 8-9
9. Richard Pelchat, St. Romuald, Quebec, Can Am, 15-5
10. Sage Baker, Shasta Lake, Calif., Can Am, 14-6
14. KEITH LITTLE SPRUCE PINE, ALA., MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI, 11-14

Press Release –

ITP has added to its ever-growing SS Alloy wheel line with the Indy introduction of the new SS212.

This one-piece wheel, with a distinctively muscular style, is available in three head-turning finish options: bright, diamond-cut machined with black accents (topped with a tough clear coat), a dramatic matte black, and dazzling, show-quality chrome. As with all of ITP’s SS Alloy wheels, a custom SS wheel cap is included.

They’re available in a 12×7 size, as well as unique 14×6 and 14×8 sizes designed specifically for front and rear applications, respectively.

These dedicated sizes provide more precise fitment and make the most of 26- and 27-inch radial tire performance.

Like its predecessors, the SS212 is manufactured through ITP’s high-tech Advancecast process, resulting in an incredibly strong yet light final product.

ITP is so confident of the SS212’s durability, in fact, that it’s covered by a lifetime structural warranty: if you bend or break it, ITP will replace it!

The ITP SS212 wheel is available for most late-model 4×4 sport/utility ATVs as well as many side-by-side UTV applications.

The 14-inch models are a great choice for UTVs, as they carry an 800 lb. load rating (12-inch ATV models are rated at 700 lbs.)! ITP is also making the SS Alloy line available in convenient, pre-mounted tire/wheel kits, using ITP’s popular Mud Lite XL, Mud Lite XTR and TerraCross R/T tires.

Since 1982, ITP has grown into the world’s #1 ATV aftermarket tire and wheel source, and continues to provide a complete line of innovative tires and wheel for virtually all ATVs and UTVs.

To order, contact your favorite distributor. For a copy of ITP’s full-color product catalog, call toll-free: 1-800-859-4740.

For other inquiries or technical advice, contact ITP at 930-A S. Rockefeller Ave., Ontario, CA 91761; (909) 390-1905. Or visit ITP’s website at ITPtires.com.