GNCC – Round 7 – The John Penton
Location: Sunday Creek Raceway – Millfield, OH
This last weekend was out in Ohio for round 7 of GNCC for the John Penton which is the oldest even on the schedule. The Beta USA Factory Team overall had a good weekend and took a lot of good away from the race track in Ohio. Cody Barnes raced hard to earn a second place finish. While Rachel Gutish battled all day and finished one spot off the podium. Thorn Devlin couldn’t sustain an early lead but still wound up with a top ten finish. Team rider Zane Roberts is taking the time to race the GNCC’s because the races he normally runs are postponed in the west. Our final GNCC team rider, Chase Colville, injured his foot last week in practice and wasn’t able to compete this weekend.
Factory Team Rider Results:
Cody Barnes XC2 2nd
Thorn Devlin XC2 9th
Rachel Gutish WXC 4th
Zane Roberts XC2 19th
The next GNCC race is round eight in Crawfordville, IN at the Ironman Raceway on July 12th.
Cody Barnes
250 RR Race Edition
“I got off to a decent start entering the woods in second place behind my teammate. We had a good pace going and had pulled away a little from some of the other riders. Towards the end of the first lap I made a mistake and dropped to 3rd place. I knew that I had to stay with them if I wanted a chance at the podium. I was able to tough out the brutal track after some good battles to come away with my first XC2 podium finish and take second place. My Beta 250RR was running awesome and my mechanic, Sam, had a spot on bike setup for the track conditions this weekend.”
“The John Penton GNCC offered a challenging course with several types of terrain and conditions. My Factory Beta USA 250RR gave a great start and put me in a great position allowing me to lead the majority of lap one. From there I kept myself in good contention, but ultimately paid the price from my first lap charge. Being new to GNCC, I’m trying to find the perfect balance to set myself up for the last hour and getting better results. Thank you to the entire Factory Beta USA team and sponsors for all their hard work and making this possible.”
Rachel Gutish
300 RR Race Edition
“I took home another 4th place finish at the GNCC this weekend. I was very close to the podium, missing it by only 20 seconds. I had just taken the lead on the first lap when I missed an arrow. I got a little lost and really managed to shoot myself in the foot. I didn’t give up and charged my way back up near the front to the pack, but it still wasn’t enough to end up on the box.”
Zane Roberts
250 RR Race Edition
“This weekend’s GNCC was definitely one of the most challenging races I’ve ever done in my life. I got off to a good start but quickly found the terrain to be much different from anything I’ve ever ridden on the west coast. Definitely had some major struggles throughout the day but was happy to get to do a couple of GNCC’s for the experience. Huge thanks to the entire Beta US crew for getting me out there to experience what the east coast has to offer!”
2nd Place in the Desert
Best in the Desert – Silver State 300
Location: Alamo, NV
This weekend in Nevada our race crew took on the Best in the Desert Silver State 300. The grueling race was met with a couple challenges, most notably when the rider Joe Wasson came up to a closed gate which ended up costing some valuable time during the race. However, Joe and Chance rebounded and together they teamed up to earn a 2nd place finish on the day.
Factory Team Rider Results:
Joe Wasson / Chance Fullerton 2nd Place
Joe Wasson
430 RR Race Edition
“Friday we went to tech got everything situated then went out and tested the race bike for proper gearing. We figured we had the bike about as good as it was going to get. Saturday morning the race started off at 5:30am. I was clocking over 100 mph for the first 30 miles, then speed gave way for those mountain roads for a more technical section. I felt really good and things were going great. I handed the bike off in first overall and let Chance do his thing. Then I got back on the bike at mile 220 and went for it. Unfortunately, I came across a closed gate at mile 250 which cost me a substantial amount of time. I got going again but lost a couple of minutes and ended up finishing second after that. Race was awesome and the bike felt pretty good. Overall the team did great!”
Chance Fullerton
430 RR
“Had a great time trying something new. Bummer to get second place when I know we had more in us. All in all I had a great time and can’t wait to race again here soon!”
