GNCC Round 13 Race Report
Holland, MI (10/29/2017) – Kevin Trantham and William Yokley finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the GNCC championship after the season finale at Ironman Raceway in Crawfordsville, IN. Both were running in the top three for most of the race before Trantham finished fifth. Yokley finished 13th after tangling with another car on the final lap. Michael Swift was eighth.With snow and cold temperatures at the track, Trantham and Yokely battled each other for most of the race. Trantham’s top-five capped an exceptional second half of the season that included a win at the Mountaineer Run and a runner-up finish in the last race.
“We had a few issues at the end, but still ended up in the top five,” said Trantham. “I’m happy with that considering how the season started and we ended it on a good note. The last three rounds were really good. We had a win, a second and a fifth, so we’re much better than we were in the first three races. This will give us momentum going into next season.”
The Ironman course, with its deep ruts, tight woods sections and motocross section, took its toll on the competition. Trantham appreciated his RT Pro components that allowed him to run competitively all the way to the finish.“I saw a lot of people out there with bent A-arms and battered up cars,” said Trantham. “The RT Pro stuff holds up so well. We run their nerf bars, bumpers, and cages and everything survived. That’s a good testament to the parts.”Yokley battled for third with Trantham until the final lap. After tangling with another competitor, Yokley got his ride stuck in a mud hole. After that he cruised in for the finish.
“This wasn’t the ending I wanted, but the car worked well all day,” said Yokley. “It has been great all year, but the cards unfolded badly for me today. The RT Pro components worked great as always. The tree kickers did great in the woods sections.”
Michael Swift also appreciated the tree kickers. After losing four-wheel drive early in the event, Swift ran a spirited pace in two-wheel drive to finish eighth.“The ruts were deep and the RT Pro components did really well,” said Swift. “We brushed off a lot of trees. Since we were in two-wheel drive, we were hitting the trees a lot harder than we usually would, and the tree kickers worked well.”Jesi Stracham recorded a sixth-place finish in the Single Seat class. Stracham, who doesn’t have the use of her legs, raced a Polaris ACE specially modified with hand controls this season.
GNCC recently announced that turbocharging will be allowed in the XC1 Pro UTV class next year. Trantham is looking forward to running an XP1000 Turbo in 2018.“We’re running the turbo cars next season so we’ll have a lot of work over the winter getting them dialed in,” said Trantham. “We’re planning on running the XP1000 turbo next year. They made the rule change so if we don’t we’ll be behind.”These drivers will outfit new cars with RT Pro components next year as they move up to run Polaris RZR turbos in the GNCC series.
