Mudfest in texas
And We Thought Glen Helen Was Soggy...

FEB 6, 2005
GNC Round 2
Lake Whitney, TX

• Ellis 10th first moto - came from back of the pack
• Ellis lands on top of Natalie battling for 2nd
• Baker Maintains Pro-Am Production Overall Points Lead

Race Report by: Rob Vegter and Chris Conrady

It is hard to decide what the biggest challenge of GNC Round 2 in Texas. Was it trying to see through the mud in your face, trying to keep your quad running, dealing with quicksand sink-holes that required a tractor to pull out a stalled quad, realizing that a quad with 50 pounds of mud handled poorly, or was the biggest challenge just trying to get your truck hooked up to the trailer after the race and get the heck out of Texas. Any way you look at it, GNC 2 in Texas was a race about survival. And in this race, it seemed that Keith Little was the sole survivor.

Mud Mud Mud
Mother nature didn’t play along for the second round of the GNC series held in Texas. The track facilities were good, but the track was a little narrow in a few places. The added mud from the rain on Saturday made the track even narrower. The show must go on. The pros had a meeting Sunday morning and all decided to trade the Sunday practice for track maintenance, and both motos were pushed back one hour to let the track dry so the pros could ride hard and fast.

Kory Ellis
Round 1 at Ellis's home track of Glen Helen didn't turn out the way that Kory wanted to start the 05 GNC season as a Factory Yamaha rider. So Ellis entered Round 2 determined to turn things around. Everything looked good and despite the conditions Ellis was ready for the charge.

Keith Little pulled the hole shot in Moto 1, while the rest of the riders got caught dealing with the roost. After the first few turns it was Little, Luburgh, Jones. Kory Ellis got pinched in the pack and ended up in 12th at the start. Kory rode hard looking for a spot to make a move without getting pulled into the mud. Kory passed 2 riders and ended up stuck behind Dunk and couldn’t find a way around. He finished in the 10th spot.

As in Glen Helen, Kory came back with a vengeance in Moto 2. He got a good jump on the gate and rode hard to the first corner. Once again Keith Little grabbed the hole shot with Kory in tow. The two of them and four other fast riders headed off for one of the best races in a long time. Six riders battling within 3 feet of each other, seamed like they were getting ready to compete against the Blue Angels.

On a few of the jumps 4 to 5 riders would be in the air at the same time.

As the race continued Natalie worked his way into second place, which dropped Kory to Third. On the third to last lap Natalie’s quad missed and slowed down on a face of a jump which caught Kory off guard. Kory landed into the back of Natalie. Both riders ended up tangled and off to the side of the track. Gust and Farr just missed them as they made their way around. Kory and John struggled to get the quads separated to try to salvage points for the season. Kory got free first and just got running before the leaders came around, he ended up passing two riders in the last two laps to make up 4 spots in the overall results, a great effort of keeping going and not giving up. .

Sage Baker
Sage started off the weekend at Texas stoked. Not because he particularly likes running in the mud. Rather, Sage was stoked because he had is brand new 2005 Team Alba YFZ - complete with race motor and new suspension ready to go. He finished putting it all together in Alba's race shop just a couple of days and a few thousand miles earlier, so this would be it's maiden run.

In case it wasn't made clear, the conditions were miserable. Racers were stalling out, getting stuck on the track in the mud - so bad that dozers were needed to pull them out. In the Pro-Am Unlimited group, 9 of the 16 racers DNFed! Sage got caught off guard by the start, wrecked and got stuck. But managed to get going again and finished 7th - which was good enough to make the main.

In the Pro-Am Production round, Sage got off to a better start. The race was early and the condition wasn't as bad. He was diggin' the new found power of his Alba motor and the Elka suspension was Awesome - best he's ridden. Sage managed a 2nd in the qualifier.

In the Pro-Am Production main, Sage got off to a good start, although he noted that the track had really become a one-line affair. No one wanted to go off-line to pass fearing they would be swallowed up in one of the mud pits. Sage stayed strong, held on and tried to see through the mud, clicking through about a 20 roll-offs. In the Pro-Am Production, Sage walked away with a 3rd - maintaining 1st place overall in the series.

In Pro-Am Unlimited Sage had a terrible start, popping out of gear had him starting from the back of the pack. Not to mention that by now, the track conditions were deteriorating - but Sage stayed on it and fought his way to mid pack for an 8th place finish, giving him 9th overall.

When asked what the biggest challenge was, Sage said that it looked like getting out of the pits after the race was the biggest challenge. He said that the pits were located in a grassy field that, with all the rain, were flooded. Anticipating the problem, Sage parked his rig right off the road for easy access. Other riders didn't have it that easy. Sage noted that some trucks were getting stuck just trying to back up to the trailer. He noted that the bulldozer was running through the night trying to get everyone on the road and ready for round 3 in Gainesville.