With 2007 and 2008 GNCC Champion David Knight not racing at round 12 of the GNCC series in St. Clairsville, OH, the door was wide open for a handful of racers to put themselves on top of the podium. After stringing together three GNCC podium finishes, Knight’s Red Bull KTM teammate Nate Kanney was well aware of the opportunity available to him and headed to Ohio looking to grab his first win of the season. Unfortunately for Kanney, who sits in 4th place in the overall series points, a stomach bug woke him in the middle of the night prior to the race dashing his hopes of a win.

“I was pretty sick all morning prior to the race and knew that it was going to be a long day. My strategy was to just ride a smooth consistent race and make sure I made it to the finish line and scored some points,” said Kanney. Getting off to a smooth race proved to be harder than expected as Kanney spun badly off the starting line nearly causing a major pile-up 5 feet off the start. “I really want to apologize to Paul Whibley and everyone else that I almost took out. I spun pretty bad and ended up bumping Paul. Thankfully we were all able to stay on two wheels,” said an apologetic Kanney.

Despite the rough going out of the blocks, Kanney made it through the first few turns in 2nd place behind Team FMF Suzuki’s Charlie Mullins. Nate was able to slip into the lead after a mistake by Mullins and put it on cruise control, trying to save himself for the long three hour race. Kanney rounded the first lap still holding onto the lead, but began to feel the effects of his upset stomach at the beginning of the 2nd lap. “My stomach started hurting really badly on the second lap. I couldn’t sit down and hit any bumps and I was really starting to worry about simply finishing the race, let alone trying to keep the lead.”

Kanney began feeling pressure from a trio of Suzuki mounted riders including eventual race winner Paul Whibley and 2nd place finisher Josh Strang. “When Strang made his way around me, I really knew that I was in no condition to try and put up a fight for the lead. I just decided that finishing the race and gaining valuable points was the priority and just rode my own pace for the rest of the race,” said Kanney. His “own” pace would eventually put Kanney into a 5th place overall position on the day. “On days like this, I know it’s all about just going out and surviving. I’m disappointed that the door was open for me to grab a win and I ended up missing the podium, but it could’ve been worse and I’ll just set my sights on the final round in Indiana.”

Results:
1. Paul Whibley
2. Josh Strang
3. Charlie Mullins
4. Jimmy Jarrett
5. Nate Kanney

A top-five start positioned Nate well at the beginning of the race. A few quick passes and Kanney was into 2nd place on his KTM 300XC following Barry Hawk into the first woods section. “I knew that one of the biggest challenges of the day would be vision, and eating Barry’s roost wasn’t going to help with that at all. I began pushing him early trying to make a pass. Barry was feeling the pressure ended up crashing and I got stuck in a rut behind him which allowed Knight and a few other riders to get past us,” said Kanney.

By the end of the first lap Kanney had moved back into 2nd place behind his teammate David Knight. As the riders went into the pits, Knight stopped for fresh goggles but Kanney, in a strategic move, decided to blow past the pits opting to take the lead rather than protect his eyes. “I’m not sure if it was the smartest move or not, but I really wanted to get into the lead and try and make a break from David.” The 2007 GNCC Champion Knight is another rider that excels in gnarly conditions and Kanney knew that getting out front early could be his only way to victory. Unfortunately, Kanney’s decision to go without goggles didn’t workout as Knight ended up catching Nate and taking over the lead. “I knew it was a gamble to go without goggles, and I ended up paying the price, said Kanney, whose eyes turned a deep shade of red by the end of the race.

Knowing first-hand how bad things can go in a survival race such as this, Kanney settled into 2nd place and rode there for the majority of the race. WIth two laps to go Team Suzuki’s Paul Whibley began pressuring Nate and eventually made a pass. “I began to run out of steam. I’ve been battling a cold since flying back from Greece for the ISDE and when Paul got by me, I just settled in for another 3rd place finish,” said Kanney. Lady Luck was on Kanney’s side, however, as Whibley ran out of fuel on the last lap handing a 2nd place finish to Nate. “I feel bad for Whibs as he rode a strong race, but I had my fair share of bad luck with a DNF at the John Penton GNCC [another very muddy race] and am just glad to get a bit of good luck and grab this second place finish in front of all my family and friends.”

The GNCC series resumes with its penultimate round at the Powerline Park GNCC in St. Clairsville, Ohio on Sunday, October 12th.

Results:
1. David Knight
2. Nate Kanney
3. Jimmy Jarrett
4. Josh Strang
5. Charlie Mullins

Next Up:
October 12
St. Clairsville, OH
ITP Powerline Park GNCC

With its grand prix style start on the main road in and out of the ski resort, the Snowshoe GNCC is unlike any other race on the tour. Kanney, who coming into the round sat 5th overall in series points started on the front row along with the 4 other riders in the top-five overall points. Making it through the first turn safe was a priority, as sliding along the pavement would mean incredibly uncomfortable road rash for the entire 3 hour race. “David Knight and Glenn Kearney tangled up in the first turn with Knight stalling his bike so I was able to slip inside of them and fall into second place behind Josh Strang. I settled into a comfortable pace early on, knowing that once we got to the bottom of the mountain the really tough sections would begin and I wanted to save as much energy as possible for those.”

Eventual race winner and Red Bull KTM teammate David Knight made his way around Kanney as well as Team Suzuki’s Paul Whibley, but Kanney stuck to his game plan of playing it safe. “There were some very high-speed road sections as well as some very gnarly mud and rock sections, so I just settled into a comfortable pace for the first four laps. I was concerned about my endurance due to the ISDE and definitely didn’t want to fade and miss out on a podium finish,” said Kanney.

With the racers starting in rows of 5 with 10 second intervals between rows, Kanney knew that while he may not have been able to see some of his competition on the trail they could—due to time adjustment—actually be ahead of him in the overall race standings. “With two laps to go I put in a sprint for the finish as my endurance was better than I had anticipated and I really wanted to secure that final podium position.” Kanney’s last lap sprint gave him a comfortable one minute lead over 4th place and landed him on the podium. “It was one of those races where you could’ve gotten stuck in mud up to your handlebars or crashed on a very fast road section so I feel very fortunate to head back to New York with a 3rd place trophy,” concluded Kanney.

Nate is now preparing for round 11 of the GNCC series at the famed Unadilla Valley Sports Center in New Berlin, New York. The last time that Kanney raced this event he won the overall over 12-time World Enduro Champion and 2-time GNCC champion Juha Salminen. “Unadilla is only 2 and a half hours from my house and I’m really looking forward to racing in front of all my hometown fans,” said an excited Kanney.

Results:
1. David Knight
2. Paul Whibley
3. Nate Kanney
4. Jesse Robinson
5. Barry Hawk

Next Up:
September 28
New Berlin, NY
Can-Am Unadilla GNCC