FMF/KTM Rider Cory Buttrick earned his first career XC1 win at the most fitting race of the series, his hometown race and the race named in honor of the legendary KTM man himself, John Penton.
Buttrick was quite confident going into the race. "I always like this track and I always perform better when my friends and family are around to cheer me on," remarked Buttrick in a pre-race interview.
What Buttrick and the rest of the riders didn't expect was the weekend rainstorm which would turn the track into a complete mess. The normally three-hour race was cut down to two-hours due to heavy rain storms. The course was drenched in rain and very hard to navigate.
Buttick nailed the holeshot at the start of the XC1 class but slipped to 2nd behind Thaddeus Duvall within the first lap. "I just had to slow down a bit on the first lap to allow for more caution in some of the deep mud holes. I knew those mud puddles would make or break the race today so I took the first lap to figure out the course," stated Buttrick.
Alongside Buttrick for the battle for the lead position was his teammate, Nate Kanney. At one point Kanney was as high up as 2nd and right on the tail of Josh Strang and Buttrick as the three riders battled it out for the lead position on the final lap. Approximately four miles to the finish all three riders became stuck in a mud hole. Buttrick was able to get up with the help of a friendly push from Strang and Kanney took an outside line up the far edge of the hill to catch up to Buttrick. As Buttrick charged ahead, Kanney suffered unfortunate luck and had a bike malfunction which caused him to DNF as he was sitting in 2nd place.
"I felt so good today. The past few races I have been battling up front and suffered some bad luck. It's good to know that I can run the pace and I know a win is coming. Hopefully I can regroup and put my bike on the top of the podium at Snowshoe," stated Kanney. "However, I am really happy for Cory. I just wish we could have had both team bikes on the podium today."
Buttrick eventually crossed the checkered flag to take his first career XC1 win. "It feels so amazing to get my first win at my home track in front of my friends and family. I can't explain how excited I am to get this win. I definitely couldn't have done it without the support of my team."
"Buttrick picked a great day to earn his first career win," stated FMF/KTM Team Manager Antti Kallonen. "We have all known he was capable of winning a GNCC for some time. We hope that this win serves as motivation to continue the trend for the remainder of the series."
Overall Results XC1
1. Cory Buttrick - KTM
2. Josh Strang
3. Paul Whibley
4. Jim Jarrett
5. Chris Bach - KTM
8. Nate Kanney - KTM
Not only did KTM win the XC1 and XC2 classes but also won the Women's class as Maria Forsberg earned her sixth straight win and the 2010 Championship plate. Equally impressive KTM also won each of the youth races (results below). "The John Penton GNCC is very important to KTM. The race is in honor of John Penton and it is important to KTM that we finish well at this race. We are excited to win both the pro races but to have KTM riders win all classes today was a remarkable feat. Congrats to all champions," stated Kallonen.