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COPYRIGHT 2005 Ehlert Publishing Group
For the last five seasons, pro Bill Ballance has been the "Superman" of the Grand National Cross Country Series. With five straight Pro class championships and his epic battles with former ATV champ Barry Hawk, Ballance, who has a quiet Clark Kent-type demeanor off the track, has transformed himself into a superior racer. However, 2005 didn't start off the way Ballance had planned. As in many sports, the champ knew everyone was gunning for him and trying to end his reign. After posting zero victories in the first two rounds, it looked as if Ballance's armor may have been rusting. Either that or someone found his Kryptonite and duct-taped it to his kidney belt.
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Ballance out gunned his competitors at Round 3, however, and notched his first win of the year. Then, he scored his second-straight win by beating his challengers--and some devastating mud holes--at Steele Creek in North Carolina. An exhausted-but-elated "Man of Steele" celebrated his Round 4 win with a podium burnout and a champagne explosion.
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PRO
It was evident from the holeshot that Ballance was out to prove that he still is, in fact, the fastest racer in GNCC racing. Ballance pulled the holeshot in front of his brother Brandon and 16 other pro riders and led the first lap of the Steele Creek event.
Ballance stiffest competition this season has come from his arch nemesis Chris Borich. Heading into Round 4, Borich owned a slight points lead and had won the first two rounds of the season. The Team Alba Racing rider was out to prove he's the man to beat in 2005. Borich was only four seconds behind Ballance at the...
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