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Florida GNCC The second round of the GNCC series was run in conjunction with bike week. The conditions were similar to last year and it was supper muddy. Brian likes this race especially when it is muddy so he was hoping for a strong race. Brian got off the line good and had a fourth place start. He then got tangled up with Fred Andrews in the third corner which left them both in last. Brian was working his way up in the mud when he noticed Shane Watts picking his bike off the ground. Brian, Shane and Fred were all going fast so they worked their way through the pack. Brian knew Shane was behind his and let Shane by before the tight section to follow his lines. Shane wound his way through woods and the pack and picked off nearly ten guys in that section. Ryan Hughes made another appearance at a GNCC and found his way too the front on the first lap. The front wasn't necessarily the best spot to be at this point though as he was the first one who would have to go through the big puddles. Barry Hawk, Rodney Smith and Jason Raines were all right there staying in the hunt. Watts was up to fourth by the end of the lap and hooked up with Ryno and the two of them opened up a little lead for a couple of laps. Brian was up to eighth by the end of the first lap and then picked off a couple more each lap. Hughes and Watts began to fade a bit and Barry Hawk and Fred Andrews making their way past and had their own race for the win. Brian was still in the hunt and made his way into third place. With two laps to go Brian's bike was making noises so he came into the pits. The bike was out of oil but adding it was harder than normal since the bike was so hot. When he was pitting Jason Raines, Rodney Smith, Ryan Hughes, and Scott Summers all went by. Brian still felt good and was a little pissed so he put on a charge. He got behind Rodney and Summers and told himself he was going to pass them in the woods section. He did it and opened up a gap by the end of the section. Barry Hawk made a pass on Fred Andrews with just a couple of corners left and went home with the win. Fred was second, then Raines. Brian made his way back into fourth ahead of Rodney Smith and Scott Summers. Ryan Hughes ran out of gas on the last lap due to his floats sticking knocking him out of the race. Seventh was Steve Hatch followed by Robbie Jenks and then Doug Blackwell. Fourth is as well as Brian has ever done at a GNCC so he was happy with the result and has his sights set on the podium. |