Walker Fowler GNCC Rd 5 Race Report 2018

Race Report by Walker Fowler Racing

SOCIETY HILL, ​SC (April 27, 2018) – Round five of the 2018 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) series was graced with perfect race conditions where Walker Fowler made his way back to the middle of the podium for the third time this season. When the green flag waved for the Camp Coker Bullet GNCC Fowler shot off the line and powered his way through the first turn in the lead.

With the dusty conditions, a holeshot was key to success in this race and this past weekend was Fowler’s second holeshot of the season. The negative energy from the previous two rounds proved to be just what Fowler needed to jump out to an incredible 40 second lead at the completion of the first lap. As he rethought his plan of attack for the remaining part of the race, Fowler knew his sprint speed and fitness weren’t going to be an issue, so he focused on diligently working his way through lapped traffic and focusing on his own race.

The final lap of the race proved to be the most difficult given the amount of lapped riders. Unfortunately, Fowler got tangled up with one and ended up losing his front brake and bumper (yes, again!), in addition to damaging his throttle level and several other items on the machine. Thankfully neither Fowler nor the other rider was injured, and Fowler was able to steadily ride his machine to take the Camp Coker Bullet GNCC overall win.

After experiencing the dusty conditions first hand in the ATV race, Fowler knew he needed to get another good start off his UTV row. Fowler ended up botching the start sequence and went into the woods in fifth, where he battled back-and-forth during the first lap and got around two of his competitors and also got passed by a car that started on the second row.

Now sitting in fourth he was able to move into third on the second lap. Fowler really began to make moves on the third lap and positioned himself in second after maneuvering through a mud pit quicker than his competition. By this time the driver from the second row had caught back up to him, Fowler was sitting in third on adjusted time. He continued to pick up the pace and gain ground on the physical leader while attempting to gap the other drivers behind him.

This is when Fowler began to experience some steering issues and ran right into a tree. This incident made his power steering go out completely, and from there he was forced to go as fast as possible while overcoming the steering issues. Fowler was able to score 18th overall and still salvage some championship points where he sits ranked fifth overall.

The other WFR team driver, Vickie Fowler, finished on the podium in the women’s class in third. After a less than desirable start, Vickie kept her YXZ1000R on track and navigated through the dust. Her focus during the track walk paid off and before she knew it, she was in second place after her competitors veered off track in the difficult visibility conditions. A rim issue began to arise near the end of the race, forcing her to back off the pace and take the final podium spot in 3rd.