The Orange Crush GNCC from Lake Winona, Florida

Ex-motocrosser Doug Henry was in the area and "thought it'd be fun to try a GNCC." Aboard his '04 practice CRF450R complete with duct tape number plates Henry put together a last-minute race effort at the Orange Crush GNCC in Lake Winona, Florida. Despite his sub-factory appearance, Henry put in an amazing ride on the sandy, whooped-out course. He overtook 10-time World Enduro champion Juha Salminen and held on to a slim lead to the end. Austrailan Shane Watts, always a crowd favorite, had his best GNCC finish in years, taking third overall.

Many speculated that Juha Salminen could sweep the '05 GNCC series based on his dominating performance at round one, and it began to look that way after the first lap of Tuesday's race. Juha captured the lead on lap one and began to open up a gap, but one rider—Doug Henry—wouldn't let him pull away. He stayed with Salminen, eventually overtaking him on the third lap. But Juha remained in tow, keeping the pressure on Henry, never letting him out of his sight. In the battle for first, the two gapped third place rider Shane Watts by nearly three minutes by the race's end.

Doug Henry crossed the finish line dehydrated and exhausted with Salminen less than ten seconds off. Henry handed off his bike and collapsed, lying on the ground with an a dirty smile on his face. "That was the hardest thing I've ever done," he said on the podium, "That made two motos in Southwick seem easy; I never would have believed that!"

In contrast, Salminen looked fresh after the race, as if he'd barely broken a sweat. He admitted he wished he had pushed harder, but was happy with second place. Although he didn't win, his strong finish has moved him well into the series points lead.

Round two marked the first time in memory that KTM rider Shane Watts made a GNCC podium. It was a victory in itself for Watts, and an emotional one at that. Despite several injury-strewn seasons, he maintains a large, supportive fan base in the GNCC series.

WORCS Champion Nathan Woods and fellow WORCS rider Kurt Caselli took advantage of the break in the World Off Road Championship Series to come down for Daytona's bike week and the Florida GNCC. Kurt Caselli rode to a strong fourth place finish, passing fellow orange rider Mike Lafferty on the final lap. Caselli got off to a good start and led early in the first lap, but later admitted: "I wasn't sure how fast I was supposed to be going. When Juha [Salminen] and Doug [Henry] passed me, I saw how fast they were going and I said, 'no way!' I backed off and just found my own pace." Nathan Woods didn't fare as well with a first turn hang up, and then nearly breaking his arm on a metal post on the first lap. He hung in for half the race before pulling off, in too much pain to continue.

The rough, sandy course took its toll on many of the riders. Jason Raines, still recovering from shoulder surgery, was running fourth early in the race but the whoops worked his shoulder, forcing him to pull off after two hours. Mexican national champion Homero Diaz—another victim of the course—cased while tripling through the log section and separated his shoulder.

Round one podium finisher Glenn Kearny fell off his pace after a crash in the palmettos on lap three. "My race went downhill from there," said the Aussie. Although he didn't have the race he'd hoped for, he held on to finish seventh behind KTM's Robbie Jenks.

The riders have less than a week to recooperate before round three of the GNCC series, the Maxxis General, in Washington, Georgia this weekend.

The Orange Crush GNCC - Overall Results

1. Doug Henry, HON
2. Juha Salminen, KTM
3. Shane Watts, KTM
4. Kurt Caselli, KTM
5. Mike Lafferty, KTM
6. Robbie Jenks, KTM
7. Glenn Kearny, SUZ
8. Barry Hawk Jr., YAM
9. Chuck Woodford, KAW
10. Cole Calkins, KAW