GNCC Racing

Quick Fill #16: This Week in GNCC

Quick Fill #16: This Week in GNCC

Thursday, April 24, 2014 | 4:50 PM
Thursday, April 24, 2014 | 4:50 PM

Welcome to Quick Fill.

We’re finally making our way back north this weekend for the fifth round of the 2014 series, which is absolutely crazy to me since it feels like just yesterday we were gearing up for the opening round. Either way the championship excitement is just now beginning to take shape, as the window of opportunity for many riders is now getting smaller by the weekend. It seems like when you’re behind, the season just isn’t long enough but when you’re on top, it feels like every race drags on for years!

This weekend will mark only our third year at the Lawrence County Recreation Facility, which is owned and operated by the ABATE group of Indiana. Bolton talks about what we can expect of the land below, but I want to remind everyone of a couple quick items. First, this event will be co-sanctioned with our great friends with Indiana Cross Country Racing (IXCR), which means racers who take part in each series can actually kill two birds with one stone by earning points in both series in one day! You can get all the details on their IXCR 2014 Mini Series HERE on their website or on the official IXCR Facebook page. I’m always excited to go to the Indiana rounds, for a couple of different reasons actually. The first being how incredible the Indiana folks are and just how supportive Tim Bowman and the rest of the IXCR family is of the GNCC Series and everything we do. We have great relationships with all of the series we co-sanction with but there’s a special bond with this crew that you can’t help but appreciate! So we’re definitely looking forward to entering Hoosier territory and paying a tribute to all that those folks do to help make GNCC successful. The other reason I enjoy Indiana so much, and it’s not the drive there, is the fact that it’s somewhat close to where I grew up in northern Illinois. I am lucky enough to be joined this weekend by my brother, his wife, their 5-year-old son and a baby-to-be inside the belly of my sister-in-law. Since I don’t get to see them very often, it will be a nice change of pace to have some family around my “second family” at the races.

If you see these guys around this weekend, give them a pat on the back!
If you see these guys around this weekend, give them a pat on the back! Photo: IXCR

Don’t forget about GNCC’s new option to receive a unique “poker chip” with your favorite pro rider and their signature on it. They are actually pretty neat collectables but don’t let that fool you, they’re also worth $10 towards anything you want in GNCC. Well, not anything. They really can only be used towards registration and gate entry but what else would you need? So if you finish in a trophy position, ask the registration ladies about the poker chips and maybe you’ll find your favorite rider and decide to take that instead of your plaque. Unfortunately you can’t have both, sorry!

Every week following GNCC events, we send out a newsletter called The Pit Stop, which features highlights from the weekend, including the video recaps, photo galleries and a sponsor spotlight. The sponsor spotlight features a different GNCC sponsor each week, which shows off a new product or promotion they might have going on and then everyone who is signed up for the newsletter is automatically eligible to go into a drawing for a free product or service from that company. It’s pretty cool because all you have to do is be signed up for the newsletter and you’re automatically entered to win, plus you get a nice little recap of what went on at the previous weekend’s race. If you’re not yet signed up for the Pit Stop, you can click HERE and sign up now! If you click, you’ll actually notice that you have the option to sign up for several newsletters that are sent out from within our parent company, including RacerTV, Pro Motocross, ATVMX and WMX. Go ahead and click it, you won’t regret it.

RacerTV stickers will be available at the RacerTV Studio trailer this weekend
RacerTV stickers will be available at the RacerTV Studio trailer this weekend Photo: JK

Don’t forget to log onto RacerTV.com this Saturday and Sunday for GNCC Live from the Limestone 100. Rodney Tomblin, Fred Andrews, Johnny Gallagher and myself will be ready to go with our best updates and coverage of this weekend’s race. It will be on at 1 p.m. ET both days, and the race this weekend will be in the Eastern Time Zone as well.

Safe travels to all and we’ll see you at the races! Here’s Jared.

@JaredBolton:

This week I bring you my Quick Fill contribution from the woods of Indiana. No, I'm not just using that as a figure of speech saying I'm already at the track, I am literally sitting in the woods just past the 6-mile mark as I'm typing this. Now, since I've mentioned that, I know a lot of you will be hungry for some track updates. So, to feed that, I'll dive into that briefly.

Basically, it's a trail through the woods and there are arrows on trees and stakes to tell you where to go. You cross a few other trails, which are blocked with Moose tape. Hope that tells you what you wanted to know! That's a joke, of course. In all seriousness, the track for this year’s Limestone 100 is what I consider to be the best Limestone track we've seen in its short history on the schedule. It's got a great flow, and it's not overly fast but it's not too slow either. There are a few places where you jump onto some fresh trail, which is pretty hard to find here but it works.

#throwbackthursday Charlie Mullins taking the Limestone 100 win
#throwbackthursday Charlie Mullins taking the Limestone 100 win Photo: Hill

I always find it pretty funny that the Limestone and Ironman events aren't too far apart but are almost polar-opposite terrains. There's not a ton of elevation change throughout the property at The Ironman, but what’s there is very steep. There's also very little rock at The Ironman. On the other end of the spectrum, the Limestone has a lot of small elevation change all across the property, with a good bit of rock scattered throughout.

As for what to expect from the racing action this weekend, well, there's no doubt it could be a real treat. Rodney has some ATV stuff to discuss, as always, so I'll touch on the bikes. Obviously we all know that the clear favorites at the moment are Kailub Russell and Charlie Mullins. The FMF/KTM duo has been on fire the past two seasons and KR has seemed to step it up another notch this year. However, there are guys who want to beat them. They REALLY want to beat them.

Paul Whibley is fresh off an OMA win last weekend. There's no doubt that you can never count out the Axeman. He's had his struggles, but Whibs could ultimately return to the center of the podium. Josh Strang is the next clear favorite. Strang has had a good 2014 season so far, and he's definitely hungry to take a win, something he hasn't done in a couple of years.

James Steiner Jr. (left) and James Sr. (right) having some fun in Moab as part of the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Ticket to Ride Giveaway from the 2013 Banquet. How cool!
James Steiner Jr. (left) and James Sr. (right) having some fun in Moab as part of the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Ticket to Ride Giveaway from the 2013 Banquet. How cool! Photo: RM ATV/MC

Another guy to keep an eye on this weekend is Andrew Delong. Delong had his best finish of the season at Big Buck with a 4th place, and don't forget that he nearly took the overall win at the Limestone in 2012 from the XC2 class. A definite wild card will be that of Chris Bach. Bach has had a tough 2014 season this far but it's been a learning experience on the Honda and for the JCR guys. Bach has been putting in some extra testing and training since Big Buck, and he'd definitely like to land on the podium in his home state.

I hate to cut myself short but there's plenty more arrows and Moose tape to get up. So until next time, Bolt-On out!

Another shot from Moab, Utah. Looks like the trip of a lifetime for a racer!
Another shot from Moab, Utah. Looks like the trip of a lifetime for a racer! Photo: RM ATV/MC

@HotRodney22:

I have to say that as I sat down to scribe my comments this week my heart actually did a little skip and race as it dawned on me that we are quickly approaching the midway point of the 2014 season and it really seems like we just got started. The great thing about it, though, is that the points race still reflects an early season battle and this weekend could set the stage for what the rest of year holds.

Quickly on the XC1 Pro bike side of things is the fact of the two points between Russell and Mullins. As great as that is to me I am interested equally as much in what is going on with Josh Strang, Paul Whibley and Jordan Ashburn have cooking back in the 3-4-5 spots. Ashburn has been consistent so far this season and it yields a strong fourth right now but he must remain consistent and be ready to battle for more podiums if he wants to maintain that spot or move up. Josh Strang could also play a key role in the race for the win this weekend. He has seen the speed and knows what he has to do. If he finds the confidence of old, Charlie and Kailub may have a bit of company for the battle for the top spot. Of course one can never count out Axeman as Whibley is a constant threat on any given day. My sleeper choices though in XC1 are Stew Baylor and Thad Duvall. Stew is still on the comeback but he is capable of an extraordinary ride and Duvall has been pecking away at the shell and may be finally ready to hatch and set the Honda on the box.

#tbt Cole Richardson Top Amateur at last year's Limestone 100. Now he's topping XC2 Pro Am races!
#tbt Cole Richardson Top Amateur at last year's Limestone 100. Now he's topping XC2 Pro Am races! Photo: Hill

The ATV side of things in the XC1 Pro is no less exciting. Borich seems to be amassing a rather comfortable point lead and he himself seems more comfortable since the weight of the all-time wins record is off his shoulders. However, the Dunlop Limestone 100 may be where things kind of went haywire for him last season.

A year ago the Limestone was Round 6 of the series and Borich had come into the weekend on a massive five-race win streak for the season and a six-race win streak carried over from the 2012 season. Though Borich never really saw a threat for the championship, the all-time wins record loomed and now with that gone, you have to think the pressure is gone. In reality it is, in one sense, but in another sense the competition is really starting to build behind Chris. The one thing he knows is that mistakes must be minimized even more now than ever because one slip could bring the stress back to the championship. Until the “Quad Master” let’s that happen, I don’t feel there is a lot to worry about in the near future. Game on!

Another #tbt from the 2013 Dunlop Limestone 100. That Dunlop signage looks sick!
Another #tbt from the 2013 Dunlop Limestone 100. That Dunlop signage looks sick! Photo: Hill

Youth racing will bring another exciting weekend from the quad side of things. Brandon Frazier will go for five in a row. He has had a stellar season thus far and one has to think it will continue this weekend. No matter the conditions this kid has prevailed. It will be interesting watching the chase as Carter Kerens will feel at home with the clay and rocks and such but there will be others gunning as well. I will be watching the 125 Sr. 12-15 class closely this weekend as the competition really heats up there, so will the results. We saw them on the overall Youth podium in Florida and the Limestone maybe the place the Raptors sink their claws in and rise to the occasion.

The morning race holds so many dimensions on Saturday that one has to shake their heads at it. This race alone could be worth the price of admission. 4x4 Pro, WXC, Schoolboy, Sport, Age and Novice classes, which is everything anyone could ask for packed into two-hours of racing.

Check out this week's Tuesday Toolbox with Blake Tornes
Check out this week's Tuesday Toolbox with Blake Tornes Photo: Hill

Your eyes may cross a couple of times trying to watch the amazing class battles but at the same time the battle for the overall is equally if not a little more exciting. We have seen everything from Schoolboy to Senior riders on the overall podium, and 4x4 Pro and WXC on occasion. It is a great toss of the dice each weekend as to who will prevail but it will be exciting no matter how it sorts out.

As I come down off my Easter candy high I will wrap this up. My contribution seems a little scatter brained this week. As I mentioned in the beginning, I am still a little shaken from the reality of where we are in the season and at the same time calm with knowing the excitement is about to begin in the GNCC Racin’ Nation. (Plus the Easter candy has me really jacked up right now!)

That’s it for now. Till next time, God Bless Your Heart and All Your Vital Organs. (And please don’t laugh at my chocolate belly this week…I put on a few inches and am in danger of losing a few teeth.)