50-year-old Glen Pritchard has been first in the Super Senior class all five rounds of the 2009 Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series. Pritchard has only been racing since 2005, and has a full-time job. He just accomplished one of his main goals at the Acerbis Loretta Lynn by winning the Morning Race ATV overall, beating out factory-supported and more experienced competition. Glen took a break from work to tell us a little bit about how he accomplishes it all.

How are you doing Glen?
I'm fine, thanks.

So what do you do for a living? I'm self-employed and I build and remodel houses. I do a lot of commercial work, that kind of stuff. It's kind of slow right now but hopefully it will pick back up.

How did it feel to come in first overall at Loretta Lynn's? It felt real good! Actually I was pretty close a couple times earlier this year. That's actually my goal, to try getting the overall finishes. That's what I'm shooting for.

What did it take to achieve this win, beating factory-sponsored and more experienced riders? I really don't know! I had my wife there at the last race putting some numbers down for me if I was up or behind, how I was running. So, I would take it from there. I had been pushing too hard earlier in the year and running out of gas, like in the latter part of the race. I kind of paced myself at Loretta's and it helped a lot.

Tell me about that race. What was it like for you? I got the holeshot, and moved back before I hit the woods and I saw Johnny behind me. I got behind a lot of lapped riders and utility guys. They are pretty courteous about getting over. I didn't have any problems. The track was great and I enjoyed it. I just had a good clean race.

How has your season gone for you so far? It's going great. Everything just seems to be on track. At first, I was running pretty close to the front in the first part of the race, then I'd run out of gas. I was hoping to get a couple of podiums there also but, it just didn't work out. I had some bike problems and I got those worked out.  Everything's working pretty good now!

And you do this without factory-support, right? We have  few that help us out like Scott Goggles, DWT/Douglas Wheels, ITP Tires, Yoshimura Exhaust,  Pro Armor, Fasst Flexx Handlebars, Precision Steering Stabilizers, Regina Chains and Ashland Cycle. It's not a full sponsorship but you know it helps.

When did you start racing GNCC? How did you hear about it? I started racing in 2005 in Yadkinville, North Carolina. I actually try to ride about every weekend and I had a friend, Rowdy Baker, he went riding with us one weekend, and he looked at me and another guy and told us we should race GNCC with him. So that's how we got started.

What was it like starting out at the GNCCs? It was awesome. There were just so many riders and people. It was scary to start with. Just so many people and fourwheelers when you come out on a line. You just hope you don't get tangled up with them!

Did you have any experience racing beforehand? I kind of raced dirt bikes in my younger age.  I rode dirt bikes when I was young and did a little bit of motocross, but nothing serious. I haven't done any other kind of racing at all.

So how did you get riding in the first place? My mom and dad bought me a Yamaha 60 when I was just a kid and then it just led from there. I started riding dirtbikes up until I had a family and my girls come along. They started playing ball and doing their thing so we kind of gave that all up to spend time with the kids and help them up.

How do your daughters feel about you starting back in racing now? Oh they're happy for me. They just can't believe how good I'm doing because how old I am. They ride a lot with me when they're in on the weekends. They ride their own four-wheelers. We have a good time.

Your wife said you have built a new life for yourselves around the GNCC, because you are empty nesters, and this has become our family. How's that aspect of racing for you? It's real nice. You get to go every other weekend and talk to the people you met. We'll all get together and cook and have a big dinner together. It's just enjoyable to get there and talk to all of them.

Do you race the entire season? Yes ma'am. The last two years.  Actually, I broke my collarbone in Snowshoe last year and missed the last four races.

What has it been like starting up? Did you get a lot of support? Well, it was a challenge. You take your bike out and it's a stock bike and you start racing. It's hard to keep up with those guys that have a good suspension and all that stuff. Each race I'd add something. Each year I'd get more things added to my bike. That was a big deal to me, trying to get everything working right. Times are pretty tough right now. We save what we can save to go race.

Why is it so important to you to race? I just love it. I'm just competitive. I enjoy the challenge and I just love to race.

What are your plans for the rest of the season? I'm actually wanting to try to get as many overalls as I can get. I want to be close to the top if I can get there. I think I can get there a few more times. I would sure like to be on top of the end of the year. I will probably be back next year and as long as my body can stand it!

How do you feel about it for your age set, to come in overall? It feels awesome. It just goes through me. I just do things so much more to try to improve myself to try to run up with those people. I just want to be able to say I can do it.

It's got to be hard to do extra training with a full-time job isn't it? I haven't been doing a lot of training but in the last month I've been doing a little more training and it's kind of help. It helped a lot with the last race. When I come home I have grass to mow and I have a cabin that I want to keep up too. I don't have a whole lot of time to get ready, so it's interesting!

Well Glen, it was great talking to you. We'll see you at the Titan!
Alright, have a good day!