Welcome to Quick Fill.

This week comes to you from the announcer’s tower here on the Loretta Lynn’s Ranch, where day three of the Red Bull AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship is taking place. Although it’s a little warmer here in August than the first week of November, there’s actually still quite a bit of GNCC aura lingering around the ranch. Riders like Aaron Plessinger, Morgan Moss, Jed Haines, Cody Gragg and Shelby Rolen”†just to name a few”†are here putting in some respectable finishes on the moto track this week. Another off-road addition to the amateur motocross championship is Kawasaki’s Destry Abbott, who’s been a front-runner in the Vet class this week.

Perhaps the GNCC-ers having the most fun here on the ranch are Charlie Mullins and Steven Squire. Mullins is posted up at the Moto Tees trailer helping the Gear Racewear crew slang t-shirts and Squire is just hanging out in his old moto-atmosphere. I talked to Charlie about the status of his elbow injury and he mentioned that he’s been riding for a couple weeks now and he feels like he’s healed up and ready to race. It sounds like Charlie has been enjoying his time at Loretta’s but you can tell he’s itching to be back on the bike after such a long hiatus.

I just caught wind that Walker Fowler’s mechanic Broc Booth is also here at Loretta’s, apparently watching Ricky Carmichael and the highly contested 250 B Mod class. I don’t really have much to say on the ATV front right now since we’re been submersed in two-wheelers out here in Tennessee. Feel free to shoot us over some updates on what’s happening in your world and we’d love to share the info.

One last thing before I go, I’m saddened to say that the GNCC Racing community lost another dear friend and family member on Monday with the loss of Glenn Jody Pritchard. I’m going to pass things over to Rodney Tomblin, who wrote a very heartfelt piece in honor of Jody’s life and the joy he brought to everyone’s lives.

Here’s @HotRodney22:

I have told the story so many times and relived the memories probably about as many times as any racer has ever told their story. Â  Though my bench-racing story may not be a race story I feel it is a racing story regardless.  The time since I announced and saw my first motorcycle race in person has been to say the least, interesting.

The people we meet along the paths in our lives shape and mold our memories and sometimes even change our lives in some way shape or form.  Some people you meet”†even if it’s only one time”†some people you see occasionally and some people that affect your life you see every day.  They all help make us who we are.

One individual that has inspired me since about 2005 is a man that did it on more than one level.  It started with his racing. Â  It was Yadkinville, North Carolina for the Yadkin Valley Stomp GNCC where Glenn “Jody” Pritchard first made my acquaintance.  He had won the morning ATV overall racing from the 36+ C class and what impressed me most was that he said he never really raced before that he “just played around in the woods at the house with my buddies.”  

It didn’t take long before this ole boy from West Virginia caught everyone’s eye and eventually found a target on his back.  If you are good, that is what happens and Jody (Glenn) welcomed all challengers and loved a good battle.  By 2010 he had made such a name for himself racing in the 50+ class that riders were starting to challenge him in his class as if it were a boxing match and the hype for the division was off the scale.  Jody loved it.  It made him proud that he could stir that much in people that they would want to challenge the good ole boy.

After a crash in a heated battle at the Big Buck GNCC in South Carolina, Jody was diagnosed with cancer and it was in some pretty late stages.  It was certainly a tough pill to swallow for him and his family but they did it and he went after his illness with the way he approached nearly everything in his life.  With everything he had.  He knew nothing less.

I was more than saddened to receive the information late last week that the end was near for Jody and the checkers were set to wave soon.  Jody fought hard in racing, he fought hard in life and he fought hard till the end.  Jody crossed the finish line on Monday and though his life race is now over I think he won in life like he did on the track.  He had such a gap over the field that now he is just sitting and waiting at the podium for the rest of the field to catch up.

Prayers and deepest sympathies go out to his wife Ellen and their family as the rough times ahead will be easier to deal with in time.

Till next time, God Bless Your Heart and All Your Vital Organs.