Jay Shadron had a stellar 2012 season wrapping the College B class championship early and making the move to College A which resulted in a solid 2^nd place in just his 2nd race in that class. We caught up with Jay to find out more about his 2012 season and beyond.

GNCCRacing.com: How's everything going today?
Jay Shadron: Today is going pretty good, besides being stuck inside. Hurricane Sandy is here, winds were pretty bad last night, we got some snow and it just keeps raining.

Sounds intense! So are you ready for the last round of the season?
As ready as I can be! I just finished a local race on Sunday so I am cleaning mud from that race and I will be getting my race stuff ready for this weekend. My dad can’t go to this race so my mom and I have rented a car, we are going to load up and get me there. My dad doesn’t want us to pull a trailer that far so thanks to Jeff and Traci Pickens and Todd Moskala who are getting my quad there for me. So it is going to be kind of crazy.

Alright, tell us a little about yourself. 
I’m 16 and have been racing cross country for about 8 years. I like anything that has to do with racing and riding quads or motorcycles.  I like to hunt, fish and anything outdoors. I live in the town of Mt Pleasant, Pennsylvania with my parents, Denny and Jessica and sister Cheyanne.

How did you get started in the off-road world? 
When I was 5 years old I wanted to race an obstacle course at the local fair and that year it was cancelled. My parents then took me to a local fair to race motocross.  My dad wanted to race but didn’t want to jump, so that’s how we found hare scrambles. I wanted to do what my dad was doing and that’s how my cross country racing got started.

What has been the biggest accomplishment of your racing career? 
My biggest accomplishment is probably this last race at Ironman when I ended up with a solid 16^th overall, but probably my most memorable was when I got my first youth overall at Big Buck.

How has your 2012 season gone so far? 
My season has gone great.  I’ve had a couple of problems, like when my chain broke at Penton. My parents found me and put a new chain on in a muddy creek. My battery cable broke at another but thanks to Matt Pierce for helping push my quad and getting it started I finished both. Other than thatm this year has been great. I have one more race at Loretta’s to try to better my overall number and get more experience for next year.

How did it feel to wrap up the College-B championship already? 
It is always a pressure relief when you lock up a championship early. Racing is always fun or I wouldn’t do it. When the pressure is lower of breaking something or getting stuck it is so much more fun, you just go race and have fun.

What was the competition like in that class this year?
In every class as you move up the competition gets tougher and tougher, everyone gets faster and rides smarter. It was a big change going from a 300 to a 450 and an even bigger change going from AM race to PM race. The roughness and condition of the track your last lap in the AM is your first lap of the PM race, it’s definitely a big difference.

What was it like making the jump to College A? 
Well, I wanted to make the jump easily but I didn’t. I was nervous and excited at the same time. Once the race started it was great.  The pace was a lot faster and they just don’t let up. If you lose focus or make a mistake they pull away real quick. It’s a whole new experience.

How did it feel to get a 2nd place in just your 2nd race in that class? 
It felt great! I got stuck on the hill climb the first lap for a while and I thought I was going to be done at that point. I think I checked in 9^th after that, but I kept pushing and rode the rest of the race with few mistakes and it was a success on my end.

Will you be racing that class in 2013?
Yeah, that’s the plan!

What are your expectations for 2013? 
With the competition that is in the class again next year, I would be happy with top 3, but as always you want to win it!

What do you hope to accomplish down the road?
Right now I take race by race and year by year and I will go as far as I can.

Alright, before we wrap this up, who would you like to thank? 
First, my parents. I wouldn’t be able to this without their support. My pit crew family the Notmans, Ronnie Wilson of Wilson Racing for all his help with my quad and setup, Johnny Gallagher all of his help with GBC tires, Powermadd, HMF, Fly, Hiper, IMS, Tireballs, Faast Company, Rath Racing, Maxima, Gaerne, ZBroz Racing for their super suspension, Steve and Don at Senge Graphics, Ryan at Yamaha of Donegal, Amy at XCountry Photos. Thanks for all of your support through the years.