Welcome to Quick Fill.

 

It’s hard to believe we’re already into the month of November and even crazier that the GNCC season finale is already upon us! Please don’t forget about the schedule change this round, where bikes run Saturday and ATVs on Sunday. If you remember, RP made the decision to flip-flop the days in order for the bike riders to also race the National Enduro series finale since tight scheduling afforded us no better options. It should be a unique change in pace, especially for the final round of racing.

 

I’m going to dust the cobwebs off my dirtbike this weekend and line up Saturday morning with the other (much faster) VC6 competitors. Digital Dave from Raceday Pix has arranged for the 6^th Annual Vendor’s Challenge. The class will take off on the final row of the AM bike race and is meant for GNCC sponsors, vendors and industry supporters to have a little competitive fun at the final round and to break up the monotony of working our full-time jobs! So far, the teams signed up are Wiseco, FMF, Racer Productions, Maxxis and RacerTV but I believe a few others will be joining last minute. And I’m definitely expecting Moose Racing to be back to defend their 2011 title. If you’re in the industry and are interested in racing VC6, give me a holler at [email protected]. We’re only accepting legitimate participants so no sending over ringers to spoil the competition!

 

Normally the ATV Pro riders are able to walk the track Friday afternoon from 3-7 p.m. and we’ve had a lot of inquiry about when the Pro bike guys can walk now that they race on Saturday. A couple of the fellas mentioned that it’s going to be dark by 7 p.m. so we’ve decided to make Friday’s track walk 2-6 for the bike guys and then ATVs can walk Saturday from 1-5 p.m.

 

Loretta’s is always known for its special activities and this year will be no different. Nineteen-year-old country music rising star Shaylin McGuire will be performing Saturday evening in the Loretta Lynn’s pavilion after the racing activities. Shaylin has a cd titled Edge of Dreams and has continued to pursue her love of music by booking shows almost every weekend. She has opened for Eric Lee Beddingfield, Jesse Keith Whitley, Tim Dugger, Billy Dean, T. Graham Brown and Josh Turner. She recently won the title of Opry Mills Next Big Star 2012 and hopes to continue down the path in fulfilling her dream of becoming a household name. So listen for Rodney’s announcements throughout the day and come check her out!

 

If you’re missing out on your neighborhood’s trick-or-treating this weekend, why not bring a couple bags of candy and a costume to Loretta’s! We were thinking Saturday evening would be the perfect time to have a GNCC Trick-or-Treat session where families could give out candy at their campsites and for an hour or so, kids can have a ball and load up on as much sugar as possible!

 

I broke down a little preview of the exciting racing that’s yet to come this weekend, so head over to gnccracing.com and check it out. We’re trying some new equipment out this weekend for the Live Stream so I’ll have links up as soon as we get things dialed in down at the Ranch. We’re continuously battling Internet connection, especially at Loretta’s, so bear with us as we continue this trial and error process.

 

One last thing, the 2013 GNCC schedule is pretty much finalized (woooo!) so be on the lookout for a PR next week.

 

Oh, and did I mention that dirtbikes race Saturday and ATVs Sunday? And no, we don’t have a special class for people who show up on the wrong day. Spread the word!

 

@JaredBolton:

 

Well folks, it all comes down to this. I can’t believe I’m saying this but we’re now approaching the season finale. It seems like it was just yesterday that we were kicking things off down in Florida, and now we’re already getting set to roll into Loretta Lynn’s for the final round of the year. By now, most people already know how tight the XC1 and XC2 bike battles are, and with the bikes taking to the track on Saturday, it will definitely be a race to keep your eyes on.

 

Speaking of bikes taking to the track Saturday, it kind of makes you wonder if it could mix things up. Think about it. These guys are used to racing the course after everyone else is done with it. They’re getting the roughest of the rough but now they’re seeing the full course just after the AM race has taken to it. Naturally, good riders can adjust quickly but with slightly smoother courses, could that have an effect on anyone who may attack late in the race? Maybe not, but the other aspect to think of is that there will be fewer lines already exposed, so creating new lines could be another game changer. Regardless, it’s going to be a great weekend of racing.

 

While the main focus is on the XC1 and XC2 classes with their 1 point separated battles, when you look through the amateur classes, there are also some battles there. In the Open-A class, Adam Bonneur looks to once again have a pretty good hold on the championship and the other top positions appear to be pretty well settled. Grant Baylor has the 250-A class on lock with Mark Heresco in 2^nd but Zac Nash and Layne Michael are currently tied for 3^rd and 4^th place. In 200-A Austin Lee has the title sealed up but Levi Keller and Joshua Brown sit tied for 2^nd.

 

If we rewind back to last weekend, KTM teammates Kailub Russell and Charlie Mullins took to the track to get in some seat time at the Carolina KTM Ride Day in Harmony, NC. It was actually at the former Joe Gibbs Racing test track, so the facility is definitely pretty nice. Hoop and myself were also in attendance and other notables were pro motocross riders Les Smith and Jacob Hayes. I took some time out of borrowing other people’s bikes to shoot some videos. So head over to www.jaredbolton.com and take a look at some of what I threw together.

 

While that was going on, a little further up the road in Morganton, North Carolina, the Mid-East Hare Scramble Series kicked off their season finale. On the bike side, Matthew Nix ended up with the overall win ahead of Casey Leatherman and Jason Gilleland who you may remember riding with the Powersport Grafx KTM satellite team a few years back. On the quads, Bryan Cook ended up with the overall win ahead of Eric Hoyland and Dustin Canipe. Kevin Trantham put in another great ride for 2^nd place in the AA/Expert class behind Jonathan Waddell.

 

Of course, this coming weekend, some of the bike riders will be making their way to Alabama for the Gobbler Getter National Enduro on Sunday. Steward Baylor already has a wrap on that championship, so expect him to give 110% on Saturday at Loretta’s since he has a title on the line. The other positions in that series are all pretty well secured with Mike Lafferty in second followed by Russell Bobbitt, Nick Fahringer and Jesse Groemm. However, it’s Andrew Delong that has a shot to improve his 2012 standing in that series as he’s only 1 point behind Cory Buttrick who of course has been injured and missed a good portion of this season. Delong has missed some of the enduro’s this year but with a points paying finish at Gobbler Getter, he can take over 7^th place overall in National Enduro standings.

 

Well, I’m going to stop here this week because I don’t want to overload everyone too much before we get to Loretta’s. So everyone please again remember that bikes will be racing on Saturday, and there are plenty of fun activities going on Saturday night. So until next time, Bolt-On out.

And here's @HotRodney22:

One would think with as busy as everything is right now that we are gearing up for the start of a new season. Loretta Lynn's is obviously a very special place to many people for many reasons. Myself included. And of course I anticipate another historical and possibly record making weekend of racing. The reason we are racing in November with the oldest race on the schedule happened because of the historical floods that occurred over the the past two years. I am not going to say that it doesn't open my mind to entertaining the idea that something, somewhere saw this season and last season's epic down to the wire battles coming.

Remember, three seasons ago we barely missed the biggest flood on record. It was a very muddy weekend and we thought we had survived a major rainstorm. Then, the following weekend the massive flood struck that nearly wiped the facility off the map. Amazingly the place was returned to almost its exact grandness and the history of racing seemed to continue without a glitch. It was last season we saw a flood familiar to what happened in 2010 just prior to the arrival of the GNCC Racin' Nation. The event was postponed and history was made with rescheduling that race and a bike race that had been postponed in Indiana earlier in the spring as well. The historical "Double Header" was conceived as an effort to insure racers, teams and sponsor had full opportunity to take advantage of the 13 round season.

It also became obvious that it was a little more favorable weather wise. At least by all appearances it should be drier and warmer than the Ironman and that is going to be a welcome change. The facility coupled with the weather actually benefits it being the finale of the year. There will be plenty going on this weekend so be sure to listen to announcements to try and keep up. Remember to tune your fm radio in the 88-89 range for all the weekends excitement. 

Trick or Treat, dinner,and a host of other things going on so dress up and have fun in our post Halloween fun times. And just think, the candy is way cheaper now so double up! At least when I come around. Plus don't forget to fall back Saturday night as Daylight Savings Time ends.

Last week I kind of high lighted some of the championship breakdowns and now we continue:

First I wanted to bring to the spotlight of the College A and College B classes before moved on to the bike championship highlights. Both classes have afforded some interesting looks into the future of the racers poised to move through the ranks toward possibly the pro careers.

College A saw a number of contenders in the early part of the season. Roman Brown who moved up to the Pro Am ranks after 6 rounds captured two wins in the class but decided to go ahead and move up to get some experience instead of battle for the championship. This left the Chad Jones, Landon Wolfe and Brycen Neal to sort it out. And as the championship winds down 7 wins on the season position him for the national title.

College B saw some intense battles during the season as any with Gregory Covert, Clint Graff, Kevin McKeown and Jay Shadron. Shadron captured 8 wins and an early title and moved up the A division to get his feet wet and see what was in store for himself in 2013. Jay was also the focus in this weeks Tuesday Toolbox.

Now to some quick motorcycle highlights heading into Saturdays racing:

Youth Division:

• The overall battle has been a good one between Super Mini 14-15's Jonathon Johnson's and Super Mini 12-13's Michael Witkowski. Witkowski pulled off not only class wins this season but also 8 overall wins. It appears that this one should belong to Witkowski.
• 85 12-15s top 5 battled intensely all season. Braxton McGhee, Christopher Venditti, Zach Ponder and Cope Beckert all took wins but it looks like McGhee has  and Zachary Ponder has a two point lead heading into the finale.
• 85 7-11s Parker Jones took 9 straight wins in the class then moved up to the Super Mini 12-13.
• 65 10-11Jesse Ansley, Hayden Vancuren and Randall Ervin each got wins on the season but Ansley took 8 wins and looks like the championship.
• 65 7-9 had some good battles too. Brody Johnson and Tanner Collins kept it exciting to say the least but it looks like Johnson has the advantage heading to the finale.
• Girls 9-14 Brittany Hesson took 8 wins on the season then moved into the Women Amateur where took an amazing 3rd place finish in the class her first time out in GNCC competition on the bigger bike.

Morning Amateur:

• Super Senior A 45+ class sees a 4 time winner against another 4 time class winner, Danny Pressley and Eric Gill will take this one to the wire.
• Masters A 50+ class sees last years top class and overall finishers #201 Randall Riggs and #202 Mark Patterson only now point apart. Riggs has 3 wins to Patterson's 4 wins and the final round should decide it all.
• Masters C 50+ is another intense one. Jay Grimes has a slight points lead and 5 wins to Ron Neslon's 4 wins. This one should belong to Grimes but the final round should be fun to watch.
• Women Class Champion Maria Forseberg is on the verge of a perfect season as well fresh from some incredible top over all finishes.
• Golden Masters 58+ has been another barn burner. Ronald Walters and Buster Yarbrough sit only 2 points. Walters has 4 wins and the points lead but Yarbrough has 5 wins and some momentum heading to Lorettas.
• There are more but these are the ones that stuck out to me.

 

Afternoon:

• Vet A 30+ has only a 4 point difference between points leader "Factory" Phil Smith and Greg Reynolds. Smith has been pressured by Greg but strong consistent rides for Smith has given him four wins on the season to Reynolds one. Phil is a former champion of the class but has struggled in recent years to get back to the top of standings.
• 4-Stroke B Lites has an interesting championship battle with Kyle Greer and Dalton Cross. Greer has zero wins and Cross has six wins. Cross is 2 points behind and with only attending 7 events thus far this season. The 8th event attends will be the biggest of the year as it should decided the championship.

There are more things than that but I will save some things for the season wrap up in a few weeks. Remember to come prepared for anything but expect the best.

That's it for now. Till next time God Bless Your Heart and All Your Vital Organs.