Winter break is in full swing by now, and while it’s not even been a whole two weeks since Loretta’s, I know I’m already jonesing to get back to racing, and I’m sure I’m not alone. However, this week served as a little bit of teaser to next season as we saw the 2013 schedule come out. Things are shuffled around just a bit but those changes are definitely going to make for an even better year as we’ll now be beating the heat and the thinning daylight. It also frees The Ironman up to return as the season finale and judging by what I’ve seen on Facebook and Twitter, people really like that.

While the 2013 season will be here before we know it, there’s still a lot of 2012 racing action that hasn’t been mentioned yet, and there’s another championship battle that came down to the wire that seems to have flown under the radar, and that was the battle for not only the Masters A class title but also the overall morning bike honors. Before you take out dropped rounds, Randall Riggs and Mark Patterson ended in a tie for first place. Both riders not only logged four wins, but they both also had five second place finishes. Now, that means when you take out their 4 worst scores; they still end up in an exact tie for first place. However, the tie-breaker usually goes to the racer with the most first place finishes, but since they tied with firsts, it went to a second tie-breaker. That one awards the victory to the racer who finished better in the last race ”“ which goes to Randall Riggs for his win at Loretta’s. That’s a pretty impressive feat to have two riders battle down to the wire and literally end up with the exact same finishes throughout the season. Not only that, but these guys are doing it at over 50-years-old, and battling for the overall podium! That’s just another thing that really makes GNCC Racing so special.

Last weekend was a pretty big weekend for local racing in the southeast with multiple events taking place. I made the trip back to Tennessee, albeit not as far west as Loretta’s, for the SETRA Volunteer Hare Scramble in Bybee. Thanks to a gracious offer from Mike and Annette Lyon, they loaned me a KTM 300XCW to race and took me racing! I think the last time I really raced prior to this was the Sandlapper National Enduro at the beginning of March, but the last time I did a solid non-stop 2-hour race was The Ironman back in 2011, so I was beyond rusty and it definitely showed. The brakes ended up being adjusted a little too tight and they locked up on me about halfway into the first lap. No problem, I just dumped some water out of my Camelbak to cool them off, waited a few minutes and took the rest of the lap easy then came in to adjust them. By the second lap, I was starting to feel pretty sick and almost quit but I ran into Big Steward Baylor and Shelby Rolen’s mom, Monica, on the way back to the truck. Big Stew convinced me pretty easily to get back out there, so I pushed through.

It was a real blast and a real eye opener that I still need to stick to the keyboard/camera/staplegun. My real reason sharing the story is because of the impact of the people. Mike and Annette Lyon not only let me borrow a bike and ride with them TO the race, but they also let me stay at their house the night before so I didn’t have to wake up at 4am. Not only that but they also bought me dinner, TWICE! Then of course when I thought I’d had enough and was just about to call it a day, Big Stew was there to not let that happen. He told me that he raced the Gobbler Getter Enduro after Loretta’s, after not racing in 10 years, and if he could do that, I could finish a little 2-hour hare scramble. It’s little things like all of this that show just how amazing our sport really is. It’s not just about the competition, or the racing, but it’s also about the atmosphere and the family you have at the track. It’s simply amazing, and I know I wouldn’t trade this sport for anything in the world.

Hey, speaking of the Baylors, I failed to mention this last week but how gnarly is it that Steward raced Loretta’s with a broken collarbone? Not just that, but it was also even more broken after he finished. I saw the before and after shots, and it’s pretty chilling to see what a 3-hour race can do to a collarbone that’s already broken. It’s not the first time that someone has raced with a broken bone, but it’s probably one of the more serious effects I’ve ever seen. If that’s not dedication to the sport, then I don’t know what is.  While we’re also on the topic of XC2 riders and body parts, I saw earlier this week that Jason Thomas commemorated his XC2 title with, yes, a tattoo! That also shows a pretty good dedication to the sport.

While I may have done “pretty not great” at the SETRA Volunteer race, Grant Baylor put in a pretty solid ride to take the overall win. He was on the gas all day and is already the defending champion of that series but after missing a round, he is a few points back at the moment in his title defense. If he keeps riding like he did last weekend, he should have no problems making up the ground, though. Second place went to Hunter Williams who ended up with a solid third place in the 2012 GNCC Open-A class points, and Matthew Nix rounded out the top 3 overall.

There’s plenty more to talk about but we’ve got a whole winter to do that, so I’m going to save some stuff for the weeks to come. That’s going to do it for me this week, until next time, Bolt-On out!

And here’s @HotRodney22:

Here we are another week removed from the 2012 Can Am GNCC Championship and I am disappointed that the season is over. However I will get a little bit of a fix this weekend as I will be heading out to the 28th Annual Team Harescramble Championship of The World in Athens, Ohio.

Walker Fowler will be there racing on Saturday with his girl Becca Sheets on a motorcycle and going for a second World Title on the ATV as he competes with Mr. Fast Traxx Norm Bickley. I spoke with defending 2 time world co-champion Adam McGill last night and he said that he would not be able to compete this year with his teammate Seth "Ginger" Mumford. He is conducting a Mafia-U Riding Academy in Indiana both Saturday and Sunday.

While one may think Fowler/Bickley are the heavy favorites, they may have their hands full as newly crowned XC-2 Pro Am Champion Pat McGuire will be teaming up with Braden Henthorn. These two raced to the end of the season battling for the championship but will team up this weekend to try and capture the title. Who else will show? Who knows, there have been and usually are many icons and top names show up for this one. Last night they were guests on Quad Radio Live and they both spoke about this past season and the upcoming weekend. Of course things got a little crazy when Adam McGill crashed the session.

Interesting fact for off road enthusiasts; According to organizer Drew Wolfe, our own GNCC Trail Boss Jeff Russell and Terry Cunningham have won the event more times as a team than any duo in the 28-year history. I asked JR if he would consider coming back and all he said was "Can I fish?" So I take it not this year at least. If you would like more information go to www.ActionSportsRacing.com.

If you haven't heard, Barry Hawk actually raced an ATV this past weekend. I haven't gotten any details yet but the word is that on Monday he was mighty sore and was moving rather slow. Regardless of the outcome it was cool to know he still has that bug.

 As mentioned earlier, we are only two weeks out of the 2012 season finale but it already seems like it has been so long. I really feel this is due largely because of the competition we witnessed this season. It seemed every division had its amazing highlights and made for one of the best seasons of competition I have ever witnessed.

Before we dive in I do have one thing that I want to mention that was kind of overlooked in last week's QF. It was kind of funny actually to see a Tweet from Steward Baylor when he said something like "It may be the medication talking, but not one word mentioned about me riding the whole race with a broken collar bone."  Well here you go Stew, it has been mentioned and yes it was an amazing ride you put in.

Over at Quad Radio we are experimenting with a Two-Wheel feature program and Stew was a guest this past Tuesday night. He talked about everything and you may be surprised how mature and intelligent this kid is. Or maybe it was the medication talking from the recent surgery. Andrew Delong crashed the party that night and we got an interesting look at both riders on the first QRL Two-Wheel Tuesday. Check it out!

Now to look at the series in a nutshell by division:

The obvious place to start here is the Youth ATV. Whether it be from a class or overall standpoint, these riders gave us one of the most exciting seasons I have seen in these classes to date. There have always been great battles but for some reason this season seemed so much more heated.

Though every class had it standout moments and even the overall having its drama, one class that really seemed to catch my eye was the Girls 8-15 class yet again. As like many of the classes this one really heated up near seasons end when the top three girls were tied in points for the championship.

Last week I asked for any stories that you may have to contribute about your season that you may want to share. The amazing thing is that Bryanne Parks’ mother Shannon jumped at the chance to share their experience this season and she tells us the story of the Girls championship from an insider perspective.

Hi Rodney. ”¨You asked for interesting stories and we certainly had the most interesting of our 4 years GNCC racing.  Bryanne started out in the 70 class finishing 9th in 2009.  At that time we never knew we would be chasing a championship in 2011 and 2012.  Maybe little brother, Jackson Parks, who finished 10th in the 70 class this year has more in store for us in the next few years....Anyway, this year started with Bryanne winning the first 2 races by 10 minutes.  She had such a good start to the year she chose to take a race off so she didn't miss the last day of school last year.  We Florida racers have a bit of travelling to do after race 1 and 2 and usually have to leave home Thursday afternoons. Â ”¨Â ”¨Bryanne held a good lead most of the season with Sadie Welch never far from sight.  Much like last year when Bryanne and Sadie traded wins for the first half of the season.  (Funny how these girls are the best of friends for almost the whole weekend, at least the, "helmets off" part of the weekend.")  As the year came closer to an end, Catlyn Bennett began to have some really good races and got the attention of both Bryanne and Sadie.  With 3 races to go these 3 girls were in a dead tie for the lead.  They finished 1, 2 and 3 in Ohio putting them in those positions for the season.  Indiana's mud brought some trouble for both Bryanne and Sadie but Catlyn was able to pull off another win.  This took Bee out of the championship but it was still open for either Sadie or Catlyn.  Bee would need a win and for someone to beat Sadie in order to finish 2nd and Sadie needed the win and for someone to beat Catlyn for the championship.  Being a loyal friend and having raced with Sadie since 08, Bee considered the scenarios and decided if it came down to her and Sadie she would give up the win for her friend to take the championship, 1st or 2nd would still leave Bee in 3rd overall. Â ”¨Â ”¨Bryanne got a terrible start but managed to take the lead into the woods at Loretta Lynn’s.  She weaved her way through the 90 CVT 8-11 class and put some space between herself and her class.  Trying to keep it going as fast as she could through the tight woods ended up getting her flipped over in a bad spot.  Not only did most of the 90 CVT class get back around her but 3 of the girls, including Sadie and Catlyn passed her as she righted her quad and got it out from between a couple of trees.  Bee played catch up for the next 2 laps but on the final lap saw both Catlyn and Sadie broken about 50 yards from each other on the trail.  She knew then that she had a chance at winning and taking 2nd place for the year.  She was racing with Sydney Sams and Hannah Hunter and her quad was giving her fits.  As she rounded the last corner to checkered, with Sydney in front of her, she got next to her and gave it all she and the quad had left.  Those of us at the finish line were just realizing that Sadie and Catlyn had not come through yet.  When looking at the scores both Bryanne and Sydney read, Time Behind: 000.000, so who won???  We just didn't know.  I tried to catch up to Bee but she sped off mad because she thought she lost it.  She was even interviewed by Racer TV and told them she got 2nd.  I went into the scoring trailer where they had to look to the 10,000th of a second to see that Bryanne won the race!  So, a season that began with 2 wins with 2nd place 10 minutes behind, ended dramatically with maybe one of the closest finishes ever.  Oh, and did I mention that Catlyn, Bryanne and Sadie ended the season within 1 point of each other?  Yes, 1 point separated the top 3 girls; Bee topped Sadie by the tiebreaker of finishing better in the last race.  Congrats to Catlyn.  We are all so excited to race it out again with these talented girls.  See you at the banquet!

Wow! That is an amazing story and just one of many out there that we will tell and hear in the coming weeks. Next week we will look at more of the Youth ATV classes and if you have a story to share, send it to [email protected] and we will try and slide it in.

That will do it for now, but as the Thanksgiving Holiday approaches be sure to take a few moments to stop and be thankful for your blessings. I am thankful that I will be spending my Thanksgiving at home with my family for the first time in about 8 or 10 years.

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