Welcome to Quick Fill.

 

For the first time this month, I can actually say it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Well, at least here in Northern Illinois. We’re experiencing what is supposed to be the big snowfall of the year but so far we’ve only accumulated about half an inch. I’m hoping to at least have a snowy white Christmas next Tuesday, you know for the kids”¦

 

This week I’ve been on “vacation” where I’ve gotten to spend some quality time with my niece and nephew, who are 11 and 4-years-old and it’s really brought the true meaning of Christmas back into my life. Hopefully everyone is going to have the opportunity to spend part of the holiday with friends and/or family members.

 

It sounds like a few of the hardcore racers out there have already begun their training schedule down south, bypassing the traditional Christmastime spirit. 4-time ATV champ Chris Borich is already down at his Florida compound getting things ramped up for next season, but we’re still unsure about what color 4-wheeler he’ll be showing up on in 2013. Johnny Gallagher has also made his way south and it sounds like he and Borich have been hitting the local MX tracks for some moto-training lately. Pat McGuire, XC2 ATV Pro Am champ has also been down south getting some seat time with the boys.

 

Adam McGill posted on Twitter today that he was planning to make the trip down south in 5 days, so we’ll catch up with him next week to see what exactly his plans are for next season and what his pre-season will look like. Like Bolton mentions below, the FTR seems to be a pre-season hotspot for a lot of GNCC-ers so we’ll be sure to keep you all filled in with what’s taking place over the winter. I’m thinking I need to make a “work trip” down south to cover some of this racing action very soon. And maybe even race one weekend!

 

The rest of the ATV world is pretty quiet right now. We haven’t heard definite plans for Chris Bithell but from what I understand, he will not be on the Can-Am DS450. He did post on Facebook the other day about keeping Fox Shox on as his suspension company.

 

That’s it for me this week. Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and holiday weekend!

 

Here’s @JaredBolton:

 

As the weeks roll on, we find ourselves creeping closer and closer to the holiday season. Everyone enjoys one aspect or another about Christmas time, whether it’s the time spent with family, the true meaning, the presents, or for those with a similar sense of humor to me, the sights you might see at your local Wal-Mart. It truly is a festive time of the year and I don’t know about you, but for me personally it always seems like it comes up really quick and goes just as fast but also seems to take a long time to actually get to Christmas at the same time.

 

The one good thing about it seeming to come and go quickly is the fact that once we get past it, we’re that much closer to going racing once again. Oh, but there’s one more festivity to take part in before we get to the racing, and that is of course the GNCC banquet where we’ll honor our 2012 champions and top finishers. Once the excitement of Christmas and New Years wear off, we head right into banquet time, which is exciting all in itself.

 

Hopefully this year’s banquet can provide us with some good rumors circulating throughout the banquet halls as there are still some riders whose 2013 plans aren’t totally set in stone just yet. By now a lot of people have already heard that Josh Strang will be returning in 2013 and looks to be aboard a Kawasaki. We don’t know just yet who he will be riding for but regardless, it’s worth mentioning again that he’ll be back. Rory Mead looks to be back with WMR again and actually raced the FTR race last weekend (more on that in a minute) and another GNCC regular at the FTR was Chris Douglas who was racing aboard his new Husqvarna. Last weekend I also heard that Chris Bach has a bike lined up for next year but can’t release exactly what he’ll be riding just yet. Either way, it’s good to know that Bach will be back and we hope to hear something soon.

 

The shock of this week came yesterday when it was announced that XC2 Pro Lites champion Jason Thomas has parted ways with his KR4, who he won the championship with. The reasoning for the split is due to tough financial difficulties with both parties. Check out Digital Offroad for the official release and all the info. You can see that here: http://www.digitaloffroad.com/2012/12/19/jason-thomas-racing-industry-update/

 

Speaking of Digital Offroad, Hoop also had a really good interview earlier this week with Josh Weisenfels. For those who aren’t familiar with Weisenfels’ story, he was a solid XC2 competitor a few years ago and actually even ended up with a Factory Suzuki ride along side Josh Strang in 2011. Weisenfels had been in California riding and training with Rodney Smith and ended up breaking his foot right before Florida. Well, the break ended up being worse than it originally seemed and required multiple surgeries. In fact, Weisenfels just got back on a bike in the past few months and that break happened in March 2011! Anyway, you can see the entire interview here: http://www.digitaloffroad.com/2012/12/17/racechat-josh-weisenfels/ It’s definitely worth checking out and from the sounds of things, it looks like we’ll see Josh back in the XC2 class in 2013.

 

Now onto the FTR race I mentioned earlier”¦ I got a note on Twitter from the fine folks at FTR that some of the GNCC regulars have already headed south for off-season racing in Florida. We see a lot of this every year as you can race pretty much year round in the southeast (especially Florida) and it gives a good chance to be sharp and ready to roll in Florida. The FTR series is always a popular stop during the off-season, as well as SETRA, and when things get rolling a little more there’s always National Enduros, Mid-East, SORCS, VCHSS, NCHSA and more hosting races on any given weekend.

 

Anyway, last weekend’s FTR race did have a few familiar faces and by no surprise was won by The Sandman himself, Garrett Edmisten. Not only that but I’ve also seen a few pics of Garrett trying out some quad racing as well at the FTR races, which is pretty cool to see. Second place went to Florida local Clay Lyons while Chris Douglas, who I mentioned earlier to be racing his new Husky, finished third. Rory Mead raced as well but apparently ran into a little trouble on the first lap. I was told that his reeds came apart which resulted in a DNF. Another notable I saw in the results was that of Ian Blythe out of Colorado. For those who don’t recognize the name, Ian has been a member of the ISDE team before and is a top off-road racer out west. 

 

Thanks to FTR for tweeting me the results! If anyone else ever has any good off-season racing going on they want to let me know about, feel free to give me a shout on Twitter (@JaredBolton) or even Facebook me, or do it the old fashioned way and drop me an email at [email protected]

 

Well, that’s going to do it for me this week. Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! Until next time, Bolt-On out!

 

@HotRodney22:

Here we are only a few days away from Christmas and as much as my mind wants to think GNCC, it simply cannot. It is in the back of my mind, but it somehow in the past few days began to be buried as the hustle and bustle of this wonderful time of the year intensifies. More so this year for me because as I mentioned around Thanksgiving that is was my first home in nearly a decade and being able to survive all the meals, black Friday shopping and all the Holiday parties that have been taking place it is setting up to be an even more special Christmas for me because I have the chance to experience the whole affair uninterrupted. Heck I even had time to catch a bad case of the flu for the past week.

Even though I am lost in the spirit of the season there has been news unfolding from within the industry. Many plans being set and some even halted and changed while in progress. I read just this morning in a release announcing the KR4 Performance and Jason Thomas split. One may look at that and wonder what happened? The feeling I got from the release almost that it was Mission Accomplished ! Both parties were able to achieve goals they set. Which ultimately was for Jason to continue his pursuit of winning the XC2 Pro Lites Championship after his early season issues in 2012.

Last week I spoke with Jimmy Jarrett and I mentioned he and Josh Strang were working on plans to be working together in 2013 as Josh would be making his return to the GNCC. I also heard from Jimmy Woodford that he had picked up another bike for his team and that he JJ would be running some East National Harescrambles races together. Sounds like Jarrett is going to be busy even after retirement.

I also spoke with Josh Strang earlier this week about his planned return east. Josh had recently stated on Facebook that he bought his first ever motorcycle to begin his training regiment for 2013. Sounds kind of funny in a way but Josh was only 18 when he came the US and from his parents pockets to a factory ride to his recent stint in the WORCS were everything had been supplied. Interesting story actually and you would like to listen click here.

And that's it. That's all I got except this big shopping list I need to run to Santa. I am sure you have your own so I won't bore you with that. The one thing I can say about shopping so late is that even though the selection may be limited, it narrows the choices.

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