Another topic that came up in our weekly team meeting was the Steele Creek traffic and parking situation. Obviously last year’s event had an overwhelming amount of people and things got a little congested coming and going from the facility. Well, it sounds like we’ve got some upgrades taking place on the bridge crossing as well as the roads on the property in hopes to clear up some of that congestion.

Calling all 50cc riders out there, Steele Creek is Round 2 of the 6-race Micro 50cc Series! The Micro 50cc race will take place on Saturday at 4:30 p.m., following the Pro ATV race and there are classes for 50cc ATVs and bikes. Be sure to read the official rules HERE and then of course, show up and race with us! The course will be anywhere from 0.5 – 1 mile long and will be tamed down for beginner level riders. This is such as cool opportunity for the younger age group of racers to get that GNCC experience before joining the 8 AM Youth ranks.

Every once in a while you come across something in your daily routine that makes you feel good, reinforces why it is you do what you do. This sort of happened to me the other day, and more importantly [hopefully] to one of our GNCC Pro racers. We received a piece of mail at the Racer Productions office that was addressed to Chris Brithell. So naturally, it landed on my desk and I opened it up just to be sure it was what I thought it would be – which was an adorable piece of fan mail for ATV Pro Chris Bithell, I think. It was a letter from a young kid in Wisconsin who is a huge fan of Chris and wanted to know a little bit about how he got to be where he is in racing, etc. I called Chris and told him about the letter and he immediately said, “That’s awesome! I want to send him a jersey!” I could tell that Bithell was a little surprised and even excited about his young fan, and I was just as excited for him to have that recognition. It kind of circles back to the idea that our GNCC athletes are role models for so many young kids out there and they may not even realize it! Hopefully it’s a nice incentive for you racers to keep working hard and strive to be positive role models because you never know who is watching and mimicking your actions.

Unfortunately Burke County schools are ALL on spring break the week prior to the Steele Creek GNCC so we’re not able to do our “Keeping Students on the Right Track” program that we’ve been lucky enough to implement in many schools. Last year we visited a few schools in the area, one of them even being Jesse Robinson’s old stompin’ grounds! We’re going to miss hanging with that bunch again this year but I’m sure those kids would rather be on Spring Break than rotting away in the seats of their local elementary school, right? Just kidding about that.

One more note about the Steele Creek GNCC. We will NOT be doing the purple-themed March of Dimes event this year. We had a great event last year with the Watts family and MoD but unfortunately this year it couldn’t be fit into the schedule. I know the Wattsy’s have been hard at it with their Dirt Wise schools and obviously now headlining Jason Thomas’ race team efforts and all. I also think that having the Ironman finale themed pink is probably enough in specialized-graphics-cost for most racers out there.

Next week I’ll go into some more detail on the racing and what predictions I might possibly have but for now I’ll turn things over to Mr. Bolton himself. Hope everyone has a great Easter weekend and don’t forget to spend some time with friends and family if you can!

@JaredBolton:

So now that there’s been one weekend off from GNCC Racing, I’m sure a lot of folks are back to that point where they’re all saying “man, I can’t wait to race again”. Some got their racing fix last weekend, and it seems like quite a few of those races on the east coast of the USA (or Merica as I like to call it) ended up being complete and total slop-fests. Some love that, others hate. No matter what, a lot of folks had to put up with that last weekend.

Speaking of races last weekend, I drove home from the ATV Motocross event at Aonia Pass Saturday night with full intentions of being at the Mid-East Hare Scramble race near Morganton, North Carolina on Sunday but I woke up around 7 a.m., rechecked the weather and went back to sleep. That’s the first time I’ve ever done that but from the pictures I saw, it looks like I missed a pretty incredible mudder.

In true Whibs style, Paul Whibley took his off-weekend and did some racing in that Mid-East mudder. It paid off because he ended up snagging the overall win over Jesse Robinson and local rider Casey Leatherman. Matthew Nix was fourth while Takeshi Koikeda ended up fifth.

Speaking of Robinson, I imagine we’ll see the first glimpse of Jesse this season coming up at Steele Creek. It was mentioned a while back that Jesse is back to focusing on the local events and select GNCC’s this year as he and his wife Ashton welcomed a baby girl into the world late last year. Over the winter I spotted a pic of her already on a bike and couldn’t help but make the comment “2030 GNCC Women’s Champ” and there was no sort of disagreement, so it looks like there’s another women’s racer coming up in the future!

While we’ve still got a little time before Steele Creek comes, I do want to start talking about it. I’ve said for years that Steele Creek is the most unpredictable GNCC event of them all. In fact, about 3 years ago I wrote an article on OffroadJunkies.com discussing exactly what makes Steele Creek unpredictable. Since then, nothing has changed. It’s still unpredictable and it’s still one event you want to pay close attention to.

Think about it. In 2005, a windstorm came through that knocked down literally hundreds of trees. A lot of those downed trees across the property at Steele Creek are leftover from that. In 2007, the weather was a slight factor as well as it was the first “hot” day of the year. To top it off, the bike race produced one of the closest finishes in GNCC history as Barry Hawk and Glenn Kearney swapped the lead several times in the final grass track section before the finish. As they entered the finish, Kearney went wide in the turn while Barry was able to hit a straight line for the pass in the final turn. Then Kearney collapsed at the finish. To this day, that still stands out in my mind as one of the most amazing finishes to a race I’ve ever witnessed. By the way, if you want to see it, you can check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0BBL9yL3XQ

The weather for the 2008 Steele Creek event was nearly the polar opposite of 2007 as it was cold and rainy which ended up making for a pretty slick event, especially for the morning race. Speaking of muddy Steele Creek events, who could forget the 2010 Steele Creek race where the skies opening up just in time for the start of the 1 PM bike race. By the final lap, conditions had gotten so bad that one of the hillclimbs became completely impassable and the race was called in the middle of the final lap, and the results were reverted to the previous lap.

Does it end there? No! There’s also the 2011 Steele Creek bike race that shaped up to be a lot like the 2007 battle to the finish only this time it was Josh Strang and Charlie Mullins who would battle through the grass track coming to the finish. In the next to last turn, Strang’s backend stepped out a little giving Mullins the advantage and for a second it appeared to be over. However, as they say, it’s not over until it’s over, as Mullins lost the front end in the final turn and Strang rode by to take the win.

To think of all those epic Steele Creek moments, and the fact that I only scratched the surface of it, is pretty impressive. Like I said before, Steele Creek truly is the most unpredictable race of them all, and hopefully this year’s Steele Creek will prove to be just as interesting. It definitely has the potential as the 2013 season itself has the potential to be one for the record books. Only time will tell.

Anyway, I’m going to cut myself here this week before I start rambling about all sorts of stuff. Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and has the opportunity to get in some sort of seat time. Until next time, Bolt-On out!

And now we’ll pass it along to @HotRodney22:

Two weeks after the opening rounds of the AMSOIL GNCC season and already some pretty amazing things have happened. If nothing else I can say that I am still so excited to see Johnny G, our Wiseco GNCC Ambassador and the only pro racer that has lined up on the starting line of a pro race for 3 decades, score himself a podium finish for the first time in nearly a decade. Congratulations Johnny! I told him in Florida that I felt one coming this season, but even I was shocked to see it come so quickly and easily.  However, I still feel like I called this one.

If anyone would like to complain about weather conditions in Georgia at the Maxxis General GNCC, you should have been there this past weekend. It was a cold wet and dark weekend weather wise and the Mtn. Dew ATV Motocross Championship began their season in the mud. As much of a challenge as it was, the season got underway for them too and the 2013 season is in full swing.

As far as the racing has gone this season, it has been everything I expected. The drama of the season hasn't even started but the stage that is being set is making for a good one to say the least.  Chris Borich is looking exceptional as expected, but I feel that the boys are determined to get past him. Strategy as much as skill wins a GNCC and it is starting to come around for the group and this may get better in this class than we expect. And the battle between Charlie Mullins and Kailub Russell looks to be a monumental one as well. The thing to remember here is that as we get further into the season, the field will only deepen when Paul Whibley gets things rolling right. And then there’s Rory Mead, who shines in the more technical races. The other variable to mention is of course the returning champ Josh Strang. Though his program and support network is totally different than it was a few years ago, Josh still has that heart, will, determination and desire to win and the championship may be harder to obtain this year than it ever has been in history. And oh yes, don't forget about Thad Duvall. Thad has grown a lot in the first two rounds this year alone. Thad has only a few little things to figure out and it won't be long that he will be contending for wins each race. One might call him the 2013 Dark Horse for the championship that might take this championship.

In the XC2 divisions one can see it is going to be another pressure cooker. Returning champion Pat McGuire rode well the first two rounds but as he puts it "not well enough". He said he was satisfied sitting in third and feels less pressure than at this point last year when the points lead belonged to him. McGuire finished 5th and 3rd in the class to start the season and said coming into the season that it may be even harder to win the championship with the young talent moving up.

The two new top guns at this point in the XC2 Pro Am class are Landon Wolfe and the so far flawless Brycen Neal. Wolfe spent a lot of time training this season with Chris Borich and a few other top pros and it was said more than once that his speed was certainly up to pace to win. Neal on the other hand, did not get to spend as much time riding in the off-season as he would have liked but he has used what he knows best to win. And that has been simply to jump on and ride. Brycen is a special and fast young man to say the least. I know that the look in his eyes are a look of an individual that is doing what they want and having a tons of fun in the process. That is a look that may be tough to change for some time if the first two rounds are any indication. Brycen took 8th overall in Florida and the following weekend in Georgia, Brycen scored a 4th overall. Is it a sign of things to come? Who knows but this one is going to get good as well. Round 3 will be a barnburner.

On the two-wheeled side of things, it is as exciting of a season as it has been since its inception. Jason Thomas, who won the championship last season, has yet to win but it may be the same persistence and will that may see him end with the title again. The biggest problem for him or anyone right now is going to be Andrew Delong. Delong—like Neal—has a look in his eyes that is hard describe but when you see it, you know they are determined to have fun and winning is fun. The absence of Stew Baylor is not even felt this season in this class simply because his younger brother Grant Baylor has stepped right in and stepped right up. The speed that Grant carries is phenomenal and a little more lessons and trail time, Grant may be the one to really pour the coal to Delong. There are a couple sleepers in this class I feel but all in all, look for Delong, Thomas and Baylor to be names you read and hear a lot this season.