GNCC Racers are always excited to tear up a golf course and why wouldn’t you be, that’s like every kid’s dream. The rolling grassy hills of the golf course are the tamest parts of the course from what I hear and if you raced the inaugural event last year you can probably back me up on this. The Park Mammoth Resort is some of the freshest trail on the circuit and not to mention the rough and technical rock sections to boot. It’s going to be a challenging course but judging from what everyone said last year, B Hawk and the crew did an awesome job of laying out the course and tying everything together.

Speaking of Park Mammoth Resort, don’t forget to take advantage of all the great amenities available on site. They have everything from golf and shooting sports to a restaurant (with a killer view of the property, btw) wine tasting and more. To see more information on the resort, visit their official website HERE. I’m definitely looking forward to an awesome event this weekend and can’t wait to get back to GNCC Racing.

I mentioned last week that we’re implementing a dead engine start for all ATV Youth classes EXCEPT the 70 CVT and 90 Limited. This will be in effect this weekend at The Mammoth and moving forward for the rest of the season. To view the official competition bulletin, please click HERE.

Yesterday I posted a breakdown of the ATV and motorcycle Pro class battles, which are beginning to get interesting now that we’re four rounds into the season. Round 5 is usually when people start to feel comfortable and things really shake up. Not to mention this weekend kind of serves as a turning point in the season when the terrain switches to a little rockier and more technical-like so I’m excited to see some potential ringers come through and steal a win or two. To read more about this weekend’s matchups, click HERE for ATVs and HERE for bikes.

Well that’s it for me. We’re on the road and heading to Kentucky, hope everyone drives safely and we’ll see you this weekend!

Here’s Team Faith’s Chuck LeMaster with an update on what’s happening this weekend.

Definitely looking forward to The Mammoth this weekend. We announced last week that Team Faith Youth will be hosting a kickball tournament on Saturday evening and trash talk has already started! You can go HERE to see the team rosters or to sign up. FLY Racing has “kicked” in some cool prizes and all ages are welcome – kids are encouraged to bring their parents. 

There is a cookout in conjunction with this.  We are still looking for a few food donations. Click HERE to see if there is anything you can help out with.  All festivities are Saturday evening at 6:30 at the starting line.  We timed it so that the 50cc micro race will be complete…everyone can join in.  We’ll have some food, fun-filled competition and #1 UTV racer William Yokley will close us out with a life-lesson!  

Just as reminder, chapel services are at the Team Faith rig on vendor row Saturday and Sunday morning at 8:30am.  The topic this week is, “When Jesus doesn’t live up to the hype.”  Everyone is welcome – see you at The Mammoth!

Thanks, Chuck! Passing it along to Mr. Bolton.

@JaredBolton:

I feel like I was just saying how crazy it is that we're already 4 rounds into the GNCC season and now we're already 5 rounds in. It seems like it was just last week that I was driving down I-95 in Florida and now we're heading to Kentucky. The season seems to be flying by but at least we do have the great racing that I've been talking about all season. 

This weekend only marks the 2nd time we've raced The Mammoth but it already has a good bit to live up to as both the quad and bike races last year proved to be pretty, dare I say it? Epic. With a battle down to the wire between Chris Borich and Walker Fowler, then Rory Mead coming in to snag his first overall win on the bike side, it was definitely one for the ages and hopefully we'll see the same kind of racing this weekend.

Speaking of Rory Mead, he's had some struggles so far this season but now we're to an event that definitely suits Rory's skills as we saw last year. Rory will definitely be hungry to make up some ground and this could very well be the race where he does so. He'll be a guy to keep an eye on. Paul Whibley has also had a slightly down season and while his results haven't been terrible, it's still not what everyone expects out of Whibs. I think we could see a turn around in both of the New Zealanders soon and see them climb back up on the podium. 

The women's class is also going to be one to continue keeping an eye on as the trio of Maria Forsberg, Kacy Martinez and Jessica Patterson are all going strong and gunning for those wins. I caught up with Martinez for Tuesday Toolbox this week and I can tell you that she's definitely hungry for a win, and has the determination to do so. Patterson was the first to beat Maria Forsberg since 2011, and Kacy could be next in line but we all know that Maria is extremely fast and tough to beat. 

On the women's ATV side, Kylie Ahart has been on fire so far this season. The class shrunk a little this year with Traci Cecco and Angel Atwell moving on but the competition is still there and I believe with some effort, we'll be seeing the current ladies making their way into overall podium contention sometime. I've mentioned another women's competitor a few times, Jesi Stracham. Well, Jesi has had some tough luck so far this season with some mechanical issues but has also been putting in some pretty solid lap times as well. Not only that but she has the desire to propel herself and the other women's riders to the level that Traci Cecco was on, and with the determination she has, you never know what can happen. And, for the record I'm not just saying that because Jesi and I happen to be very close friends (I know some of you were thinking that!)

Well, I hate to cut it so short this week but I've got to get to Kentucky and I'm already running behind. So until next time, Bolt-On out!

Thanks, Jared. And last but certainly not least, Rodney Tomblin.

@HotRodney22:

The appropriately names Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Mammoth GNCC promises to be another exciting round of the 2013 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series as another chapter in this season’s action packed excitement is ready to be written in the pages of history. Who will stake their claims this weekend? Will the unstoppable Chris Borich roll through the finish one step closer to becoming the record holder with the most wins ever in GNNC history? Will Walker Fowler get his redemption after last season’s final lap, final turns pass by Chris Borich? And what about the two-wheel side of things? Will the duo of Charlie Mullins and Kailub Russell continue their stellar rides? Will Thad Duvall break through this weekend and mix things up? Will Rory Mead find that rhythm that lofted him into championship contention in 2012? The answer to all these and more of the questions that surround the Mammoth will all be answered by Sunday evening and something tells me no one will be disappointed with how the story unfolds this weekend.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to pay a visit with the Mtn. Dew ATV Motocross Nationals to the Ballance Moto-X Park located in Oakland just south of the Mammoth Park GNCC and I had the opportunity to run into the now seemingly elusive 9-Time GNCC Champ Bill Ballance. Bill was all smiles and ran the dozer throughout the weekend helping his Uncle John to maintain the track and keep it race ready for the weekend. I will have to say they did a great job with nearly 2 inches of rain falling in the area they had their hands full and I must say did a great job of turning the track around with the Victory Sports Crew who hosted the event at the facility.

I spoke with Brock who has been recently working with Taylor Kiser doing some local races and he said there was a pretty good chance they would be on hand. I am not 100% sure if Taylor will be lining up but Brock had a big smile on his face as the subject was the topic of conversation. One thing he did say was that Taylor was happy living life and that the decisions he made seemed to be what the doctor ordered for Kiser.

I also spoke with Bill’s younger brother Brandon “BJ” Ballance as well. BJ is a former XC1 GNCC Pro racer and actually won an overall back around 2003 if I am not mistaken. He said he has been keeping busy with Uncle John in a local business adventure. I asked him about racing and he just laughed and said “those boys are flying!” then shook his head with a smile.

Some things I will be watching for this weekend:

The Youth ATV race should be exciting as Hunter Hart goes for his fifth consecutive win this season. Mirroring his hero Chris Borich, Hunter looks like Borich with his mini replica of the Champ’s machine quad and as well their record seems to match at this point in the season. Last year Hunter took 3^rd here but it was while wearing a cast after an early season injury. The one thing that stands out about this race last year is seeing Hunter’s father carry him piggyback around the entire youth course. Talk about dedication and if Hunter ever wonders how dedicated his father is to him, all he has to do is think back to that one race and the answer will be there. That’s what GNCC Racing is all about.


The morning ATV program should prove exciting as Dave Simmons tries to regain his momentum after last rounds problems. Simmons dropped to 14^th in the morning overall standings and the youth of the morning division, with the Schoolboy class now leads the overall standings. Westley Wolfe won the last race overall but Cody Collier has a two point lead over Wolfe in the morning program. Bryan Buckhannon is 11 points out of the 201 spot in 3^rd, Kylie Ahart is 4^th while 4x4 Open rider Bo Jones rounds out the early season top 5 overall in the morning ATV unofficial standings provided by Supertrapp Michael Trapp. Michael is usually spot-on and we enjoy watching the standings throughout the season with him.

The afternoon race for the ATV racing will also be unpredictable and should bolster some of the season’s most exciting battles so far in 2013. As much attention will be paid this weekend to the Pro Am battles that have been nothing short of epic. This is the case on both Saturday and Sunday for the bikes Pro Lites class too. On the quads, Pat McGuire, Landon Wolfe and the remarkable Brycen Neal will take on the rest to the stacked XC2 Pro Am class. Josh Merritt will be another to be watching for in this class and could be a factor again in Kentucky as he has shown the speed but has not been able to end the race where he needs to be.

The morning bike race will be exciting as well. The terrain challenges may mix things up a bit but it should prove to be yet another war in the women class. Maria Forsberg, Kacy Martinez, Jessica Patterson and the rest of the star studded class will battle it out in some of the season’s most technical and single lined trail they may see this season. Patience will be key in all classes this weekend and line choice will be critical.

As far as Saturday evening goes, Team Faith will be hosting a cookout and good time for youth and families, which I am sure will be a feast of legend before the night is over. Other activities will be going on and we will have all the details over the public address system.