Heading into the final races of the season the eleventh round of the GNCC series was held just inside the Allegheny Mountains of western Pennsylvania. The track located at the beautiful River Stone estate was set to be a rain free course but as the morning event began staging the weather decided to challenge all whom had lined up. The track had a very open layout with waist high bushes, very little rocks but many roots that would be exposed during the race and a few breaking bumps. The woods were not too thick and it was to be a fast course. The team from Shelbyville, Tennessee was prepared for the fight.

Team UXC racings Michael Swift would get to the starting line with doubts that leaving his ROX “rain gear” hand guards on was a mistake but soon he knew he had made the right choice and with the ten seconds creeping down the green flag was thrown. Swift would take his trusty Can-Am Renegade 800 Xxc to the first pin just behind first place. Giving the rider in front a little breathing room Swift would wait until the second lap to make his move for the front as all of the U2 class would roll single file into the wooded area off the start. Getting out front means cool, clean air and this is something that helps the Team UXC racer perform at his best. “We rolled along at a good pace and after filing through the start finish and seeing the 2-to’go card I exited and started to try to space out the train behind me. There were a couple of lappers on sport quads just in front of me and the straight axle machine tossed a few roots up into the front of our Team UXC Can-Am Renegade. It took me a few minutes to realize that one of the roots had torn a big hole in my radiator hose and I was loosing fluid.” Stated Swift.

Swift would push on to finish the next lap in hopes that the race could be shortened but he decided to pull over about three miles after the start to keep from killing his machine.  “We had a great day and just an unfortunate end to the race. I want to give a shout out to Evans Coolant, which allowed my engine to stay cool even with low fluid in the radiator. This companies great products and continued support is what keeps the Team UXC Renegade out front.” Says Swift.

Don Higbee also made the long trek to the Pennsylvania to line his number 640 Can-Am Renegade up against the competition. “We had a good run at the inaugural Gusher GNCC.  It was a mud-fest the entire day, which posed a lot of problems with bottlenecks.  We worked hard and fought a tough battle to put the big 640 Team UXC racing Renegade on the 4x4 Senior podium with a 3rd.   I am happy with the results and look forward to continuing our consistent finished at the last 2 rounds.” Stated Higbee. Don has ran a consistent race season and has learned a lot about the key things that make up a great woods racer the biggest is just to keep the machine moving to the finish. Sometimes attrition pays high dividends.

Tayton Swift had an incredible race aboard his brand new Apex 90 limited. Tayton was able to get the hole shot on his new ride and throughout the day he managed to maintain a 10^th out of 13 riders. This would be Tayton’s first hole shot and even though he finished without any problems and would have loved to win the race his excitement was all surrounding the great start. We are proud of the race effort Tayton puts in every week and look for great things in the last few rounds of this GNCC series.

On a final note, Team UXC was able to attend an event that Racer Production does from time to time in the small towns they visit during the year. Racer Productions takes racers from the series and visits local schools to discuss bullying and social media with the kids there. Michael Swift was able to attend this trip to the AC Valley high school and spoke to many children there on the subject. Swift also signed many posters for excited kids who eagerly waited in line. 

Team UXC racing is headed to ITP Power Line Park in St Clairesville Ohio October 12^th and 13^th to keep the challengers on their toes. We hope to see you there.

Team UXC Racing sponsors for the 2013 season:

CAN-AM BRP – MAXXIS – ROX Speed FX - CAN-AMTALK.COM  - CUSTOM AXIS Shocks - SSI Decals – EVANS Coolant - FLY – HIPER - RICOHETTE - LEATT – DP Brakes – FASST - CARBO ROCKET – HMF - MOTO CONCEPTS - KAL-GARD – SPIDER Grips – OUTERWEARS – DIRTWORKS - THERMO TEC - FOURWORX CARBON - SANTOR DESIGN – SCOTT - MOTO PRO - TWIN AIR – PIAA - HI-TEC - AMERICAS MOTORSPORTS - DRIVEN POWERSPORTS - TIRE BLOCKS – R+B COMPONENTS - MIKE PENLAND RACING - WALSH