Welcome to Quick Fill.

Today’s edition begins in the Pittsburgh International Airport, as I gear up for my first international trip ever. Destination: Tokyo, Japan, although at this point it sort of feels unknown. I was originally set to meet up with Josh Strang in Chicago this afternoon, where we would hop a 13-hour flight to Japan, arriving at the Narita airport by 4:40 pm (tomorrow). So being my normal OCD self, I arrived at the airport like 2 ½ hours early to ensure nothing went wrong on my part. I ate lunch, did some computer work, called my credit card company to let them know I’ll be out of country, took out cash at the ATM, checked in with the riders to make sure their flights were on schedule and then walked down to my departure gate still 40 minutes early only to see that my flight to ORD had been delayed.  I should’ve known better to think that an original plan would go smoothly on my first-ever international expedition.

So the original flight was due to land five minutes prior to the departure of my flight to Japan, so obviously I had to re-route my schedule. They casually put me on a later flight to Narita, landing nearly five hours later than my original flight, the one in which Strang was on time to catch (and upgraded to Business Class!). Rory Mead and David Quillen were on a separate flight that would also arrive at the same time as Strang. I politely told the American Airline folks that 9 pm was too late considering there would be a ride waiting for us to drive five hours to the test track we were going to ride the following day and that five hours is an extremely long time to make a person that you’ve never met before wait in the airport. So the good news is that they found a flight via a different carrier that will get me to the airport an hour after the boys, but the bad news is that they couldn’t confirm where my checked bags were and if they would indeed make it to Japan.

So I land in Minneapolis, with something like 40 minutes for a layover, and I walk out of the plane. I’m completely lost. The nice woman at the ticketing counter directed me to the proper concourse, but still I had no boarding pass and of the thousands of departures on the big screens, my destination did not seem to show up on any one of them. I found a help desk and they told me which gate to go to and said I had better hurry. I arrived at Gate G4 and there are what seems like thousands of people huddled around the gate and across the PA system I faintly hear, “Would passenger Jennifer Kenyon please…static…muffles..” in a Japanese accented voice. Now I’m REALLY worried because I’m afraid I’m about to miss my second flight to Tokyo, but luckily I was just extremely late in checking in and the nice woman gave me a boarding pass and I joined the masses in awaiting my loading zone. I may as well put a sign on my forehead that says, “I’m a rookie,” because I feel less experienced than a C rider lining up on the XC1 front row at a GNCC! And the worst part, I’m not even out of the USA yet!

At this time, I’ve got about 10 hours until I reach the confines of the Narita Airport, where Rory, DQ and Strang will be anxiously (probably because they’re tired and hungry) awaiting my arrival. And you better believe I have a glass of red wine in hand, to help me fall asleep, of course.

In all seriousness, I couldn’t be more excited to embark on this journey and I honestly have no idea what lies on the other side of customs. It’s going to be an amazing experience and I’m looking forward to every bit of it. Tomorrow the boys will test their bikes at a practice track and we’ll spend the day getting ready for the Japan National Cross Country race, which happens to take place on a ski resort on Saturday. I heard it’s going to be similar to the conditions of Snowshoe, so both Rory and Josh should have a great advantage seeing as both of them have chalked a win at America’s Toughest Race.

Hopefully I’ll be reporting a GNCC victory in next week’s QF and I’ll probably have a little more insight on GNCC wrap up, too.

On that note, we’re working on opening the GNCC Banquet online registration, so look for that sometime soon. The banquet will take place at the Waterfront Place Hotel once again in Morgantown, November 22 and 23. If you’re new to this, the ATV banquet will happen on Friday and the motorcycles on Saturday. We will also host a rules meeting each morning following the banquet, so please be available those mornings if you should feel inclined to chime in on those. Anyone is welcome, always.

Well that’s all for me this week. Upon successful arrival, check in with @GNCCRacing and @jenkenyon on Twitter & Instagram for updates on the week in Japan. Until next week, #merica.

@JaredBolton:

So there you have it folks. The 2013 season has already come and gone and what a season it was. And what a race it was at the Ironman. It’s hard to believe that there was snow on the ground Thursday, but then by the end of the weekend conditions were nearly perfect. Traditionally, Ironman is either pretty wet, or really dry but I think this year was one of the best as far as conditions go, and judging by the riders I’ve talked to, the track itself was awesome too.

It’s always a good thing when you can end the season on a high note like that. For some, that might be the last bit of racing they do until early next year so getting to enjoy such an awesome course before calling it a year is definitely a good end to the season. Also, it sounds like a lot of folks enjoyed the addition of the motocross track, even though only small portions of it were used. Trust me when I say, when it’s completed, the track is going to be absolutely awesome.

I kept saying that the race itself could end up being a “barn burner” and the battle between Kailub Russell and Charlie Mullins did stay fairly tight but KR was still able to grab the lead, hold onto it and pull away by the end due to a few mistakes by Mullins. While it may not have come down to the final corner like a lot of people had hoped for, it was still a fairly close race and congrats to Kailub Russell on taking the 2013 GNCC Championship.

One of the closest races I saw of the weekend was the one between Kacy Martinez and Maria Forsberg for the Women’s Class win. I saw the two of them a few times throughout the race and it seemed like they had the lead swapped every time they came by. In the end though, Kacy held on to take the win by 4 seconds over Maria. Those ladies were absolutely flying and huge props to Kacy for win, and even though it may have been 2^nd, what an awesome way for Maria to close out her career.

Throughout the weekend I was trying to decide on a Tuesday Toolbox, and at some point in the weekend the idea struck me to do something a little bit different this week. Some of you may remember the Snowshoe vs Blackwater edition I did right before Snowshoe. I got to thinking about that and decided that a special Ironman Edition would be cool. So after rushing home Tuesday (I left Crawfordsville at about 9am Tuesday and got home about 7:30pm) I jumped into the archives and started doing a little bit of research.

While it may be a slightly short post, it’s pretty cool to see some of the facts and hear a little bit of the backstory on The Ironman. Some of the facts are pretty cool, one of which I thought was pretty staggering from the bike side was that a KTM has won the overall 11 times. I didn’t include XC2 in the Tuesday Toolbox post but a KTM has won XC2 at The Ironman 4 out of the 7 years the XC2 class has existed, while Husqvarna has won twice, and once for Yamaha. Kind of random facts but a lot of people seem to enjoy hearing that type of stuff, and well, I’m one of them.

Anyway, if you missed the Ironman Edition of Tuesday Toolbox, you can check it out HERE.

Now that the 2013 season has come to a close, some will be taking a little time off but some others are going to be jonesing for some racing still. Well, there are still quite a few races taking place in the southeast during the off-season as we’re fortunate enough to be able to ride pretty much year round in the Carolina’s, Georgia, Florida, and a few other places. This weekend is of course the final round of the Mid-East Hare Scramble Series at Rockhouse in Morganton, NC. Rockhouse has been around for quite a few years and I’m sure it’s a place a lot of folks have raced before. So, if you’re already hungry to race again, those guys have you taken care of this weekend. www.mideastracing.com

November 16^th, the folks at Silver Creek MX in Morganton, NC are hosting a GP race that will actually have a $2000 pro purse with $1000 going to the winner. Also included will be a Pro 125 class with 100% payback. Sticking to the standard GP format, there will be 2 motos at 30 minutes each. Should be a pretty cool race. If you’re interested in more info, you can find them on Facebook.

Also, speaking of GP races, a lot of folks remembered the one I put on last year at Zoo City MX in Asheboro, NC. I’ve been asked quite a few times if that race will be back this year and I just wanted to let everyone know that we WILL be doing that race again but we’ve picked a different weekend this year with the hopes that it can work into some people’s schedules a little better. The current tentative date will be January 12, 2014. I’ve got a layout in mind that will hopefully be even better than last year’s. Everyone seemed to enjoy the layout last year but due to some constraints on usable woods, there were several pretty tight turns but I’ve been putting a lot of thought into it lately and should have something good. I’ll have more info in the weeks to come.

Well, that’s all I have for this week. Until next time, Bolt-On out. 

And here’s @HotRodney22:

As much anticipation there was leading into the 2013 Amsoil Grand National Cross Country Championship it remarkably lead us through thirteen truly exciting rounds of racing and never waned once. Was it the best season of GNCC on record? I would say for some yes and for others maybe not. However, from a fans standpoint, it certainly ranks right up there. Each round answered so many questions race and then only left us with more questions leading into the next.  Now the questions have all been answered as far as this year and historically speaking this was certainly a year of records to be recorded.

Over the course of the last couple of months the stage was being set for some pretty amazing outcomes for the 2013 championship. Nearly every division seemed to have something happening. The youth ATV racing saw a historical 3^rd overall championship won by Hunter Hart. In seasons past it has taken riders to nearly their last season to actually win the title, but Hart has been doing it since he was lining up on row 2. If I am not mistaken I think he was contending for overalls before that even. Since Hart blossomed so young he has been kind of stuck from advancing because of age and it has allowed him the opportunity to do something that no one has achieved to date.

Next year though, Hart will be old enough to move up to the Schoolboy 13-15 class, which runs in the 10:00 am race. He also still young enough to stay in the youth ranks as well and that leads one to wonder what Hart’s plans are for 2014. I did ask and though I can see some leaning toward stepping up, I can also sense there is a big possibility that he may stay in the youth division for one more season and mature some before making the step. Whatever the case may be, Hart will be poised to set more records for 2014. If Hart would stay back and win a 4^th title that would be a record and if he would move up and win the Schoolboy and possibly the morning #201 overall plate then that would be historical as the youngest to ever win that honor.

The youngest rider on record to ever win the Morning ATV overall championship happens to be 15. Cody Collier who is now 16 years old actually sealed the deal on the overall ATV Morning championship with two rounds to go only a week away from his birthday. So technically Cody Collier won the championship as a 15 year old and should hold the title as the youngest morning overall champion to date.

The big ATV record everyone was watching throughout the season was the All Time ATV Wins record held by Bill Ballance. Leading into the season it was obvious that Chris Borich was onto something great. Last year I started counting up and noticed that if Chris was to continue his domination that he could be in a position to be the All Time Wins record holder by the end of the year. As we know things go really exciting toward the middle to the end of the season when Chris Borich’s dominance seemed to be slowed with wins by McGill, Bithell and Fowler and it brought a whole new excitement in the air of the GNCC ATV racing. As it stands, Chris Borich reached win number 67 which now ties him with Bill Ballance for the All Time ATV Wins record and one away from Barry Hawk’s 68 combined motorcycle and ATV wins. In theory, by next season, Chris Borich should be sitting alone with a record that only keeps getting bigger with each passing season. Chris Borich is in the prime of his career right now and even though the boys are figuring out the area code, no one has Chris Borich’s number and it looks like no calls to answer….yet.

I know I leave a lot of the two-wheeled side of things to my comrades in QF but I cannot go on without mentioning a few things about the 10:00 am race on Sunday mornings. Without a doubt it has seen more racers than any division throughout the season. Speaking of records, there were two instances at least I can think of where there were at least 700 riders in the morning program and that has to be some sort of record itself.

The thing I want to mention here is the Women class that seems to have taken on a life of its own. As current reigning Women’s champ Maria Forsberg announces her retirement it is done as she wraps up her most challenging and exciting championship to date in GNCC. This season we began to see the Women battling for top overall positions and it made for some excitement.  The battles came from key GNCC fixtures like multi-time Women GNCC champ Mandi Mastin, newcomers Kaci Martinez from the west coast, Hannah Otto out of Texas and motocross stars Becca Sheets and the one and only “JP Money” Jessica Patterson.

These young ladies elevated women’s GNCC racing to a whole new level and with the announcement of Jessica Patterson dedicating herself to the GNCC title chase again 2014 will only enhance the class that much We have seen other MX stars come and go, but none have ever actually been bitten by the GNCC bug as much as Patterson. Jessica is without a doubt the most recognized woman in off road motorcycle racing today with her accomplishments in MX, X-Games and more. Jessica fell in love with GNCC because of the challenge. She got a taste of winning when she won her debut race in Florida this season. It was thought then that she may ready to dominate by some while others knew the challenge that laid ahead and it is that challenge that has drawn JP$ back and don’t be surprised to see more MX stars begin to make the same transitions.

As far as historically speaking from the afternoon races for the bikes goes, the one thing that stands out is the young Grant Baylor. Baylor who is only 16 actually accomplished two firsts by any GNCC racer in 2013. The first was that he won the title at only 16 which is the youngest to do so. He beat his big brother Stu Baylor on this record as he had held it previously at the age of 17. As big as that is there may be something even bigger. Grant won his championship as a rookie XC2 Pro Lites rider and I don’t know of any XC1 or XC2 Pro Lites riders that have ever accomplished that. I know Juha and Knighter won their first seasons here but neither were rookies when they lined up in the XC1 Pro class.

So in summary….the 2013 Amsoil GNCC Series was a season of historical and epic proportions keeping us on our toes from one race to the next. Will next season be as monumental? Good question, but it also the same question nearly we asked only a year ago. Let’s answer the question next season at this same time.

That’s it for now. Till next time, God Bless Your Heart and All Your Vital Organs.