Thursday, December 19, 2013 | 4:20 PM
Welcome to Quick Fill.
It’s crazy to think that this is the last edition of Quick Fill before Christmas, and even crazier that it’s the penultimate column of 2013 (I must really miss writing PR’s to use the word penultimate). What is penultimate you ask? It’s the next to last of something, which means next Thursday is the last full week of the year.
This is the time of year that usually puts things into perspective for me. It’s the perfect time to reflect on all the crazy things that have happened over the course of the last 11-plus months – for better or for worse. For me personally, 2013 was a pretty huge year both professionally and personally. For those who don’t know, this season I took on two new roles in addition to my usual GNCC/Loretta Lynn’s PR duties: Lucas Oil Pro Motocross PR Manager and RacerTV Pit Reporter. The former is pretty much in my realm as far as knowledge and experience, but the latter…..not so much. Each position has had its challenges but I’m happy to say that both new endeavors have taught me so much and I’m very thankful for the opportunities. RacerTV.com has taken on a life of its own this year, streaming almost all of the GNCC’s live online, as well as Loretta Lynn’s and the Mini O’s. Our team has learned a lot about the whole process and I’m looking forward to what we can do in 2014. As for the Pro Motocross Series, I’ve learned so much about PR and Marketing, and definitely met a lot of wonderful people, but there’s something about GNCC Racing that has my heart!
So this year we decided to do a little fun activity for the holiday season via social media, titled GNCC’s 7 days of Xmas Cheer. Basically, for the week leading up to Christmas, we’re asking people to share specific holiday/racing photos each day using the hashtag #gnccxmas so we can track all the entries and give away a family 4-pack of GNCC gate passes for 2014 after each day.
Tomorrow is Flashback Friday – post an old school photo from Christmas day. I can’t wait to see what kind of racing toys everyone got as a kid! The coolest part is that it’s a different theme each day so if you don’t necessarily think you’ve got something for one day, you’re sure to find something along the way. Thanks to everyone who participated in Day 1 and hope to see many more over the course of the next week.
Before I pass things along to Bolton, I wanted to give a little pre-introduction to the introduction you’ll see at the end of this column. Not only was 2013 a kick ass year for a lot of things, but our wonderful boss ladies decided to hire another employee! I know, pretty crazy stuff. Well, our new girl Kayla is responsible for maintaining and posting things on all of Racer Production’s various websites (as she will explain below) but I wanted to preface it in saying that she’s done an awesome job in her first week and I think she will fit in just fine with the GNCC Racin’ Nation. So please feel free to send any PRs, race reports or anything else you would like to have posted on the GNCC website to her (as she says below) and she will get you taken care of. Always feel free to send me anything and everything you may have as well, so I don’t fall out of the loop!
That’s all for me this week. Have a Merry Christmas/Happy Holiday and/or whatever you prefer to call it this season. Enjoy your time with family and friends!
@JaredBolton:
Well, Christmas is now upon us and while everyone will be unwrapping those fresh new parts, gear and other toys, surely their minds will soon turn back to racing. Once you get over what I’d like to call “Holiday Hill” you pick up all the momentum and head right back into racing before you know it. (That made sense in my head)
Before I dive into some other stuff, I was skimming through Facebook late Tuesday night and I stumbled across a post from Daryl Gentry with a link to an obituary with a name that looked familiar to me. I can’t say that I knew Dennis Barnett but I recognized the name from Facebook, and I know I had seen his name as a GNCC regular in results before. Dennis finished 3rd place in the 2012 Super Vet C championship and made the final four rounds in 2013. Dennis was also a Deputy Sheriff in Summit County, Ohio and judging by the outpouring of Facebook posts, it’s obvious that he was a great person and well respected as well. Please keep Dennis’s family and friends in your thoughts and prayers, and Dennis, we’ll see you down the trail!
Jumping into some silly season stuff, there’s a few things starting to come together including the Factory Husqvarna team which you should see an official PR on soon as they’ve just about got everything locked in. I think the word is pretty well out that the team will consist of Andrew DeLong and Russell Bobbitt on the east coast and from the sounds of things, it looks like Bobbitt could actually be going GNCC Racing in addition to National Enduro.
The other news surrounds that of newly retired motocrosser, Ryan Sipes. He put out a few tweets this week dropping a few of his sponsors for 2014 and there’s a few that seem to be key in relations to the rumors I’ve heard pertaining to Sipes’ 2014 plans. The big one mentioned in the tweet was WMR. While WMR didn’t have a team racing GNCC in 2013, they’ve backed a few riders in previous seasons such as Rory Mead, Nate Kanney, and Chris Bach. I know those guys love GNCC Racing and want to be back involved with the racing, and the rumors I’ve heard could lead one to believe that they could be making a return, with Ryan Sipes as their rider.
Other than that, it’s still been fairly quiet as things have kind of slowed down for Christmas. But, if anyone has any exciting news or anything they’d like to share (or as always, a Tuesday Toolbox suggestion!) drop me a line at [email protected]
I hate to cut myself so short but we’ve still got some time left in this winter break and there’s not a whole lot to talk about short of me continuing to promote the Zoo City GP that I’m putting on January 4th (oops, I did it again).. Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for this week. Until next time, bye from Bolt-On!
@HotRodney22:
We’re less than a week away from Christmas and for whatever reason, it just doesn’t seem like it this week. Last week we had snow here in southern Ohio and it was like 22 degrees. This week it feels like spring and the itch to be outside is far outweighing the urge of the Holidays. Even with the mindset change it is a little overwhelming at exactly how far away the start of the 2014 Amsoil GNCC is.
The change in venues is extremely exciting as we will once again be back in the realm of the actual Bike Week festivities. Being closer to Daytona will also bring folks that normally would not come to a GNCC. It is a geographically more feasible and anyone that knows motorcycle and ATV racing knows how challenging of a sport GNCC is and having it virtually right there, this years opening round could set some records for this event.
Enough about that though. It is Christmas time and for the sake of the kids, I must be in the spirit. Last week I asked anyone who would like to share their Christmas wish lists to do so as we would love to see what you are wanting this year. Well, it appears that either no one wants anything, my email isn’t working or no one reads my portion of Quick Fill. I don’t believe that no one wants ANYTHING and I am pretty sure my email works so my conclusion is no one is reading what I am writing. (except Jen Kenyon who proofreads this stuff)
I was told my contributions were good and that they feel they may be the best so that’s why they save them for last..you know, to leave the people wanting more. I, on the other hand, am wondering if I even have your attention at this point and if they don’t just publish them to make me feel better about myself.
Again I haven’t been hearing a lot around the GNCC Racin’ Nation lately. I have not a lot of excuses other than I am using this time to spend with the family. And honestly that’s what makes GNCC so great. It seems that most families that participate are on the same page as myself. One of many families that stand out is the Zakowski family. Zak Zakowski is one of the top 4x4 Open and Side x Side racers. Zak and his family work together to win races and championships. They are as close as any family I have ever seen at the races and big things could be on the horizon for them.
Zak was injured in 2012 and has spent some time recovering. It seems like several months and surgeries, physical therapy and hard work Zak is working toward being stronger in 2014. But as optimistic as that sounds, he has another obstacle to face before the season starts. Zak sent me this message earlier today letting me know what’s up:
“I just wanted to let you know that I am going in January 2nd for my third surgery on my knee that I injured at Ironman in 2012. As you know I struggled with it all year and got back to running out front at the last 2 rounds this year, after working my butt off all summer. It has been going downhill recently and they are trying to fix it. I am super excited and pumped to race the Pro-4x4 class for 2014 and plan on it. I am back in shape and mentally ready, just need my knee to cooperate. This surgery will either go really good and excell me forward from where I am now, or there is a possibility when they go in there that they are going to have to take my ACL back out. If that is the case I will spend all summer rehabbing my knee back to full strength and range of motion. Then in fall I will go back in for another reconstruction to put the ACL in. So I am either going to be 100% for next year or not sure (lol). I will be back regardless running XC-1 Utv but I have no intentions of leaving 4x4 racing yet. I am focusing the next year on getting healthy if I have to, and if need be, I will for sure be back in 2015. I just hope everything goes good.
One thing is certain, Zak works hard and he will be back next season one way or another. His story, like so many others, is inspirational and a true testimony of “what GNCC Racing is all about.” And we all certainly wish Zak well and a speedy recovery.
That’s it for now. Till next time, Merry Christmas and God Bless Your Heart and All Your Vital Organs.
Now for an introduction to our new online content manager here at Racer Productions/MX Sports.
My name is Kayla Olliver; yes you read Olliver correctly there are two L’s in it. I am Racer Productions/MX Sports new Online Content Manager. Here I am almost done with my first full week of work at Racer Productions/MX Sports, and I still have to pinch myself at least once a day to remind me that I finally made it here. I packed up my room and moved to Morgantown just this past Sunday from Indiana, Pennsylvania so I could start this new chapter of my life. Well, let’s just say moving within a week and being a girl with a lot of accumulated belongings is not ideal. My apartment has stayed in boxes this week while I focus on get settled into my West Virginia office.
Now a little background info on myself. For starters, I have been around racing ever since I was born, and now I have my dad to thank for my obsession with racing. He raced for about 15 years, but had then continued to take me to races even after he was done. So thanks dad for my love of racing! I attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania, many know as IUP, and received my Bachelor of Science in Communications Media on December 15, 2012.
So basically I will be managing the content that goes onto sites like gnccracing.com, atvmotocross.com, mxsportsproracing.com, and mxsports.com/home. Whenever there’s a story or release that needs to be online just email it over to me at [email protected].
