Welcome to Quick Fill and welcome to an all-new year. I guess depending on how you approach 2014, it could be the chance to create an all new you, a fresh new start, a complete change in lifestyle, or maybe it’s just a new set of numbers to add to the end of the dateline in your checkbook. Wait, do people still use those things?

However you choose to approach the New Year, here’s to hoping it’s even better than the last. For GNCC, 2013 was a very progressive year and we’re excited to build upon the successes in 2014. First off, the series acquired a new title sponsor in AMSOIL, which has proven to be a great partnership for the series and its racers. That is, of course, in addition to all the great sponsors and partners that the series has acquired over the years as well. Another highlight of 2013 was the progression of RacerTV and its all new website domain of RacerTV.com. With that came the first full season of GNCC Live, which brought an unprecedented 60 hours of live coverage of the afternoon ATV and bike races online. The best part about GNCC Live is that if you missed the live part for any reason, you can go back and re-watch it any time you want! So right now you can head over to RacerTV.com and see any episode from 2013 and well, it’s free.

We can’t talk about 2013 without mentioning the epic Unadilla GNCC, which drew in an astonishing number of 1,971 ATV and motorcycle entries, marking the largest rider attended event in the 38-year history of GNCC Racing. Unadilla has a history of drawing in large numbers, especially co-sanctioning with WNYOA and all the riders that come along with those folks. This event seems to keep growing with each season, so it will be exciting to see what the state of New York will bring in 2014.

Another big moment came with the season finale in Indiana as the Ironman GNCC drew in a record number of spectators with nearly 10,500 people over the course of the weekend. That’s a huge number and a true testament as to how hardcore GNCC fans are in the state of Indiana. The announcement of a Pro Motocross national landing atop the Ironman soil was also made in 2013, which is pretty cool for the fans and racers alike.

With the great successes and positive memories that we all witnessed over the last year, the racing community also experienced great sadness with the loss of a few very special people. Once again, we say God Speed to a few of our close racing family members: Allen Vest, Jay Poole, Kurt Caselli and Ryan Longstreth, who were all taken much too soon.

We also want to bid farewell (kind of) to an icon in our sport and in Women’s racing altogether as four-time GNCC Champion Maria Forsberg-Hahn announced her retirement at the end of the season. I say “kind of” because I have faith that Maria will be back to visit us at least once in a while in the years to come. It’s going to be weird to not see the #411 out there but everyone here at GNCC wishes her the very best in the future. With the addition of three-time WORCS Champion Kacy Martinez and seven-time WMX Champion Jessica Patterson, along with many more talented women racers, the Women’s Class has grown into a premier division in GNCC and that’s due largely in part to Maria and her contributions to the sport. It’s pretty cool to see the Women’s Class take on a new title for 2014 with the addition of the WXC1 (Women’s XC1) for those riders who have graduated from the Women’s Amateur division. Maybe Maria will return to race the new XC1 class sometime?

Well now that we’ve taken a trip down memory lane, it’s time to move forward to the present time and begin hyping up the season that’s only a couple months away from now. So I’ll pass it along to Jared Bolton with some good info on some off-season racing opportunities.

@JaredBolton:

Well, now that we’re officially into 2014, that means we’re that much closer to returning to GNCC Racing. I believe we’re just 61 days out (point of reference: Kara Merritt’s now famous Florida countdown) and things are really beginning to heat up. It’s that time of year where many people are flying south to do some riding in Florida and really, all over the southeast. There’s also some good off-season racing coming up in the next few weeks as well.

Of course, I do need to do a shameless self-plug, the Zoo City GP that I’m promoting is on for this Saturday, January 4. They’re calling for rain in the western part of North Carolina but the race is centrally located (seriously, it’s an hour to the SC line and only about an hour and a half from the VA line) and has no chance of rain for Saturday. I turned a few laps on Wednesday and the rain they’re calling for Thursday afternoon shouldn’t affect the track too much. They sealed up the motocross track and will rip it real good after the rain. It might be a little slick early and a little soft on the motocross track but everything should tack up really awesome. Judging by the calls, texts, emails, tweets, Facebook messages and more I’ve been getting, it should be a good turnout.

I ran into Charlie Mullins this past Sunday at dinner and he said he’s most likely coming and is planning on racing both the Pro and the Pro 125 class. Chris Bach is in as well and since he still doesn’t have anything locked up for 2014, he’s still riding the KTM 150 I mentioned a while back. So, depending on who else shows up, the Pro 125 class could have a heck of a battle! Come on out and race, it should be awesome. Like I mentioned before, due to the event format and lack of daylight it’s a bike only event but there is a 1-hour UTV race at the end of the day as well! You can get all the details, directions and more on the event HERE.

Moving along, honestly, things have been kind of quiet outside of some guys making trips south for some riding and a little bit of racing already. Last weekend saw the first round of the SORCS Winter Series at the Sandbox in Wrens, Georgia. Some folks may have stayed home for the holidays but looked to still be a pretty good turnout of racers. Grant Baylor came away with the overall win on the bike side, while Kevin Yoho snagged the quad overall. I haven’t really heard any details on the race but I do know that it’s called “The Sandbox” for a reason, so it should have been some pretty solid training for Florida.

In the coming weeks, a couple of the biggest off-season races on the bike side are just around the corner. The Burnt Gin Hare Scramble in South Carolina has historically drawn one of the largest turnouts for an off-season race. Last year saw a massive front row as the majority of the top contenders from both GNCC and National Enduro lined up to get in some pre-season racing. The SERMA club follows that race up with the legendary Sumter Enduro the following weekend and many riders make both events. This year should be the same story. I’ve talked to a few of the guys from SERMA and it sounds like they’ve been putting in a lot of work getting everything ready and the courses should be even more fun than they’ve been in year’s past.

On the silly season side, things have really kind of died down as of late. There’s not a whole lot of news surfacing with everyone taking Christmas time to just enjoy their time with the families. However, now that we’re into the New Year, I’d expect to hear a few more things start coming about.

Well, I hate to cut myself short but that’s all I’ve got for this week because I need to head out and get the final touches put on the course for the GP this weekend. Until next time, Bolt-On out!

Thanks, Jared. Here’s @HotRodney:

As I sit here today to make my first contribution to QF for 2014, the New Year’s first snowfall is starting to lay down the white fluffy stuff outside my window. A storm at last check expected to leave only a few inches if that. “The year’s first big winter storm” is what I have heard a few refer to it as and I know right now there are several folks a little farther north than I am that are chuckling out loud at the way everyone is reacting for not much more than a dusting. Many have seen the white stuff on the ground for a while and anyone that lives north of South Carolina probably hasn’t seen a whole lot of riding time as the weather certainly has not been conducive for it.

I spoke with Walker Fowler, who lives in northern Ohio, and he says he basically took the entire month of December off and is readying himself to begin the major grind starting now. I did notice that Fowler’s main competition—Chris Borich—has been training and riding since the season ended as he knows he has a lot on his plate in 2014. Not only is Walker coming, but also a host of young guns that are cutting their teeth and trying to learn the game to become threats themselves. One thing is for certain: the new blood is a bunch of quick learners and in my opinion the GNCC ATV world is about to get even better, if that’s even possible.

I want to commend Jared Bolton for such a wonderful article in this week’s Tuesday Toolbox with former Women Amateur and now WXC1 class contender. I must say that I am an instant fan of Mrs. McCormick after reading that. If you think Chris Borich, Johnny Gallagher, Adam McGill, Walker Fowler and the rest of the boys have it tough, think again. Just like 9-Time Women Champ Traci Cecco Pickens and many others, Alicia holds a full time job. But go a few steps further and you find out she is living a dream at 28 years that most people would be giving up on at this time. I admire Mrs. McCormick as she not only holds a job but she also helps her husband with the family business, she is a mom, a race-mom and a racer. Wow! Now that is a resume. I can’t wait to see her make her debut in the WXC1 Class in 2014. Good luck Alicia, we will be watching.

Speaking of the WXC1 Class, I for one really like the new name for the Women Class. It gives it some true validity. These girls work hard and deserve a cool name for the class. Also, we speak a lot of the current XC1 and XC2 classes and how those riders work so hard through Youth Division and into Amateur before going Pro. Well, it is time we start making the same analogies for the WXC1 class now.

The youth ranks have, like we said, been the breeding ground for future champions for the guy classes the last few years and we now recognize a wave of young ladies working their way through the ranks. Some of the most recognizable would be young ladies like some of last year’s top Women Amateur 15+ Allie Slate, Kamren and Ciera Bobb along with top premier Women class riders like champion Kylie Ahart and third place finisher last season, Kara Merritt. Kara is a part of family that is very serious about GNCC racing. Kara’s brother, Josh Merritt, is one of the male riders that are ascending on the Pro ranks with a vengeance and could soon be challenging for overall wins. Well, Kara sent me a note to let us know what’s been going on and this is what she had to say:

It’s crazy that I’ve been involved in the GNCC Series now for 8 years! From the Mini Quad Class to the Women’s Class, no matter how many years anyone does this I think we can all agree winter break is a killer for most racing families! One thing I know is things are getting pretty crazy around here at the Merritt House. I went down south last weekend to race the SORCS Winter Series. In the first round I finished 2nd in B Class. It was a perfect place to practice for the beginning of the GNCC Series. It had sand corners, sand whoops and sand straightaways. Many GNCC racers made an appearance, so it was a good opportunity to gauge where you stand with your fitness and/or bike setup. Plus, it was just a good time seeing everyone. Josh and I are hoping to go back down to Georgia this weekend and try another round of the SORCS Winter Series. As mentioned by Kylie Ahart in her Tuesday Toolbox, I do have a countdown going for the Florida GNCC on my phone; every once in a while I post the countdown on social media and the response I get is awesome. It’s obvious that I am not the only one looking forward to this 2014 season.

Thanks Kara! And no you are not the only one excited to see what the new season holds. I for one am looking for this to be yet another “Best Season EVER!”

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