If you have a short attention span, please allow me to list the cliff-notes-version of what’s going on: The GNCC Series chose not to sanction with AMA in 2012 and 2013 because it felt that the AMA wasn’t doing all that it could to benefit GNCC Racers. Yes, it so happens that the series saw huge rider turnouts in those two years and yes, there’s a good possibility that first-time GNCC Racers showed up because there wasn’t a membership fee. But keep in mind that GNCC has pumped a lot of PR and marketing efforts through RacerTV, social media and general media exposure in the last two years so we’d like to think that had something to do with it. Not to mention the highest rider-attended race is Unadilla, which is co-sanctioned with the AMA-sanctioned series WNYOA, who has a HUGE impact on the success of that event. Either way, the AMA listened to the critiques and has delivered an all-new package for 2014.

Here are some of the highlighted benefits for racers:

• The off-road advancement points system, similar to the already standing advancement system in motocross, that will simplify the process for racers as they advance through the ranks of GNCC.
• Access to the online AMA Race Center to track a rider’s points, where they’ve raced, etc.
• The new dirt version of the American Motorcyclist magazine, including coverage of off-road riding and AMA-sanctioned competition events.
• Full AMA members who elect to auto-renew their AMA memberships receive AMA Roadside Assistance for no additional charge.
• Riders are also are eligible to purchase rider accident medical insurance through the AMA RAMP program.
• AMA National Champion status for all classes, and class champions will receive recognition at the annual AMA National Champions Banquet in January.
• A full membership is $49 but the AMA now offers a $98 family membership that covers up to five immediate family members living in the same household. They also offer a $29 youth membership for riders 11 years old or younger.
• And here’s the part that many people have missed: the one-event pass that is sold trackside at the GNCCs. For $20, a non-member can participate in a single event. If they get hooked and want to keep racing GNCC, that $20 fee can be applied to full membership dues if the rider upgrades within 60 days.

In addition to the many benefits that the AMA provides to GNCC Racers, there are also several enhancements for the series as a whole.

• Access to the AMA Competition Rulebook, which dates to 1924 and is updated annually by AMA Congress.
• An independent rider appeal process, risk management guidelines and event insurance.
• Each GNCC will have an AMA referee, as well as AMA staff, to ensure that AMA memberships are processed smoothly and member concerns are addressed properly.
• The AMA also offers a “Partner Affiliate Program” to promoters of an AMA-sanctioned event or series. With that, the GNCC series will receive $5 of each AMA membership acquired through the proper registration link or at a GNCC event, and all proceeds will go to the new GNCC Rider Foundation, which will appoint board members who will collectively decide how and where to spend the funds each year.

If you actually paid attention to this information already, I apologize for the repetition. I monitor social media very closely and I am fully aware of the comments and concerns from the racing community. So I first wanted to reiterate the benefits and let you know that GNCC is constantly conveying your concerns as ATV and motorcycle racers to the AMA and that the folks in Morgantown wouldn’t make the decision to become AMA-sanctioned unless they thought it would help the racers and the sport.

Moving forward, I wanted to fill you all in on what’s happening in the world of RacerTV. Over the winter, the crew has been focusing on testing equipment and learning all the features and capabilities of what we have. If you follow social media or watched the AMA video then you’ve probably seen the cool “studio” set-up that we’ve been using. Well, keep your eyes peeled tomorrow for another special production from the RacerTV studio featuring Bad Thad DuVall and Layne Michael, the newest (and only) members of the 2014 RideMPS.com/AMSOIL Honda team. I won’t go into too much detail but Thad and Layne are going to be Honda-mounted teammates with awesome support from American Honda and Morgantown Powersports, with the addition of GNCC title sponsor AMSOIL on board for this season. The GNCC Sponsorship Co-Op helped put the deal together and we couldn’t be happier to have Thad and Layne representing the brand that supports our series so much. The goofballs spent a few hours in the office last week and our cameras caught up with them for a quick sesh behind the mic, so look for that to come out tomorrow on RacerTV.com.

While you’re at it, head over to Facebook.com/racertv and LIKE the account so you can keep up with new videos and GNCC coverage all year around. We literally just started the account this week and we’re gaining followers like crazy so go ahead and jump on the bandwagon and do it!

We say it every week, but all the action is definitely taking place down south right now as riders are training, riding and prepping for the season. Although, there are some GNCC regulars that call the sunshine state home and it sounds like those folks are enjoying the company! Shannon Parks, the mom of Bee and Jackson Parks, even commented, “The Florida GNCC racers really miss racing GNCC in the off-season but we do get the pleasure of getting to race with some of the best in the world!” The Parks kids were lucky enough to be able to ride with the likes of Chris Borich, Gabe Phillips, Johnny Gallagher, Landon Wolfe, Jessica Ammons and ATVMX Champ Chad Wienen. 

The guys hit up an FTR race over the weekend where Chris Bithell took the win, with Walker Fowler in second, Cole Richardson third, and the local favorite, Johnny Gallagher took fourth.

We love hearing the inside scoop on what everyone is doing so please feel free to send over any information or photos that you might have. Don’t worry if you’re not a writing buff or professional photog, we can run off bullet points and iPhone photos!

As I wrap up my portion of today’s column, I can’t help but notice how disgusting a Big Mac smells when you’re forced to sit inches away from three very hungry teenagers, all downing the classic burger and fry combo. While I’m at it, where are all the electrical outlets?

Let me sign off by trying this again, here’s to hoping I don’t get stuck in Chicago [all night].

Here’s Bolton with some action from the bike side of things.

@JaredBolton:

Well, how’s that for a week in off-road? It’s been pretty quiet the last few weeks and then all of the sudden it’s been wide open since the last edition of Quick Fill. There was some excellent racing happening over the weekend, more coming up this weekend, and some exciting news during the week as well.

First, we’ll rewind to last weekend with the popular Burnt Gin Hare Scramble in Wedgefield, South Carolina. For the past few years, this event has served as the opening round of the National Hare Scramble Series but this year it was just another round of the SETRA Hare Scramble Series. However, that didn’t keep many people away. There was still a pretty large turnout and a long row of contenders up front in the Pro class.

When the cannon fired (yes, they do a cannon start) it was Tyler Trammell grabbing the holeshot in front of a slew of Pro riders. Grant Baylor would end up working his way into the lead early but Charlie Mullins and Russell Bobbitt ended up taking control of the race leaving both Baylor brothers, the Yamaha duo of Jordan Ashburn and Brad Bakken, plus Jesse Groemm, Nick Fahringer, and many others battling behind them.

In fact, it was sort of a mirror image of last year’s Burnt Gin with Mullins and Bobbitt out front before Mullins would sneak around Bobbitt and go into “checkout Charlie” mode on the final lap to snag the overall win. Steward Baylor would end up third ahead of the other Baylor, Grant, with Jordan Ashburn and Jesse Groemm rounding out the top five.

I then headed over to Greensboro, North Carolina for a round of the AMSOIL Arenacross Series on Saturday night. I ran into a number of familiar GNCC faces such as Team Faith’s Chuck Lemaster, Heather Avery from Maxxis, the Plessinger clan, and several others, so it was pretty cool to see a good showing of GNCC faithful. I also briefly ran into 1985 Loretta Lynn’s MX 125B Stock 13^th place finisher, Robby Van Winkle. You may know him as “Vanilla Ice” though.

Sunday morning I made the trip down to South Carolina and threw together a little video of the Burnt Gin race. A few things you’ll notice: 
A. I haven’t shot much video since Mini O’s back in November. 
2: Stu Baylor and his girlfriend have one of the cutest dogs ever. C: Russell Bobbitt was riding a KTM with Husqvarna graphics. The new Husky’s weren’t available in time, but word is that his are en route.
4: Grant Baylor is sporting a red #1 because he is the defending SETRA Hare Scramble champion
E: 2:40 mark is 2013 Youth Overall Champ, Braxton McGee who seems to be adjusting well to a big bike.
6: “ARod” at the end is not the baseball player. Anyway, if you want to check out the video, you can see it HERE.

Tuesday was a big info day as Shane Watts was featured on Tuesday Toolbox, and also dropped his new video series at the same time. We chatted about how the DirtWise Schools are going, his new Ready to Race and Full Factory programs that he and Jason Thomas are working on for 2014, and much more. However, the biggest news to come out of that was his announcement that he would be returning to racing in 2014.

Wattsy actually sent me a text last Friday pitching the Tuesday Toolbox idea and mentioned that he would be coming back to race, but also asked me to keep it a secret until it was posted in Tuesday Toolbox and on his video. Well, that’s one of the hardest secrets I’ve had to keep because I was pretty excited to hear that he wants to make a return.

That’s huge news because it’s not often that you see a former champion of anything, make a return multiple years after they’ve moved onto success elsewhere. The last time Watts raced a GNCC was in the morning race at Steele Creek in 2010 when he battled with Rodney Smith a bit and made it feel like 2000 all over again. If memory serves me correct, that’s when Wattsy also tried out the “DB Snorkel” which went over the end of the silencer and made the bike much quieter. Even being on the gas as hard as Wattsy was, you could barely hear his bike.

Wattsy also ran several races in 2009 but the last time we saw him a lot was in 2007. That was when he came out and won Florida, then finished third at Steele Creek behind that INCREDIBLE battle down to the wire between Barry Hawk and Glenn Kearney. By the way, if you want to see that again, and believe me, you do, HERE it is. After that, Watts struggled a bit and that was the last time we saw him really giving it a go.

This weekend will see the 45^th running of the legendary Sumter Enduro in Wedgefield, SC. The start and everything is just up the road from where the hare scramble was last weekend. This is always a popular event and this year promises to be no different. Pre-entry is closed but there are spots still available if you want to race! They’re not sold out! www.sermaclub.com will get you all the info you need on that race.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for this week. I’m heading down to Sumter myself to lend a hand and do some sweep riding. If you see me there, feel free to say hi! Until next time, Bolt-On out!

And here’s @HotRodney22:

It’s now only a matter of days before we officially kick off the 2014 AMSOIL GNCC season and it’s hard to believe that we’re already chest deep into crunch season and the anxieties are beginning to show face. The waiting game could be the hardest it has been in history as yet another “greatest season ever” draws near.

I would like to take this time to send a huge thank you to the folks at the W.N.Y.O.A Banquet this past weekend in Auburn, New York. It was an honor to be chosen to assist in the awards presentation and it was nice to get to know some of those I had the opportunity to speak with. It was without a doubt everything it was ever hyped to be. All I can say about the post party is that those folks know how to get down. Thanks again to Jeff and Amy Hart, Becki Wheeler and everyone else that made it such an enjoyable occasion.

I spoke with a few folks like I said and noticed a few GNCC racers in the mix as well. One included Marty Christofferson, who won the GNCC Junior A 22+ Class Championship in 2013 in only his first year racing the national series. Marty also won the W.N.Y.O.A. title in the AA Quad Division. As I understand it Marty will be racing the XC2 Pro Am Class in GNCC and I would say look for him to be a factor at some point this season.

In talking with Scott Covert, I believe there will be several of the New Yorker’s bidding for GNCC titles in 2014. Be looking for Greg Covert to make a return to the national scene this year. Greg ran a limited schedule in the College A class in 2013 and actually finished third in class and nineteenth overall at the Ironman to round out the season. Marty’s brother Steve, who also raced the College A class finished seventh in class and twenty-ninth overall at the Ironman. The W.N.Y.O.A. College A champ Bryan Post is also throwing his hat in the ring for the College A class and this could be an epic season to watch in the coming months. Bryan, who rides for Lanes Yamaha, actually raced the Unadilla GNCC last season and finished fourth in class and twenty-fifth overall, which he was pretty proud of. You may recognize the name Doug Howarth. He was the 2009 GNCC ATV Youth Champion and is said to be returning to the national scene in the College A class. Doug finished fourth at the Ironman, close behind Greg Covert. I also understand that Greg, Steve and Bryan will be riding O.E.M. Shocks modified by Hygear Suspension this season.

As much good news as I feel like I have this week, I do have one bit of bad news unfortunately. I checked in with Gabe Phillips last week to see how things were going and it sounds like he has made it official - as of right now he has no plans to return to competition in 2014. In his statement to me when I asked how things were going he said, “I had to make a really hard decision. I will not be racing the 2014 season. I’ve decided it was time to go back to school. So I will be retiring from GNCC Racing and looking at some other racing opportunities! I want to thank my parents, family and girlfriend for supporting my decision. Also Brian Vasko form Waynesburg Yamaha for everything he has done. My mechanic Jesse Jacobs, Devin Donley, Custom Axis, Johnny Gallagher with GBC, IQ and HMF, G4, Fly Racing, and Tom Skladzien from ATV 4 Play and anyone else who has helped out. Thank you! I am planning though on coming to the close races to support my buddies.”