I got the opportunity to hang out with the marketing directors for Rockstar Energy over the weekend and it sounds like they are beyond excited to have a presence in GNCC this year. Through Johnny Campbell Racing (JCR) Honda/Chris Bach and the new addition of Ryan Sipes, who is carrying over his personal Rockstar support from Pro Motocross/Supercross, we will be seeing much more yellow than we have in the past. They even said that they’re going to try to work it into their schedule to come to a few GNCC’s this season just to see what it’s all about and I’m fairly certain they won’t be disappointed! And well, needless to say, as moto-people they’ve got some big wagers on Ryan Sipes’ bid for the championship this year. We kindly explained that most MX-ers go through a “learning period” and that woods racing is much harder than it looks. But in all seriousness we’re hoping to be proven wrong and we surely welcome Ryan with open arms to the GNCC family.

In other news, Shane Watts has dropped another episode of his web series “Getting DirtWise”, which you can watch HERE. You’ll see in this one, Wattsy struggles with the emotional roller coaster of trying to race at the Pro level again and the realization of the huge uphill battle he faces in finding the necessary time to get his injury ravaged body back to peak performance for the start of the fast approaching season opening race. I know we’re all anticipating the return of the very entertaining 2000 Overall Champion, who is lining up for the 2014 season in just a month’s time.

That’s all for me this week, here’s Mr. Bolton.

@JaredBolton:

We’re approaching the threshold of being less than a month away from going racing in Florida. That’s pretty awesome. We’re starting to see everyone put in some hardcore training, heading south to do some races and riding, and a few last minute details on some deals getting sewn up. Next thing we know, we’ll be going racing.

Speaking of racing, last weekend saw a couple of races down south. I mentioned the Sumter Enduro last week, which always draws a pretty large turnout. This year was no different and the racing was pretty good, too. I helped the guys with the start and rode with the sweep crew until I got a flat front tire around the 30-mile mark, so given the fact that I rode the course several minutes behind the last racer I didn’t see any of the action but one look at the times will tell you it was pretty close.

Brad Bakken ended up coming away with the overall win ahead of Steward Baylor and Nick Fahringer. Bakken had a stellar first section dropping a mere one point, while the rest of the contenders dropped two. Stu Baylor told me after the race that they flipped the card as he came to the end of the section though. For those who aren’t very enduro-savvy, when they “flip the card” that means the time rolled over from one minute to another as Stu was entering the end of the section. You’ll get that from time to time at an enduro that isn’t a national, as most sections will only count actual minutes, not seconds. So, had he been about two seconds sooner, he would’ve only dropped one point as well.

Mike Lafferty ended up fourth for the day while Cory Buttrick made a return to racing aboard his new Beta and ended up fifth. I talked to a few guys who rode on the same row as Lafferty and they mentioned that he was super relaxed and looked to just be taking the race as an opportunity to do some testing. In fact, Mike didn’t even stick around for awards. So, could that be a sign that even in his final year of racing, Mike Lafferty can still be a podium contender on the enduro side? Maybe we’ll see him jump in a few GNCC’s as well this year.

A little further south in Georgia, the 4^th round of the SORCS Winter Series was in action. Since the Sumter Enduro draws a lot of top riders on the bike side, the focus of the SORCS race was definitely in the quad ranks. Kevin Yoho snagged the overall win ahead of “Bryan Neal”, which I assume is Brycen Neal’s alter ego, while third went to Cody Collier. Kevin Trantham also put in a solid ride to edge out Jordan Phillips for the Quad A class win and an impressive fifth and sixth place overall, so congrats to those guys as well.

The next couple of weekends will provide a few more opportunities for racing with back-to-back FTR events in Florida, and another round of the SORCS Winter Series in southern Georgia. There’s also the Phenix City 8 Hour Team Race in Alabama, which is being promoted by one of the guys who did the wildly popular one-off Battle of Atlanta 8 Hour race on New Year’s weekend back in 2010.

In a few weeks, those of you attending the Atlanta Supercross also have a chance to race the next day with the Cherokee Enduro in Greensboro, Georgia. The Cherokee always draws a pretty good turnout, even when it’s not part of the National Enduro Series and while it may not be a chance to get in some practice for the sand, it’s an excellent opportunity to get some experience for The General because the Cherokee is only about 30 minutes away from Aonia Pass where The General is held!

In other news, the folks at Powersport Grafx are offering up a pretty great deal for GNCC racers. Every year, PG offers number plate backgrounds for Loretta Lynn’s MX with your number and the Loretta’s logo for $39.95. Well, starting today, they’re offering the same deal for GNCC! In the past, to add the GNCCRacing.com banner to front of your number plate has been an additional charge. However, you can now get a set of number plate backgrounds with the GNCC banner across the top of the front number plate, with any color background and any color number, for just $39.95! So, if you need numbers for this season, head over to www.ridepg.com or give them a call at 800-903-6764 and get yourself set up with some numbers!

That’s all I’ve got for this week! Hope everyone has a great weekend and hopefully many of you get to ride! Until next time, Bolt-On out!

And here’s @HotRodney22:

I spoke with the McGill Mafia’s Adam McGill who said he has been busy working in Florida since Christmas when he and XC1 Sophomore Team DeRisi/Woodhead Racing’s Braden Henthorn made the trek to begin the annual training regime. Adam spent a lot of time solidifying his program up to that point and it looks like he is ready on all fronts.

Adam said he hasn’t done hardly any racing except for one FTR event that he said, “I’ve only done one race and took the W in that.” He also said he and Braden competed in a Monster Jam Quad Wars last weekend and that it was probably one of the most exciting moments in his career. He said nearly 72,000 screaming motorsports fans greeted them as they competed and afterwards he said they wore out two Sharpies signing autographs. I actually did an interview with him that will be available on my Facebook page later today. He talks about that and much more.

Adam also said he has a “Mafia U” riding school coming to Lake Wales, Florida on February 22nd and 23^rd. You can find out more by emailing him [email protected]. He said there might be one coming up in Iowa this summer before the 10-Hour race there. Email him for more details.

With the new season comes change and we began to feel the winds of that blowing late in the season when a few riders made the step up in classes. Jay Shadron had just experimented with the front row after his major battle in the College A class all season. He reports that he is going to be lining up on the front row in 2014 after his experience at the Ironman GNCC in 2013.

I spoke with Jay and he said he has been busy this winter with high school, working two to three days a week with his dad and going to the gym to train for the upcoming season. He said that he has been hard working trying to get quads ready as well. He said parts seem to be coming in on a daily basis and with each new part his excitement level rises.

Jay said riding conditions have not been the best lately with the snow and freezing cold but has attended a SORCS race and had if nothing else a lot of fun. He is hoping to do more of that, as we get closer to the season. Moving up from the College A class, Jay doesn’t expect to win the championship but he did say he hopes to use it as a learning experience and be ahead of the game as the new talent is not far behind moving up in the coming seasons.