This weekend, my end of the column comes to you from, well Cali again. But this time I’m in Northern California for the second round of Pro Motocross at Hangtown MX and we’re getting things under way with press day activities. I wanted to give a GL shout out to XC2 GNCC Racer Cody Gragg, who tried his hand at professional motocross last weekend at Glen Helen. It sounds like Cody may have had some issues but he’s back for vengeance this weekend and I’m looking forward to seeing his talents outdoors.

The USA ISDE Trophy team announced that they will be bringing back the ever-so-popular golf tournament at Snowshoe Mountain’s Raven Golf Club the Friday before the Snowshoe GNCC. The cool part is that all proceeds will go toward assisting the USA ISDE Team at the 2014 running of the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE).

The golf tournament will have a shotgun start at 9:00 a.m. and run until approximately 3:30 p.m. Participants will get to play 18 holes of golf on a championship caliber golf course ranked the #2 public golf course in the state of West Virginia by GolfWeek Magazine.

USA's ISDE Team Trophy riders will be participating in this event. Each rider has three available spots open on their team and participants will be assigned to them on a first come first serve basis. After the USA Trophy teams are filled there are 30 teams remaining. Each team can have 4 players. The cost is $100.00 per person, which includes a meal at the end of the round of golf. Participants can register for their team by filling out the attached registration form. Participants can also sign-up as an individual and will be placed randomly on a team.

All proceeds from the event will go direct to the USA ISDE Team to help fund the transportation of our athletes to this prestigious event. If you have questions about this event or would like to learn how to donate to the team, please contact [email protected].

We got word yesterday that XC1 Pro Class points leader Charlie Mullins sustained a hand/wrist injury in what appears to be a practice injury. I don’t have too many details but Charlie did post on social media, “Well there goes my year…” Our hearts go out to Charlie and all the hard work he and his Factory FMF/KTM team has put in this season.

That’s going to do it for me this week. Hopefully I will have more insight on GNCC as things slow down a bit this season. Here’s @JaredBolton.

@JaredBolton:

Another one is in the books! It’s kind of hard to believe we’ve hit the halfway point in the season but we’re down to just 2 rounds before summer break, and it’s heating up out there (pun intended).

In all seriousness, we’re reaching that point in the season where everyone is starting to look at the big picture, and by big picture, I meant the points battles and setting themselves up for solid final point finishes. Consistency truly is key, and that’s going to be a big player in anyone’s point’s chase. Of course, wins and high finishes are pretty important as well.

While Rodney has a ton of ATV info for you each week, I’ve been taking a look at some of the bike point standings. In the morning ranks, Kacy Martinez is dominating the WXC class winning all but 1 race this season. Mandi Mastin and Becca Sheets are set up for a close points battle with Mandi currently holding a 3 point lead over Becca for 2^nd place. Brooke Cosner, with a new KR4 ride, has moved her way into 4^th place, while Sarah Baldwin has worked up to 5^th place after yet another podium at The Mountaineer. Jessica Patterson will be out for a little while after suffering a practice crash prior to The Mountaineer Run. That sets up a number of riders who will definitely want to move up through the class points while Patterson is sidelined.

Then there are Pro ranks, where all the attention is! Coming into The Mountaineer, FMF KTM teammates Charlie Mullins and Kailub Russell both had a trio, a trifecta if you will, of wins. However, Mullins was able to open up a few extra points over Kailub due to KR’s tough luck at the opening round. KR tightened up that deficit with a win in West Virginia, but unfortunately it looks like Josh Strang will become KR’s #1 contender now.

 

Like Jen mentioned above, last night Mullins posted a photo on Instagram of a badly broken wrist (which is also pictured above), so it looks like Charlie is out for a while, and definitely out of the championship hunt. That’s a tough break for Charlie, as he not only led the GNCC points, but also the National Enduro points. No rider has ever won both titles in the same year, and Charlie is still the only one to win a title in both at all.

 

Of course, that makes KR1 the favorite for the championship. The last time we saw a back-to-back overall champ, was when David Knight did it in 2007 and 2008. Since then there has seemed to be a bit of a bad luck streak for defending champions but barring the opening round and a crash at The Limestone, Russell has been able to avoid the bad luck monster. While some may say that Kailub will just run away with the title now, don’t forget that Josh Strang has stepped up recently and came from behind to take 3^rd last weekend. Jordan Ashburn has been riding great lately as well, and Andrew Delong looked like he was going to actually close in on Ashburn for 3^rd at The Mountaineer before Strang made his sneak attack.

 

Last Quick Fill I discussed the XC2 points battle that’s shaping up between defending class champ Grant Baylor, and first year XC2 competitor, Ricky Russell. There’s no doubt that Baylor wants to become only the 2^nd rider to ever repeat as an XC2 champion, but Ricky Russell wants that championship as well! The XC2 leaders also sit in 6^th and 7^th in the overall points at the moment as well! It’s been a little while since we’ve seen XC2 riders climb that high into the overall, but the question is, can they break the top 5 like guys such as Kailub Russell and Steward Baylor did in their XC2 days? Thing have switched up a little bit as Ricky Russell has regained the XC2 points lead by 6 points over Baylor. These two have swapped the points lead a couple of times already this season, which has made the XC2 racing super exciting. Trevor Bollinger returned to the podium with a 2^nd place in WV, which has set up him up to hold the 3^rd place points spot a little easier.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for this week! Until next time, Bolt-On out!

@HotRodney22:

The obvious subject line this week has been the talk of the town and though the mishap at the end of the race was spectacular it shouldn't overshadow just exactly what happened at The Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Mountaineer Run GNCC. The race day held unforgettable occurrences that will live in the memories of many for a long time, and again as the crash was not it.

What it was is a day and weekend of epic proportions. XC1 Pro Rookie Jay Shadron experienced the best ride of his career as a pro or amateur. It was quite possibly a turning point in the youngster’s career that could springboard him into contention for podiums and possibly even win in the near future.

Shadron grew up as a part of the GNCC Racin' Nation and quickly accelerated to the front of every division of racing the stepping-stones of GNCC has to offer.  He started in the youth ranks along with his sister who was touted to be one of the he nations up and coming female ATV racers. Actually the entire family spent a season racing in 2007 where each one contended for a championship in their respective divisions. Jays sister Cheyenne was one of these top girls rides literally scoring overall podium position finish in the early morning races. Jay would do huge same eventually following in his big sisters shoes. His mother Jess would fight for wins in the Women Novice and Denny their dad would contend for the Vet A class championship. Jay and Cheyenne both won their titles but mom and dad both finished second. Regardless it built a bond that is as strong today in the family as it was then.

Jay grabbed an amazing hole shot and to everyone's surprise took off and didn't look back until near the Ed of lap two when Chris Borich finally caught up after a 43 second deficit at one point in the lap. Jay said he caught lap traffic and has a lot to learning that department. I spoke with Jay on www.Quad-Raio.com yesterday and he told the whole story. I could feel his excitement and anxiety as the race unfolded and according to him it was his best ride so we've after dropping to fourth by the checkers. He blames the last pass was afforded to McGill because of broken goggles. If you were there or watched on RacerTV.com then you can sympathize with him.

Walker Fowler who went on to win the race in spectacular fashion put another monumental ride forth. Barring the unfortunate get together in the final turn also took away from what Walker put togetherness that day. Walker was experiencing the best of luck it didn't appear in the early part of the race but with a strong will and a lot of heart he was able to make up for his early race struggles and use them for fuel to push his way the front. If you watched the replay on RacerTV then you saw some of the great passing throughout the race and final lap heading to the finish. It was everything any race fan could have wanted and a last lap, last turn pass is one of the most incredible ways to make it happen and both riders fought hard to take the honors and Walker Fowler was able to capture his second win of the season as well feel his place in the middle of victory lane. 

Chris Borich must be commended as well. He too put on one of the best shows of here season coming for behind and putting himself in position to steal yet another win in the closing moments of the he event. Chris does not like it to go down to the final turns but loves a good last lap battle and even though lost the race kept a very respectable and consistent second place which will be as critical to winning the championship as winning the race. As Borich has stated in the past, he likes to win but the big picture is the championship and that is what he is looking for in the end. "It's not about the battle, it's about the war".