This trip is one of the longer hauls for many GNCC Racing families but like Bolt-On says later in his entry, once you get to Unadilla it’s all worth the trip because the place is awesome. Upstate New York is pretty amazing all in itself but when you add a storied motocross track and facility like this one, plus a TON of racers, it’s almost always a good time.

Like we said last week, hopefully you all pre-registered through the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Fast Track, which should save you some valuable time at the track. You will still need to stop by the registration tent, but if you pre-registered you’ll hop into a special line under the big red tent instead of waiting at the white trailer. That’s where you’ll pick up your helmet stickers and anything else you should need, plus a transponder if you need to rent one. I did hear that we purchased more transponders for this round so we shouldn’t run into the problem of actually running out this year!

Keeping on the subject of this weekend - we will, once again, be streaming the afternoon pro races live on RacerTV.com for those of you who can’t make it to the race. Beginning on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, the afternoon ATV race will be shown live online and the afternoon bikes will be live on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. Both shows will have a little bit of taped coverage from the Youth and Morning classes as well, but this is all about the afternoon classes. You find out more by visiting www.racertv.com and heck, if you’re bored now you can go back and watch coverage from the previous nine rounds right now! Also, don’t forget to watch the most recent episode of The Racer X Show, which is a news and highlight show that covers all types of racing and gives some good insight that you can’t find anywhere else. Click HERE to watch the latest episode of The Racer X Show.

We’ve been hearing that XC1 Pro points leader Kailub Russell might spice things up a little bit and race a KTM 150XC if he indeed wraps up the championship before Ironman and the official PR went out this week confirming that to be true. KR said, “My plan is to ride the bike at the final two GNCC races of 2014, plus to have the initial necessary break-in ride and test session on the bike, therefore it will only have 6-7 hours on the clock.” It’s actually a pretty cool thing he’s doing, to help offset his massive costs involved in attending this year's International Six Day Enduro in Argentina, plus to help fund more ongoing spinal injury rehabilitation for his good friend Rory Mead, Kailub Russell has brought to life this great initiative to raffle off the KTM 150XC, along with a few other great prizes. The list of prizes is as follows: 1st - Full Factory KTM 150XC (build cost $12,155), 2nd - One set of Thor Riding gear (pants, jersey, gloves, valued at $500), 3rd - Choice of a Free DirtWise "Ready to Race" bike rental at a GNCC or Nat Enduro race, or a Free spot in a two day DirtWise Riding school (valued at $400), 4th – A signed Kailub Russell custom #1 race jersey, 5th – A signed Shane Watts custom jersey.

Purchase price of the tickets are $20 for one ticket, $50 for three tickets, $100 for 10 tickets, and are available either in person at the FMF KTM Factory team pit area at the last 4 GNCC races or online at www.shanewatts.com or HERE. The drawing will be conducted on the finish podium at the Ironman GNCC and the raffle is open to all people worldwide, with all five prizes being delivered immediately following the drawing date to the relevant winners. You can read more about the bike, the prizes and the initiative HERE.

We also got an update from Rory Mead as he continues his long journey of recovery. "I am so grateful for the support that I continue to receive - it just spurs me on every time I'm in doing rehab to push myself as far as possible to maximize my recovery. I'm slowly making improvements and progress, and I'm hopeful of being able to walk again one day, but it's still going to be a long and difficult journey to get there."

The latest Rory Mead Recovery video is now available for viewing at www.shanewatts.com.

Well that’s going to do it for me this week. Have a safe trip and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone in New York!

@JaredBolton:

Well folks, this is it. It's time to return to racing. Personally, I'm getting more excited. I'm actually sitting here typing this from New York, so that adds to the excitement level as well. While there's still a little time left before the green flag flies, that time will zip right by before you know it, so you better be ready!

For those of you racing, you're always in for a treat. The Unadilla GNCC is one of the only opportunities an amateur rider has to ride on the same famed Unadilla Motocross track that the pros race for the national. Throw in portions of the amateur "U2" track and of course, the awesome woods that Dilla has to offer, and it's no wonder it's such a popular stop.

The woods always have a great flow to them and the loamy, black New York dirt is always fun to rip up. Of course, it can get rough in spots. The roots become exposed and slick, and the ruts can get deep but that doesn't take away from the fun factor. In fact, it tends to make the track even better. There's not many big hills out in the woods, but the ones that are there can be a bit challenging but plenty of lines open up.

As for what to expect out of the racing action, the focus is definitely now on championship points with just 4 rounds remaining. Kailub Russell has a pretty comfortable lead, while Charlie Mullins actually still sits in 2nd place over Josh Strang. While many may claim that "it's over", nothing is official just yet. However, with the way KR has been riding this year, he really just has to keep doing what he's been doing.

In the XC2 class, Grant Baylor has opened up a little bit of a lead over Ricky Russell. Both of these riders still have the chance to take the title, and while Baylor holds a 17 point lead, that's enough that he's still going to have to stay on top of his game. Trevor Bollinger sits third in XC2 class points and is definitely another guy to keep an eye on. With 1 win on the season already, Bollinger will be hungry to snag another win and podiums before the end of the season.

Last weekend saw the 61st annual Little Brown Jug Enduro in South Carolina. With the start and final section being hosted at Big Buck, Henry Turner's property became the first place to host a GNCC and a National Enduro in the same year. Grant Baylor would come away with the overall win in his home state with Josh Strang putting in an excellent ride for 2nd while Andrew Delong rounded out the podium in third.

Kailub Russell ended up fourth after leading (time-wise of course) early with the section 1 win. It was pretty cool to see some GNCC regulars giving the race a shot as not only did Russell and Strang race but Paul Whibley, Jordan Ashburn, Trevor Bollinger and others all were in attendance as well. It definitely served as a good pre-Unadilla warm up for all of these guys.

Well, I'm heading out into the woods, so that's all I've got for this week. See you out there this weekend; it's going to be a blast!

@HotRodney22:

I don't why I am so surprised and seemingly unprepared, but yep it done went and snuck right up on me. Here it is! Unadilla is staring straight in the face and I am scrambling to get on the road. I actually am on the road at exit 11 in Huntington, West Virginia sitting in an Arby's scribing this week's contribution. And please don't think that I am totally unprepared because I am not, it's just that everything changed yesterday about 4:00 or so. Most of my original plans were scrapped and now I am rolling with a brand new plan. It's all good. We are rolling! 

Now a look at the upcoming weekend and the resumption of the 2014 Amsoil GNCC series by Maxxis. All I can wonder is how much affect the long winless streak of Chris Borich is having on him personally. I realize he is very consistent and he is very strong but with Walker Fowler and Adam McGill being less than 30 points behind him, it has got to carry some weight. I feel that Chris will be on a mission this weekend but with the numbers expected things could go either really well for the 5-time champ or they could go really bad.

The WXC class will be one to watch again this week as far as the morning ATV race is concerned. Angel (Atwell) Knox is showing some considerable momentum as far as results are concerned. She may be positioning herself to I challenge for the title. All I can say is watch this one. 

Another one to watch will the Schoolboy 13-15 A/B class. The young Cody Collier and Westley Wolfe will see challenges from former youth standout Hunter Hart. Hart is yet to win the overall but don't be surprised if doesn't happen at his home race here in Unadilla. Hart is a big part of the WNYOA and it would be a fitting place to bring it all together. But again the number of riders could play a big part in this morning race as well.

The 4x4 Pro class is poised to be a barnburner as well. Bryan Buckhannon, Rick Cecco, Kevin Trantham, Michael Swift, Robert Smith, Jordan Phillips and the rest of the crew will once again wage an all out war in this class. I know the class is not a huge class as far as numbers but what they lack in size they make up for in heart for the race. Each one of these riders have dedicated themselves and a big part of their lives to this sport and winning for them all seems to be the only option. Pull up a chair and get ready to enjoy this one, friend. It shall be epic.