But that should all be behind us now, so let’s get to the stuff we’re all here to read about, talk about and maybe even learn about. First off, how crazy was Unadilla?! That event just keeps getting bigger each year and you can’t help but wonder where all the riders come from! Well I guess we do know where they come from, or at least where they race a majority of the season and that’s with the Western New York Off-Road Association or WNYOA as we all know it. It’s amazing to talk to the Youth riders on the podium and find out how many of them are seriously battling it out for WNYOA championships right now. It’s pretty crazy because a lot of riders were fighting for a position in both series, so there were races within races, within races out there.  So once again, huge props to the WNYOA folks for all that they do. New York off-road racers are a pretty unique and intense crowd and we love it!

With that being said, we’re proud to announce that the Unadilla GNCC once again broke the series record for rider attendance with 2,076 unique ATV and motorcycle entries this year, which is an incredible amount of riders. I understand that the woods were a bit congested due to the large number of riders out there at once, but after talking to many of the racers afterwards it seemed like they dealt with lapped traffic as just another crazy element of the race. But hey, no one ever promised GNCC Racing would be easy! While Unadilla didn’t necessarily throw any treacherous obstacles out there, it was extremely rough and taxing on the body, but it also added the element of strategy back into the mix.

We’ve seen big numbers of Micro 50cc machines at the Unadilla GNCC but this year was by far the largest of them all! The ATVs had 28 entries and the bikes had an astonishing 62 riders, which also ends up being pretty wild when it comes to hand scoring each individual machine. If you have a Micro rider, you already know that there were some pretty major issues with scoring and to my knowledge it was a combination of things that caused it to go haywire: registration issues (some on GNCC end, some on rider end), incorrect helmet tags and duplicate numbers that weren’t caught in the system. I believe things are all sorted out with scoring, but if you have any discrepancies, please email [email protected] and they are doing their best to quickly fix the issues. On a good note, Micros will now be using transponders for scoring so if you plan on attending the Mountain Ridge GNCC next weekend, please keep that in mind! It sounds like most of the riders have them already through other series, but don’t forget to bring it with. Also, GNCC is prepared to present the OVERALL ONLY #1 championship plates at Somerset, being the final round of the six-race Micro 50cc championship. There will be a #1 plate for the overall ATV finisher, as well as the overall bike finisher in the Micro disciplines. 

On that note, there’s a good possibility that Kailub Russell will clinch the XC1 Bike National Championship at the next round, so make sure you’re around on Sunday afternoon to watch it all go down! There will be #1 plate presentations for the Youth overall winners, 4x4 Pro, WXC and then XC1 and XC2 on both sides. The rest of the classes will receive their class championship plate at the Awards Banquet in November.

The 4x4 Pro class championship has been intense all season long and this is one that will most likely come down to the final round in Indiana. Bryan Buckhannon has a seven-point lead over Kevin Trantham with three rounds to go. Both Buckhannon and Trantham have three race wins apiece, along with three other riders who have at least one win behind them including Rob Smith, Jordan Phillips and the newest addition to the winner’s circle Michael Swift. There is so much talent in this class and it’s been awesome to see them all battle for really the first time ever in GNCC Racing. From the sounds of it, Unadilla may have been one of the most exciting yet, as the top five guys were all together and battling for the lead on the final lap. But it was Factory Polaris/Team UXC Racing’s Michael Swift who swept past the entire group to capture his first win. It was so cool to see how excited Michael was to finally get that win he’s been looking for all season long. For as long as I’ve been involved in GNCC, I always remembered Michael as a Can-Am rider and he was pretty darn dialed in on the yellow machine. But for 2014, Michael decided to make a big change in his program and with the support from Polaris, switched over to the blue machine. As with any new program, Michael experienced some hardships just getting things dialed in to his preference. Things started off rocky with a couple finishes outside the top five, but after an entire summer of racing and riding, Swift and the team got a few things figured out and put it in the center of the box! I know Michael was bummed that his wife and son couldn’t be there to celebrate but other than that he was absolutely ecstatic and I couldn’t be happier for him. It’s a big win for him and Polaris, so congrats to everyone involved! I can’t wait to see how the class championship pans out, I have a feeling it’s going to get good!  

Shane Watts dropped a quick note that he will be conducting a DirtWise one-day race technique class the Saturday before Somerset at their Romney, West Virginia location, which is situated about one hour south of the Mountain Ridge GNCC venue. They will be focusing on all of the skills and techniques to master Sunday's demanding racetrack so as to optimize the performance and results of the students in attendance. Currently they only have five spots remaining in this class, so reserve your spot now! Interested students can visit www.shanewatts.com to sign up or they can email [email protected] for more info.

We’ve had a lot of inquiries about the Ironman GNCC and whether or not it will be pink this year for Breast Cancer Awareness and the answer is yes! Start ordering those graphics, get that gear done up pink and let’s raise some money for breast cancer awareness!

That’s going to do it for me this week. Enjoy your weekend, whatever it is you choose to do, and we’ll see you in the great state of Pennsylvania soon! 

@JaredBolton:

And we're back! I think most everyone will agree that Unadilla is a heck of a way to kick off the last part of the season and this year was no different. It was awesome to yet again break the attendance record, and to break the 2,000 mark is incredible.

I'm sure those of you who raced are saying "there were a ton of people out there" and after jumping in and riding a few sweep laps for the youth and morning races, I agree. It seemed like every time I stopped to help someone or ask if they needed a tow, I had to wait my turn to get in between riders and not hold up anyone's race.  It also stood out in my mind that it got rough out there, really rough. I have to give a ton of respect to anyone who raced but especially to those in the afternoon bike race because by the last sweep lap I did in the morning there were some whoops that seemed to be bike-deep.

I'm sure almost everyone has already seen the racing action either in person, on video or have at least seen the results so we all know that Kailub Russell yet again put in a dominating ride to lead wire-to-wire for the overall win. However, it was the battle behind KR that brought on a lot of attention. Thad DuVall, Josh Strang, Chris Bach and Andrew DeLong all battled through most of the 3-hour race, and stayed within a few seconds of each other for a good portion of the day.

What really stood out in my mind was how aggressive DuVall seemed to be riding. The track was routed around the Sky Shot jump due to safety but DuVall still managed to clear it, twice. And how so do you ask? Well, when I took a closer look at the track, Thad was basically hitting this one little kicker and using it to clear the whole jump. While that sounds like it's not a huge deal, you'd just have to see how small it really was to know how impressive it is.

Now of course with the win, Kailub Russell has extended his points lead. While it's still not completely locked up, KR pretty much just has to finish and he'll have it locked up soon. I haven't done the exact math yet but he's pretty darn close. Even though he's missed 3 races, Charlie Mullins still holds 2nd in the overall points. From the sound of things, we may see Mullins back in action at Mountain Ridge as he's officially started back riding. Or maybe he'll wait for the final 2 rounds like I had heard previously. Regardless, Charlie will be back before the end up the season!

Speaking of the end of seasons, the National Enduro series will come to a close for 2014 this coming weekend. Andrew DeLong has a 22-point lead coming into this final round with Jesse Groemm in 2nd. If DeLong continues to ride like he has here in the past few months, then he's definitely taking his first ever National Enduro championship. However, a little bad luck and Groemm could sweep in to take the title. Should be interesting to keep an eye on!

Well, that's all I've got for this week. As always, if you have any cool stories to share or Tuesday Toolbox interview ideas, drop me a line at [email protected]

@HotRodney22:

As long as the summer break seemed to drag on, the return to GNCC may have zipped by even faster. All I can say is “what a weekend!” Another amazing turnout of participants and fans made for another monumental race at the legendary Unadilla Valley Sports Center. It was without a doubt everything and more folks expected it to be.

As this historical facility celebrated 45 years of racing, we celebrated the 10^th running of the Unadilla GNCC. As I realized this over the weekend it really took me back to the very first ever GNCC there. It was a little overwhelming thinking back over the years and how much GNCC has changed since then. A number of names have come and gone in the last decade. There has been a variation of weather from cold and rainy to beautiful and sunny and many days in between. There have record-breaking attendances along with epic battles that have made stars out of local heroes.

Do you recall “The Ghost of Unadilla” and “Batman” by any chance? I honestly never learned the name of “The Ghost” for fear of ruining the whole mystique of it all for myself. “Batman” on the other hand is Ben Bouwens whom is well known from the area and has made a name for himself as a strong starter grabbing or nearly grabbing hole shots from the XC1 Pro row in an open faced helmet and coveralls. He nearly did it again this weekend but was edged out by All Balls Hole Shot King Paul Whibley. It was very close though.

A lot of my memories though stemmed from the fact that it was the first year I worked with RacerTV. It was basically in its infancy and was being aired on OLN or Outdoor Life Network. I remember a number of folks were very skeptical if it would be the right fit as a channel. As time wore on the channel eventually became known as Versus Network and eventually known now as NBC Sports Network. Looking back now, I feel even though no one certainly saw the whole NBC thing coming it was recognized that it was growing in the right direction and was the perfect platform to mold a show that would intrigue and capture the masses. It worked and I feel that on any given weekend that you visit a GNCC it has become what it is due in part to those moves made way back in 2005.

The past two seasons have actually seen live event coverage on RacerTV.com, which has been what I like to call “Globe Casted” to the world literally. If you think about all the potential this actually has then you may realize just how far things have come in the 10 years of Unadilla GNCC. Not only can select cable and satellite users have it beamed straight into their homes via the TV but now nearly anyone in the world able to receive cell phone service is likely to have capabilities to watch it right on their phones, computers, tablets and such. I guess one could say now that “the whole world is watching.”

What the world watched this past weekend was yet another step toward the most epic battle for a GNCC ATV title in quite some time. Walker Fowler posted his fourth victory of the season and again started reeling the points gap back in. What was only 7 points before Snowshoe turned into 24 points difference when Fowler experienced issues in West Virginia. Theoretically Chris Borich should still be able to win his sixth title but with occurrences of late, it is becoming more and more of a possibility that Walker may actually get his first title if only a few things can happen in his favor. The biggest would be that Walker continue to win and Chris finish off the podium which is something rarely ever done by Chris Borich.

Chris Borich stated he was running a brand new quad this past weekend and that it was a little stiff and the rough conditions made for an even bigger challenge. The important thing for Chris is that he is doing exactly what he needs to do to win. Consistency is key from here on out. Chris seems to always finish strong even if he doesn’t win but he does have one race scoring no overall points and if he does this again, the championship will certainly be in jeopardy. Chris is a five time champion and most likely he knows what needs to be done and can make it happen. The flip side of that though is that he has never been this challenged or even this tight in points at this point in the season since his reign began. Are the winds of change blowing? Is Chris Borich looking the possibility of defeat in the face and what exactly will that mean for us as race fans as the rest of the season plays out? My answer is, “It’s all going to be good!” No matter how it ends after the Ironman, we the race fans will have been treated to one of the best GNCC ATV seasons in a long, long time.