Other than that, it’s business as usual here in Morgantown. Well, as normal as can be during the crazy holiday season. As I write this week’s entry, in fact, I am sitting amongst the entire RP crew at some fancy restaurant downtown as we celebrate the holiday season in style with the company Christmas party. We even have a few guest appearances like Jason “WEEGE” Weigandt, Steve “I hate GNCC” Matthes and Jason Thomas, who were in the RacerTV studios all day today shooting preview shows for the upcoming Supercross season. Speaking of special guests, we were lucky enough to have 2011 GNCC Bike Champ Charlie Mullins drop by the office this week so we grabbed him, stuck a mic on his shirt and made him tell us what’s been going on this off-season. Unfortunately for Charlie, things aren’t as progressive as he’d hoped following a double wrist injury earlier in the season. I don’t want to spoil it, so I’ll let you guys listen to what he had to say in a short interview earlier this week.

And the party doesn’t end there. Tomorrow we’re excited to have Thad DuVall inside the RacerTV studio to discuss his 2015 plans. I know a lot of people have been anxiously awaiting Thad’s announcement for next season and it’s probably one of the last true surprises of the “silly season” so stay tuned to see what Bad Thad is going to pull together for next season.

And there goes “last call” for open bar, so I think we’ll end things here for this week. Actually, that’ll end things for this year! We’re off the next couple of weeks for the holidays so I guess I can say, “See you next year!"

He’s Back! (Rodney Tomblin)

You may have read the press releases or even heard the interview but we would like to say welcome back to XC1 Pro Mechanic Broc Booth. Broc was a huge part of the Ballance Racing effort a few years back building engines and quads for both Walker Fowler and Taylor Kiser most recently. The end of the 2012 season was the last time we saw Broc working at the GNCC. A team change for Fowler and Kiser’s step back from GNCC to focus on a more local MAXC series took Broc out of the GNCC completely.

This past fall Taylor Kiser announced his retirement from racing to focus more on the Ballance Family Farm. Taylor married Bill and Brandon Ballance’s sister and now he is a part of the whole operation there. He decided it was time to move on and Broc was left with toolbox and lots of knowledge. He said he tried to take golf back up but it didn’t just feel right so he contacted Brycen Neal and said, “Let’s put a program together.”

Brycen Neal says he has ridden Honda since “I have been riding quads”. He said until Broc phoned he never considered making a change. He also said that Broc Booth was the only reason he would consider switching brands. He did more than consider it and he did it. He committed and went out bought a new machine, which Broc is putting together now. The plans are to start racing some mid-south and other southern races the first week of January to get the feel for it. Brycen said, “I have never had time to just train and my late season results when I focused on training prove a lot and I feel confident that things will be even better next season.”

Broc says he wants to begin testing with Brycen as soon as possible. He is excited to be back and is even more excited to see where they can take the program. Though Brycen has never raced a Yamaha they appear to be a easily adaptable machine and rather bullet proof on the MX and XC tracks. Brycen said he did test ride one once and though he didn’t tell anyone had loved the way it handled. He seems to think that he will be able to make up time from shear handling aspects. Brycen also said, working with Broc will be new but it is something he needs to make the step to the next level and be prepared to stay there.

Brycen said his program has never been like this. He said he used to just show up, race, go home, and go to work. He didn’t have to train or do much to his quad. He said he never tested and his suspension settings never changed from Florida last season through Ironman. I imagine testing alone will accelerate the program and since Brycen is used to winning, don’t be surprised if he gets the confidence for him to be a factor in next year’s championship.

Another Rider Added To The “New Look” List (Jared Bolton)

Another rider who will have a new look is Ryan Sipes. While it won’t be a major change, Sipes will be making the transition from the orange machine to the white/yellow/blue machine. It looks like Sipes will be part of the Airgroup Radiant Husqvarna team and will be the team’s first full-time GNCC effort. Airgroup has supported multiple riders in the National Enduro Series over the past few years and has made occasional GNCC appearances with the likes of Nick Fahringer but this will be their first-time with a rider contesting a full season of GNCC Racing.

Sipes ended the 2014 season with his best finish of the year with a 3^rd place at Ironman. He had been towards the front of the pack all season for portions of the race but just hadn’t been able to put the whole race together until Ironman. Ending the season on such a high note was a pretty big deal for Sipes as that will sit fresh on everyone’s mind coming into 2015. 

With a full season under his belt already Sipes knows what to expect in 2015. If he continues to ride like he did at Ironman, we’ll definitely be seeing Sipes on the podium multiple times throughout the 2015 season. Many expected his Ironman performance to come earlier in 2014 making the transition from the Motocross/Supercross world to GNCC Racing is no easy task, especially coming straight into the XC1 class.

Coiled and Ready (Rodney Tomblin)

One thing is for certain. The past season of GNCC Racing was spectacular on many levels. The obvious championship battle to the end is the highlight, but not far behind all the hustle and bustle and hype and gripe is a world of talent that is starting to be known as the next big wave. Some are veterans, while others are in their early stages of XC1. Then there are the others that are rising through the ranks of the youth and amateur divisions. Many know nothing but winning or fighting for wins, and therefore you can only expect they will carry the same mindset through the ranks and expect the same at that highest level.

One rider that we consider a veteran now at this stage in the game is Jarrod McClure a.k.a. “Sneaky Snake”. McClure has been around several seasons now and each year he earns his nickname by being that rider lying in wait to make a run for a podium at any given time. This past season he scored a podium finish in at least four different rounds and as well posted his career best overall finish ending the season in 4^th. This will also award him the #4 number for in the upcoming season. This is huge for McClure and may not have come at a better time.

Jarrod McClure has been long time supported by a good friend of the entire racing community, Harlen Foley and the folks at ATVRiders.com, and mine. They have been there from the beginning, and through ALL the changes we have seen “Snake” make, and there have been many. He has ridden for factory Polaris a few years under William Yokley then made switches, and more switches. It was if everyone wanted him but no one had what he really needed.  Jarrod is running a familiar program now. It is a program, which he maintains himself more so now, and one that he has built to work best for him. It hasn’t scored a win yet but he is on his way and finishing the year 4^th is monumental when you look at the talent pool today versus even 3 years ago.

Jarrod told me the other day that he was pleased overall with the way things went last season but he wants a lot more than he has been able to produce so far. He said he has pretty much an identical JMR program for next season and that he is focused on what 2015 has to offer. He said there could be a few changes like most have said but mostly he likes the way the program is working and he wants to improve on that. He likes the name “Sneaky Snake” but would much rather be known more as a “Cobra”.

He is currently readying himself like most are at this point to head south after the holidays and train as much as he can. It’s obvious he spends a lot of time in the gym. The weather where he lives in eastern Pennsylvania has not been the best so it he has had a lot of time to get even stronger.

Things to Ponder: XC2 (Jared Bolton)

The XC2 class was added in 2007. Originally open to 125cc 2-strokes and 250cc 4-strokes it was added as a stepping-stone from the A classes to the XC1 Pro class. After a pretty impressive privateer career, Justin Williamson would come away as the first ever XC2 class champion aboard a Factory KTM. In 2008 Thad Duvall showed himself as the one to beat in the class while the inaugural XC2 champ Williamson would only muster up 2 podiums all season.

2008 also saw Kailub Russell transition to the XC2 class and grab his first win in Sparta, Kentucky. Later in the season, another contender made his XC2 debut as Cory Buttrick would wrap up the 4-Stroke A Lites class championship before summer break and give the XC2 class a shot landing on the podium in all 4 of the final rounds.

Duvall would transition straight to the XC1 class in 2009 pegged as the next big thing. However, he spent the next few years struggling to even finish a race.  2009 saw Kailub Russell and Cory Buttrick battle for the XC2 championship but it would be Russell who would come away with the honors. Instead of vying for an XC2 title, Buttrick made the move to XC1 in 2010 while Russell stuck around to defend his title and successfully did so, wrapping up the title 1 round early and becoming the first ever back-to-back XC2 champion.

In 2011 Steward Baylor came away with the XC2 class title grabbing 6 wins throughout the season. Baylor would have a crack at it again in 2012 and looked to be like he would successfully do so until a wrist injury, and then a collarbone injury would bring the title down to the final round. Jason Thomas would end up achieving his goal of coming away with the XC2 title, something he had set out to do 4 seasons prior. 

Unfortunately for Thomas, Grant Baylor would come away with the 2013 XC2 class championship. However, he did so with only 3 wins on the entire season. He stayed consistent but it would be Andrew Delong who claimed the most wins of the season with 7, but an injury mid-season took him out of the championship hunt. Delong and Thomas would both have to move the XC1 for 2014 while Grant Baylor would successfully defend his title and become only the 2^nd ever rider to come away as a back-to-back XC2 champion. 

With Grant making the jump to XC1 in 2015, this leaves the door to XC2 wide open. A new crop of contenders have made their way to the front of the XC2 class with the likes of Trevor Bollinger, Nick Davis, Ricky Russell, Layne Michael and others, we could see a heck of a season out of the XC2 boys in 2015.

Headlines

The 2015 Tentative GNCC rules and classes have been announced. The finalized list will be issued around Christmas.

The 2015 GNCC Schedule has also been announced.

Whats New on RacerTV.com?

Make sure to check out all the archived races and shows online at RacerTV.com during the off-season! Also, don't forget to tune in on Tuesday, Jan 7th for the first episode of The Racer X Show in 2015.