Updates From The Woods Of Florida (Jared Bolton)

So I’ve spent the past few days riding around Barry Hawk’s creation of a track in Florida and I have to say, those of you racing are in for a treat! There’s definitely a little bit of something for everyone. There’s fast, flowing open trails, some tighter technical trails, a little bit of fast grass and more. Of course there’s a few mudholes that are typical of any Florida race course but there’s easy ways around, or if you take your time to look at them, you’ll find a good line through.

It’s definitely the type of place where you want to make sure you follow the arrows, and stay with your machine ON course if you break down because there’s a lot of land, and a lot of it all looks the same. So far it seems like everyone who has spent some time in the woods tends to agree that it’s kind of difficult to know exactly where you are in the woods because everything looks very similar. So, if you’re not familiar with the property and experience a mechanical issue, your best bet is to stay on course.

A few times over the winter I’ve mentioned that there’s a mix of sand and black sand with topsoil mixed here, which is definitely the case but there’s also a bit more beach type sand than I realized. It’s sort of similar to the sand we had at River Ranch with some black dirt mixed in as well. What does this mean? Well, it means a lot of fun because that type of sand is a lot of fun for really throwing your machine into the corners.

It also means that it will get a little rough as the race wears on, so hopefully everyone has been putting in the work off the bike this winter as well. It’s also been in the 80s the past couple of days, so it’s hot. However, it looks like it’s going to cool off a little bit for the weekend and we’ll see some pretty awesome temperatures, so that’s an added bonus!

Memories of Rodman Plantation (Rodney Tomblin)

I started announcing GNCC in the mid 1990s on an occasional basis but it wasn't until 2002 that I began as a regular voice assisting Mr. John Ayers. My first trip to Florida was to say the least, rather memorable one as it was the last time we raced the Kirton Ranch GNCC, which has since became one of legend. I don't know that I have ever witnessed sand whoops as deep as those were in 2002. The next year we moved north closer Daytona Beach and Bike Week, which is close to where we will be this weekend at the Rodman Plantation for what use to be called the infamous “Hurricane GNCC” now known as the Wild Boar GNCC.

The "Hurricane" lived up to its name, as I witnessed the most flooding I have ever seen during a race. I literally waded around the pits in near knee-deep water calling the race. It was crazy and certainly made for many memories and stories I still hear this day. The most memorable for me though was that I had "lost" my keys and searched and searched for hours in the water and muck. I started to get hot so I took off a sweatshirt and wouldn't you know it they were around my neck the entire time. I still laugh about that and I still remember where I stood when it happened. 

A lot of water so to speak has passed under the bridge since those days but here we are back to what is one of the more memorable events for me. The last time we were here Bill Ballance was going for title number five and Barry Hawk was wearing the #1 after capturing his 8th historic GNCC ATV title. Both won that day. Bill battled with Florida’s Gregg Trew, William Yokely, Bryan Cook and yes-even Chris Borich who was believe it or not on a Yamaha and took 4th that day. 

Last week the news finally broke on something I have been hyping all winter nearly. It was to the point where folks were getting sick of hearing about it, but come on that's pretty big news and we needed something to talk about and that was the biggest thing going on at the time. I let it die for a while and wondered if it would ever be announced or if would be a shock announcement at the track, but last week the news came and I for one am excited at what this does for the sport and Chris himself.

A look at the results show that along with Chris Borich, Johnny Gallagher is the only XC1 Pro that line up on that day that is still racing. Those guys have been training hard again and I have to think that with both Johnny and Chris riding Yamaha and the most experience this could pay huge dividends for Johnny and maybe we see him on the podium here to kick of 2015.

Anyway, my memories of this plantation are many. Even though we return to the Palatka and the Rodman Plantation we are a couple miles down the road from the original pits area and the track is laid out in a different place as well. Looking at the forecast it appears we should not have to worry about a flood this year as the temps will be in the near 70 and Florida sunshine should rain down this year. Have fun and enjoy. If you can't make it, don't forget GNCCLive on RacerTV.com.

Last Bit Of Off-Season Racing! (Jared Bolton)

Last weekend saw some more opportunities to get in some last minute race time before Florida, and there were quite a few who took advantage of the opportunity to get out and race. The big one of the weekend was the Sandlapper National Enduro in South Carolina. Some rain in the area made conditions a little interesting but the racing itself was still pretty intense.

Andrew Delong put together a solid day of racing and ended up coming away with the win. Kailub Russell had a solid ride too, but struggled in a couple of sections. However, he was still able to come away with 2^nd place, which also was enough to give Kailub the National Enduro points lead.

The first two National Enduro rounds were supposed to be a deciding factor if Kailub will contest the rest of the National Enduro season or not, and with the points lead it sounds like he’ll be giving it a shot. This presents a few interesting possibilities. First, if Kailub were to claim the National Enduro title, and the GNCC title in the same year, he’d become the first rider to do so. Also, if he comes away with the National Enduro title, Kailub and Jeff Russell would become the first father-son duo to claim championships.

The other race of the weekend was the first round of the 2015 Mid-East Hare Scramble championship, which was also in South Carolina, and actually just a few miles up the road from where the National Enduro was held. So, that means this race also saw some wet and sloppy conditions but from what I’ve heard, everyone still really enjoyed themselves out on the track. Ricky Russell ended up coming away with the overall win there ahead of Scott Grills and local hero Trevor Barrett.

Warming Up for the New Season (Rodney Tomblin)

I have talked with several folks lately about the pre-season training they have been experiencing. It seems that some of the 4x4 and Side-By-Side teams have been bus. I spoke with the Wicked Built #591 team with Treavis Poynter and he has been busy already running races. They took the win at the recent Winterfest race in North Carolina. Treavis has teamed up with BP McGuire in the Wicked Bilt/Crash Addicts Can Am Maverick. He said it was a great warm up for the opening round of GNCC in Georgia and could prove to be one to beat. 

Don Higbee and his team have been busy. Don said that the "We had an exciting year last season, winning both the SCORE World Desert Title and the Best in the Desert title. As well as a good first year in GNCC Pro, [and] Kevin Trantham is on board with Factory Polaris this year with me and Michael Swift on the UXC/Factory Polaris team." Wait a minute! Did he say Kevin would be on a Polaris? This should be interesting!

Don’t forget this year we will be live on RacerTV.com. Make sure you tell your friends and don't forget you can relive it all from last year as it has all been archived for your convenience.

#ThrowbackThursday (Jared Bolton)