Updates From All Around! (Chelsea Taylor)

Hey ya’ll! Since I’ve moved to West Virginia everyone comments on my Southern accent, which I honestly don’t think I have.  But apparently it’s pretty obvious, so I only find it fitting to incorporate the word “ya’ll” into my vocabulary now. The craziness has officially set in for Loretta’s, but don’t think I’ve forgot about the GNCC Racin’ Nation. The second I got back on Sunday from the Unadilla ATVMX National, I had already started the countdown for when I’ll be back in New York for the Parts Unlimited Unadilla GNCC.

This week I bring you some exciting news. The AMA produces the American Motorcyclist magazine every month, and this month one of our very own GNCC family members made the cover! Corey “Bonez” MacDonald is the mechanic for AmPro Yamaha XC1 rider Grant Baylor.  For those of you who just think being a mechanic means turning a few wrenches every now and then, then I suggested you read the article.  It goes into detail about how much time and planning must take place to have a successful team. If you haven’t already make sure to check out the article here.

Last week I talked a little bit about Ryan Sipes instructing at the Minnesota FCA Camp. If you want to know a little more about what goes on at an FCA camp, check out this week’s edition of Tuesday Toolbox.  Chuck LeMaster gets more in depth about FCA Offroad Camps and speaks with a variety of people including camp deans and guest instructors, some of which you may recognize! The Indiana Offroad camp is currently underway, but it’s not too late to sign up for the New York Motocross/Offroad Camp taking place August 24-28. This would be a great way to not only brush up on your woods-racing skills, but also the motocross side of things for when Unadilla comes around in September, because it’ll be here before we know it! 

Anyways, that’s all for me this week.  If you’ll be at Loretta’s make sure to stop by and say hi! 

Dream Season (Rodney Tomblin)

The 2015 GNCC ATV championship has quite possibly been one of the most unpredictable seasons ever. Following what can be considered one of the greatest championship battles in history, this season may be deemed the ‘Dream Season’. But then again, who would have ever dreamed of this type of season? There’s actually a list and though only one of those will completely live the dream, the others sure cannot complain either as many are living out some pretty good dreams even though they may not be contending for the title.

The list of those living dreams may look like this:

• Adam McGill - The most obvious rider that is living a dream season with now a 9 point lead to carry through the summer break. His dream almost turned into a nightmare. While leading the Snowshoe GNCC he got stuck on the last lap only a short distance from the checkers. Dropping to 9th he was able to save the day and point lead. But what is a good dream without a little turmoil to overcome. This not only sounds like a dream but a good plot to a good movie as well.
• Walker Fowler - Another good candidate for a dream season. Walker has accumulated the most wins this season with 4. He currently sits 9 points out of the overall points lead and may be in the best position heading into the final rounds. He is fresh from last season where he was denied the title in the closing moments of the final round. The pressure at this point may seem to weighing in on McGill a little heavier and Walker’s experience may put him in a little more control of his dream.
• Jarrod McClure - There is no doubt that Jarrod is experiencing his greatest season to date. Living up to his nickname as “Sneaky Snake”, Jarrod captured his first win as an XC1 Pro. Lately he has shown great consistency, speed and strength. He is, without a doubt, at a peak level in his career. While it may be a little too late to make an actual challenge for the title, it’s not out of the realm of possibility but it’s going to take both Fowler and McGill having some major issues. Though possible, it is not likely, but Jarrod can sure gain a lot of experience that will put in him great contention in 2016. The confidence gained with his speed and determination has put him in a place he has dreamed of being for a long time.
• Brycen Neal - Another rider who is living a dream season. Brycen has risen to level that not many are able to do so quickly. Brycen has seen a lot of growing pains this season and still sits 4th in points. Regardless how the season ends for him it has been hugely successful. Announcing the move to work with Fowler and Taylor Kisor’s former mechanic may have been the biggest thing in our industry in quite some time. The true fruits of this labor will be recognized more in the coming seasons. As far as Brycen goes, his dream has only just begun.
• Chris Borich - Even though it may be a nightmare for the champ, this is without a doubt a dream season for him. A very bad dream from the outside but is it really as bad as it seems? Results would say “yes” as the lack of consistency this season has all but ended his hopes of 7 straight titles. The upside to this part of the bad dream is that he has the elements to return in 2016 stronger and more ready than ever before. The testing of the new equipment and program with Yamaha has had its struggles but don’t think the dream is over just yet for one of the greatest GNCC racers of all time. The friends network is starting to reach out as his good pal and fellow Yamaha rider Chad Wienen has two aces in the hole for Chris to call upon. They include famous wrench Paul Turner and Elliott Skaggs. Yes, I said Elliott Skaggs; the former Ballance Racing mechanical guru. Both have spoken with and offered services to Borich and it's only a matter of time before things come together for the champ and his new program.

Thomas Wins (Jared Bolton)

So if you’ve paid attention to Quick Fill over the past few weeks, you’ve ultimately read about the Zoo City GP event I put on in Asheboro, North Carolina last weekend. If you missed it, basically it was the usual GP style race with a hybrid mix of motocross, fast flowing trails, optional extreme sections and just a generally fun time!  

It was a bit warm and a little dusty bit I believe everyone who raced would honestly say that they had a great time. I actually heard ZERO complaints, even when I threw everyone a curveball by adding in a short single-track section in the 2^nd motos.

The racing itself was great to watch as well. In moto 1, Jason Thomas jumped out to the early lead but local favorite Trevor Barrett ran him down and made a pass for the lead! Josh Strang would charge through the pack and make his way around Thomas in the final portions of the moto while Nick Fahringer, who is just returning from a knee injury, worked his way through the pack as well. In the end, Barrett would end up coming away with the moto 1 win over Strang and Thomas.

Moto 2 saw a similar story, as Thomas would jump out to the early lead. However, this time it would be Barrett trapped deep in the pack while Strang and Fahringer would hold onto the 2^nd and 3^rd spots, respectively. Barrett would put on a charge but it wouldn’t be enough. In the end, Thomas would claim the overall win with a 3-1 moto score, besting Strang’s 2-2. Barrett ended up going 1-4, which gave him 3^rd overall ahead of Fahringer’s 4-3 moto score, while local motocrosser Josh Thomas put together a solid performance to round out the top 5, even beating some of the top local off-road talent.

All in all it was a great race and I think everyone really enjoyed it. I had a number of people stop me to tell me how much fun they had, and quite a few asking if we were planning on doing another one in the winter. Right now, it looks like we’re going to let the woods heal up a little and hold off until next summer before another one but I’ve already started thinking about a layout for next year’s race! 

The Crossovers (Rodney Tomblin)

It has been mentioned on multiple occasions that we have riders who bridge the gap from GNCC to ATVMX, or vise versa; however you look at it. Each one has been rather successful at both, but experienced some degrees of struggle on occasion. It is really quite surprising how well they do in both series and I thought it would be a good time to report on their progresses.

First let’s start with Jordan Digby. As a youth rider, Jordan may have started a trend amongst some of the riders that we may actually see more of in the future. Jordan had hoped to be the first rider in GNCC and ATVMX history to win a national title in both disciplines. Injury plagued seasons have all but squashed his hopes. However, he keeps trudging along and is really making a name for himself in the GNCC world. It has been said that Ronnie Rusch may fear Digby in a head to head matchup on solid equipment more than anyone on the trail. The equipment issue may be the only thing at this point holding him back. One has to think that if Jordan ever gets the mechanical end of things working he may be the biggest threat in both disciplines. The interesting part of the Digby story may still be yet to come. Once he is able to mount a 450 the whole ballgame may change and he may one day have to choose which title he wants to win the most and focus on only one. But then again he could be the first to win in both elite Pro championships. The biggest obstacle for Digby right now is to get the right support to help to that point. It’s hard to believe he doesn’t have more support because he may be a four-wheeled prodigy yet to be recognized.

Then there is the lovely Megan Manshack. Megan is the Mtn. Dew ATV Motocross Nations Women class champion. She recently wrapped up her 2nd consecutive title and continues to find her way on the trails of the GNCC. Megan was introduced to the woods life by her fiancé, Luke Shepard, who is also a crossover rider. He now only races XC2 in GNCC but is quite fast on the moto track as well. Megan started racing GNCC and has found a real challenge. She is excited and frustrated at those challenges, as she had hoped to see better results but says that those are coming and she hopes to soon be competing for podiums and wins.

One cannot talk about success and crossing over without talking about the young phenomena of Westley Wolfe. Westley showed great speed and promise in the youth divisions. As he has matured to the 450 he has delivered with a vengeance. Not in one or the other but in both. Consistently, week after week. He currently leads the GNCC College A class and sits as the Top Amateur at 18th overall in GNCC standings. As far as his ATVMX credits are concerned, he is a top contender in both the 450 A and Production A classes. He currently leads the Production A by 7 points and trails in the 450 A class by 6. It’s not a bad place to be in and judging from most recent successes he is on the upswing in both disciplines and may very well be the first ever crossover champion. And if all goes well he may be able to add a cherry to the top of all that because he may win three total national championships! Did someone say “AMA ATV Rider of The Year”? If they didn’t, they should.

Things to Ponder (Jared Bolton)

Since we’re still 9 weeks or 65 days or 1,560 hours or 93,600 minutes 5,616,000 seconds from going racing at Unadilla, there’s plenty of time to think and plenty of things to think about before we return to racing. A big question on everyone’s mind is, can anyone step up and win against Kailub Russell? What’s interesting is no rider has ever claimed more than 9 GNCC overall victories in a single season. If KR snags just 2 more wins, that’s yet another record he will be able to break.

This means, 2015 could be a record-shattering year. If KR claims the National Enduro title, in addition to the GNCC title he will become the first rider to claim both titles in the same year, while at the same time, he and his dad Jeff will become the first-ever father-son duo to claim National Enduro titles. Additionally, if KR claims just 2 wins in the final 4 rounds, he will hold the record for most overall wins in a single GNCC season. It’s pretty cool to see this happening because it literally is history in the making.

KR isn’t the only one looking to make history. While the championship is far from over, Jason Thomas holds a solid lead in the XC2 class. If he is able to claim the title, he will become only the 3^rd rider to claim a 2^nd XC2 title (Kailub Russell and Grant Baylor are the only two who have done that so far). He would also become the only rider to claim non-consecutive XC2 title.

Of course, the 2-wheeled guys aren’t the only ones who stand to make history this year. Chris Borich has claimed the previous 6 GNCC ATV titles. However, it looks as if his championship hopes for this season are out of reach. This means it’s more than likely that we’re going to have a first-time champion but the big question is, who will it be?

Adam McGill has had his best season yet. While many expected Walker Fowler to be the one to beat this season, McGill stepped up and has held the points lead throughout most of the season. Fowler has stepped up in the previous rounds and has now shrunk McGill’s lead to just 9 points. Not only does this set these guys up for a championship battle down to the wire, but it’s also history in the making as we have the making of a first-time champion on our hands.

For both riders, it’s also significant for their brands. Yamaha has not claimed a title since Bill Ballance’s last title in 2008. While throughout the 90s and early 2000s, ATV riders custom built their machines out of older models, Honda has not been credited with a GNCC ATV title since Bob Sloan’s 1992 title. While the title is up for grabs, and it’s hard to say who will come away with the championship, one thing that’s for certain is that the final four rounds promise to be some of the best racing all season.

More Things to Ponder (Jared Bolton)

While the focus may be on the front of the XC1 and XC2 packs, there’s plenty of other contenders who have the chance to step up and contend for race wins and podium finishes. It’s a tall order, but there’s been multiple riders in both classes to show that they’re able to run with the championship contenders.

Grant Baylor has been on a tear throughout the 2015 season. Grant’s season seemed to start out slow but once he found his groove, he began landing on the podium and even contended for race wins on occasion. This, coupled with Josh Strang’s injury has pushed Grant into the #2 spot in the championship point standings. Speaking of Strang, his shoulder injury put a damper on his championship hopes. After attempting to race in New York, Strang realized that the injury would take longer to heal, so Strang sat out the last 3 rounds before summer break. However, Strang looks to be healing well and we very well could see him back to his normal self when we return to racing at Unadilla.

Another rider who has had a stellar 2015 season is Thad Duvall. Thad has ran in contention for race wins multiple times throughout the season and has landed on the podium 5 times throughout the season thus far. Thad claimed his first ever GNCC win at Unadilla in 2012, so he’ll definitely be one to keep an eye on there. Chris Bach has also had an excellent 2015 season and still stands as the only rider to claim a win against Kailub Russell thus far. Bach also made the trek to Belgium to try his hand at the World Enduro round there last weekend finishing a solid 12^th place against some of the world’s top talent in a format he’s not used to.

Of course, one rider that has really stepped up lately to establish himself as a true contender is that of Ryan Sipes. After a tough start to the season, Sipes began landing on the podium including back-to-back 2^nd place finishes. While Sipes day ended early at Snowshoe, he has ultimately set himself up as a favorite to claim an overall win. Of course, that won’t come easy as all of these guys, in addition to Kailub Russell, all want the chance to win.

They’re not alone either as the guys of the XC2 ranks are just as hungry for race wins of their own. Jason Thomas still leads the class points, but the championship isn’t over. After missing 2 rounds due to an injury, Ricky Russell sits 2^nd place in XC2 class points. However, he only holds a 2-point lead over Craig Delong in third. Delong has been Mr. Consistent throughout the 2015 season, and even though Craig did have 2 bad rounds, throughout the rest of the season he has consistently been inside the top 5, and even landed on the podium with a 2^nd place at the Limestone 100.

Layne Michael has had a slightly up and down season but has definitely seen more ups. Layne has been on the podium 3 times in 2015 and has set himself up as another rider to contend for class wins. He’s not alone either, as Trevor Bollinger has also had a decent 2015 season. While Bollinger may not view his season as going the way he has hoped, it still looks good on paper. Bollinger has been able to come away with 4 podium finishes in 2015, including 2^nd place at Snowshoe.

With the XC1 and XC2 classes chocked this full of talent hungry for race wins, the final four rounds promise to be pretty interesting as everyone will be looking to improve even further before the season ends! 

#ThrowbackThursday (Jared Bolton)