Loretta’s… Finally! (Chelsea Taylor)

Well the time is finally here, and I couldn’t be more excited for Loretta’s! Yesterday I made the trip to my home state of Tennessee, with Jared Bolton and Kayla Olliver. I’m sure you all know who Jared is by now, but if you don’t know Kayla then you definitely should! Kayla works in the office as the online content manager and is the one who is behind making sure all the awesome web articles you read are posted and up-to-date. But anyways, I’ve literally been counting down the days until Loretta’s by providing captions every day for the RacerTV social media accounts as they prepare a daily count down for the National, and the anticipation only grew as every day passed. Now that I’m here I’m ready to watch some of the best amateur motocross racing in the world start on Tuesday!

I hate that we don’t come here for the GNCC series anymore, because the history of this facility just blows me away. I can’t believe I get the opportunity to live on Loretta Lynn Ranch for almost three weeks! If you’re still enjoying your summer break and looking for things to do, then I would suggest you to come down and watch some racing next week! And majority of the team will be staying throughout the season finale of the ATVMX series which is August 8-9 if you’re still looking for something to do!

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to go home and visit with my family and dog. And of course, what would you do on your day off after working all week around dirt bikes and ATVs? Go ride dirt bikes, because that only makes sense! Growing up with a motocross background, I couldn’t help but feel as if I had to get a little more tuned in with my GNCC family, so I went to the Buffalo Mountain Trail in Johnson City, Tennessee. It’s a one-way-in one-way-out trail that was just enough to remind me how much fun it is to be in the woods spending time with family.

Enjoy your week, and I can’t wait until next Thursday’s Quick Fill to tell you all about how my first experience at Loretta’s is going.

The Big Dance (Rodney Tomblin)

As there is still nearly two months to go in the seemingly endless summer break the time has come in our industry for the biggest race any amateur motorcycle racing racer will ever compete. The Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s, and even though this particular race may not have any interests to you possibly, it plays a big role in the GNCC Racin’ Nation. Aside from the fact that nearly the entire GNCC crew is on hand to help in the production of the grand affair there are also a few GNCC names that may pop up on the Loretta Lynn’s roster.

5-Time GNCC Champ Rodney Smith is expected to contend the 50+ class in this year. I caught up with Rodney last year as he made his first ever appearance at the “Big Dance” as a part time rider and full time riding coach and trainer. He stated that he thought since he was already going to support his riders he would give it a shot. When he arrived and experienced what Loretta’s truly is and just exactly how stiff the competition is he said that he would be training to make a return and go for a championship.

Whether or not he is able to pull it off is still to be answered but the likelihood is high as he is an experienced former motocross pro that saw a successful U. S. MX career, multiple Bazillion National MX Championships as well as five Grand National Cross Country championships. He also placed very well last season and wasn’t far off pace so to see him step up his game will not be a stretch to see it happen.

The absence of a GNCC from Loretta Lynn’s recently has been a bit of a letdown in some ways but being able to be here this week is a little bit of consolation. In amongst the time of helping transform the sleepy little ranch into the epicenter motorcycle racing I have had moments to reflect on my past 20 years coming here and the many GNCCs I have spent here since 2002. And even though this week’s race may have the most notoriety the GNCC always seemed to be equally as exciting and carry much of the grandeur in my opinion.

Though the band has stopped playing at the ranch for the GNCC Racin’ Nation it is hopefully only a break between sets before we see a return to the oldest stop on the GNCC schedule. It is quite understandable why we are taking a break as the championship saw over 30 years of racing over the legendary course and it obviously could stand a little rest. One day though, the stage lights will turn back on and the air will fill with the sweet music of GNCC Racing coming home for a reunion and one more date for the “Big Dance” known as Loretta Lynn’s.

Full Battle at Full Gas Sprint Enduro! (Jared Bolton)

Last weekend’s round of the 2015 Full Gas Sprint Enduro season saw probably the closest battle in the young series’ history. While Aussie superstar Daniel Milner has experienced a run of tough luck at this year’s GNCCs, the Full Gas events are closer to the type of racing that he’s used to, and that was evident by last weekend’s event.

After the first day of racing, Milner held a mere 2.7-second lead over Kailub Russell. On day two, KR went to work knowing that he was going to have to work hard to beat out Milner. The two riders swapped test wins throughout the day, and after six tests throughout the day, Milner was able to claim the day two win by one-thousandth of a second! That’s virtually unheard of, and means that if you were to piece that entire race together into one straight line, they would both cross the finish line just a couple of inches apart. 

Not only does this make for good racing, it’s also an excellent opportunity for American riders who will be contesting this year’s International Six Days Enduro. Here in the US we’re used to long, non-stop racing or in the case of American enduro events, long test sections with lots of tight single track.

However, it’s much different in Europe. The races are much faster, and the tests are much shorter. To top it all off, the European riders are scary fast in this type of terrain and these are some of the reasons why the American World Trophy teams have never been able to claim an ISDE overall victory. Last year saw one of the best performances the Americans have ever put in at the ISDE and this year looks even more promising.

With some extra experience under their belt, US World Trophy Team seems to have one of their best shots at claiming gold, while at the same time, the US Junior Trophy team will be looking to claim their second consecutive win. Both teams have their work cut out for them as they’re being challenged against some of the greatest off-road racers in the world, but claiming a win is definitely not impossible.

We’re only about 6 weeks away from this year’s ISDE, so the ones who will be racing are ultimately going to be putting in the time training to be on top of their game when they get to Slovakia. Stay tuned, it will definitely be one to watch! 

A Different Summer (Rodney Tomblin)

It seems like every year we talk about how different things are from one year to the next but honestly we have had some rather extreme weather over the past few years. Everything from dry to wet to hot and cool. The rough winter for many left them hoping to make a recovery through spring and summer but it just doesn’t seem to be working out that way. And yes I realize there have been some areas that have seen close to normal hot and humid conditions but much of the GNCC Racin’ Nation has seen a lot of rain.

As conditions have not been the most favorable and weather forecasts have you constantly second-guessing even heading out to the races it is producing some rather interesting things. I wouldn’t necessarily say the weather has caused the shakeup we have seen in the ATV championship but it has played a bit of a role in it. It has also created some rather calculated riders that display patience that can help in this year’s ISDE. It is possible that this may be the biggest year our series has ever seen as a whole in its 40-year history.

The statements I make some times may seem a little farfetched but I really do have a reason for making some of the statements I do. It comes from patterns; little changes in attitude and ultimately results to reach my conclusions. Admittedly I have been surprised more the past couple of seasons than ever in the past. I have also made more claims of change on the horizon. And again all this has come from what we are witnessing. It comes from the patterns developing with riders striving and reaching new levels. It comes from changes in the attitudes of nearly every pro rider in the pits. It comes from the results and how many riders have stepped up to challenge and how many different riders have found their way to a podium finishes.

In the first few months of 2015 I wrote and spoke about an era of change we were witnessing. I was excited at what possibilities lay ahead. In the meantime I, like many, have gotten wrapped up in the new era and consumed by the excitement and all the new things taking place. As the season of racing approaches the final leg of the championship, what is happening right now is helping to define what the final outcome will be. All in all when the final points are tallied and champions are crowned the surprises we may see could help to prove that even more that this without a doubt is “A Different Summer.”

#ThrowbackThursday (Jared Bolton)

With the beginning of this year’s the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s literally just around the corner, it only seems fitting to take a look back at how this event came to be, and of course a peek back at past GNCC events that have taken place at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch over the years. 

By 1980, Loretta Lynn had established herself as a country music superstar and became known as “the first lady of country music”. 1980 also served as a big year for Loretta, as the movie “Coal Miner’s Daughter” was released, giving an account of her life up to that point. It wasn’t long after that Dave Coombs paid a visit to Loretta’s ranch after fellow race promoter Paul Schlegel stopped to camp on a cross-country trip.

In 1981, North Carolina’s Rolling Hills Cycle Park hosted the AMA Youth Motocross National Championship. The next year, the event would be moved to a slightly more central location for the rest of the United States in the western part of Tennessee, where racers would join on an even playing field to determine a national champion. That location was of course, Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. With Dave Coombs at reins of the event, it would become a huge success almost immediately.

In 1983, Big Dave would bring the Hi-Point 100 Miler Series (the precursor to GNCC Racing) to Loretta Lynn’s Ranch for the first time, and while the series would evolve into GNCC Racing as we know it today, Loretta’s remained a staple of the series for many years. Of course, that much racing at a single venue will take it’s toll over time so in the past few years the series has given the Loretta Lynn’s woods a couple of breaks to heal.

However, over the years both the Amateur National and the GNCC experienced great racing, by some of the greatest racers to ever throw a leg over a motorcycle or ATV. The majority of today’s top Pro Motocross riders came through the ranks of Loretta Lynn’s and some of the world’s greatest off-road riders have raced at Loretta’s at one point or another.

Loretta’s has also seen unique things over the years. In 1984 and 1985, the venue hosted 2 100-Miler events in the same year. More recently, Loretta’s played home to the famous 2011 “bike double header” event after the cancellation of the bike race at the Indy 100 forced Loretta’s into hosting a Friday and Sunday bike race. That was followed up in 2012 by a reverse weekend with bikes racing on Saturday and ATVs on Sunday.

It’s also played a unique spot in multiple riders’ careers. On the bike side, Mike Melton, Jack Penton, Paul Lemon, and Tony Hendon along with ATV racers Patrick Henderson and Chris Hoskins claimed their only GNCC overall victories at Loretta Lynn’s.  Other riders such as Paul Edmondson, Chuck DeLullo and Ricky Matteson claimed their first ever GNCC overall at Loretta’s while Bill Ballance, Kevin Hines, Jeff Russell and Paul Whibley claimed their final GNCC overall wins at Loretta Lynn’s.