Weekly Updates (Chelsea Taylor)

Whew! Maybe it’s just me, but the holiday season just flew by this year! I was lucky enough to spend Christmas in New York City with my parents. It was our first time ever going up there, and it was just simply amazing. If I know my mom well enough, she’s probably already planning another trip!

With Christmas right after the banquet we didn’t really have that much time to recap on the banquets. Between the rider’s meetings, workshops, awards and dancing it was a great two days and hopefully you feel the same.

The TENATIVE 2016 classes and rules can be viewed by clicking HERE. These are TENATIVE and open for public review until tomorrow, January 1. If you have any questions or comments please forward them to [email protected]. The FINAL classes and rules will be announced this coming Monday, January 4. 

The 2015 season was the most successful season ever in GNCC Racing, but now we are about to enter an all-new year and it’s time to have another record setting season. Between the amount of racer entries and television views, GNCC Racing continues to grow.

However, with the great successes and positive memories that we all witnessed over the last year, the racing community also experienced great sadness with the loss of a few very special people. Once again, we say God Speed to a few of our close racing family members: Gene Fiorini, Perry Gunther, Patricia Johnston Gibbs, Willis Tomblin and Aimee Edwards, who were all taken much too soon.

Have a great and safe New Year’s Eve, and I’ll be back with more updates next year!

A New Day Dawns? (Rodney Tomblin)

As the year comes to a close, this is a time we often take a moment to reflect for on what the past 12 months have given us. A year ago we had ideas, dreams, schemes and plans of making it a better year. Many experienced exactly that while others may reflect on things a little differently, but overall most can say that this past year was one of the best in our sport and honestly it looks like we may be heading for yet another amazing year ahead.

As we look ahead we begin to ponder the possibilities of what the future holds. One thing is certain, and that is the field on both the four-wheel and two-wheel sides of things give us lots of hope for a competitive and highly unpredictable season ahead. The talent pool is getting even deeper all the way around and each race day should reflect exactly this. So as far as predicting what will transpire this year is going to be a total shot in the dark because there are way too many variables heading into this season.

The four-wheeled side of competition has seen some big things brewing for the past few years and we saw the fruits of labor being harvested by several riders. The obvious is Walker Fowler, but it doesn’t stop there. A look through the ranks seen many advancements this past season including Adam McGill, Jarrod McClure, Brycen Neal and Cole Richardson. These young men in particular saw some major gains in their programs this year and each one will be slated to be ones to watch come round one in Florida.

You many notice that I did not mention Chris Borich in the past statement and the reason is that he belongs in a little different category. As we all well know there were a number of huge changes for Chris this past season. It may possibly one of his most challenging years on and off the track ever and by all accounts you would not even noticed. Yes, you noticed he was not winning races and that he struggled on the Yamaha but realistically it was a far more productive and prosperous year than we may know.

Chris decided to make the brand switch with only days heading into round one this past year. He had been riding the blue machine basically during the off season but was not planning on making any changes so he really wasn’t prepared to make such a switch in a short amount of time. All this said and looking at the results, it’s obvious it was not the best choice he could have made but it may have paid off bigger on a personal note than anyone even realizes. As the pressure for the championship subsided he could focus on some things off track and take care of some pretty important things.

Ultimately it was a win-win situation for Yamaha when Chris joined the forces. If Chris did well they won a championship. If something happened and he didn’t do well then there was a good chance that Walker would win. The big question now is what will Chris Borich ride in 2016? According to Chris at the banquet there had been no response or negotiations with them yet and he would likely be exploring other avenues. In a nutshell I think we may see Borich back out on the Suzuki but then again that is no guarantee either.

The uncertainty of Chris and what he is going to ride next season weighs heavy in the backs of everyone’s mind but their confidence is also high at the moment so the “Borich Barrier” to win appears to no longer exist. If it does or does not this season will see even more intensity as so many riders feel and are capable of winning.

With this being pondered, one may wonder did we jump the gun a little by saying we have reached a “New Era of GNCC Racing?” The answer to that no matter if Chris Borich comes back to claim another or even more titles is “no.” We did not jump the gun because no matter how you look at it the face of GNCC ATV racing has changed dramatically in the past five years. It has evolved to now that there are only remnants of the past still with us. Among Chris the ranks are getting thin as far as some of the “old school talents” are concerned. The old schoolers now will include Adam McGill, Jarrod McClure and Johnny Gallagher. That’s a very short list honestly and a true sign of the times and that “Yes” we have begun this much talked about “new era” of GNCC.

Get used to and say hello to the future being led by new champ Walker Fowler with names like Richardson, Shadron, Wolfe, Collier and many more to follow. It’s only the beginning of the invasion but thankfully for the fans they still must fight to earn their places and each one is coming with something new and better than the one before. As the new season dawns things are more unpredictable than ever and we as a racing nation are blessed to be where we are in our sport. To everyone that makes this all possible, from the Racer Productions staff to the first time 50cc riders, I say thank you for making my life so full and exciting.

Happy New Year! Stay safe, strong and happy. Till next time, God Bless Your Heart and All Your Vital Organs.

GNCC Racing Nation New Year's Resolutions! (Jared Bolton)

We posted on social media asking the GNCC Racing Nation what their New Year's Resolutions are and got a ton of a great answers. It was kind of tough to pick some of the best ones, but here's a few good ones that we'll share.

Facebook:
Aaron Hendon: Go to church more, do better, be a better person, help more people, and try to plan ahead better.

Andrew Cais: Next year I am going buy back 20 years and ride as fast as Kailub Russell! LOL

Jason Rood: Build the quad, get faster, eat better, and make better line choices.

Instagram:
@bneal_5: "I will give it more gas this year over the Powerline mud hole jump"
- Unfortunate victims claimed by the infamous hole.

@a_france983: Stay committed to the gym all year

@hawkins537: Since Damien don't have a Instagram, he says "to never give up, make every lap count, and hope to finish in top 3 every race this season"

@j.mills78: To stopping being a squid.

#ThrowbackThursday (Jared Bolton)

In honor of the "finish" of 2015, here's a special finish line edition of #ThrowbackThursday!