Weekly Updates (Chelsea Taylor)

January, oh January… The New Year has also brought a new season, winter. I wasn’t quite sure if winter was ever going to make its appearance. However, it is definitely here now, and when the snow comes, the racers migrate south.

There have been quite a few GNCC racers who have made their way to Florida to start training for the 2016 season. Johnny Gallagher, Chris Borich and Kenny Shick teamed up with some fellow bike racers including Kailub Russell and Layne Michael down in Florida for some training including road biking, and of course go-karts. Probably the neatest aspect of their trip is seeing them ride with four-time ATVMX champion Chad Wienen. It’s just awesome to see ATV racers and bike racers from different series get together and train.

Just two days ago Johnny and Chris tried their hand and two-wheeled riding with Jesse Ansley and Chris Bach. And who knows, maybe we’ll see Chris Borich race on Sunday one day after seeing Johnny’s hashtag #ChrisIsAFreakOn2Wheels.

If you weren’t able to attend the banquet, but still want your trophy and contingency click HERE to fill out the correct form. You’ll be responsible for covering the shipping which has been running around $15-20. The deadline to submit your request is February 1.

More Randomness With Rodney (Rodney Tomblin)

Another week gone, and another week closer to finding myself heading to Florida. Daytona Bike Week brings so much for our industry with the many forms of motorcycle racing taking place. It is even growing into an ATV related affair in some instances with the addition of ATVSX and of course the long standing GNCC ATV racing that has been a part for so many years, and now come the UTVs. Yes, that's right, UTV racing will take place in the sands of Florida and the Wild Boar will be the kick off to that.

We all know that Florida is an obvious hot bed for preseason training and this year the ATV and UTV community will have an extra opportunity to get warmed up. A long time motorcycle motocross racer, Dean Dyess, who is sort of a legend in Florida motocross has opened a track and is hosting the first ever Spaceport Cycles UTV/ATV Challenge. I first spoke with Dean at the Winter Olympics when the event was still in the early planning stages and it sounds like he is really excited to offer such an event. It will take place February 27^th and 28^th at Orlando MX Park in Orlando, Florida. In a nutshell according to the information released “The first annual Spaceport Cycles UTV/ATV Challenge is a very unique event that involves ATV and Side by Side racing on an action packed high flying motocross track. There will be awards, giveaways and a $2,000.00 purse for each Unlimited Open UTV and Unlimited Open ATV class.” It's a great addition and will certainly give you more incentive to make the trip.

Last week I mentioned the arrival of the Bonzi Racing team to GNCC. I have a few details and one of the coolest is who will be there XC1 rider. The information the boys from Bonzi gave me was Jerry Robin. Some of you are asking yourself right now who that may be, many may recognize the name but many more may not.

Jerry Robin may have one of the coolest stories of any rider out there. A few years ago Jerry qualified and raced Loretta Lynn’s in one of the highly competitive B classes. Jerry’s experience was chronicled in the Red Bull video series Road to Loretta’s that told the story of a young rider whose dream was to race Loretta Lynn’s. Unfortunately, Jerry’s main bike suffered significant mechanical failure and would the repair costs were very high. Jerry still managed to qualify but the amazing thing was is that he qualified through, and raced a 1985 CR250. He didn't win the title but he rode well and competitive enough to actually land a few sponsorships that took him to the next levels. Jerry was offered the opportunity to race GNCC and though he may not have very little off-road experience, he should be a quick learner and it will be fun to watch his progress.

That's it for me for now. Till next time, God Bless Your Heart and All Your Vital Organs.

More Winter Racing! (Jared Bolton)

Last week I gave the lowdown on the first round of the SORCS Winter Series in Georgia, and this past weekend saw their second round of winter racing with the Fun Run in Cochran, Georgia. The SORCS Series has been growing in popularity over the past few years, and the Winter Series always sees a good number of riders flocking south for a weekend of racing.

Round two was no different! Local favorite Evan Smith, who will be backed by the RPM/KTM team in 2016, jumped out to the early lead. Nick Davis showed up to race as well, and did so on a fresh Yamaha! He would follow Smith for the opening laps until Grant Baylor would work his way into the lead just before the halfway point. They would end up swapping positions again on the next lap with Smith going back into the lead over Baylor and Davis.

The position swapping wouldn’t end there! Baylor would go back into the lead once again, with Davis right on his rear wheel. The trio of Baylor, Davis and Smith were separated by just a few seconds for the majority of the race, but in the end, Baylor would put his head down and come away with the win over Davis and Smith. That would prove to be a good maiden voyage for Davis aboard his new Yamaha. Expect to hear more details soon on exactly where Davis will land for 2016.

One race I did leave out last week was the FTR race that had taken place the weekend prior in Florida. Yamaha teammates Walker Fowler and Cole Richardson would go 1-2, respectively, to claim the top two spots overall to make for a great start to the New Year. Both of these guys have been a bit actively on social media sharing some of their adventures doing some riding down in Florida and I can’t wait to see how the rest of the off-season treats them.

On the bike side, in typical FTR fashion, it would be The Sandman himself, Garrett Edmisten going head to head with a pair of GNCC regulars, Chris Bach and Chris Douglas. For those who may not know, Garrett is a multi-time Florida Trail Riders champion and contested the GNCCs for a several years as well landing several podium finishes and ending the 2007 season fifth in the final points. However, if there’s one thing that’s for sure, it’s that the dude absolutely hauls the mail in the sand. That race was no different either. Edmisten would come away with the win over Bach and Douglas. Of course, they did keep him honest! I saw a video clip of Bach and Edmisten stopping for gas at the same time, and when they took back off, Douglas was right behind them, so those guys put on a heck of a race!

There’s a number of other races happening in the coming weeks but for the bike guys, two of the biggest will be the Burnt Gin Hare Scramble and the following week’s Sumter National Enduro. Both of these races always see a big turnout of riders and this year looks to be no different! Looks like I’ll be racing the Sumter Enduro, but I also hope to make it down for the Burnt Gin Hare Scramble as well and will hopefully have some cool photos, videos and stories to share. It’s a race that never disappoints!

Making It Happen (Chelsea Taylor)

The Open-A class often gets overshadowed by XC1 and XC2; however that doesn’t mean that they aren’t a competitive class. It’s not rare for an Open-A racer to finish higher than an XC2 racer in the overall results. Zack Hayes came out this season on fire, winning the first race and then racking up a total of 10 class wins out of 13 rounds. He showed up to the race every weekend, pushed himself and ended up coming out on top winning the championship, all while taking home quite a few American Kargo Top Amateur Awards. All of these accomplishments added up to Zack being named the 2015 Top Amateur.

The runner-up, Nathan Thornhill, also attended every race and put in a good fight for the championship, but just couldn’t make it happen. The 2016 season is quickly approaching and the Open-A championship will be up for grabs. Nathan will take on Dylan Rash, Dalton Cross, Duell Murphy and many more for that coveted spot.

Even though Zack is moving up to XC2, the competition within the Open-A division won’t change. The boys who race this class all want the same thing, to win. Many are also on the verge of moving up to a professional level and are willing to risk everything just to make their dreams happen.

#ThrowbackThursday (Jared Bolton)

For this week’s Throwback Thursday, we go back to the 1997 Ocala GNCC in Ocala, Florida. On the ATV side, there were no surprises, as Barry Hawk would come away with the overall win, while Steve Hatch would come away with the overall bike win. Take a look at the photos for some of the race action!