The road to victory will not come easy to McGill, with the current points leader and N-Fab/Maxxis/AmPro Yamaha/Lonestar/MXP-backed Walker Fowler looking to redeem himself after crashing in the first turn at the last round. The defending champion swept the first three rounds of the season and managed to recover from a dead last start to earn a fifth place finish at the last race. Fowler has the knowledge and skill level needed to put the incident behind him and take home the coveted win this Saturday.

Sitting just 14 points behind Fowler is Coastal Racing/MSR/Maxxis’ Brycen Neal. The Ohio native is the only racer that has finished on the podium at every round thus far, and the only item missing from Neal’s resume is an overall win. Neal will look to lead the rest of the XC1 Pro class through the woods of South Carolina and claim the inaugural win. 

“I’m really excited about this race,” said Neal. “It will be fresh trails and anything can happen. My plan is to be on the podium, it’s what I work for every week, but I’m ready to get that win.” 

Maxxis/Fly Racing/HMF/Ye Olde Cycle Barn/Suzuki’s Chris Borich has raced his fair share of new tracks and is known for his ability to quickly adjust to fresh trails. Borich was running in a podium position at the last round, but struggled with his quad and he had to get off and make adjustments during a pit stop. The six-time GNCC champion is currently ranked fourth and is eager to improve that standing and earn his first win of the season. 

Another racer who has faced issues this season is N-Fab/Maxxis/AmPro Yamaha/Lonestar/MXP’s Cole Richardson. Between lingering problems that resulted from a crash and sickness the XC1 Pro rookie seems to have made a full recovery. After making the overall podium in the XC2 Pro-Am class last year, Richardson is fully capable of finding himself on the box this weekend. BNR/Moose Racing/Maxxis-backed Josh Merritt also has his eyes set on a top three overall finish, where he comes into this round tied for sixth with Richardson. 

Following in seventh is JMR/ATVriders.com/DWT’s Jarrod McClure who recently made his first podium appearance of the season. Sitting just one point behind Richardson and Merritt, McClure will look to vault himself into a higher position in the points championship and find himself on the center of the box for the first time this year. Show Hauler/Canyon Motorsports/GBC’s Landon Wolfe and GBC/HMF/FLY Racing/Yamaha’s Johnny Gallagher round out the top ten in points heading into the Inaugural Camp Coker Bullet GNCC this Saturday.

“I’m going to keep training hard and get some seat time in before the weekend,” said McClure. “The goal is to get on the podium at every race and I’m just going to build off my Big Buck finish.” 

Starting just one line behind the XC1 Pros on Saturday is the XC2 Pro-Am division where Hygear Suspension/Waynesburg Yamaha/FLY Racing/Moto-Xperts/Spider Graphix’s Greg Covert currently leads the points championship. This weekend serves as round five of the 13-race circuit meaning that there is still plenty of racing left to decide the champion. Both Dillinger's Celtic Pub & Eatery/GBC Motorsports/Moose Racing’s Marty Christofferson and ITP/Ye Olde Cycle Barn/Walsh Racecraft’s Westley Wolfe have won this season and will look to repeat their successes this weekend. JMR/ATVriders.com/DWT’s Randy Hamilton sits tied for third with Wolfe and has had success with his holeshots this season and will strive to stay up front for the remainder of the two-hour race to claim his first XC2 Pro-Am win of the season.