Weekly Updates (Chelsea Taylor) 

Another week has gone by, and now we’re on our way to Indiana for the sixth round of the season. Yes, I said sixth! It just blows my mind how quickly this season is rolling by. Micro racing will return this Saturday for their third round. Shayne Crull currently leads to ATV overall points championship, while Andrew Segars sits in the top spot for the bikes. 

If you’re racing the afternoon race and make it into the amateur top three make sure that you head to the podium after you get cleaned up. We’ve recently started interviewing the top three instead of just the Top Amateur. Along with your interview you’ll get a super cool overall medal to recognize your prestigious accomplishment.  

The GNCC crew will be heading to Clear Creek Christian School and Springville Elementary tomorrow for the On-Track School Program tomorrow. We are booking up quickly for the rounds in the fall so if you’re interested in being a guest rider just send me an email and we will work something out! 

This round is co-sanctioned with our good friends at Indiana Cross Country Racing (IXCR). Their series is growing every year and their events are top-notch. If you’re looking for somewhere to ride between the GNCC’s stop by their trailer this weekend near Rider Registration to get more info!

Limestone 100 Track Update (Jared Bolton)

Update, update from the woods of the Limestone! The track is coming together well for this weekend’s race and I think it’s one of the better Limestone 100 racecourses we’ve had since the venue’s addition to the GNCC schedule in 2012. As far as direction goes, we’ll be going in the opposite direction of last year. So off the start, you’ll make your way over towards the finish, but bypass the finish off that start lap since it’s only about 3/4^th of a mile in.

In years past we’ve jumped off a rock going downhill but this year we’re actually going up the rock. The past couple of years the afternoon races have gone up and over another rock section just past that but as of right now, we’re going around that because, well, it needs some time to heal! There’s a ton of exposed rock and it would be pretty tough challenge to make it through once the top layer of dirt got pushed off.

From there, you’ll work your way out to the one mile mark and you’ll have some open, fun, flowing trails out to a field crossing. When you pop out into the field, you’ll drop down into a dry creek bed and for a second, and then jump back out, across another field and back into the woods again over to the two-mile mark. After the two you’ll have a couple of tighter sections out to the three-mile mark, then out into trackside pitting. There’s a cool little section of trackside pitting and grass track back into the woods and downhill to the four-mile mark.

Once you work your way to the bottom, there’s another dry creek bed that you’ll ride in for a good little bit. It’s pretty cool because it has some rocky spots in it, but for the most part it’s just a little on the fast side but a lot of fun. We’ve used it before and everyone really enjoyed it. After that you’ll make your way out of the creek and uphill to the five-mile mark. After the five you’ll run a mix of old trail, a couple of fresh trails, some open trail, tight trail and more to the six, then to the seven mile marks. After the seven you’ll cross over a little field near the front gate and back into the woods. Not too far after that, you’ll have another little section of fresh trail. Since this is a riding park, there’s not much room for brand new trail, but we managed to find a couple of place here and there to add in some new stuff, and these pieces are a lot of fun.

From there, you’ll make your way down to some creek bottoms, back uphill to the eight, then another section of trackside pitting just after where you’ll tie back in where you started at. From there, it’s some more fun trail back to the finish. All in all, we’re looking at just around 10 miles for this weekend’s course. Some may think that’s a little on the short side, but historically this tends to be a little shorter course than some of the others. That’s okay though because with a little something for everyone, the Limestone 100 course is definitely one you don’t want to miss. Come on out and race!

No Clear Picture (Rodney Tomblin)

Alright, before I get started I don’t want our series photographer Ken Hill or RaceDayPix.com’s Digital Dave to take offense to the title of this contribution. The title refers solely to what the 2016 GNCC ATV championship is reflecting, according to the points, and that is not a very clear picture of what’s going to happen. As we near the halfway mark there is only 31 points separating first to fourth. That may seem like a lot but in the grand scheme of things it is not. 

All indications after the first three rounds were that Walker Fowler was an apparent unstoppable force. The realization that he may not came at round four. Then we were made more aware after round five when Adam McGill took his second straight win and showed all signs to having his program dialed back in to where it was last year when he was contending with Fowler for the 2015 title. It may only be two races but it shows that Fowler is beatable and under the right circumstances, and with a little bit of luck, momentum could swing in a little different direction.

Only twelve points separate Fowler and McGill in the points standings. The point gap is one that can easily swing in either direction, and in favor of either rider. There are a number of variables to consider as this championship moves forward and the biggest may be that right now there are several players still in the hunt for a chance of winning the championship. The top four are particularly the several I refer to and each one brings a lot to the table.

Walker Fowler who is leading the “new era” of ATV GNCC Racing has his hands full with a fellow member of the new era, Brycen Neal, and two old school racers, Adam McGill, and former and 6-Time ATV GNCC Champ, Chris Borich. The big question really is who will come out on top. Looking at results there is still no clear cut and dry dominator for this title. Fowler’s three wins puts him in contention, but they do not obviously mean it’s a given. Walker may have to work harder for title number two than he did for his first and that’s saying a lot. 

Adam McGill’s fifth and fourth place finishes may not have been what he was looking for, but after hitting the podium for second at round three Adam became a whole new rider and is showing great strides as the season wears on. Two wins will not win the championship but it sure will help in the battle along the way. If McGill keeps steady then Fowler could have a fight on his hands.

Throw into the mix the young gun Brycen Neal. Neal nearly won his first GNCC at Big Buck but fell to fifth at the Camp Coker Bullet GNCC. Brycen admitted to being nervous after the big ride a couple of weeks before at Big Buck before McGill stole the win in the closing moments. Brycen’s mentor and team captain is the great Barry Hawk and he understands more about GNCC for bikes and quads than anyone alive quite likely. Barry knows how to play the game and it may be one that the new era is not too aware of. If that is the case it could really shake things up if it gets to that, and the way things look it could get there quick. 

The fourth place points holder is Chris Borich and with the progressions we’ve seen in the first four rounds it would not be surprising if he was able to turn things around and reel in a few wins of his own. It’s hard to say but any real and true “Borich Bandits” have a lot to be hopeful about. Once the series gets a little more north don’t be surprised to see the woods lined with these guys in full force. If this happens there will be a lot of competition for fans to debate about, and things could get really interesting really quick. 

So to say any one rider will take off with the championship points lead may be a bit of a stretch for this season. The picture is truly an unclear one as the points reflect this all too well. The next race the Limestone 100, and it may be the one that one of the riders is able to gain some solid ground for the push forward. I don’t know how it’s possible but we may be on the verge of another one of those “best season ever” scenarios.

Looking Back at Limestone (Jared Bolton)

The Limestone 100 GNCC is still a fairly new addition to the world of GNCC Racing. 2012 marked the first-ever Limestone 100 and with four events under it’s belt, and a fifth one this weekend, Limestone has a short but fairly interesting history as a part of the GNCC Racing schedule. In 2012, Chris Borich and Kailub Russell would emerge as the first-ever winners of the Limestone 100. On the bike side, in 2012 Andrew Delong would finish and impressive second place overall from the XC2 class. 

In 2013, Walker Fowler and Charlie Mullins would claim Limestone 100 wins of their own, while 2014 would see two incredible races. On the ATV side, Chris Borich would come away with the win, just a mere 0.375 second ahead of Walker Fowler, making it one of the closest finishes in the history of GNCC Racing. The following day would also see a pretty incredible finish. After leading a portion of the race, Kailub Russell would suffer a hard crash in a field section, resulting in a mangled motorcycle. After spending a significant amount of time in the pits trying to get his machine back in shape, Kailub would put the hammer down to come from as far back as seventh place, to third.

While Charlie Mullins would cruise to the win, Thad Duvall and Kailub Russell would battle to the final turns of the race for second place. In the end, Thad would edge Kailub out for the second place finish, but get this… Just like Borich and Fowler the day before, a mere 0.375-second at the finish separated them. Unbeliveable! Last year’s Limestone 100 event would be a muddy mess with Chris Bithell taking the final GNCC ATV overall win of his career and Kailub Russell once again taking the top honors on the bike side.

So, in four years of the Limestone 100, there have only been two different bike winners and three different ATV winners. Could the streak be broken this weekend and we see a new winner emerge on either, or both sides? It’s hard to say, but we’re about to find out. It’s almost time to go racing!