Weekly Updates (Chelsea Taylor)

Is it just me or did last weekend go by in the blink of an eye? Actually, the whole 2016 season seems to be that way. However, you are in luck because the photo galleries, race reports, and archived Racer TV shows are all posted on the website so you can catch up on all things Unadilla from this past weekend!

This weekend High Point Raceway will host the 26th Annual DC Vet Homecoming and this year’s event is dedicated to the memory of longtime racer, Lynn Kirkland. Come out and join the whole Racer Productions staff as we honor the life and legacy of Dave Coombs, who ultimately created GNCC Racing. Although this weekend is the ultimate “throwback” weekend, there are plenty of family fun activities including karaoke, corn hole and a bonfire. I’m especially looking forward to this weekend since majority of the Racer Productions staff will also be racing! We may not be the quickest, but we most definitely win the trash talk category because we are already making bets on who will beat whom. You can see it all unfold this weekend, September 17 and 18!

Don’t forget that pre-registration is open for the Mountaineer Run GNCC! Go ahead and get yourself signed up and skip the lines once you arrive at the track!

DC Vet Homecoming (Jared Bolton)

Alright, we’re really pumping this one up because it’s going to be a blast! For the better part of two decades; 26 years to be exact, High Point Raceway has been hosting the ultra fun, laid back and ultra-cool DC Vet Homecoming and this year continues the legacy of the event with a weekend full of racing just for fun. As we’ve already said, Saturday will see the GP Moto-X Country event with motocross racing taking place on Sunday.

I’ve been working on the GP Moto-X Country track since getting back from Unadilla earlier this week. As of right now we’re looking at a 3.2 mile race course with a mix of motocross, grass track and woods sections and all of this is packed into two 30-minute motos for all classes and the race order gives most racers the opportunity to race two classes if they so desire. Saturday’s practice sessions will be 15 minutes, with racing to follow once practice wraps up. Practice is pretty rare for an off-road event, but we’ll be making it happen at this event and it’s on the same course you’ll be racing. 

As for the course itself, you’ll be starting on the High Point Raceway starting line; the same one where Pro Motocross superstars such as Ryan Dungey, Jeremy Martin, former GNCC standout Aaron Plessinger and many more start their races. You’ll work your way around the motocross track but skip the infield triple section and head to the downhill roller section before a big sweeping uphill where you’ll split off again to the other side of the motocross track to a big downhill, then turn right and cut through the pro section and head to your first section of grass track.

The European style grass tracks common of the ISDE inspired the grass track sections with big, fast sweeping turns. The one-mile mark is located about 3/4ths of the way through this section. After that section of grass track, you’ll hit your first section of woods which is a fast, fairly straight section with a big, fun downhill and an easy uphill before you get into some fun, flowing trails that will take you to the second grass track. This second grass track is long, loads of fun and will take you past the two-mile mark.

You’ll duck into a small section of woods that gives you the option of going down a rocky dry creek, or taking the easy but long way around before heading into the final section of woods. Once you’re in, this is the longest woods section and features a slightly rocky track, then an easy, short uphill to what I’ve dubbed the “Elf Shelf” which winds around the side of a hill and down to two small creek crossings. They’re hard bottom crossings, so they won’t cause any trouble at all!

From there, you’ll make your way through a long uphill section that will take you to another section of grass track, passing the three-mile mark. The last sections of grass track will give you fun downhill to an off-camber sweeping turn before a little more grass track back to the motocross track at the finish line on Bradshaw Boulevard. All in all this promises to be an extremely fun track and make sure you stay tuned to High Point Raceway’s social media profiles for updates, teaser photos and more.

We have a tentative practice and race order posted for Saturday’s GP Moto-X Country, so take a look HERE and see where you fit. Also, make note that the Open classes are true “open” classes, which allow a 250cc machine. So, if you’re a 250-A rider, you can also race the Open-A class, which will give you over two hours of track time on Saturday! Check out the event page HERE for all the other info. Hope to see you there, it’s going to be a good time!

Rodservations of Unadilla (Rodney Tomblin)

The 12^th running of the Parts Unlimited Unadilla GNCC is now in the history books for the 2016 season. Another monumental turnout and great support from the WNYOA riders and riders from all over the Northeast. To say that the weekend held surprises could be an understatement, but the one thing that held true for GNCC is that the racing was good. Saturday’s ATV racing for all divisions made for some interesting things to watch.

The youth race had some great battles and the one for the overall between New York’s Mikey Nichol’s and Ohio’s Casey Simmons was one that had you on the edge of your seat. The two finished nearly 40 seconds ahead of third place rider Payton Dalton, but that is no indication of the war waged that day. Simmons started the race in tenth after lap one with Mikey Nickels in fifth behind Tim Sroka, who would have problems and drop back to 24^th. Devin Corrothers was up front with Payton Dalton in second and Dylan Walraven in third. There were difficulties for Walraven as he dropped back to sixth and eventually finished seventh. Corrothers seemed to have things dialed although he did fall back to second behind Dalton on the second lap. The win for Nickels boosted him to fourth in the class point standings and it was his first win of the season. A look at the points shows that the win by Nickels could make him a contender for the championship, if things continue to fall in his favor.

The 10:00 a.m. race featured a showdown in the overall with the 4x4 Pros. Kevin Cunningham won another highly contested battle that left you wondering till the checkers. The defending champ, Bryan Buckhannon, had his hands full with not only Cunningham but also the third place finisher, Cody Miller, and fourth place rider, Kevin Trantham. The end results do not reflect how close this battle was, because on the first lap the top five were within three seconds of each other. First lap leader Jordan Phillips, and ultimate winner Cunningham checked in with exact times according to the live timing and scoring feed. The next three all crossed within three seconds of that, but heading into the last lap Cunningham was .828 seconds behind Buckhannon. However, Cunningham had pulled out to a 14 second lead when the checkered flag came out. This was another epic battle in this class and if you like good racing you should really watch this class.

The afternoon race saw Walker Fowler set out to make a statement, and that he did. Walker had an impressive ride up front, but something interesting was going on behind him that kind of stole the spotlight for the day. Jarrod McClure was on the move, and eventually found himself in second place overall after a crafty move early in the race. The battle for third though between Chris Borich and Cole Richardson had its moments and it looked like the youngster may win out over the veteran. However, Borich was able to get around to capture third and he seemed to show a new life and spirit on the podium we haven’t seen in a while. He said he was feeling the best he has in a long time and that he had started a new training program called “The Program” that has yielded some huge results for top ATVMX stars including AMA Pro ATVMX star Joel Hetrick.

The point of Chris Borich bringing up a new trainer and program is rather inspiring if you are a fan of ATV racing at all. It shows his dedication and drive is still there and if you doubted him before you just don’t now. Training has always been a critical part of being at the top of the sport, and every once in a while someone finds an edge and raises the bar. That is what Walker Fowler has done and the evidence is in not only his appearance on the track, but as well off the track as he looks more chiseled than he ever has in his career. Chris Borich is already showing the signs of his hard work both on and off the track. If you want more proof training is one of the keys to success, look at Jarrod McClure, Brycen Neal and Cole Richardson. Each one has a mad training program that has brought them to new levels on the track, and with the age of fitness and nutrition we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg as to what GNCC racing holds.

One name we have not mentioned so far while talking about the pro class is second place in points and previous race winner, Adam McGill. Even though he ended his day in seventh he seemed to be content. I’m not real sure if that is good or bad, but his pre-race interview may sum it up. He said, “I hate this place! I don’t know what it is but for some reason me and this place don’t get along.” He was referring to his most recent finishes at Unadilla that took him out of championship contention basically three years in a row now. Two years ago it was the mechanical issue and DNF. Last year it was mechanical again and he had to push his quad the last mile, or so, to finish the race and score some points. Then, there was this year where he said things just did not feel right. He said, “It was all over the place and I had a hard time just riding. I just wanted to finish.”

To say he doesn’t have a chance at this point is not necessarily true, but unless Walker has some really bad luck and he is able to capitalize then the chances are small right now. Regardless McGill kept his head up and is pushing forward to West Virginia where he hopes to turn it around. He will be home with family and friends and of course his new bride Hayley.

Speaking of his new bride, congratulations to the two on their nuptials over the summer break. They went to a resort in Mexico where they were married with a small group of family and friends in attendance. I can only hope maybe since they robbed us a chance to be at the wedding, maybe they will hold a reception at Mountaineer Run on Saturday evening. I feel it would be a great way for me to get a free dinner…uhhh…. I mean for us all to say congratulations and celebrate together. (I can’t help it… I like to eat free!)

Moms on the Move (Chelsea Taylor)

“That was the craziest race of my life,” said Alicia McCormick as she stood on the podium this weekend at Unadilla, and boy was she right. If you were following the WXC class at all this past Saturday, you would know just how many times the lead was swapped around and how close the ladies were racing. I would argue that the WXC ATV race was one of the best races we had the entire weekend. It kept everyone on their toes as they anxiously waited at the finish line to see who was going to come out on top.

Over the past few years there has been a growing number of ladies competing in off-road racing and that’s especially relevant when we co-sanction with WNYOA when we see almost as many youth females and we do male racers. And although the sheer number of female competitors is impressive, the intensity that the WXC class brings to the table is just as notable! 

This weekend we saw a familiar face line up that we haven’t seen so far this season. At last year’s banquet Angel Knox announced that she was expecting her second child, and this weekend Angel returned to the racing scene with her five-week old son, Kale. I think I speak for all women when I say that this is simply amazing. Not only did Angel race the entire two-hour race, she actually walked away with second.

All three ladies that were on the podium (Traci Pickens, Angel Knox, Alicia McCormick) all have children, jobs, and a normal life to balance in addition to going super-fast on their quads on race weekend. This weekend they invited all their kids up on the podium with them, and it was truly heartwarming. To me this act was the definition of GNCC Racing, because we are all family even if you are competitors. As the season wraps-up make sure to head down to the 10 a.m. start to watch the fastest ladies in off-road racing!

XC2 Shake Up! (Jared Bolton)

For the guys in the XC2 bike ranks, Unadilla will stand out as one of the wildest races of the 2016 season. For one, Josh Toth comes out and claims the win in his very first ride aboard an N-Fab AmPro Yamaha. At the same time, the rider he replaced, Nick Davis, also scored his second podium of the year in his first ride aboard a Factory Beta machine. Layne Michael would also have an excellent race finishing second, but at the same time the XC2 points leader, Trevor Bollinger, didn’t even make it on the podium!

This made for a pretty interesting shake up for this guys and Toth’s win goes to show what a motivated racer can do with the right level of support. The Trail Jester’s team who support Toth during the first part of the season does an excellent job putting together their team but it’s no secret that stepping up to the type of support that a factory effort such as the N-Fab AmPro Yamaha team can offer is an easy way to take someone to the next level, and that’s exactly what Toth did.

Up until this point, Josh’s best finish of the season was a fourth place at the Limestone 100. What a better what to land your first podium of the season than to do it with a win in front of one of the bigger crowds that GNCC Racing sees, it’s even more special to do it at the closest event to Toth’s home state of Connecticut, and it’s really cool to do it in his first GNCC event with the AmPro team. Great job, Josh!

Of course the big question is, what happened to Bollinger? Well, the thing to remember about GNCC Racing and all sports really, is that even the best have their off-days. Luckily for Bollinger he had a pretty comfortable points lead, so he’s still the favorite to claim the championship. However, he has to keep doing what he was doing earlier this season because Craig Delong, who sits second in points, would be hungry to capitalize on any misfortune from Bollinger. If this XC2 battle builds, it could be a pretty interesting one to watch come down to the end!

Interestingly enough, there is a history of XC2 champions struggling mildly towards the end of the season. Steward Baylor had a couple of off-podium finishes during the final rounds of his XC2 championship season in 2011 and the same can be said for little brother Grant. His 2013 XC2 championship was just about a sure thing but he didn’t finish on the podium once in the final four rounds. Back in 2009, Kailub Russell suffered a DNF at the penultimate round at Powerline Park while he was on his way to his first XC2 title. For Bollinger, the key is to just push ahead, get back to what he was doing and focus on coming away with the title. It can absolutely be done but it’s going to take speed and a bit of good luck!