by: Rachel Gutish
Tuesday, May 30, 2017 | 11:35 AM
Brothers Lucas and Logan Grounds are two GNCC regulars who hail from Martinsville, Indiana. The family has been pursuing the series since 2013, when the oldest brother was still on a 50cc bike. Both brothers were champions in their respective classes last year: The oldest boy, Lucas (age 12) won the 85cc 7-11 class, while his brother Logan (age 7) placed first in 50cc Junior 4-6 class. Both are seeking to defend their titles in 2017. Lucas is competing on a 2016 KTM 85cc, and is currently second in points. Logan leads his class on a 2013 Cobra 50cc. In addition, at the rounds where the Micro bikes do not compete, Logan has been moving up and competing on his 65cc for practice. We sat down with them for a group interview, two tribes style, after the X-Factor GNCC in their home state of Indiana.
GNCCRacing.com: Well boys, how was your race at the X-Factor?
Lucas: Well, I got a good holeshot, second off the line and was running pretty good. But then a kid I was coming up to pass roosted my goggles and I couldn’t see anything. Right after that I dropped into a rut that led into a big pool of water, but of course, I couldn’t see it. I stopped to pull off my goggles, not realizing how deep the puddle was. My bike sucked water and it blew up. The mud is normally my favorite, but not today!
Logan: I got a good start too, but on the second lap my clutch started to go out. By the last lap it wouldn’t go anymore and I had to stop. I still got second place though. Lots of the other 50s blew up too.
Do you like the Indiana rounds best, since you guys are from Martinsville [Indiana] – Is Ironman your favorite?
Lucas: It’s probably not. Snowshoe is probably my favorite, because it’s rocky and hilly. So kind of like the locals near me, but a little harder.
Logan: I don’t know. I like them all.
I saw that both of you won titles last year. Tell me about them.
Lucas: I had a pretty good start to last year. It was a good competition though. Me and Grant [Davis] were back and forth for a lot of the year. I would win one, then he would win one. I had a strong finish to the end of my year though, so I was able to pull it off.
Logan: I had a good start to the season too. I won the first race, got third at the North Carolina round, and then was second or first at the rest.
I’m sure it took a lot of hard work to get to where you are right now. What are some of the things you guys do for training?
Lucas: I train with SSR; Steven Squire Racing. We train Tuesday through Thursday. Tuesday’s and Thursday’s, we ride woods, and on Wednesday’s we ride moto. It’s pretty good training – Steven is a great at making us better. I sometimes work out off the bike with our friend Cody Aliff.
Logan: I work with SSR too. But I ride with Cody since I’m still on a little bike and Steven works with the bigger bikes. I don’t really train besides that, but I like to ride my bike.
Logan, I saw that you raced on the 65cc at Camp Coker. Was it hard riding the bigger bike? And when will you have to move up a class?
Logan: It was hard. If I crash it’s hard to pick up my bike. I still have two more years on my 50 and then I’ll have to move up to 65s.
Both of you are still young, so you must have started riding pretty early. Do either of you remember the first time you rode a motorcycle?
Lucas: Yeah, the first time I rode a dirt bike was on my third birthday and I got a PW 50. Training wheels were not a thing in my family, so we didn’t have any, we just had to learn how to ride without them. Even though I didn’t have training wheels I didn’t fall over very much.
Logan: I had a PW 50 too. We all had one.
Justin [Dad]: It is like a Rite of Passage in our family [laughs] – by your third birthday, you had better be able to ride the PW 50! The boys could, even our daughters, were able to ride a bike without training wheels when they turned three. All thanks to the striders!
Do your sisters ride much? Or are they more interested in other things?
Lucas: They ride occasionally, not that much though. They’re more into other things right now. I don’t even know what they’re into – TV maybe? Actually, I think they’re really into sports at their school. They play softball and volleyball.
Speaking of siblings, and since both of you are talented riders, I have to ask – are the two of you ever competitive with each other? I know you guys are different in age and level of development, but do you ever argue about who’s going to better in their class that day, or which one is going to be faster when you grow up?
Lucas: Yeah, there is a lot of that. We’ll race little pit bikes around our track at home too, and if I beat him he’ll get real mad!
Logan, anything to say for yourself? Do you like it when you beat your older brother?
Yeah! And I don’t like to lose!
A question for the parents: It seems like racing is definitely a family activity for you. Do you guys ever do anything as a family the night before the race? Do you have a pre-race ritual, or anything you do to spend time together?
Shanda [Mom]: We normally watch Supercross the night before for sure. We always go out for dinner because we stay at a hotel since we still don’t have a camper yet. As far as anything that’s superstitious, we always have to get Lucas a pack of ramen noodles. He wants to eat ramen before the race.
Justin: We have an ongoing joke that if he doesn’t win, the next race he just gets the ramen without the flavor. No chicken, just the ramen. You gotta win if you want to get flavor!
One more for mom and dad – since your boys ride two different brands, how do you decide which to represent? Do you each wear a different pit shirt? Different shirts on different days? Alternate between races? I was curious how you balance that conflict.
Justin: It's actually fairly easy right now, because the 50cc micro race takes place on Saturday, and Lucas races on Sunday. So Saturday is Cobra day, and then Sunday is KTM day, so we’ll wear Spyke’s KTM stuff.
Will this have to change once Logan moves up to 65s and has to race on Sunday too? Wait – Cobra does make a 65cc now, right?
Justin: Yes, Cobra does make a 65cc, and we hope to stay on a Cobra throughout out 65 career. Lucas raced a Cobra 65 until he moved to 85s, then we had to switch to KTMs.
Shanda: Lucas was actually Cobra’s very first factory supported off-road kid. He basically paved the way for the kids, including his brother, who are on the factory team now - what they call the “elite team”. He pioneered the way, but got the shaft a little. They supported him before there was infrastructure – no tent, no sprinter, no trackside support. So it was a lot lower-profile and a lot fewer people realize he was factory supported too.
Back to the kids: Who is your favorite GNCC pro racer and why?
Lucas: Probably Thad Duvall. I like how he rides. He’s got a good style.
Logan: Thad Duvall, because… Ummm, because he’s fast!
Last question – who out there would you guys like to thank?
Lucas: SSR, DQ Tuned, Maxxis Tires, Unabiker, Mom and Dad, Grounds Lawn Care, Fly Racing, WPS, Acerbis, Neken Bars, X-Brand goggles, Spyke’s KTM, YSD, MotoVest, Stacy Mundy Photography and IXCR.
Justin: Logan would like to thank Cobra Motorcycles, Dunlop Tires, Bel-Ray, Spyke’s, Roost MX Graphics, EKS Goggles, Fly Racing, MotoVest, Stacy Mundy Photography and IXCR.