Weekly Updates (Chelsea Taylor)

We have a lot going on this weekend as we turn our attention to the Mountaineer Run GNCC, which we like to consider our “home race” since the Racer Productions office is based just a few miles down the road in Morgantown. If you’re in town early for the race and want to stop by the office tomorrow, feel free to come by. We’d love to give you a tour of the office and show you more about whom we are when we’re not at the races.

UTV’s return to action this weekend, and I know it’s hard to believe but the six-round series is only at its halfway point. We haven’t had UTV’s since July, but the excitement is still there after having a different winner at the first three rounds. If you can’t make it to the race this weekend, remember that Racer TV starts live streaming for UTVs at 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon!

The Second Annual Mowgli Memorial Dog Show is scheduled for Saturday night at 8 p.m. on the bike pro row. The show will take place right after Team Faith’s chapel service and will be offering the following categories. 

• Pro Class (registered pedigrees)
• 4-Stroke (51+ lbs)
• 2-Stroke (16<50 lbs)
• Lites (terriers, miniatures, foo foo dogs) (0<15 lbs)
• Utility (Shepherds, labs, retrievers, service dogs)
• Senior (10+ years)
• Pee Wee (Puppies 0<1 year)

Each of these categories will be judged on the following: 

• Appearance
• Agility (i.e., performance, jumping logs, running thru a tunnel ,…)
• Attire (costumes)

For all the details, click HERE to read the full release. RacerTV will have a special feature on the dog show during Sunday’s pro bike race show.

Don’t forget that the AIM Expo is taking place this weekend a mere three-hours away in Columbus, Ohio, and Ed Lojak will also be inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame tomorrow night. For more information and to purchase tickets, click HERE.

Next weekend is Hunter Hart and Chris Borich’s riding school in New York. There are limited spots available, so call 607-564-7913 to reserve your spot! The cost is $250 per person, and knowing that two top-level guys will work with you one-on-one makes it a steal of a deal!

We will have special bibs available for sale at MotoTees this Saturday in memory of Ethan Fittro. They are similar to the bibs at Loretta Lynn MX and are designed to be worn over gear while racing. The bibs are $20 and net proceeds will be donated to the Mannington Soup Kitchen where Ethan was a frequent volunteer. There will also be a balloon launch on the start line of the 1 p.m. quad race in which Ethan competed.

The On-Track School Program picks back up this Friday at Bobtown Elementary. Thank you to Chase Fittro, Jesi Stracham, Olivia Judy, Gavin Garlits and Emily Streets for volunteering to help us out. If you’d like to help at any of our future visits send me an email to [email protected] and we can work something out!

Rappin’ Rodney Speaks (Rodney Tomblin)

The Mountaineer Run GNCC marks our sixth visit to Marvin’s Mountaintop in Masontown, West Virginia. It is without a doubt another interesting and beautiful stop on the tour. It has scenery like no other venue we attend and considering it is middle September the leaves may show a sign of the coming season as Fall officially begins on Friday. Bring your cameras and do some looking around, you will not be disappointed.

Another thing you may want to pay attention to is the record setting weekend we are facing on both bikes and quads. So if you are a true race fan and appreciate the history of our sport, you will be thrilled to know what history you could be witnessing live this weekend. To know we are in the presence of such greatness is an honor. The venue is only minutes from the home office and in the heart of where the series roots started. Only a short drive from places like Wilderness, Starvation Point, High Point, Brownsville, Wisp and Hardrock to name a few. It’s almost like coming home for many of the old school GNCC crowd at the Mountaineer Run.

As mentioned last week, Kailub Russell faces the opportunity to tie the all-time win record held by Scott Summers with 46 total wins. Kailub could reach that mark on Sunday if things go well. Then the next step is setting a new record that will likely continue to grow to an astronomical number by the end of his career. But the sheer witnessing of the record being tied may make that part a little more special for everyone.

On the ATV side of things Walker Fowler is faced with some pretty big things this weekend. As if capturing the title wasn’t enough he is in the midst of setting records on the heels of last race’s celebrations. I will give you a quick history and then let you see what you are in for yourself. 

The record for most wins in a row during a single quad racing season was set by Bill Ballance in 2003 when he captured seven wins that season and added another later on to make a total of eight wins in one season. In 2010 Chris Borich was able to take a total of 10 wins during the season but not in a row. Then in 2012 Borich tied Bill Ballance’s seven straight record but also tied his own total wins of 10 record on the season.

As far as the bike side goes, Juha Salminen set the first record of nine wins in one season in 2005. In 2006 the most wins consecutively in one season of six was set by Juha but he only won eight overalls total that year. In 2014, a rider that watched the Juha so closely from the youth ranks was able to best his hero and etch his own pages in the GNCC history. Kailub Russell, in route to his second title, took nine total wins in 2014. Then to raise the bar, in 2016 as Kailub was on his way to title number four he amassed a total of 10 wins in that single season. He did it by scoring two five straight wins streaks that season. He may have been able to have made it 11 in row had it not been for the “racing incident” between he and Josh Strang that left Russell with a broken fuel pump. Regardless, he won the championship and set a new record. 

The big picture this weekend is that the most wins in a single season so far is 10. Both a quad and bike guy, Chris Borich and Kailub Russell, holds the record. Walker may tie their number of total wins in a season at 10 with a win at Masontown this weekend. Any wins the rest of the season would set a new record, which in theory could mean a total of 12 wins in a season if he wins the rest. That’s almost perfect! He did have a perfect season in the XC2 Pro Am class but so far no one has accomplished it yet in the XC1 ranks.

As far as what’s going on around the ATV world right now goes, I talked with a few folks in the XC1 class to see what their tales were so far and they all seem pumped and ready to go. Everyone is hoping for a win even if Walker has shown such dominance this season.

Adam McGill has been burning the flame pretty hard lately. As we know, he raced The Best In Desert a few weeks ago. This past weekend he raced the Forest Festival in Elkins, WV. It is a cross-country race that the whole town gets involved in and was actually a part of the GNCC schedule at one time. McGill a native of West Virginia and fellow Mountaineer, Brent Sturdivant, battled pretty fiercely. McGill took the win and said it was nice to see the race back in operation, as it had not been run for several years. 

Chris Borich is to be commended again on his performance at Unadilla. A broken shock linkage nearly ended his day and it could have ended his season if things had not gone so well. He broke it on the infamous “Sky Shot” and was able to repair and return to racing, salvaging a top 15 overall. Chris is excited about this weekend telling me “I like Masontown. I’ve been riding some rocks with Landon Wolfe and Jarrod McClure this week and we are ready to go!”

Landon Wolfe is a rider that many may be watching this weekend. He has had such a consistent and strong season this year finishing in or near the top five every round so far. Landon told me how he felt about this weekend’s race. He said, “I usually like it. It's the closest terrain to what I have here at my house but some of those big rock sections can end your race in a hurry. I've had some really good days there like winning XC2 class and top fives in XC1 and I also had a year when I hit a rock and broke a shock (Laughs, “yes that rhymed”) in the first couple miles of the race.” As far as how he feels going into the weekend and what he hoped for, he told me, “I made too many small mistakes throughout the race at Dilla so if I can get through the race with less mistakes results should be much better.”

Jarrod McClure, who has been riding some with Wolfe and Borich told me “I have been just trying make some money to go racing. (Laughs) I got some riding in with Chris Borich, Landon Wolfe and Wes Stone the last two weeks. I have been feeling good. Dilla went well for me. I had a bad start but got through the pack quick, which was something I usually struggle with. It felt good to get back to GNCC Racing and start strong. I always do better in the second half of the year, so I'm just excited to keep racing now and really want to win one of these before the year is over.” That is a task that many share but Jarrod usually has one or two by now.

Brycen Neal has also been busy. While visiting the local Apple Festival in my hometown I ran into a fellow with a WEXCR shirt on. He had no idea who I was so we just kind of chit chatted about off road and his son and such. He told me that Brycen and Cody Collier had a pretty good battle at last weekend’s event.

I messaged Brycen during the lip sync contest and he told me “The WEXCR put on a awesome race as always. And yes Cody kept me honest for a couple laps but I was able to get out ahead after while and take the win.” I told him I heard that there was a big commotion and that the fellow I spoke with was all excited about they were battling. Brycen said, “Yeah, he ran into me when I passed him but I was able to get a gap and carry it to the end.”

And as far as Walker’s mindset goes going into this weekend goes, he told me “It’s a standard weekend. Trying to get to 7 straight wins in a season and one more win will tie the single season most wins by Kailub and Borich (both with 10 wins in a single season). I would also like to podium in the UTV, with the absence of Chaney it's a little more realistic. I would prefer he be there and me podium, but I guess we'll take them however they may come. Still a lot of heavy hitters and no guarantees!” As far as Chaney goes, he is contractually obligated to the T.O.R.C. series, which is scheduled for the same day. His sponsors decided to go for it since he was leading points there in hopes of winning the title there. .

So as we tackle this “homecoming weekend” it will be nice to be home in the GNCC Racin’ Nation. The weather looks great and the conditions appear to be superb for racing and spectating. I can’t wait to see what it all brings. 

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

Update From The Woods! (Jared Bolton)

For those who are seasoned GNCC competitors and have raced the Mountaineer Run round since it’s addition to the series in 2012, you know the place is rocky. This year is no different. The rocks are seemingly endless at this round but its also a lot of fun and some spots can be a bit challenging but always passible. That kind of challenge is part of what makes this course fun for so many people and while we’ve got some changes this season, we’re also running a lot of sections that have proved to be popular over the years.

We’ll be starting in the same place as last year, which is actually right around the one-mile mark. You’ll drop off to a little downhill section into some flowing woods that will bring you out to a wet spot down below the front gate. Now, this is where we’re mixing things up. If you raced the inaugural Mountaineer Run GNCC event in 2012, you’ll remember that we crossed by the front gate and ran a section of some tighter and slightly off-camber woods.

We actually haven’t been back in those since but we’re going back in there this year! That will take you past the two-mile mark and through some really fun, slightly technical trail down to a section of some grass track back over the course we’ve ran the past few years. You’ll hit the three-mile mark before the big grass track section in the back of the parking area and make your way back into the woods to some open trail and the four-mile mark. That brings you to a downhill that comes to a section of new trail with a nice little rock garden in it. 

They did some logging on the property, which has resulted in some of the necessary changes to this year’s course and while we’re avoiding the majority of the logged areas, we still have to cross one short section of clear-cut to get to another freshly dozed trail. When you get there, you’ll pass by the five-mile mark and towards the bottom section we’ve used every year but this year we’re actually getting off that wide, muddy trail and into a couple short sections of fresh stuff.. You’ll end up back on the old trail at the bottom of “Elevator Hill” which is the long, steep uphill to the field section on the backside of the property.

When you get to the field, your going to turn right and jump onto some twisty trail that will bring you to the six-mile mark and a rocky section before the big rock garden above the finish line and to the seven-mile mark. After you get through that, there’s some tight trail over to some more rocks and a good downhill back towards the big field out back. We’re actually skipping that big field section and the woods below it, as that’s a section they’ve done some logging, so when you drop off that hill you’ll pick up a straight stretch to some twisty woods all the way to the eight-mile mark.

That brings you to some open woods to the nine-mile mark before dropping out into another field section past the ten-mile marker and into the finish beyond that. It’s going to be just a bit less than 11 miles for the 1PM races and there’s a possibility that the bikes could get a little extra section as well. Overall, I feel like this is one of the coolest Mountaineer Run courses we’ve had and if you like riding in the rocks, this course is right up your alley! Don’t miss out!

Unadilla GNCC ATV Highlights

GNCC LIVE This Weekend

Check out GNCC Live online this Saturday at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. for GNCC Pro ATV and UTV action! Then on Sunday at 1 p.m. all the GNCC Pro Bike action from the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Mountaineer Run in West Virginia!