Weekly Updates (Chelsea Taylor)

It’s hard to believe we are already on the way to Powerline Park. It seems with every year that goes by the race seasons just keep speeding right along. Powerline Park is one of my favorite GNCC’s on the schedule, but I can’t quite pinpoint why. Maybe it’s the fall weather or watching the victims of the creek jump; either way it’s for sure going to be a great weekend!

As most of you witnessed two weeks ago, this area hasn’t had rain in quite some time so Smokey Bear reached out to us a let us know about the fire ban for this weekend! As of right now, even with the rain Bolt-On mentioned, it’s still going to be too dry to take the chance so we ask that you don’t start any campfires.

Earlier this week we announced that Ricky Russell will be competing in the AAGP season finale the weekend after Ironman. For the past 12 years, we have had a longstanding partnership with the JNCC series, which is Japan’s top off-road racing series. Every year a JNCC racer comes to compete at a GNCC, and we send one of our racers to race their event.

Ricky follows GNCC racers such as Paul Whibley (2006), Jason Raines, Charlie Mullins and Rodney Smith (2007), Nate Kanney and Thad Duvall (2008), Josh Strang and Kailub Russell (2009), Cory Buttrick (2010), Jesse Robinson and Jason Thomas (2011), Rory Mead and Josh Strang (2013), Jordan Ashburn (2014), Chris Bach (2015); and most recently, Trevor Bollinger (2016), in being selected to represent the GNCC Racing Nation. Ricky will be joined by his mechanic Lucas Statom, their girlfriends, and Jr. Trail Boss Ryan Echols as he makes his bid against Japan’s top off-road talent including former GNCC guest racer Takeshi Koikeda.

Rachel Gutish checked in with Ryan Sipes on this week’s installment of Tuesday Toolbox! Ryan discusses his big win at the Mountaineer Run GNCC along with his plans for the upcoming season, making it a must read. Click HERE to get the full interview! 

Rappin’ Rodney’s Thoughts (Rodney Tomblin)

The penultimate round of the 2017 GNCC series is coming up fast this weekend as we head to Powerline Park in Ohio for stop 12 of 13. This is the next to the last race of the season and there are still a few scores left to be settled. Several champions have been crowned but at the same time there are still those chances of record tying or record breaking performances that we’ve discussed for several weeks.

Walker Fowler has claimed his title of the quad side of things. He is now looking to break the single season wins record as we roll into his home state. Walker is also looking to try and score a win in the UTV racing that follows only minutes after his quad race on Saturday. I asked what his thoughts were heading into this weekend and he said, “On the quad, I want a good start since I don't think it's rained in this area for over 60 days and it should be smooth sailing out front. As far as the UTV we are testing some much stiffer tire pressures to hopefully make it the full race at race pace. I'm on some different wheels, which I'm not excited about but I couldn't get replacements on time so we're winging it. I am going to have a huge crowd of family and friends in attendance being it’s the home track only about 90 minutes or less from the house. So I definitely want to leave it all on the track and put on a good show!” 

In the XC2 Pro Am class of the quads, there is a heated battle between Hunter Hart and Devon Feehan. Defending class champ Greg Covert is only 16 points out of second and could score big if Devon and Hunter have some big problems, so things could swing in his favor quickly. As it stands though, Hunter sits eight points behind in the chase and has won the last three races plus two earlier in the year. Devon has four wins on the season but his worst finish was a seventh as opposed to a 15th for Hunter. That may be what separates the two now in points. Hunter basically has to win the next two rounds to take the title and he seems more than ready for the challenge. Do yourself a favor and watch for the 16 of Feehan and 17 of Hart. They both have green backgrounds for the XC2 class. Also watch out for the number nine of Covert as he looks to play spoiler.

The UTV racing will be exciting to watch as well. Like we mentioned, Walker Fowler will be trying for it again but the battle to watch may actually be between the two Texas brothers of Cody and Hunter Miller. Big brother Hunter has a one point lead heading into the next to the last round of competition and is looking to steal the thunder away from little brother Cody. The two have always been highly competitive but now we see first hand exactly how competitive they are. The next two rounds will be interesting for us to watch but maybe not as tense as the rides to and from Texas are in the truck with these two. Tune in to watch all the action beginning around 4:30pm Saturday on RacerTV.com.

The two-wheeled side of things will have it’s fair share of excitement as well. We all know Kailub is only a few points short of claiming a historic title number five. This will put him in league with Scott Summers and Rodney Smith, who each have five titles. If Kailub wins this weekend he will also tie the all time wins record of 46 held by Scott Summers. A win this weekend would be an anniversary of sorts, as Kailub captured his first win there in 2011. 

As far as most championships ever won goes. We all know that Barry Hawk is an eight-time champ and that Bill Ballance is a nine-time champ but both of those records consider titles in the ATV racing. The record for most titles is actually shared by Bill Ballance on four wheels and by the great Eddie Lojak on two wheels. That’s right! Eddie won nine championships in the early days of GNCC. He has always been touted as one of the roughest and toughest racers ever on the track. As far as all time wins, Eddie sits in fifth on the list of all time wins but still holds the spot for most titles ever won. Kailub is still a few years from breaking that record and may one record in the end that is tough to break for anyone.

Another title contender to watch out for is in the youth division. Zachary Davidson is in line for securing that this weekend. He was on the verge of completing his task at the last round but he would experience a mechanical issue, pushing his championship hopes away for another round. Enjoying an eight-point lead heading into this round, he should be able to wrap up the title this weekend over Peyton Whipkey. Zachary has eight wins this season and a ninth would make it impossible to catch in the standings. So ultimately it looks like a title should be secure this weekend barring no crazy off the wall scenarios arising. Good job Zach! 

A side note to be watching for this weekend at Powerline will be the possibility of Brycen Neal putting things together in Saturday’s ATV racing. Brycen has been coming on strong this season and even though he seemed to hit a wall things may be on the upswing. Brycen told me “I just talked to Rocky (his quad) and he said it’s looking like a great weekend to make this first win happen!” That being said we know what the “Bidwell Bullet” is hoping to do. Brycen isn’t the only one though. You know there are a lot of frustrated riders in the XC1 quad class that have been chasing Walker all season. Chris Borich, Jarrod McClure and of course Adam McGill.

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

Update From Powerline Park! (Jared Bolton)

So you’ve read about the brief rain, the chances of dust, the chances of titles being claimed and more. Now we get to the part that many check in each week to read, so let’s hear a little about the Powerline Park course that you will be experiencing this weekend. First and foremost, you can expect some of the same stuff you’ve come to expect from Powerline Park, but there’s also some new stuff as well, so that will make things pretty exciting!

From the starting line, you will actually be hitting the woods just before the one-mile mark. You’ll drop into a short section of woods and out into some trackside pitting that will lead you to the back corner of the parking area. You’ll drop off a little downhill, cross a road and a little fast uphill section will take you to the two-mile mark. That brings you to a downhill to the section known as “Dead Deer Hollow”. It’s a cool little valley that is a bit wet, rocky and has a good hillclimb back out of it. You’ll take a dry line across some of the mud flats and back into a twisty section of woods.

This will eventually open up and come to a downhill section leading you to the three-mile mark. From there, it’s a fast section to a short hillclimb back to the main parking area and a fast section of field down to some twisty woods just past the four-mile mark. You’ll cross the field by the front gate and get into some new trail up top. It’s going to be pretty tight for the quads and has a lot of turns in it but it’s also a lot of fun! That takes you past the five-mile mark and back to the field again with the optional rock section.

On the other side of the field, there’s a bit of open woods around to the six-mile mark where you’ll drop off another hill to some slower, twisty trail mixed with a few fast sections past the seven-mile mark and another mix of slow trail and tight trail. This takes you to the eight-mile mark, where you’ll cross a field to a short section of twisty woods and just beyond that you’ll cross over the edge of a little pond to some more tight woods.

It then opens up to a fast field section for a little bit before dropping back into the woods and a steep downhill to some brand new trail. This is a really fun section of medium-speed trail with some sweeping turns in it that takes you to the nine-mile mark and a section of tight trail. Once you get out of the tight stuff, it’s open past Gus’s Mudhole to an uphill at the ten-mile mark. You’ll then work your way through some faster trail to the 11-mile mark and pop out to the Powerline Mudhole jump. On the other side, its some fast trail to the 12-mile mark and some fun flowing woods to the finish.

You’re looking at 12.6 miles for the 1PM races and the 10AM races will skip that Dead Deer Hollow section around the two and three-mile marks, which will put their courses a little shy of 11 miles. Overall this is a great Powerline Park course and I think everyone will enjoy it as it really has a little something for everyone. Good luck and we’ll see you this weekend!

News From GNCC Sponsors!

Visit DeRisi Racing at GNCC

If you would like to have your ATV suspension tuned like the pro racers, then DeRisi Racing is where you want to go. Owned and operated by former pro racer, Santo DeRisi, who along with his team designs, builds, tests, and promises to prove to you every product and service done by DeRisi Racing is ready to take on the GNCC tracks. 

Wouldn’t you feel more confident having your suspension setup by someone who actually races? Suspension is one of the main keys to going fast. Remember, our goal here is to use our knowledge to help everyone go fast, be safe, and always have happy customers.

Visit derisiracing.com or call 704.538.3512 for more information. DeRisi Racing attends every GNCC and is ready to work and tune your suspension. Stop by to learn more about race preps, parts, accessories and VP Racing Fuels also available at the Derisi Racing trailer in Sponsor Village!

Moto Master at Powerline Park!

Those who attended Powerline Park last year will remember the Mud. With the many challenges and concerns already faced by GNCC riders, rear brake failure should not be one of them.

Fortunately, Moto-Master has what you need to help get your machine mud ready- The Mud Series Rotor; A superior quality, solid rear disc designed specifically to hold up in extremely muddy conditions, taking all the heat and abuse that comes with the toughness of GNCC Racing.

Rear Mud Rotors for all major Dirt Bike brands will be available from Moto-Master on Vendor Row at the upcoming Powerline Park GNCC, October 6^th and 8^th!

Stop by as early as Friday afternoon to get your rotor and brake pads!

For further information, contact: [email protected]