Weekly Updates (Chelsea Taylor) 

As I sit down to write this week’s updates for Quick Fill it’s hard to believe it’s already Thursday. This week, much like the entire race season, has flown by and I think I am finally recovered from my trip out west to the Monster Energy Cup! As exciting as that trip was, I am looking forward to Ironman even more. We just met yesterday as a team to finalize some of the plans for next weekend, and as usual we have so much planned that it’s almost like an “Off-Road Fall Festival” instead of just the season finale.

As you start to make your preparations for the “pink race” at Ironman, don’t forget to order your official GNCC pink backgrounds from HBD MotoGrafx. A $25.95 pink front number plate background will result in a $5 donation, while a full set of front and side backgrounds retails for $59.95 and includes a $10 donation to the Montgomery County Free Clinic (MCFC). In addition, each order will include one free mini plate. The deadline to order your backgrounds is this coming Tuesday, October 24. Special edition GNCC breast cancer awareness stickers will also be available for a minimum $1 donation at registration.

JJ Lawhorn will be making his return on stage to perform after being such a hit at Snowshoe. Just like previous years, each race winner will autograph the pink backdrop and we will auction it off to raise funds for MCFC Saturday night at the concert from 9-10:30pm.

If you want to be conveniently located near all the action, make sure to submit for the preferred parking lottery HERE. The special parking area is gravel and located adjacent to the starting line. The entire Ironman Raceway facility has had a major facelift in the past few years, so if you don’t get picked you’ll still have other good options!

Get those costumes put together for the Team Faith Costume Contest at 6 p.m. following the GNCC trick-or-treat from 5-6 p.m. Also, MX vs ATV Alive will be giving out their new game, All Out, to each youth class winner.

Zakowski Motor Sports will be at Ironman again for their annual breast cancer awareness fundraiser with an all-new 2017 T-shirt design, along with previous years designs.  The t-shirts are $10 with 100% of funds being donated to various breast cancer foundations, one of which is MCFC. Aside from the new shirt design they will also have hoodies and a large assortment of miscellaneous “pink” items. For the first time ever, they will be selling limited edition autographed pink Walker Fowler Racing t-shirts as well. Walker’s t-shirts will sell for $20 each which all proceeds going to the Zakowski fundraising effort.

We have a few other OEM’s talking about coming with their amateur support rigs, but we are excited to welcome Yamaha back this year! We also just got word from Kawasaki that they will be attending! When we hear back from the other OEM’s we will let you know! Yamaha will also be contributing to the breast cancer fundraising efforts and will donate $50 for each Yamaha class win and $100 for each Yamaha championship.

I'll be heading up to Bobtown Elementary School tonight for a special "Literacy Night." We attended this school with the On-Track Program earlier this year, and they asked us to come back with some special guest readers. I'd like to thank Ian Flynn and Alex Teagarden for volunteering to help out and represent GNCC Racing!

Make sure to check back in next week for more details before Ironman and don’t forget to order those pink backgrounds to show your support for breast cancer awareness!

Rappin’ With Rodney (Rodney Tomblin)

The final days leading up to the Ironman GNCC are without a doubt some very energetic times. Whether it be the excitement of the final points battles, moving up in class, a great weekend of racing with your buddies or just the chance to race Ironman with the masses that make their way to be a part of off-road racing history. Last year over 2,400 entries set a record for the largest GNCC in its history. The Indiana soils of Crawfordsville attract racers, fans and industry members by the droves and have since 1995.

The hype and focus of the event still lives strong as many will not only be trying to finish out the season, but some may be looking to leave an impression. It is the last round and why not put that exclamation point on the end of your season. Many folks still have contracts to negotiate while some are secure. This last round will be exciting on many different levels.

One of the interesting things to keep an eye on is Walker Fowler’s chance to win his twelfth race of the season. He is already at eleven wins and set that new record at the last round in Ohio, so a twelfth win would further that record. Other interesting points are that Chris Borich has something to prove, Brycen Neal wants to go out on a winning note and capture his first ever overall and “The Gator” Adam McGill is due for a feeding himself. Don’t count out guys like Jarrod McClure and even rookie Westley Wolfe for a win at Ironman either. This place has been good to both in the past and each rider is hungry in their own ways, for their own reasons. The bottom line is that everyone wants to win.

If you want to see some good battles watch the College A class. As it stands there is only one point separating class leader Drew Landers and second place John Glauda Jr. Drew has six wins while John has four but the final round should be the decider in this one. These boys do well battling for top twenty overall spots too and Drew is actually ranked number 18 overall going into the final round. A little luck at Ironman could see him elevate even higher in the standings. And though John is not ranked top twenty overall I have to think that a good end to this final race may put him a little closer. 

The Vet A class has a good battle as well. These boys are often running top twenty overall and have pushed each other to great levels this season. As it sits Jeff Pickens has a six-point lead over Dustin Hendershot. I am not sure with the way drops and things work here or if this one is locked up yet but this is a battle worth watching regardless. It may not be a premier class but they have been doing some premier racing for sure. AJ Koontz sits about twenty points back but has been a big player in the battles in this class also. I would say Ironman will be a great year end battle for all the guys in this class.

The hype on the two-wheel side at this point comes from Kailub Russell, who could now set a new All Time Wins record. I love the irony in how this season has played out. If Kailub had not have struggled some there earlier in the season, there would not be any drama. I know he doesn’t like drama, but boy the drama has made for an exciting season. I mean how boring would it be at this point if Kailub would have gone out and completely smeared the field at every round? It’s kind of fitting that it worked out the way it did. With those struggles, Kailub was able to claim his record tying win and his fifth title at the same venue he scored his first win. The win to tie Scott Summers’ record is second maybe only to his first win that happened to take place at Powerline Park as well in 2011. Six years later he is a living legend. Like it or not, he has earned his place in GNCC history.

If you had to break down this race from a hype standpoint you have to think it is going to be a barnburner. There have been six different winners this season. Stu Baylor started it off proving that as great as Kailub Russell is, he is still beatable. Then Thad Duvall topped the charts two races in a row after Kailub won four straight. It brought about a tight points race that Thad looked eager to win till his injury at the ISDE. Ricky Russell won Snowshoe and earned it. If Ricky gets more consistent, the future for him is looking pretty bright. Grant Baylor ended up with credit for the win at John Penton after a very controversial day that left many folks scratching their heads. Bottom line was mistakes were made and things changed after the race was over but it still made for a great win for Grant, as he has needed that for a while. Ryan Sipes also snuck a win in as well in Masontown at the Mountaineer Run GNCC. He rode one of the best races of his GNCC career and it was a surprise to realize that it was his first win in this genre. 

The big picture here is that there are a lot of riders that want to win. Strategy, as much as skill, place as much a role in the Ironman GNCC as anything. The number of riders are a big obstacle that not only creates traffic but also a much more changing course in its conditions. The track takes a licking, so to speak, and produces some great challenges for everyone, including the pros. This should be a great race all around and don’t be surprised if you get a surprise because this year’s Ironman seems to hold something special. 

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

A Class Excitement (Jared Bolton)

Every few months I like to take a look at what’s going on in the various A classes in the world of GNCC Racing. These are often exciting classes as many of these guys are on the cusp of breaking into the professional ranks, while others are simply out to enjoy a good weekend of racing. No matter which category these racers fall in, they all put in a lot of effort as the A ranks are no joke and tend to be among the toughest competition in the world of GNCC Racing. 

We’ll take a look at the bike ranks this week as Rodney mentioned a couple of the ATV classes a little earlier. Scrolling through, the first class that you come to is the Open A where Levi Keller looks to have a pretty good lock on that championship but it hasn’t come very easy! Conner Smith, Ben Parsons, Brady Myers, Cope Beckert and Evan Earl all have claimed Open A class wins of their own this season. Conner Smith has had a slightly up and down season but it’s been pretty successful overall with two wins to his credit. Ben Parsons sits third with a pair of wins as well, but has seen some struggles of his own. Overall, all of these guys are fierce competitors and deserve a lot of credit, however, Levi Keller has shown that consistency is key. Although he missed two rounds and his day ended early at Tomahawk, his worst finish outside of that is a fifth place!

The 250 A class has a pretty close championship battle taking place before drops are factored in. Jonathan Johnson sits just one point ahead of Alex Teagarden; however, Teagarden has been on a tear as of late and has claimed five consecutive wins. Johnson has been consistent all season, only finishing outside of the top five one time, and only finishing outside the top three a total of three times. Only a mere four points out of first is Cody Barnes who has claimed three wins of his own this season. Not bad for a guy contesting his first full season of GNCC Racing! Jesse Ansley and Chase Hayes round out the top five in the 250 A class, respectively. 

Hunter Riemer currently holds the lead in the 200 A class ahead of Nathan Davis and Johnny Manera, who sit tied for the second place spot while Cash Jacobs and Brody Johnson are the fourth and fifth place riders. All of these guys have been extremely competitive this season, with Riemer claiming four wins so far, Davis claiming two wins and Jacobs with a pair of wins to his credit as well. Things are pretty tight before drops are factored in, so it should be interesting to watch these guys battle it out at Ironman.

In the 4-Stroke A Lites class, Cole Mattison has been nearly unstoppable in 2017, as he’s claimed nine wins thus far which essentially locks him in as the class champion. Also strong this season has been Ryan Slopko, who sits second place ahead of Conner Keegan. Tyler Braniff claimed the class in at the previous round and sits fourth place in class points, while Colin Keegan rounds out the top five. In the Junior A/B 25+ class, Lucas Towery currently sits first in class points ahead of Andrew Boggs but when drops are factored in, it looks as if third place rider Sean Cunningham may be able to claim the title.

The Vet A championship is seeing a close battle between four-time and defending class champ, Joe Marsh and Sam Forrester while Jared Hoffman hangs tight in third place. The push is on for Marsh’s “drive for five” but Forrester is looking to play spoiler to that as the duo sit just four points apart with three wins each in 2017. Also exciting is the Senior A class where Jeffrey O’Dell leads “Shotgun” Shawn Remington. Poor Remington always seems to be the bridesmaid and never the bride as he’s been in close battles for class championships for a number of years, but always seems to get squeezed out for the title. Seriously, take a look at the results. Shawn has been in the title hunt of the Vet and Senior A classes since 2007 but just hasn’t been able to claim a title since his 2006 Vet B title! Frank Tussell sits third place in the Senior A points with Christian Brumbaugh and Jeff Husted rounding out the top five.

As I mentioned, there’s some serious competition in the A classes these days. These guys are fierce competitors, slugging it out each week for their respective titles and it’s often interesting to watch unfold. With one round remaining, many will be looking to end the season on a high note. Stay tuned!

 Kailub Russell Five-Time GNCC Champion Video From KTM

ALCO Cleansers at Ironman

ALCO Cleaners will be at Ironman, so take advantage of this opportunity to stock up on product before winter break. Also, make sure you check out their Alco Cleaners/Trailers of the East Coast trailer. The 2017 Cargo Mate 46' Gooseneck is for sale so see Mike at the races or call 336-399-9051 for information.