Looking at the schedule you will notice two new rounds and round three in Georgia is still to be announced. We’re working on getting things finalized in Georgia but nothing is set in stone just yet. We hope to have that figured out by next week, so hang tight on that one and as soon as we have everything finalized, we’ll get the info out there. We know everyone is trying to make arrangements for travel, vacation days and other logistics and the delay in posting was not ideal but we also didn’t want to make any late changes that could effect anyone’s plans. 

Now, lets talk about the new events! Unadilla has been a very popular stop within the series, but the woods are getting incredibly rough and definitely need some time off to heal. It was a difficult decision, but we’re going to give Unadilla a break for a while but don’t be surprised if it lands itself back in the schedule in the coming years. With this decision, Ryan Echols and I paid a visit to New York after the banquet and met with a few different folks. After some deliberation, we’re happy to say that we’ll be heading to Harpursville, New York for the Black Sky GNCC.   

Black Sky will be held at the Johnson Family Farm, just about 15 minutes out of Binghamton. The property is no stranger to off-road racing as they’ve hosted a couple of local races, but if you raced those you can expect a much different course and some additional sections as well. It will be similar to the Tomahawk GNCC with some gently rolling hills, a bit of shell rock and a good mix of open and tighter trails. The landowner, Rob Johnson, is a huge GNCC fan and a racer himself so he’s welcoming us with open arms! He’s also a contractor, ice sculptor, film editor and does much, much more so he’s a pretty interesting guy with a great piece of property. 

Another new round will be the Mason-Dixon GNCC held at Mathews Farm in Mount Morris, PA and this one is going to be huge. If that name sounds familiar, that is because that is the same Mathews Farm property that hosted GNCC events from 2001-2003. The Mason-Dixon name comes from the fact that since we last raced there the landowner, Herschel Mathews, has acquired additional land, which extends his property into West Virginia. So, you’re going to start the race in Pennsylvania, cross the Mason-Dixon line into West Virginia, then come back into Pennsylvania. 

That’s pretty darn cool but it gets even cooler! Mathews Farm is directly across the street from High Point Raceway, which last hosted a GNCC event in 2002. Thanks to Greene County, Pennsylvania we’re going to be able to cross the road and race on the High Point Raceway property as well! So not only will you get a fun course on the Mathews Farm property, but you’ll also be heading across the street to the world famous High Point Raceway where you can expect some grass track, fun woods and of course the legendary High Point Raceway motocross course. 

This round replaces the Mountaineer Run GNCC, which is in the same boat as Unadilla. We know the course there is rocky and rough on equipment so some time off could help heal the facility and we may be back there in the future. While its only located about 45 minutes to the north of the Mountaineer Run property, Mathews Farm has a lot less rock and will prove to be a fun course and a popular re-addition to the schedule.

Also new for next year will be the addition of several Stacyc races Saturday evening. For those of you who don’t know what a Stacyc is, they are those incredibly little electric bicycles that zoom through the pro pits at night. They don’t have peddles and many of our GNCC Tiny Tots already have them.  Lojaks Cycle in Tarentum, PA, had them on display at the GNCC Banquets and the kids were all over them. There are two models – a 12edrive for 3-5 yr old rippers and a 16edrive for 4-8 yr olds. And the price points are reasonable as they range from $649-699. With electric bicycles and motorcycles on the horizon from both Husqvarna and KTM, it’s time we make a place for them in our GNCC community and what better place to start than with our youngest racers. Lojaks still has some available at the shop if you want to grab one for Christmas. Check out Lojaks online at https://www.lojaks.com/ or give them a call at 724-226-3727. Tell them GNCC sent you! 

We’re also working on getting rules and classes finalized for 2018, so stay tuned as those will be coming up very soon. Well, there you have it. Your questions are answered and you know almost everywhere we’ll be racing in 2018. At the same time, I’m pretty sure I created the longest Quick Fill intro ever! Chelsea is on vacation this week, so we’ll roll into the rest of the Quick Fill goodies this week and have some special features on these new events in the coming weeks. Enjoy!

Rappin’ Rodney Returns (Rodney Tomblin)

Here we sit only days away from Christmas and before you know it, the GNCC pre-season. I don’t know about everyone else but it seems like this last season has flown by. A whole lot happened this past season and to remember it all at once could be overwhelming. All I can say from my position is that it has been an honor being part something so wonderful. But the question is; will we really ever top the monumental things that took place?

In a nutshell, the following memories are a quick highlight reel of this past season in my mind: The first big thing was Johnny Gallagher taking his first career XC1 win at the X-Factor GNCC. The win that day for Johnny proved once again that on any given day anyone has the ability to win. It’s not that Johnny hasn’t put in the work over the years but all the stars aligned that day and made him the only rider to beat Walker Fowler this season. 

The second big thing and in reality may be the biggest thing of all this season. Kailub Russell captured his fifth GNCC title and set a new all time wins record on the two-wheeled side. Many may not realize how significant it is now, but one day when you’re talking about Kailub, his talents and accomplishments you will say to yourself, “I saw it all!” Then you may realize we are truly living the good ole days of GNCC right now. 

The third big thing, in my opinion, was Walker Fowler’s impressive nearly perfect season. Had it not been for Johnny’s win at X-Factor then Walker may not have something to reach for next season. The total dominance that he has shown through his three championships is unparalleled by anyone at this point. Even Barry Hawk throughout his career, Juha Salminen and David Knight during their two-wheel tenure did not dominate the wins column quite like Walker is doing now. 

The fourth thing that sticks out to me is Steward Baylor’s win at Big Buck to open the season. As surprising as it was, each race in those first few rounds Stu basically stole the show. His come from behind efforts just to land on the podium was as exciting as wins. It gave us the hope that a person could rise against all odds to live their dream. Stu did what most people would not be able to do with the injuries he has come back from and had it not been for the illness he contracted midseason, the championship could have been even more exciting that it was. 

The fifth thing that catches my attention when I think about this past year is Thad Duvall. I realize he has been rising to the top the last couple of seasons but this season was a totally different Thad. If not for his injury at Six-Days, one has to wonder what this season would have ended like. Thad had basically tied the championship and the final four rounds would have been the deciding factor. However, fate played a role and things did not play out the way it appeared to be heading. 

Now that the season is over and we are looking toward next year, we have a lot to wonder about. If you take into account the five memories that stick out to me then there is plenty to consider. The things that I consider from what I mentioned are as follows: The Johnny G first time win will never be repeated. The excitement of another Johnny G win would be there without a doubt, but it will never be a first for him again. However there are others that are searching and the competition coming is off the hook. Brycen Neal is due to start winning at some point and when he figures it out things will get interesting for Walker. Then there is Devon Feehan and Hunter Hart. 

Just like Walker Fowler, Hunter Hart knows nothing but racing and winning. Hunter has always looked up to Walker but also has always wanted to beat him. Even though he has never beaten him on track, he has beaten some of his records coming through the ranks. So now, for the first time ever, they will be lining up on the same row. If I am not mistaken he said would be moving up to XC1 at the banquet. If so the confidence this kid will bring to front row should make things real interesting. Is Waker worried? Probably not. Is he thinking about them? Yes! 

Kailub Russell will set a new record each time he wins a race anytime in the future at GNCC. However, the wins may come a little harder. There are several folks coming in the two wheel ranks as well that are known and maybe even some unknowns at this point. We expect Thad to be on a major mission this season. Stu has his own axe to grind. Overcoming the odds and living the dream he has had since he can remember. He want to be the best and that’s all there is. 

Then of course there is Ricky Russell who may be about to “unleash the rowdy” if this past season is any indication. The win at Snowshoe was huge but the rides he rode all season were pretty impressive too. GNCC is a tricky game to learn at the XC1 level, even if you grew up doing it. Ricky has taken a little time to procure but that may be what makes him a main stay in the history of GNCC. Rough and Rowdy Ricky will likely be a big threat this year as confidence in this kid shines bright. 

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

Sixteen Seasons Ago (Jared Bolton)

As the 2018 season nears we prepare to return to a new event. However, this new event is not new at all. It is actually a combination of two old venues combined into one. The new Mason-Dixon GNCC will be a combination of the Mathews Farm and High Point Raceway properties. This is huge as both are fantastic pieces of property and combined into one large property, it will prove to be a wildly popular addition to the schedule. 

For now, let’s take a trip down memory and re-visit some of those old events. The last event held at Mathews Farm took place in 2003 and to no surprise it was the hometown favorite, Barry Hawk, from just up the road in Smithfield, PA who took the bike win. On the ATV side, it was another Pennsylvanian, Chris Borich, who took the overall win. Interestingly enough, Borich and Johnny Gallagher are the only currently XC1 Pro competitors who were racing in the Pro ranks at that time. 

However, the last time we visited both of those properties was 16 seasons ago in 2002. At that time they were two different events; one before summer break and one after. On the bike side, Chuck Woodford claimed the Mathews Farm win and Barry Hawk claimed the High Point win. As for the ATVs it was Bill Ballance who made it a Greene County, PA sweep by claiming the overall win at both races. The history goes much deeper than that. The original Mathews Farm event only saw one additional event to the two I’ve mentioned, and that took place in 2001 where Bradley Page claimed the ATV win and by no surprise, Barry Hawk took the bike win. 

The history of GNCC Racing at High Point Raceway goes much, much deeper. The first event can be traced back to 1979 when High Point hosted the first-ever AMA National Hare Scramble. Marietta, Ohio’s Denny Swartz claimed the overall win that day aboard a Maico, which was Maico’s only GNCC overall win. It would actually be a number of years before High Point would join the GNCC Racing series full-time. That time came in 1987 and High Point would remain a part of the GNCC schedule through the 2002 season. 

From 1987 to High Point’s departure in 2002, the event would see seven different overall bike winners. Sammy Bosnic, Scott Summers, Tim Shephard, Fred Andrews, Scott Plessinger, Steve Hatch and Barry Hawk all claimed overall wins at High Point. Summers holds the record for most High Point wins with six, while Andrews, Plessinger and Hatch all have a pair of wins each. On the ATV side, there have also been seven different overall winners. The riders holding wins are Tom Tokay, Chuck Dellulo, Bob Sloan, Barry Hawk, Jeff Seegot, Bill Ballance and Bradley Page. Out of those, Bob Sloan and Bill Ballance tie for most wins at four each, while Barry Hawk has three and Chuck Dellulo claimed two. Of course, Barry Hawk is the only rider with both bike and ATV overall wins. 

Going back just 16 years and looking at the Youth results, who claimed their respective class wins at Mathews Farm? Thad Duvall claimed the Mini Intermediate class win and Kailub Russell took the Mini Jr class win. In 2003, it was Thad Duvall claiming the Youth overall win. Pretty interesting that two youth riders battling at the time could very well be the same two battling for the overall win at the new Mathews Farms. The 2018 season promises to be a big one. Don’t miss out.

#ThrowbackThursday: High Point GNCC Edition (Jared Bolton)

To celebrate the Mason-Dixon GNCC, which will run on a combination of the Mathews Farm and High Point Raceway properties, here's some classic early 1990s High Point GNCC photos.