by: Jared Bolton
Thursday, January 25, 2018 | 2:25 PM
Welcome to Quick Fill.
The pre-season continues to fly by as we roll head first towards round one at Big Buck. We’re now just a month away, so crunch time is officially approaching us and if you’re not prepared, then now is the time to start getting prepared! In fact, we’re only around three weeks away from the first portion of the track crew heading to get a head start on Big Buck, so be expecting a few teasers when that time comes and if you don’t already follow us on social media, make sure you do so on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
Last season I headed down to Big Buck a couple of days early while Ryan Echols and Bob “The Builder” Pierson made a quick trip down to Palatka to do some early trail scouting for round two. This worked out pretty well, as we were able to route some sections of the Big Buck course a bit different and add some new bike-only sections as well. We hope for the same this year and while it may seem like new trail at Big Buck is tough to come by, there’s definitely still a few areas where it’s possible.
In last week’s edition of Quick Fill, we discussed some of the upcoming pre-season races including the 4-Hour Team Races taking place in Denver, NC. Well, they actually postponed the Denver races until this weekend due to poor weather conditions, so those are still taking place and you can get the details HERE. Additionally, our friends at SETRA will be hosting the Burnt Gin Hare Scramble this weekend. This event is held at the same location as next weekend’s Sumter National Enduro in South Carolina, and usually draws some top talent. Actually, back in the early 90s there was a GNCC at the Manchester State Forest riding area, which is just down the road and sections are used for the enduro! Get the info on that race HERE.
Looking Ahead at 2018 (Jared Bolton)
It may seem hard to believe but the 2018 GNCC Racing season stands the chance to be one for the record books. After one of the most historically significant seasons in 2017, the 2018 season has to potential to deliver even more record-breaking performances from a number of riders. As we move beyond that exciting 2017 season, it is not all a matter if “can it happen” anymore, but rather a question of “what’s next?”
Walker Fowler shattered the single season wins record in 2017, winning 12 of 13 rounds. That makes a win percentage of 92.3% for the season. Interestingly enough, since moving into the XC1 class in 2012, Walker has claimed 1 win in 2012, 3 in 2013, 6 in 2014, 7 in 2015 and 2016, and 12 in 2017. That means out of 77 races in his XC1 career, Walker has claimed 36 wins for a 49.35% win rate. That’s pretty good considering the depth of talent in the XC1 class and a total of six other riders to claim wins in 2012.
Of course, now the question many people are wondering is, can Walker make it a perfect season? He’s already shown that it’s possible by only missing one win in 2017 but the likelihood of making it happen is definitely not stacked in his favor. There are so many factors that come into play but one thing is for sure; if anyone is ever capable of making it happen, it’s definitely Walker Fowler.
At the same time, I mentioned the depth of XC1 talent in the ATV ranks and while there may not be a wheel-to-wheel row of 40+ XC1 riders, there are a number of guys who do stand a chance to claim a win. Last year’s runner-up Brycen Neal has come pretty close a number of times in the past couple of seasons. There’s no doubt that Brycen has the potential to add his name to the list of overall race winners, but he’s got his work cut out for himself.
There are also guys like Jarrod McClure, Chris Borich and Adam McGill, all of which know what it takes to put together a race worthy of an overall win. These guys could all play spoiler to Walker’s chance at a perfect season and each of them came pretty close at some point in 2017. The only one to spoil Walker’s perfect season was the savvy veteran, Johnny Gallagher, who finally put it all together to claim his first-ever GNCC overall win at X-Factor.
On the bike side, 2017 may not have been the ideal season for Kailub Russell but he was still able to claim the championship and earn seven wins along the way. That’s a solid season for any rider but the drive inside of Kailub wants more, especially after claiming 10 wins in 2017. As for Kailub’s records, well, since moving into the XC1 class in 2011, Kailub has won 47 of the 88 XC1 races he’s contesting making for a 53.41% win rate. Additionally, there have been a total of 10 other riders to claim overall wins in that time period as well.
For Kailub, there’s a mix of questions wondering if he’ll beat his 10-race season win record while others are looking at Thad Duvall to pick up where he left off before an injury at the ISDE ended his hopes to challenge Kailub for the GNCC National Championship. These two battled back and forth for the majority of the beginning of the season but as the season wore on there were a number of other challengers. In fact, 2017 saw a total of six different bike overall winners with four of them being first-time race winners.
Guys like Ricky Russell and Steward Baylor are two who will be looking to play spoiler to the XC1 favorites. Both of those guys were two of those race winners and both have been extremely motivated this winter to put in the time with the hopes of adding more wins to their records. There’s no doubt that these guys are capable of claiming wins of their own and many eyes will be on them throughout the 2018 season.
As for the XC2 guys, with Josh Toth back to defend his title, many are making him their favorite but it looks as if Coastal Racing will be going full-time with Pascal Rauchenecker, who pulled off a convincing win at Ironman. Additionally, there’s still the likes of Craig Delong, Layne Michael, Mike Witkowski and others who easily able to challenge the front of the class. XC2 could very well presenting one of the most exciting seasons since the addition of the XC2 class in 2007.
Overall, 2018 has the potential to be one of the most exciting seasons of GNCC Racing, ever. With some riders making changes to their programs and some changes to the schedule, this very well could mix things up and make for an exciting season.
Weekly Updates (Chelsea Taylor)
In exactly one month we will be racing at Big Buck, and it will be here before we know it. We’ve launched a new initiative to have “rider takeovers” on the GNCC Instagram story. Hopefully you were able to catch Johnny G on Monday where he went riding at Ranch Russell with Chris Borich. Cody Miller is picking up his brand-new Yamaha UTVs today and is live on the story throughout the rest of the day. Leading into the season we will have various riders take over our Instagram story so make sure to check it daily! You don’t want to miss the inside looks you can get of each rider’s program and life when they aren’t at the racetrack.
This past weekend was the AMA Championship banquet in Columbus, Ohio. The GNCC Racing Nation showed up in full force, and I’m proud to say we were one of the bigger groups that attended the banquet. They recognize multiple off-road series, road racing and other disciplines. The biggest news from the night was Tayla Jones winning the 2017 AMA Female Athlete of the Year! With three different AMA championships, Tayla was more than deserving of this award. Walker Fowler was also named the 2017 AMA ATV Rider of the Year after his impressive season winning 12 of the 13 rounds. Thank you to everyone who voted for Tayla and Walker! You can get all the details from the night HERE.
Pre-registration for Big Buck is expected the launch the first week of February. When it goes live we will get the word out on social media and Quick Fill. Also, don’t forget to check out the confirmed national numbers chart since it is being updated weekly.
If you plan on attending all 13 GNCC rounds you should consider purchasing a season credential. It will save you a little bit of cash, but the best part is you just have to wear the credential instead of an armband at the races. I know armbands aren’t that popular, so this is a nice alternative! You can get more info or purchase your credential HERE.
This week’s headlines:
#ThrowbackThursday (Jared Bolton)
Earlier I mentioned this weekend’s Burnt Gin Hare Scramble and how it’s located near the Manchester Forest OHV area where sections of the Sumter National Enduro is ran. The OHV Park actually once hosted a round of GNCC Racing back in 1994 as round two after the season opener in Ocala, Florida. That means the first two rounds that season were sand races as the Sumter area is a bit on the sandy side. It’s more like Camp Coker but back-to-back sand races to kick off a season sounds pretty tough in some ways!
When you take a look back at the results from that race, there are a lot of familiar names that still stick out to this day. By no surprise, the overall ATV winner was Barry Hawk who was beginning the 1994 season fresh off his first GNCC title. Jim Tretinik and Steve Holbert would round out the ATV podium but there’s a long list of folks who were racing back then that are still around today. Some names that stand out in the Pro class include Barry’s eventual mechanic, Doug Whitmer, Chad Duvall, Bill Ballance, Bob Sloan, Mike Holbert and Jeff Stoess who would later claim an overall win at a muddy Spartan GNCC in 2004.
Other standouts include William Yokely in the 2-Stroke A class, and Johnny Gallagher in the 2-Stroke B class. Johnny absolutely loved that event and the tough course that went along with it and he loves Camp Coker in today’s modern GNCC schedule for all the same reasons. I’m actually being very sarcastic here as Johnny will tell you those courses don’t really play out to his style of riding, but ever the gentleman he still doesn’t have anything bad to say about either!
On the bike side, Fred Andrews would ride to the win ahead of Scott Summers and Tommy Norton while Larry Roeseler and Scott Plessinger would round out the top five overall. Much like the ATVs, there are a good number of folks who were racing back then that are still around now. In fact, it’s not practical to list them all but a few of the bike standouts include Steve Hatch and Randy Hawkins in the Pro class while our own Tommy Harris and Alan Brutto both finished third place in their respective classes while Sumter’s own Benji Hayes (father of Zack and Chase Hayes) claimed his class win.
It seems hard to believe that was 24 years ago but time flies when you’re having fun and it’s pretty cool to see that while that event did not last as part of the GNCC schedule, there are still people riding in that same location and even a little bit of racing still takes place on some of the same trails all these years later.
