2018 Season Preview

As we roll into round one, all eyes will be on the front rows of both the ATV and bike ranks. Each of these disciplines are full of top talent looking to start the season strong, and both of them have some serious contenders rolling into the start of the season. While the defending champions, Walker Fowler and Kailub Russell, are the obvious favorites heading into round one, they both have their work cut out for themselves because there are a number of riders on both sides who will be hungry to start out the new season with a win. 

On the ATV side, Brycen Neal enters the 2018 season off a successful 2017 season where he ended the year second place overall. While an overall win still eludes Brycen, he’s been very close on a number of occasions and actually came very close at Big Buck back in 2016. He knows how to get around this course pretty quickly, so he’ll definitely be one to keep an eye on. There’s also Jarrod McClure who ended the 2017 season on a high note. While a third consecutive Ironman GNCC win slipped away from him on the final lap, that was still a great performance to end last season with, and keeps him fresh in people’s minds as we roll into 2018. They call him The Sneaky Snake and the name is very fitting because you never know exactly when he’ll strike, and he has the chance to strike this weekend. 

Then there’s the six-time champ and perennial favorite, Chris Borich. We haven’t seen Chris claim a GNCC overall win since the Ironman in 2014, but he definitely still has the speed and talent to make it happen. He also knows what it takes to win at Big Buck, and while he’s been a bit quiet this winter, one has to wonder just how strong he is coming into this season. You also can’t count out Adam McGill! He too knows what it takes to claim wins and contend for the championship. The 2017 season may not have gone how Adam wanted, but there’s no doubt that he’s still a contender as we roll into 2018 and a win at round one just may be the boost that Chris needs. 

There will also be a newcomer to the XC1 class in the form of last year’s XC2 Pro Am class champ, Devon Feehan. A win in his first XC1 race may not be the most likely thing, but crazier things have happened in the world of GNCC Racing and there’s no doubt that Devon has some serious speed. It may take him a little bit to learn the XC1 game, but there’s still a possibility that he could come out swinging and put in a solid performance. 

While these are all top contenders, all eyes will be on the number one machine of Walker Fowler. After shattering the season race wins record in 2017 amassing 12 wins in 13 races, Walker enters the 2018 season with a giant target on his back in the form of that number one. They say it’s a lot harder to defend a title than to win it, but Walker has done a pretty good job of defending his titles and he enters the 2018 season as the favorite. Where will he be at the end of the day Saturday? Only time will tell! 

On the bike side, Kailub Russell will once again roll into round one with the number one plate on his machine. Kailub has now been able to claim five consecutive championships, which has never been done before on the bike side. In fact, only Scott Summers won more than two consecutive titles as he won three-straight from 1990-1992. KR will roll into the 2018 season hoping to extend his record to six in a row and while it’s definitely possible, it’s not going to come easy. 

With the exception of an injury at last season’s ISDE, Thad Duvall had a pretty stellar 2017. He started the season a little behind, but chopped away at Kailub Russell’s points lead as the season wore on. He claimed two consecutive wins and landed a total of nine podium finishes in 2017 to finish the year second overall. Had it not been for the injury, he definitely could’ve made a run for the championship. With that kind of motivation behind him, Thad will roll into the 2018 hungry and looking to challenge Kailub for the championship.

Another to keep an eye on will be the number 212 Yamaha of Ricky Russell. After claiming his first-ever win at the Snowshoe GNCC, Ricky will be looking to start the season strong and contend for more wins of his own. It seems like Ricky just gets better year after year, and now that he’s got one win under his belt, it’s only a matter of time until others come his way as well. Also strong will be last year’s Big Buck overall winner, Steward Baylor. After a few seasons struggling to return to the top of his game, it all seemed to come back to Stu in 2017 as he claimed his first career win at round one and would go on to claim six more podium finishes in the 2017 season. Fresh off a win at the opening round of the National Enduro series, Stu will come into Big Buck strong, confident and looking to claim another win. 

This is it. The 2018 season is upon us and each of these guys, in addition to others, will be looking to start the season on a high note. Are you ready to watch it all unfold? It’s almost time to go racing!

2018 Big Buck Trophy Presenters!

If you've attended Big Buck any in the past, then you know that the landowner, Henry Turner, always does a great job getting some local talent to come take part in the event. This year he's landed a couple of Trophy Presenters to help out at the podium and they come in the form of "Miss Spartanburg" Davia Bunch, and "Miss Lake Bowen" Emily Schultz. Great work, Henry!

Big Buck Track Preview

Now we roll into the part that people check in for each week! Let’s talk about the track. Well, this year’s Big Buck GNCC course is definitely a great one. We didn’t get quite the head start that we wanted, but we were still early enough to put some extra work into the course this year and find some new trail, some trail that hasn’t been used in quite a few years, and also some of the traditional favorite sections as well. 

When you take off from start, you’ll actually be starting at the two-mile mark. That takes you through some faster trail to a short field crossing and into some tighter trail around the three-mile mark. Just beyond the three, the bike races will spilt off into a couple of fun single track sections before tying back into the ATV track. This brings you into the big field section out front and back into the woods at the four-mile mark. This takes you through some faster woods sections over to the five-mile mark, and into some tighter pine sections to the six-mile mark. A little past the six you’ll pop out into the field below the finish and back into some tighter pine trees once again. 

This is where the bikes will split off once again into a new single-track section that winds through the pines and back to the ATV track once again, eventually taking you to the seven-mile mark. There, you’ll work your way out of the pines and back into some big hardwoods once again. There’s a mix of fast and tight trail that takes you to the eight-mile mark and to some really fun up and downhill sections. At the nine-mile mark, you’ll pick up the new Monster Mile section that is made up of some trail that we haven’t used in several years. 

It’s a good mix of some twisty, technical type trail with some fun up and down sections, eventually bringing you to the ten-mile mark. Just beyond the ten, you’ll work your way onto some older, tighter trail that twists through some areas that were timbered a few years ago. This brings you back to the eleven-mile mark and into some faster trail once again. From there, it’s another fast field section before you drop into some slower trail to the twelve-mile mark and back into the field section that leads you to the finish. 

Once you head through the finish, there’s some faster trail that will bring you to the hill climb and creek jump, then to the one-mile mark and some tighter trail before you come back around to the two-mile mark where you started at. Overall, this is a really fun course that has a little bit of something for everyone. If you’re on the fence about coming, well hop off and hop onto your machine! It’s going to be a good one. Don’t miss it!

Yamaha Demo Rides

Yamaha Demo Rides will be available at this weekends Big Buck GNCC on Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Check out the Site Maps below to see where they will take place. 

Models to demo are:

• Wolverine X4
• YXZ1000R SS
• YXZ1000R SS with GYTR Torque Assist Gear Kit
• YXZ1000R
• YXZ1000R with Rekluse Clutch

Big Buck Start Rows

Big Buck Site Maps

GNCC Live on RacerTV.com

Don't miss the online coverage from the VP Racing Fuels Big Buck, 2018 season opener of the AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series, an AMA National Championship this Saturday, February 24, at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. and Sunday, February 25 at 1 p.m. EST on RacerTV.com.