Catching Up With Ken (Ken Hill)

The Tomahawk GNCC sure has a cool name and it definitely fits. Just about every kid in the country has ran around with a toy, or at the very least a pretend tomahawk, screaming a war cry and making every dog within earshot sound off while having every little girl roll her eyes and utter that besmirched “boys”! It’s as American as apple pie and Betty Grable and GNCC Racing for those who have no clue who Betty is!

This round got me to thinking, and while it’s a great course that has provided some great racing like Bolt-On mentioned in the intro, no other big storylines about this facility jump out in my mind. Now don’t get me wrong, this is not a boring location. In fact, it’s just the opposite. It is a beautiful area with some big things around it but it just doesn’t have enough races on it to claim its fame amongst the rounds we race, but maybe all that is about to change.

We have a few classes that beg for an epic upset and this could be where it goes down. The terrain here is easy going for the most part but the woods sections are challenging enough to demand riders to stay sharp and pick good lines at a few of the sections that can be wet and muddy. We have seen years where dust hampered efforts of anyone trying to come from behind and races where conditions were near perfection so anything and everything is possible here. On the bike side, Thad Duvall is eager to put another win on the record books just as much as Kailub Russell wants to throw himself back to center stage but the wild card, Steward Baylor, might be the racer with the most grit and determination heading to the line Sunday. Baylor was a bit miffed he wasn’t on the box at the Penton and I have no doubt will be doing all he can to scalp those in front of him! 

On the ATV side, the morning race could be where the action is as Kevin Cunningham sets his sights on win number eight. He’s been able to pull off a perfect season thus far, so if someone takes his streak down there will be some strong emotions on the podium. The course here could be one that sets up this upset so stay dialed in because if something pops off it will be worth paying attention to. Those 4x4’s make a ton of power but the lay of the land at Tomahawk may not exactly be the easiest on a 4x4. However, Cunningham is just so good at what he does it could just be another romp to victory for him. We will all know soon enough on how things play out! 

The afternoon ATV race is usually pretty good here as well. There are tons of areas to catch the action for fans, which is usually near the center of things allowing one to cruise vendor row and see things go down during pitstops as everything here is usually one long stretch of activity from food to fuel. As far as the racing, Hunter Hart would be my pick as the racer to keep an eye on. Hart is on his home site soil, coming fresh off a local win and looking very strong to be one of the XC2 racers who have claimed an overall podium position. There is a long list of racers that can podium here so I suspect the action will get very intense and we could see a few new names up front when the deal is done and we start looking at the results. 

And that’s that, not a real humdinger to write about, just a down and dirty race that most everyone loves to attend. The views are pretty good so take some time to look around and enjoy the New York countryside! That is all from me this week as I get back to putting seed in the ground and tending to things before rolling out and heading to this weekends event. As always, may God bless you all and be safe in your travels! 

Update From the Woods of New York (Jared Bolton)

Here we go, the part many of you check Quick Fill for each week. It’s time to give a quick run down of what to expect out of this weekend’s course. We’ve reversed direction from last year’s event and have added a couple short new sections in places but due to a time crunch and being a little short handed this week, we are using a good chunk of the same sections as last year. The good news is that last year’s course turned out to be really good, so expect more of the same. We’re also doing a bit of pre-race dozer work where the trail dozers will run through the woods and help to make things a little better. 

When you take off from the start, you’ll actually be starting right next to the finish line, so your first lap really won’t be but just about two tenths of a mile shorter than the rest. You’ll head out into some grass track before dropping into a section of woods over to the one-mile mark. That will bring you to a road crossing and another quick section of grass track to some slightly technical woods. There’s one good hill climb in there, but it’s not overly difficult. That takes you through some slightly tighter trail and to the two-mile mark before another grass track section brings you back past the starting line. 

You’ll head into the woods at the three-mile mark which will be a pretty good section of slightly technical trail that zig-zags back and forth, up and down, and some off-camber stuff to the four-mile mark. That will bring you to a fast section before you drop downhill and come to a long, steep uphill section. Once you get to the top, you’ll go across the ridge and drop back into the bottom once again before another up and down section takes you to the five-mile mark. That’s when things begin to get a little more technical as you’ll come to a lot of zigzagging trail before it opens up just a bit to the six-mile mark. 

Just before the seven, you’ve got some tighter trail that will open up for a few seconds just before it tightens back up once again to a new section of trail. That brings you to a long downhill where you’ll cut across the bottom just above the creek run we’ve used in the past. We’re actually staying out of the creek this year because it’s pretty washed out and needs some time to heal, so you’ll head back up the hill and to a tough off-camber section to the eight-mile mark. That will lead you to a good, flowing grass track section before you head back into the woods and a tighter section to the nine-mile mark. 

From there, you’ve got a mix of faster and tighter trail all the way to the ten-mile mark and into a mix of woods, grass track, woods and out into grass track again all the way to the finish line, which will be the eleven-mile mark on the dot! So overall, you’re looking at an eleven-mile racecourse with a lot of variety in it. There’s fast grass track, tight woods, fast woods, rocks, hills and more. Don’t miss out, this is going to be a good one!

ISDE US Trophy Team Golf Tournament Returns to Snowshoe!

Just a quick reminder before we close out this week's edition of Quick Fill, the ISDE US Trophy Team will once again be hosting a golf tournament at Snowshoe. This has been a pretty popular addition to the Snowshoe weekend, so don't miss out on your opportunity to play. For all the details and to register, click HERE.

Also, do not forget your cash to purchase Mulligans, String-It-Out and Lob-A-Grenade!

GNCC LIVE

This weekend do not miss GNCC Live on RacerTV.com from the 2018 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series, an AMA National Championship, round 8 – Dunlop Tomahawk from Odessa, New York. The live broadcast starts Saturday, June 9 at 1 p.m. ET for pro ATV racing and Sunday, June 10 at 1 p.m. ET  for pro bike racing.