Welcome to Quick Fill. 

The band Sly and the Family Stone had a funk/psychedelic soul song called “Hot Fun in the Summertime” and it seems like that’s exactly what the GNCC Racing Nation has been up to. Everywhere you look it seems like the GNCC faithful are having fun of some sort. Whether its riding, racing or vacation it seems like everyone is up to something fun as the summer break rolls by. For many, just because GNCC is on summer break doesn’t mean racing is taking a back seat. There’s still been a lot of racing going on and there’s more coming as we roll through the break. 

This week’s edition of Quick Fill is going to be a little bit on the “old school” Quick Fill side. When Quick Fill first started, it was our old buddy Jason Weigandt at the helm and he would write the entire thing by himself. As the years have progressed, we’ve seen a few different master Quick Fill authors but have been fortunate enough to have multiple contributors. Right now, it’s just Ken Hill and myself each week but Ken has actually been a little under the weather, so we’re going to give Ken a pass this week. That means I’m going to crank this one out on my own, kind of like Jason Weigandt would’ve done way back in 2006. 

Here at the Racer Productions office we’re gearing up to head south for a few weeks as we head to Loretta Lynn’s Ranch for the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship. A lot of you longtime GNCC racers are familiar with Loretta’s from the GNCC events held there in the past but if you’ve never been there for the motocross, then you’re missing out. This is a really cool event and it’s pretty cool to see some of the biggest names in racing out and about. Not only are the best up and coming amateur riders taking part in the event but past and present top pro riders are always around, so you never know who you’ll see ride by on the back of a golf cart. Since we’re gearing up for that, we figured we’d do a special Loretta Lynn’s themed Throwback Thursday, so keep reading ahead as that’s coming up a little later in this week’s edition of Quick Fill. 

Last weekend saw the Northeast 24 Hour Challenge take place at the Tall Pines ATV Park in Andover, New York. There were a pretty good number of familiar names from the GNCC Racing Nation taking part in the event and of course a lot of them did really well. The Sherco Offroad team of Chris Bach, Jake Froman, Dylan MacRitchie and Jay Langenback took the overall win with 52 laps complete and a 23 minute, 43 second lead. Second place went to the Federal Hill Home Theaters team of Trevor Barrett, Brenden Riordan, Will Hopkins and Nate Smith who edged out the Marsh Racing team of Joe Marsh, Scott Grills, Tyler Soriano and Chad Tallman. 

GNCC XC2 competitor, Ryan Francis, took the Ironman class win logging an impressive 34 laps by himself! Also successful was the B.A.K.S team who claimed the Women’s Premier class win. This team consisted of Samantha Bird, Annelisa Davis, Brit Santee and WXC ATV competitor Katelyn Osburn who ditched a couple of wheels for the weekend to compete in this event. She wasn’t alone in that venture as Marty Christofferson also broke out his two-wheeled machine as part of the Cooper Hillbillies team who logged a solid top ten finish in the Sportsman Team class. 

It looked like everyone really enjoyed themselves and it’s cool to see events like this where everyone comes together to form a collective team effort. This weekend, attention turns back to the AMA National Enduro Series as they’ll be in action with the Rattlesnake National Enduro in Pennsylvania. Things are getting pretty interesting there as Steward Baylor holds a nine-point lead over Josh Toth in the championship point standings, but Grant Baylor has been on fire winning the last two enduros, including sweeping the win in all seven sections of the previous round in Georgia. 

Stu has been Mr. Consistent there, not having finished off the podium but he has to keep that up if he wants to hold that lead because Toth is within striking distance and is hungry for his first win. Grant is not out of the hunt for a championship, but an eighth place and a DNF in the first two rounds have put him 29 points out of the lead. This could lead to an exciting round this weekend, as all of these guys are capable and motivated to claim the win. 

Another exciting upcoming event will be The Battle of the Goats, which is an extreme enduro style event at Brushy Mountain Motorsports Park in Taylorsville, North Carolina on August 4th. I’ve actually ridden and raced at Brushy Mountain a good bit over the years and while I haven’t been there in quite some time, I know what kind of terrain they have to work with and I can assure you that this will be a very challenging but very fun event. If you’re into tough and technical riding, this is right up your ally. The format is pretty simple. Pro class riders have to complete three laps and amateur riders must complete two. When the first Pro rider completes three laps, the checkered flag goes out and everyone else has one hour to finish. You can get more info HERE.

Our friends at Snowshoe Mountain have a pretty big event going on this week as they’re hosting the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships this week. While Snowshoe is known for their downhill riding, this event encompasses much more than that. It’s the National Championships for downhill, cross-country, short track cross-country, dual slalom, and enduro. In other words, there’s a lot of bicycle racing going on this week at Snowshoe and there are actually some familiar names taking part in the events this week. 

Russell Bobbitt is on the mountain and by no surprise, he’s taking part in the Enduro event and will be contesting the Pro class. For those who don’t know, a mountain bike enduro is pretty similar to racing an enduro on a motorcycle. You’ll race on several timed sections that are usually downhill sections. When you complete a section, you’ll then have an untimed ride to the next section. But, you have to ride! You can’t throw your bike in a truck and catch a ride to the start of the next section. Also competing in the enduro portion will be 2015 GNCC Junior A/B 25+ class champ, Aaron Coxen, and former GNCC racer Ben Hobbs, who has actually found a good bit of success in the bicycle world the past few years. 

Also competing this week is another former GNCC racer turned cyclist and that is Charkie Huegel. Those on the bike side may remember Charkie from his goofy pit reporting days on the old Offroad Junkies website and as a pretty good Open A rider as well. Charkie is contesting the Cross Country event in the Senior 25-29 Cat1/2 class. Then of course our own Joel Creed from the GNCC Track Crew will be racing the downhill event in the Master 65-69 class. Joel has actually claimed the National Downhill Championship in his class a few times before, so here’s the best of luck to Joel and all of these guys as they take on the mountain this week. 

Well, that’s going to do it for this main section of this week’s Quick Fill. Next week we’ll bring you Quick Fill live from Loretta Lynn’s as we’ll be on hand at the ranch, preparing for the race. Then the following week is race week, and we’ll surely have some familiar names to update you on, so stay tuned because the next few weeks will be exciting!