by: Jared Bolton
Thursday, November 1, 2018 | 3:00 PM
Welcome to Quick Fill.
Well, that’s it. The 2018 GNCC Racing season is in the books. I know I say this just about every week but it really seems like time just flies by and this year was no different. It seems like as quickly as the season began, it came to a close but what a great season it was. There was some great racing that took place on some great racecourses and there was also some really interesting racing that took place in some challenging conditions throughout the season.
Our crew had some discussions last week about how many races saw rainy conditions at some point leading up to the event, or during the event and we had rain at some point for eight of the 13 rounds. Yes, we only raced 12 rounds due to the New York cancellation but we’re still counting those unfavorable conditions there as well. That’s a lot of rain and while some of those came in the days leading up to the race weekend, we hope next season brings as close to perfect conditions as we can get.
With the season in the books, we look ahead to a long winter break where there will certainly be some silly season happenings. We’ve heard of a number of riders who will be changing teams during this off-season but none of which are officially enough to report just yet. However, we can say that it looks as if the bike pro row will be growing a little bit.
It’s also time to start looking ahead to the GNCC Banquets that will be taking place November 30th and December 1st. That’s not terribly far off so if you haven’t already began making arrangements, then you should check out the Event Page to start making your plans now. This is always a fun night and almost seems like another weekend of GNCC Racing, just without the racing part so if you’re on the fence about coming, get off that fence and start making your plans because it’s a lot of fun!
We’ll have the finalized 2018 Top 10 in each class coming in the next couple of weeks. Keep in mind that the point standings on the GNCC Results page don’t always reflect the exact season end finishes until drops are put into place, so be paying attention to the website as that info will be finalized and posted soon.
As for those wondering about the 2019 GNCC schedule, we’re still working on getting things finalized and ready before we release anything. Obviously we don’t want to put info out there and have to say “scratch that, this isn’t happening” so please bear with us for a few more weeks while we work on getting things finalized. There’s a lot of factors that go into creating this schedule as not only do we try to work around the National Enduro schedule, ISDE and other events, but also our own schedules with ATV Motocross, Pro Motocross, Loretta Lynn’s and more. So, it’s not as simple as just picking 13 dates and saying we’ll have races then.
We’ve got a long winter break coming up, so as always, if you ever have any cool stories or other info to share, drop me a line at [email protected] and your contribution may very well make it in the next edition of Quick Fill. I actually used the “Wayback Machine”, which is archives past versions of websites, to look at some of the original editions of Quick Fill back around 2007. Back then, each week it seems like our old buddy Jason Weigandt was sharing some stories or info submitted from folks across the GNCC Racing Nation. Obviously things have changed with the dawn of social media and it gives everyone an easy outlet to share some of their happenings, but we’re still glad to share those here as well!
We’re going to keep this week’s Quick Fill a bit on the quick side, as we’ll save some of the post-season recap information for the coming weeks. However, to make up for it we’ll begin our resurrection of the Throwback Thursday segment and bring you some cool Throwback photos to make up for the lack of reading material this week. We hope you enjoyed the 2018 season and be sure to check back each week through the winter for all the latest Quick Fill goodies!
Catching Up With Ken (Ken Hill)
So that is that! Another season is complete and all that is left are the banquets. I am mixed on how I feel as usual. I miss the racing, the friendships and challenge each round throws at us but I am also to be grateful for the down time and spending it home with family. I am pretty sure you all know exactly what I am trying to say and while we may be ready for some rest, it will only take a few weeks before everyone has the "let's go racing" spirit and winter will drag on forever adding to our misery.
This year's Ironman was huge with two big concerts, an incredible turn out of racers and fans and then there was the weather. Indiana has done something to really tick off mother nature and has been brutal all spring, summer and now fall. The IXCR season finale scheduled for this weekend has now been postponed due to the heavy rains that area received and is rescheduled to November 10th and 11th so spread the word as this decision had to be made quickly.
Racing, well a lot of that went down this past weekend and we saw Walker Fowler rip to another win after a trying season. The final round is all about having fun and bragging rights but the XC1 and XC2 classes tend to stay focused unless the championships happen to be wrapped up, so Fowler was under no pressure. XC2 had crowned Hunter Hart the champion and he made the long awaited jump to the XC1 class and raced to a solid sixth place finish. This goes without saying but the XC1 class will have its hands full with Hart in 2019. The usual players were all in the mix with fan favorite Adam McGill looking like he was headed for a podium finish when something happened to his quad and ended his day. It was great seeing Chris Borich back on the box this year proving he still has what it takes. Brycen Neal would find the podium here at Ironman as well which I know he was stoked about but overall, he wishes his season had turned out a bit better after the efforts he put forth.
So we look towards the 2019 season and everyone who knows something is keeping things quiet or are sworn to secrecy. The rumor mill will soon start and leaks will get things in motion on both the 2 and 4 wheel side of things. I can't recall having a season ending with the number one and two riders not being on the line as Kailub Russell and Thad Duvall were both sidelined by injury. Their absence opened the door for Steward Baylor, who ripped his way around that Indiana track like it owed him money finishing the race in a spectacular bike loop-out session that was well received by the fans. As for me, all I saw was a KTM in the air way closer than what I was cool with! It was all in good fun, I nailed the shot and Stu writes his name in the record books with a well earned win.
So now we turn to the off season and I am pretty excited to watch social media as things die down and change to who is doing what with who and who is riding this instead of that. It doesn't really affect any of us average folks but the fun is seeing things play out. Soon I will get the call to head south to get images of all these changes and while I want to be home, I will be looking forward to leaving cold West Virginia behind in mid January to head south. One area I have not moved on was my galleries. So many riders and family members asked where all my pictures are and I have never used Quick Fill to address that simply because I do not try nor do I manage to capture everyone but maybe I happened to catch you here or there so pay a visit to https://kenhill.smugmug.com/ and see if I happened to get lucky!
That is about all from me this week and possibly this year as I turn my attention to my own work and try to get bills paid in the off season. I will see all of you that attend the banquet so stop and say hey! As always, be safe in all you do and may God bless you all!
#ThrowbackThursday (Jared Bolton)
