by: Jared Bolton
Thursday, February 14, 2019 | 2:40 PM
Welcome to Quick Fill.
Crunch time is here! This time next week we’ll be preparing to kick off the 2019 GNCC Racing season with round one at Big Buck. In some ways it feels like it’s been a long time since last season ended, but in many other ways it feels like the off-season has flown by. No matter which way you feel, the one thing that is for sure if that it’s a great feeling to be getting back to racing and we definitely can’t wait to get things rolling.
First thing is first; PRE-ENTRY IS OPEN! Logon now and get registered for as many races as you want and not only will you save time at Rider Registration but you’ll also get a $20 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC gift card for pre-registering! Do it now! I can’t stress how much easier it is to take the time to go through the pre-registration system. Yes, you can do it even if you do not have a transponder. Just leave that section blank when you get there.
As you can imagine, we’re wide open here at the Racer Productions office getting things ready to go. We’ve got a lot of equipment ready; we’ve got some equipment getting the final touches, and we’ve got some equipment that we don’t even have yet and we’ll get ready to roll at the last minute, but that’s part of the game and many racers know exactly how that feels.
In next week’s edition of Quick Fill, we’ll have the low-down on the Big Buck course but we’ve got our fingers crossed that the rain stays away, or puts down just enough to keep the dust away. I did hear from some folks in the Big Buck area recently who said it’s been fairly dry around there and any rain in the next few days will be a welcomed relief. So, hopefully it’s the right amount and we’re able to make the racecourse as fun as possible.
We do have few other notes to share on Big Buck. First, as is tradition with the first round there will be practice available for ATVs on Friday and bikes on Saturday. This is a short 1-2 mile loop that is not part of the actual racecourse. Youth ATV racers will be able to practice from 1-2PM on Friday, and AM/PM ATV racers will be able to practice from 2-4pm on Friday. On Saturday, Youth Bike racers will be able to practice from 12-1pm and AM/PM bike racers will be able to practice from 1-4PM. It does cost $20 to practice and you can pay when you sign up to race.
Secondly, and this actually pertains to all events moving forward, we’ll be hosting Pro Row Parties on Pro Row both Saturday and Sunday. The top racers each day will be available for autographs, which will be really cool! It will take place from 11-11:30am both days, and of course the ATV racers will be out on Saturday and bike racers on Sunday.
Lastly, and most importantly, if you’re racing on Saturday please take note of the new Saturday schedule. Youth ATV racers will race their tradition time at 8am, but Micro ATVs will follow at 9:15am with Micro Bikes immediately after them at 10am. This will push the Morning ATV race to start at 11am and the Afternoon ATV race will begin at 2pm. At the rounds featuring the eMTB National Championship, eMTB racers will take off at 4:30pm. Sunday’s schedule will remain unchanged with Youth racing at 8am, Morning Bike race at 10am and Afternoon Bike race at 1pm.
That’s actually going to do it for the intro this week. We’ll keep this week’s edition of Quick Fill a little on the short side but make sure to check back next week, as we’ll have a huge week full of info on round one. Until then, enjoy your weekend and we’ll see you soon!
Catching Up With Ken (Ken Hill)
Well here we are nine days away from the opening round of 2019 and everyone sure seems excited and ready to get things underway! I am too for many reasons and I continue to pray we have a season full of good weather and everyone remains healthy and safe. With that said, I had to make a run to Florida to get Walker Fowler shot so we would have all the current images we need and although it was a short trip, it was great seeing the champ and chatting with him. It wasn’t the kind of talk for an official interview because I knew we had just filmed him so that was covered but I would say that Walker is going into this season with about as much vigor as ever and is very determined. We did discuss a few things that I want to hold back until the last round to see how his view on a few things align with the final outcomes so it will be season long quest to keep tabs on his journey as well as those looking to unseat him from that number one plate.
Beyond that, silly season brings a flurry of emails, phone calls, texts and messages that have had me hammering away at replying and looking at the calendar as teams and riders work out when they will be ready so we can get with them and knock out the photography and the story is all the same, hurry up and wait! This year it was small stuff that was holding things up so maybe the industry and riders are increasing their efforts in what has become a very short off season. With that said, I will be heading to round one midweek to be available for anyone that needs to be shot as well as working relentlessly on the Friday before we kick this shindig off capturing headshots and images for the t-shirts and everything else, so if you see me coming your way be prepared! It takes around 15 minutes so nothing to time consuming.
That’s about it for me this week, it’s been a crazy and emotional past 10 days as I had to make the call to have my best friend put down. The support from you all on social media has been intense and incredible and my family and Gauge thank you for everything. It is never a good time or way to go through all this so I am counting on keeping busy to take my mind off of it all. Add to that I think we figured out I may have Type 2 Diabetes so now its a complete diet change thrown into the whirlwind racing weekends which should have me just completely doing circles! The amazing part was finding out how many of you suffer from this but still race and have things under control, which gives me a ton of hope knowing I am not alone. You all continue to amaze me and you are all my heroes! As always, may God continue to bless you all and please be safe in all that you do. See everyone soon!
Looking Back on 2018 Part 10 (Jared Bolton)
After a long summer break the 2018 GNCC Racing season would return for a pretty unique event. GNCC Racing has a long history at the famed High Point Raceway originating with the first-ever AMA National Hare Scramble event in 1979. The area is so popular with the GNCC crowd that another event, the Mathews Farm GNCC, took place from 2001-2003 across the street from High Point. Unfortunately, the series would outgrow both venues and those events would be fond memories for many years.
However, when Herschel Mathews who owns the Mathews Farm property was able to acquire additional property, expanding into West Virginia and the idea of returning the facility began to sound pretty good. This grew into something even more interesting when the fine folks from Green County, PA approved a road closure that would allow the racecourse to cross from the Mathews Farm property to the High Point Raceway property. This proved to be a huge addition and the Mason-Dixon GNCC was born.
Rains leading up to the event would saturate the racecourse and make for some rutted conditions but it definitely wasn’t a full-blown mudder. Saturday’s ATV race would prove to be a fairly exciting event with a bit of a twist ending. Walker Fowler would jump out to the early lead as he controlled the majority of the race. However, Cole Richardson would stay tight on Fowler’s rear wheels as each time they crossed the finish line, the duo were never separated by more than two seconds.
However, on the final lap of the race, Richardson would be able to make the pass and hold it down to the very end and come away with the race win, which would be the first win overall win of his career. Fowler would keep Richardson honest all the way to the end, ending the day in second place just three second behind. Adam McGill would begin the race sitting just inside the top five, but would work his way up to the third place position on lap two and would hold the third place spot all the way to the end to round out the podium. Chris Borich and Brycen Neal would both put in solid rides of their own to round out the top five.
Sunday’s motorcycle race would also be another great event to watch unfold. Steward Baylor would take over the early lead and hold onto it for the first four laps. However, a hard-charging Thad Duvall would keep Baylor in his sights and eventually take over the lead on lap five. Trevor Bollinger would also run podium contention for the majority of the race, while Kailub Russell would hover inside and outside the top five. The rider on the move would be Josh Strang though as he would work his way from eighth place on lap one, all the way into podium contention by the end.
When the checkered flag flew, Thad Duvall would come away with the win while Steward Baylor would end the day in second place while Josh Strang would round out the podium in third. Kailub Russell hung on for fourth place while Pascal Rauchenecker made his XC1 debut and ended the day in fifth place. In the XC2 class, Ben Kelley and Josh Strang would battle back and forth throughout the race, even working their way into contention for the overall podium. In the end, Kelley took the win and ended the day third overall, while Toth ended up second and Johnny Girror would round out the XC2 podium with third.
With a great event to return from summer break, the fight was on with two rounds remaining. Things would begin to heat up as the season began to wind down and what a season it had been. Check back next week, as we’ll wrap up the final two rounds in our last look back at the 2018 season.
#ThrowbackThursday (Jared Bolton)
