by: Jared Bolton
Thursday, August 29, 2019 | 1:30 PM
Welcome to Quick Fill.
Another week is in the books and the summer break is that much closer to coming to a close. The excitement of returning to GNCC Racing is really beginning to build and we’re looking forward to the Black Sky GNCC. First off, there’s been rumors floating around about Black Sky but here’s the fact, we ARE going racing at Black Sky! Rob Johnson, the landowner, has been working hard to put in a couple of new roads to make the entrance into the facility even better. These additions will tremendously improve the ingress and egress of the facility and of course, we’ve all got our fingers crossed for good weather.
So if you were under the impression that the event is going to change or just simply aren’t prepared, well now is the time to get going because we are going racing! Don’t forget that pre-entry is open and you can do that HERE. Black Sky promises to be a pretty cool event. This is kind of similar to the High Voltage event we had just before summer break, as it’s more like a traditional GNCC event held on a family farm. The course will have a few small grass track areas but the overwhelming majority of the course will be in the woods. The terrain is a bit similar to Tomahawk with some shell-type rock but a bit less than Tomahawk.
We’ll have more details on the Black Sky in the next couple of weeks but for now, let’s discuss a bit about the following event at Mason-Dixon. For the first time ever, the Pitbike State Championship will take place on Saturday evening. This promises to be a pretty cool event that will take a Motocross des Nations type format and see ten different states compete against each other for honors of Pitbike State Champion. Pitbike extraordinaire “Rocket” Rob Buydos will be hosting the event with help from our friends at Yamaha.
Motozilli Yamaha out of Ohio will supply ten identically prepared Yamaha TTR110s for each racer to compete aboard. Each state will have a Team Captain who selects a three-rider team to compete. There will be three different motos and each rider will compete in a moto, with all three motos counting for the final score. Current confirmed Team Captains are as follows:
Pennsylvania – Barry Hawk
Ohio – Fred Andrews
Indiana – David Quillen
Tennessee – Chuck Lemaster
Wisconsin – Jamie Fox Vance
Obviously Barry and Fred need no introduction, as they are both former GNCC champions. David Quillen, known far and wide as “DQ” is a familiar face in the GNCC crowd as well. DQ serves as co-host The Bottleneck Live with our own Mikey Waynes, has previously spun wrenches for Thad Duvall, and currently works with Layne Michael. The GNCC Racin’ Nation is also familiar with Team Faith’s Chuck Lemaster, who will be Team Captain for Tennessee. Jamie Fox Vance was hand-selected by Rocket Rob himself to represent Wisconsin and she works with our friends at Parts Unlimited.
We’re still looking to fill five more states with Team Captains. Currently we have several folks who are considering the role for a few different states, but if you’re interested in representing your respective state as Team Captain then drop me a line at [email protected] and let me know your details. Only catch is each rider on your team must have a photo ID from the state you’re representing.
Speaking of Mason-Dixon, don’t forget that if you want a sneak peek of what to expect out on the racecourse, then come out and do some racing at the 29th annual DC Vet Homecoming the weekend before, that’s September 21-22. Saturday will see the usual GP Moto-X Country event, which is a hybrid mix of motocross and cross-country racing. We typically have around a three-mile racecourse with motocross, grass track and woods sections. You’ll race two different 30-minute motos and pretty much everyone has the opportunity to race in two classes. If you sign up for two classes, you’re getting two hours worth of riding with a couple of short breaks in between!
The fun continues Saturday night with vintage moto movies, BBQ dinner, karaoke and just good, old-fashioned bench racing. That Sunday, September 22nd will see the DC Vet Homecoming motocross event, which features various Vet classes, as well as support classes for younger riders as well. On top of that, there are numerous vintage contests taking place throughout the day, a bike show, swap meet and a ton of other things to make for an amazing weekend. The event pays no points to any series and makes for a pretty laid back weekend that is nothing but fun all around! On top of that, you’ve got the chance at some pretty cool trophies as we traditionally give away some cool mugs to top finishes. I’ve got a shelf full of these things and hope I can add a couple more this year. For more info, check out highpointmx.com
Outside of these happenings, things are fairly quiet at the moment. Grant Baylor did claim his second straight National Enduro race win over the weekend, but Steward Baylor still controls the points lead there. Evan Smith has also been on fire in the National Enduros and landed his third podium finish of the season, which puts him third overall in the series. While Stu holds a good lead, there are still three rounds of racing left to go. Anything can happen but the question on people’s minds is; can Steward Baylor claim his third straight National Enduro title? The last time anyone claimed more than two titles in a row was Mike Lafferty’s four consecutive titles from 2000-2003.
However, its still Dick Burleson who holds record for most consecutive National Enduro crowns as he won all eight of his titles in a row from 1974-1981. In terms of total titles, the only other rider with eight National Enduro titles is Mike Lafferty, but Randy Hawkins sits tied for second most with Bill Baird with seven each. Russell Bobbit has five titles and Terry Cunningham comes next with four titles. If Steward Baylor claims the National Enduro crown this year it will tie him with Cunningham, as it will be Baylor’s fourth title (his first came back in 2012)
As always, we’re glad to see GNCC racers who also find success in other series or events. It’s always cool to see our riders succeed in additional events, and another that took place last weekend was the Heartland Challenge. Once again, the Yamaha boys of Walker Fowler, Johnny Gallagher and Mark Notman were able to claim the overall win. This was the 12th running of the Heartland Challenge and marked Yamaha’s tenth overall win in the event. That’s a pretty cool accomplishment for those folks and who knows where the success can go from here!
That’s going to do it for this week’s edition of Quick Fill. Check back next week as we’ll have more updates on the ending of the summer break, plus we’ll begin a recap of some of the point standings heading into the final rounds. Until then, enjoy your weekend and get ready for some racing because it’s coming up soon!
#ThrowbackThursday
