WASHINGTON, Ga. (March 15, 2020) – The Specialized General, round three of the 2020 Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series presented by Specialized, an AMA National Championship, kicked off the weekend on Saturday, March 14 with the world’s premier off-road ATV racers taking to the woods of Georgia.

Making his way to the checkered flag first was WFR/GBC/Fly Racing/Yamaha’s Walker Fowler. This win marks Fowler’s third-straight win of the season, giving him a 31 point lead in the National Championship points standings. Fowler would lead the race from start to finish on Saturday afternoon, remaining consistent and placing a sizeable gap on the rest of the field throughout the duration of the race.

After a mid-pack start it was CST/Houser Racing/Waynesburg Yamaha’s Brycen Neal making the necessary passes, and charging through the pack to earn second overall on the day. Neal Came through seventh on the opening lap, but would begin picking off riders one-by-one. As the white flag came out Neal would make the pass for second, and never look back.

Rounding out the top three overall on the podium was Phoenix Honda Racing’s Chris Borich. After grabbing the $100 All Balls Racing XC1 Holeshot Award, Borich headed into the woods with a hungry pack of XC1 riders hot on his heels. Borich would emerge second, about 13 seconds behind Fowler, after the first lap. After running second for the first half the race, Borich would find himself battling for the position as the white flag came out. Neal would make the pass stick on Borich, but Borich would be able to hold on to the third and final podium position.

JMR/GBC/Elka/Moose Racing’s Jarrod McClure was making a last lap charge as he came through the finish just 1.6 seconds behind Borich. McClure would finish just off the podium with a fourth overall on the day in Georgia. McClure remains third in the points standings after three rounds of racing.

Steadily improving each and every round this year is McGill Mafia/Obor Tires/Moose Racing’s Adam McGill. This weekend McGill was running sixth overall for majority of the race, but would put his head down and make a last lap pass to take fifth overall on the day.

HHR/Maxxis/Fly Racing/Ithaca Recreation Sports’ Hunter Hart came in sixth overall after battling throughout the entire race. Hart found himself sitting seventh as the white flag came out, but would up the pace making a pass on the final lap to take that number six spot overall.

Making his way up to seventh overall was Devon Feehan Racing/GBC/Fly Racing’s Devon Feehan. After starting back in the ninth place position Feehan was making the necessary moves through the pack to ensure a finish inside the top 10 overall.

After running fourth on the third lap it was Action Off-Road/Tely Energy Racing/Kenda’s Cole Richardson suffering from a crash on the last lap to put him back in the eight place position. Richardson remains seconds in the points standings after round three of racing in Georgia.

Finishing ninth and tenth overall were BNR Motorsports/GBC/HMF Engingeering’s Josh Merritt and XC1 Pro rookie, Pierce Performance/GBC Tires/Fly Racing’s John Glauda Jr. Both Merritt and Glauda would find themselves working their way to finish inside the top 10 after starting towards the back of the pack.

Earning his third-straight XC2 Pro-Am class victory was LanMills XC/WFR/Magna1 Lubricants’ Drew Landers. As Landers made his way around on the opening lap he would find himself in the fourth place position. However, Landers would put his head down and remain focused making the necessary passes to get into the lead by the second lap of racing. Lander would remain in the lead until the checkered flag flew.

Action Off-Road/Maxxis/Blud Lubricants’ Austin Abney held onto his second place finishing position throughout the duration of the two-hour race on Saturday. Abney currently sits second in the XC2 National Championship points standings.

Making his way to his first Pro-Am podium finish of the season was Tely Energy Racing’s Ronnie Rusch. Coming through on the opening lap Rusch was leading the way in his class, but would soon fall back to third after engaging in a battle with both Landers and Abney. Rusch would remain focused and hold onto third in his class, standing atop the podium for the first time in 2020.

In the 11 a.m. race it was Robert Parking jumping out to grab the $100 BNR Motorsports 4x4 Pro Holeshot Award. However, it would be 4x4 Pro rider, OBOR/Can-Am/Derisi Racing/Action Sports’ Landon Wolfe taking his third consecutive overall and class win of the season. Wolfe would hold onto the lead for the entire two-hour race, coming through three minutes ahead of the competition.

Battling his way up to second overall in the morning and in the 4x4 Pro class was Can-Am/BNR/Kenda/Tire Blocks/HFM’s Robbie Pecorari. After running third for majority of the day, Pecorari would move into second on the final lap of racing. Pecorari currently sits second in the 4x4 Pro National Championship standings.

Phoenix Honda Racing’s Haedyn Mickelson came from a sixth place start on the day to round out the 4x4 Pro class podium in third. Mickelson has been steadily improving each round, and currently sits fourth in the 4x4 Pro class championship points standings.

In the WXC class it was Malaska Motorsports/HMF/Cecco Racing’s Hannah Hunter battling her way to finish third overall in the 11 a.m. race and take her third-straight WXC class win of the 2020 season. Hunter started her day second, but would soon move into the number one spot on the second lap. Hunter holds the WXC points lead by 15 points. 

Fly Racing/GBC Motorsports/Yamaha Racing’s Traci Pickens earned herself another second place finish in Georgia this weekend. Pickens lead the way on the opening lap, but would soon ensue in a battle with Hunter. Pickens would remain in second until the checkered flag flew. Coming through to round out the overall WXC podium was Action Off-Road/GBC/Moose Racing’s Katelyn Osburn for the second-straight time this year. Osburn would remain consistent in the third place position throughout the race today.

During the 8 a.m. youth race it was YXC1 Super Mini Sr. competitor Tyler Cox taking the overall win. This was Cox’s second overall youth win of the season. Following Cox was Stewart Boys Racing’s Charlie Stewart coming through in second overall and in the YXC1 class. Stewart sits second in the points, but only down by one point. Rounding out the overall and YXC1 Super Mini Sr. podium in third was Nicholas Dearing, who currently holds the points lead in the class.

Ty McGaughey came through to earn the YXC2 Super Mini Jr. class win followed by Tavin Cook and Brody Pullen rounding out the top three. In the Girls Sr. class, it was Anna Nicely earning the win with Hannah Moore and Haile Fowler rounding out the Girls top three. 

In the Micro ATV it was Bodie Buckhannon earning the overall and MXC1 class win with fellow MXC1 competitor Ethan Berner coming in second. Rounding out the top three overall was MXC2 competitor Reed Stevens. In the Bike Micro division, it was Colby Goodman coming through to earn his third-straight overall win in MXC1. Gavin Harwell of MXC1 came through second overall followed by MXC2 competitor Hunter Hawkinberry coming through third overall.

The first round of the Specialized Turbo eMTB GNCC National Championship took place on Saturday at The General GNCC. Charlie Mullins would come through first, picking it up where he left off after earning the National Championship last season. Mullins was followed by John Ayers and William Pregram rounding out the Pro eMTB podium.