by: Jared Bolton
Thursday, April 9, 2020 | 2:15 PM
Hey all you cool cats and kittens, welcome to Quick Fill.
Just kidding, this week’s edition of Quick Fill is NOT written by Carole Baskin. The weeks continue to roll by in this unscheduled break from racing, and while there hasn’t been much going on in regards to riding, we’re still trying to keep the entertainment rolling. RacerTV’s new Behind the Bars series has been really fun to put together over the last few weeks and we’ve got an awesome episode coming up this week… More on that in a bit! News has been a bit quiet this week but we do have some updates in regards to the rest of the GNCC season, which were issued earlier this week from the RLT.
In case you’ve missed it the past few weeks, RLT stands for Race Leadership Team and consists of representatives from AMA, MX Sports and MX Sports Pro Racing. All of which work together to determine the best courses of action in regards to the scheduling of GNCC, Pro Motocross, ATV Motocross and Loretta Lynns events as we move through the current pandemic. The RLT meets each Monday to discuss the current situation, and as of Monday’s meeting there are a few updates. You can view the full PR HERE, but we’ll give a quick rundown as well.
The current plan in regards to GNCC Racing is as follows; we still hope to be able to return to racing May 2-3 at Mountain Ridge in Somerset, PA however we do understand that it is highly unlikely that we’ll be able to return to racing that weekend, but at this time we’re still planning to go racing if safe to do so. The Gladiator event has been cancelled per the landowner, and there is a possibility that we could return that weekend at a different venue. A final decision on these events will be announced later.
Due to the previous postponements we’ve already been through, we will be utilizing the July 11/12 rain date and will also have an additional weekend of racing November 7/8. In addition to these changes, GNCC is working with the Full Gas Sprint Enduro staff to determine if it is possible for them to postpone their June 13/14 event to July 4/5 to allow a GNCC event to be hosted on the June 13/14 weekend at a venue to be announced later.
This is not set in stone and obviously this is an ever-evolving situation but as of right now the TENTATIVE GNCC dates for the remainder of the season are:
May 2/3 Somerset, PA
May 16/17 Tentative
May 30/31 John Penton, OH
June 13/14 Tentative
June 27/28 Snowshoe, WV
July 11/12 Tentative
July 31 Loretta Lynn eMTB only
Sept. 12/13 Mountaineer, WV
Sept. 26/27 Tomahawk, NY
Oct. 10/11 Mathews Farm, PA
Oct. 24/25 Ironman, IN
Nov. 7/8 Tentative
In case you’re counting as you’re reading, yes, that list includes a total of 11 dates. Since we’ve already had three events, we will only use 10 of those dates to give us a total of 13 events, as originally planned. The purpose of reserving these dates now is to allow the GNCC race community to plan accordingly. Please keep in mind that this is all very tentative and depends on how the situation in the United States unfolds as time progresses. We want to get back to racing as much as you do, but we ALL have to be sensible about this and we won’t be going racing until we feel that it’s safe to do so.
With that in the books, let’s talk about what we’re doing to help keep everyone entertained in the meantime. I’ve talked about the new Behind the Bars series the past few weeks and we debuted episode two last weekend. This episode featured Adam McGill and Bill Ballance going back to the 2007 Spartan GNCC, where Adam led all the way down to the final portions of the race with Bill making a last minute pass for the win. It’s a great episode and the stories these guys share are great for any racer to hear. So, even if you’re a hardcore bike rider, check out that episode. And, if you missed the first one from the 2005 Yadkin Valley Stomp GNCC, featuring Barry Hawk, Charlie Mullins and Mike Lafferty, check that one out as well! You can find both episodes HERE.
We shot another episode this week, and it’s just might be the best one yet! Mr. Ten Seconds himself, Rodney Tomblin played host with Jason Weigandt and myself co-hosting a star-studded line up watching the 2008 Triton GNCC bike race down in Florida. Guests for this episode include race winner and eventual 2008 champ, David Knight plus “The Sandman” Garrett Edmisten, who fought hard for a podium and the leader of the first lap, Travis Pastrana! Yes, you heard it right; we were joined by Travis Pastrana to talk some GNCC Racing.
You definitely don’t’ want to miss this one because these guys were awesome on the show and they even talk about a time we may see all three of them back on a GNCC course! We decided to switch up when we release these shows, so moving forward we'll be posting and premiering them once the final editing is done, but of course the GNCC social media accounts will keep you updated on what that happens. You can find the link to this new episode HERE, or just check it out embeded below!
I mention this at the end of the episode but if you have an idea for a Behind the Bars episode that would be good to get the key riders involved and watch, drop me a line at [email protected] and let me know what show to check out!
Also, before I wrap this up, we added more coloring pages this week! These have been a huge hit and we love seeing everyone share their pages on social media, so check the available coloring pages out HERE.
That’s going to do it for me this week. We’ve got a bit from Ken and we’re bringing back some Throwback Thursday photos as well before wrapping up this edition of Quick Fill. Until next time enjoy your weekend, wash your hands and we’ll see you back here next week!
Catching Up With Ken (Ken Hill)
Yes sir, its another week down in todays new normal, which isn’t normal and is supposed to be growing to get us back to the old normal, with some not so normal twists. You can literally go crazy if you stare at a wall and try to put everything that is going on into perspective. So what is going on? I have lost track honestly as I just wash my hands, avoid people, stay away from town and look every day for the email telling me break time is over and it is time to get back to work and racing.
I was trying to figure out what to write about this week and I started drawing a blank. A quick stroll through social media did not offer much as the posts have really fallen off as the riding has all but petered out. There is still some new content from those with access to private tracks but I haven’t been this bummed sine the 80’s when the three-wheeler world was killed off. And back then you waited for your magazines to arrive for information, which was always a few months behind unlike today where a meme can circle the globe in a matter of minutes. I remember my dad telling me to ignore that stuff and just ride the one I had and not worry about what the news says.
That is kind of hard when you are 13 and lived for everything that included off roading and racing your trike was all you dreamt about. I found myself telling my son very similar words as I told him to worry about what he can control and not let the internet boogey man worry him about this COVID 19 mess. I mean, at the end of the day you can only really count on yourself and the actions you take unless you have some mind control ray from the future that allows you to sway opinions so that everyone lines up with you and life is good.
Maybe in today’s world we find out way too much information way too fast and to me, there always seems to be a piece of the puzzle missing that is magically revealed shortly after a bombshell hits that makes you push away from the laptop and rethink your decisions or where you stand on an issue. Sometimes that little piece of cheese is left out on purpose, sometimes its a forgotten gem that once turned loose opens up Pandora’s box of what if’s and how comes, both of which further split the masses and an entirely new set or line of thinking erupts adding to the confusion. One thing I am proud of is knowing those in the office, the big brass that is, do their very best to keep us all informed on things regardless of what genre of racing we may enjoy.
The series has never gone through anything like this before and the level of positive energy and factual information seems to be on par with the high standards they set for themselves and the series itself. At no other time could they announce the cancelation of a race without a volcano of negativity erupting but this is the new norm. In just a month or so we have come accustom to things being stopped or drawn to a halt so we openly accept it as it is in the best interest of a bigger picture than just a weather related decision that could be money based or at least assumed to be driven by the dollar. I was almost scared to open the Internet following the change but was proud there was virtually no one calling for a public lynching.
So where do we stand? I really do not know because the situation is very fluid and the decisions and planning are constantly being changed. My wife asked where I would be when it was time to harvest tomatoes and I told her I could be at one of several events or right here at home continuing to drive her insane! Usually this type of deal would drive me batty because I can’t plan things out, even though I am a fly by the pants kind of guy, it does help to have some rails to try and stay on track. And by the looks of some of your social media posts, we better get back to racing soon or we could be witnessing the complete destruction of you normal folk!
Seriously, you have to admire the humor in much of what we see and do not feel ashamed to laugh in these ties of doom and gloom. We all have to find ways of dealing with boredom and even fear. If I make a mistake here now I laugh and tell the wife it was all planned that way just to keep her spirits up! She grumbles and says things like “is that why the bathroom isn’t finished?” Or “Can we have a Tiger?”. Even I get bored and have some creative ways of dealing with it or maybe it’s just to push the wife around a bit. For a week I had her wondering what deodorant I was using as I switched shampoo, soap and even went so far as using two different types of deodorant at a time. I got a real chuckle when she would turn her nose up and ask exactly what in the same hill I was up to. Maybe I will clue her in one day or sooner if I see a crate with a stripped kitty cat show up from UPS!
That’s about all from me this week, not much new in the way of info but they like to keep me in the dark until its time to open the door and set me loose on something. As always, be safe in all you do and may the good Lord continue to bless us all!
#ThrowbackThursday (Jared Bolton)
It's back! It's always a hit when we do Throwback Thursday inside of Quick Fill, and since I've been spending more time at home, I brought my Photo Archive hard drive from the office and have been looking at tons of older photos. So, while we've got this unwanted break from racing, we'll bring back the throwback photos as frequently as possible.
If you have some old photos to share, drop me a line at [email protected] and show me what you've got!
