by: Jared Bolton
Thursday, May 14, 2020 | 12:00 PM
Welcome to Quick Fill.
It’s time to go racing! We’re putting the finishing touches on this weekend’s Bulldog GNCC in Washington, Georgia and it’s looking to be a great weekend in the woods. Since we first announced the return to Aonia Pass for round four of the 2020 season, I’ve discussed how you shouldn’t expect the same course we raced last time here back in March. Well, I knew we’d change it up a bit but I didn’t expect us to change it as much as we have. Obviously there are a few spots that you have to use but the overwhelming majority of the course is different than what we rode earlier this season.
This is also really unique because it literally doesn’t even look like the same facility. With green leaves and green grass throughout the facility, it has a pretty different feel than what we’re used to early in the year. The low lying areas that are usually saturated, or totally flooded when we’re usually here are actually perfect, so instead of missing as many of those spots as possible, we’re headed into some of them because the dirt is moist and perfect in those areas.
Overall, this is shaping up to be a great event. It is pretty dry here at the moment, and there’s really no rain in the forecast so do expect a little dust but I don’t believe it’s going to be a full-blown dust bowl because once you cut through that top layer of dry dirt, there are spots of really good, moist dirt underneath. Yes, dust will be a factor but I don’t see it being anything like last year’s Mason-Dixon dustbowl. It’s also going to be hot, so please be sure you’re drinking lots of water and stay hydrated throughout the weekend!
As for the racecourse, the start has been moved to the other side of the property for this round. The finish, pro pits, vendors and such will all be in the same location it has been for several years. Yes, we realize that’s quite a hike to the other side to get to the start, but with the social distancing guidelines in place, this gives more room on the main side of the property to space out parking. So, when travelling to and from the start on the roads please be courteous and ride at a respectable speed on those roads.
When you take off from the start, you’re actually starting a bit into your lap. It’s around three miles in for the PM bikes, and about 2.3 miles in for everyone else. You’ll work your way into the woods and head towards the far side of the property. After the side-by-side two-way section at the back of the field, you’ll drop into the woods running the opposite direction of the last race. You’re cutting on and off the old trail for the first half-mile or so before cutting off into a new section for a bit at the four mile mark. It’s a section of old, old trail that hasn’t been used in over five years. It’s been dozed, and has some really cool dips and ravines you’ll cross through. You’ll jump back onto the previous round trail for a few turns and cut off once again into another mix of old, old trail and some new trail as well.
This part runs between some ravines, and flows really well. It winds around through more old and new sections to the five-mile mark. Shortly after the five, the AM and PM bikes split into a fresh bike only single-track section. The quads work through some flowing trail as well, before the two merge back together around the five and a half. The bike trail only adds a couple of tenths, but it keeps the bikes off the quad trail and gives them a fresh section. The trail hits some medium speed trail and through a few more dips and ravines over to the six-mile mark.
It tightens up in a couple of spots before heading back through some flowing trail over to the two-way section at the seven-mile mark. It will wind through some medium speed trail for a bit before tightening up in a few spots all the way to the eight-mile mark. This continues all the way to the nine-mile mark where you’ll pick up a freshly dozed off-camber trail that hasn’t been used in probably 10 years. It’s a lot of fun, and will pop out at the top of what was the FMF Powerpoint at the last round.
The course will then run through some tighter trail all the way over to the ten-mile mark before opening up along the pond by the front gate. You’ll continue over to the field, and wind along the edges of it to the 11-mile mark at the ATV pro pits. After the ATV pro pits, the track drops into the woods for just a second before it pops back out to the finish line. You’ll run through the finish and then head back into the woods again and run a section below the motocross track.
Due to the dry conditions, we’re going to skip the motocross track this time, but the 1PM bike race will have to cross over a portion of the motocross track to get in and out of pro pits. It will come back to the woods to the one-mile mark into some really fun up and downhill spots that wind you all the way over to the two-mile mark. After the two, there’s a fun little off-camber section with a short hillclimb at the end that brings you to the field section near the start. This section brings you back to the start and into the woods at the three-mile mark where you started.
Overall, it will be around 12 miles for the PM bikes, just around 11 for the PM ATVs and just a smidge under 11 for the AM ATVs. Overall, this is a really fun layout and while conditions are dry it should be an awesome weekend of racing. I can’t wait to get things rolling because this could shape up to be one of the better events we’ve had here!
Moving on from the racetrack, we do know that some of you had some concerns about the return to racing. We do have some changes in place for the weekend, and we also will not be broadcasting The Bulldog live on RacerTV.com. It will air later on MAVTV, but the live show will take a break this weekend. Also, given the COVID-19 situation we’ve reduced the number of required events for class championships from nine rounds to eight. You can read the official PR on everything HERE.
Well, we’ve still got a lot to do so I’m going to keep this week’s edition of Quick Fill on the short side and get back to work. Enjoy the trip and we’ll see you this weekend in Georgia!
Crazy Season (Ken Hill)
I woke up this morning and did a slow, mouth agape stare at my social media feed. It was as if 3/4 of the feed was missing! I wondered what in the world could be going on as the usual overnight escapades were missing and it took all of about 5 minutes to reach the posts that I read before hitting the rack. Well this could really only mean a few things, maybe the zombie part of this virus finally showed up or possibly a highly targeted and directed web attack on a huge swath of my friends. No that couldn’t be, zombies aren’t real and I doubt I have ticked off some rogue hacker. Then it hit me, we are all getting ready to go back to GNCC RACING! Its 2020 2.0!
It seems like forever and then again it seems like just a missed weekend, but in any event we are all heading back to Aonia Pass for the Bulldog GNCC as we finally kick this pig and get back to some racing! I am going to keep this short simply because you need to be reading and paying attention to the new rules and regulations as well as a few changes concerning social distancing and the way the weekend will flow. This is important folks, agree or disagree let’s all buckle down and show the world we can still do our thing amidst the doom and gloom we’ve all been subject to. Believe it or not, the eyes of the racing world are upon us and we need to be cognitive of how we preform and conduct ourselves in town and at the Aonia facility. If this goes sideways I can assure you it will affect other races slated for this crazy season!
That’s it from me, I’m charging batteries and packing and ready to race as I know you all are doing the same. Read the rules/regulations and do the best you can please! As always, be safe in your travels and may the good Lord continue to bless us all!
Safe to Race Toolkit Downloads:
• Safe to Race Final Toolkit PDF
• Safe to Race Addendum B Word Document
• Safe to Race Employee Wellness Questionnaire
• Sample of Pre-Event Messaging