How does it feel to have successfully defended the 4x4 Pro title?

Landon Wolfe: It feels good! I was coming off a great year in 2019, so we had some high hopes going into 2020. Everything went almost as planned! We were very close to a perfect season this year. But either way, it felt very good to come back and defend the title.

Yeah, I saw you were only one race short of the perfect season, and you only lost that race by six seconds…

(laughs)... yeah. It was close. On the first lap I got myself in a bad position, had another rider crash in front of me. So, I was a minute-fifteen down going into lap two. I managed to regain a lot of that time, but still came up just a little bit short.

Given how close you came, is a perfect season a goal of yours for next year?

Funny you should ask, because we have talked about that recently… but it is such a crazy and ambitious goal to set. It’s not out of the question, but I’m not sure it would be doable, even as close as we came this season. I had a lot of luck on my side and I’m obviously going to shoot for winning each race as it comes, but we’ll see.

People say that winning the second title is actually harder than winning the first one, just due to the pressure and the expectation and the target on your back. Do you feel like that was the case for you, or no?

I would say most times that’s accurate, but not really for me. I did face some pressure and competition, especially early in the year. We had a new rider, Cody Collier, come into the class with a lot of speed behind him. But everything played out well this year. All in all, we had a pretty flawless season: my program was dialed in, my mechanic had the bike perfect for every race, for the most part I caught lucky breaks when I needed them.

What would you say were the best moment or moments of your season?

In Florida, the race between Cody and I came right down to the finish. He had it won, but then made a mistake within 100 yards of the finish and I was able to take the surprise win. Beckley, West Virginia – even though I lost the perfect season there, the process was good. I’m proud of myself for how much time I was able to make up and how hard I worked to claw my way back up, even though it still wasn’t quite enough to salvage the win. Then, I wrapped up the title at Mason-Dixon this year. That was a great moment, not just because I won the championship, but because we had such a large crew there. My whole family, my wife, a lot of her family, my mechanic, some sponsors, it seemed like everyone was there which made it especially sweet.

Are you looking forward to some time off now, or are you one of those guys that hits the ground running as soon as the last race is over?

No, I am not one of those guys (laughs) I’m looking forward to some time off! Right now, I’m actually on my way to a family vacation right now. I’m looking forward to riding some dirt bikes on my time off, I love doing that during the off-season. Later in December I’ll head down to Georgia for some tire testing, then right after that is Christmas. Once the holidays are over, we’ll hit the ground running again. But I do appreciate the time off I get.

So, you’ve been racing GNCCs for…. Is this your tenth season or your eleventh?

It was my eleventh. I believe I started in ’09, so yeah, that would make this number eleven. I started out as a kid, on dirt bikes. I made my way over to a four-wheeler. Then got hooked up with Chris Borich, he lives not far from us. I started racing the C class at the GNCCs and made one stop in each class each year – C, B, A, XC2 and then ran the XC1 class for either three or four seasons. My best result there was sixth overall. My last year in XC1 I talked to the race director for Can-Am at Ironman and was able to strike a deal to switch over to 4x4 pro, and here we are. It’s been a long trip, it’s been a fun trip, I’ve made a lot of really good friends and connections. Had a lot of support, and it’s all been through GNCC racing. I appreciate what everyone has done for me and I’m looking forward to another year.

Are you like me in that you hope to continue racing until it’s no longer feasible to do so?

(laughs) Well… I am sure I will race in some capacity until I’m unable to. But there will be a time where I’m not doing it at the level I am right now. I work a full-time job and have a lot of other things going on in my life. I seem to be very busy year round and there will be a time when I step back a bit and race only when it’s convenient, but as of now I have no idea when that will be.

What do you do for a living?

My dad owns his own steel construction business. He’s owned it for over thirty years now and done it by himself forever. A few years ago, I started helping him here and there, but as time has gone on, I’ve started taking on a bigger and bigger role. It certainly takes up a lot more of my time than I used to – it is hard to race full-time and be learning a new business as well. I’ve enjoyed becoming a part of things, but it does make for a very busy lifestyle.

Are you satisfied with the success you’ve found in the 4x4 Pro class, or is there a small part of you that wishes you had been able to make things work out for a little longer in XC1?

Yeah… no, I’m really happy with how things have gone. It’s been really nice to have manufacturer support. I loved racing in XC1 class, I had a lot of fun battles and good memories, and there’s a depth of competition there that’s greater than in 4x4 pro. At the end of the day though, I found my niche here. I got lucky and talked to Can-Am at exactly the right time, and it blossomed into something really good for me that I never would have expected.

It’s funny how life works out that way sometimes, isn’t it?

You know, it was so unexpected. My buddy Dwight let me borrow his practice bike for Ironman, I raced 4x4 pro for the first time and did really well, the Can-Am guy just happened to be there, it just all fell into place within a matter of literally four hours.