On Saturday, it was the WXC ATV riders going to battle for the second time this season in sands of Florida. As the riders jockeyed for position it was Fly Racing/GBC Motorsports/Yamaha Racing’s Traci Pickens snagging the $100 BNR Motorsports Holeshot Award, making it two in a row for her. Unfortunately for Traci, that was the highlight of the race as she found herself falling back to the middle of the pack and finished the day in 6^th. It’s been a rough start to the season for the winningest GNCC WXC ATV Pro, but rest assured we’ll see her back out front battling with the leaders before the season is up.

Behind Traci in second was Action Off-Road/Moose Racing/GBC Motorsport’s Katelyn Osburn. Kate was coming off a third place finish at Big Buck and looking for her first win of the year in what has become one of the deepest pro classes at the GNCC. After following Traci early both riders were taking their time trying to figure out the track. Eventually Kate would get around Traci at a mud hole only to get herself stuck in another mud hole toward the end of lap one that resulted in her dropping a few positions and playing catch-up all day. and lead nearly the entire first lap. Kate ended her day with a 2^nd place finish.

Regarding the 2^nd place finish Kate said, “Kinda bummed with it. But any day on the podium is a good day.”

The BNR Motorsports/GBC/HMF Engineering ride of Jessica Elioff was the big story out of the WXC class on Saturday. Jessica quickly found herself out in front of the WXC and made it her mission to get as many riders in between her and second place as possible.

Jessica, “Last year I was able to pull a lot of holeshots, but this season it hasn’t happened so far. But I managed to get up front eventually. Then I kept finding myself sitting down a lot because the track was rough. So, I have to keep telling myself to get my butt up, get your butt off the seat and keep going. I thought for sure I’d see the white flag when I came through, but it was the 2 lap card. I wanted to cry, but I hung on and got my first every WXC win today.”

Jessica now holds the points lead heading into round three in Georgia.

Another big name in the WXC was the Stewart Brothers Racing/Spider Graphix backed ride of Angel Magee who made her return to the GNCC podium after a seventh place finish in round one. Angel said she plans to run the entire season and is looking forward to being a regular on the podium.

Rounding out the top five were Alicia McCormick in fourth and Hannah Hunter finishing in fifth. Two names we’re used to seeing in the top three. Look to see things really shake up in this WXC ATV class this season. The talent could very well be deeper than ever before.

In the Women’s class Karlie Martin kept her podium streak alive, only this time it was with a first place followed by Morgan Johnson and Chloe Harper rounding out the top three. Kilah Kirby had a great day finishing fourth and Alexis Keyes rounded out the top five finishers out of 15 women that were entered in the class.

In the youth rankings it was Courtney Crump kept the consistency rolling with her second, second place finish to start the year in the 250 (13-15) class. The consistent run gives her the points lead heading into Georgia. Khyler Davis earned her second win in a row in the Girls Jr. class win with Falyn Holcomb finishing second and Niah Craig rounding out the top three. Alyssa Rodgers managed to grab her first win of the year in Florida with Skyler Smith finishing second and Makenzie Luckadoo rounding out the top three. Kicking off the day in the Micro division was Jenna Berg earning a fifth place finish in the MXC1 class and Raelynn Dickerson finishing sixth in MXC1, with Aubrey Benner bringing home a tenth in the 90 stock class.

On Sunday it was Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Tayla Jones grabbing her first $100 Trail Jester’s WXC Holeshot Award of the year. Something Tayla was stoked about, “Got the holeshot. I was super stoked about that! I barely ever get the Holeshot, so I was pumped that I ripped that. Threw it away shortly after that but the goal was to get a top three today and I got it done. I don’t know how, the mudholes were gnarly, I guess Husqvarna’s can swim. Stoked to finish on the box, but next week I want to be center of the box.”

AmPro Yamaha’s Rachael Archer and Beta USA’s Rachel Gutish battled out front throughout most of lap one. But after that first lap the defending 2020 Champ, BABS Racing Yamaha/Fly/Maxxis/Pro Circuit’s Becca Sheets worked her way from fourth to the first and really never looked back.

Becca, “I felt really good out there. My bike is setup really well for what Palatka has to offer. After they dozed the track last night it was nearly as rough as I expected. I tried to be smart and patient with lappers. I was able to get a several lappers in between me and the rest of the girls. On the last lap I went around one of the mud holes and ended up sinking the bike. Fortunately, my friends were right there and got me out. But I didn’t really know if I still had the lead or not, so I just put my head down, pushed and ended up coming away with the win.”

AmPro Yamaha’s Rachael Archer kept the consistency going with a second place finish.

Rachael, “It took me awhile to get going today. I had arm-pump the first lap and a half. Once that went away, I started finding a flow. Becca ended up catching me and we rode together for a while, but I ended up having a bit of a crash and smashed my fingers in a gateway, then got taken out by a lapped rider. All in all, it was a good day, I’m ready for round three.”

After the early success in lap one, Beta USA’s Rachel Gutish finished fourth with Shelby Turner rounding out the top five.

In the Women’s amateur class, it was Kayla O’Neill taking her first win, Kaitlyn Lindsey finishing second and Zoee Grezch rounding out the top three in the class. In the Women’s C class Morgan Johnson took her first win of the year followed by Rochelle Longstreth in second and Zoe Yahraus finishing third. In the Women’s 35+, Dawn Silvia made it back to back wins taking first place, with Annette Campbell and Charuwan Kantree rounding out the classes top three.