Welcome to Quick Fill. 

Just like that we’re three rounds deep in the 2022 GNCC Racing season. I’m not sure about you, but it really seems like those first three rounds flew by and now we’re staring down the barrel of round four. Of course, there’s an off-weekend standing in the way first which could prove to be some much-needed rest for some, or just another opportunity to get out and do some riding or racing somewhere else. No matter which category you fall in there, this off-weekend will end up flying by and we’ll be rolling back into the Big Buck Farm for the Tiger Run shortly. 

Now, we know that’s a quick turnaround from Big Buck hosting round one to coming right back again for round four. However, the crew spent some extra time making sure the trails were dozed really nice and we even planted some grass seed with the hopes that it would sprout up a bit in those five weeks. Unfortunately, that cold snap we felt in Georgia also was felt at Big Buck and I don’t believe that grass will grow in quiet as good as we hoped, but fingers are still crossed that there will be a few green patches here and there. 

We’re also hoping to use a few different sections for the racecourse and not just simply run you backwards on what we rode the last time. Obviously, there are a few areas that will have to remain the same, but we’ll still do what we can to mix things up here and there. Overall, Tiger Run should still have a bit of a different feel from the Big Buck and while not everyone is a huge fan of racing the same places twice in a single season the goal is to make each of those feel as unique as possible. 

So, backing up to those last two events. Was that not one of the wildest changes from one event to the other? Down in Florida it was hot, dry and dusty but when we made the move up to Georgia it was cold, wet and a little bit muddy at times. This has happened before between these two events but I’m not sure there have been too many times where there’s been that much of a change in temperatures. It went from mid-80s in Florida to low-20s at one point in Georgia which has to be one of the biggest temperature swings we’ve ever seen between two events. 

While some had to contend with a bit of mud in Georgia, in the grand scheme of things we got pretty lucky. At one point they were calling for more than an inch of rain to fall throughout late Friday afternoon and into early Saturday morning. Instead, we ended up with virtually no rain on Friday and one hard Friday night into Saturday morning which actually never gave that rain a chance to really soak in. Sure, there were a few low-lying spots that stayed pretty nasty through the weekend but those spots also ended up being fairly passable, so instead of copious amounts of rerouting, everyone continued to ride through the same few muddy spots and they never really got THAT bad. 

Now, this was actually a good thing as it also sort of kept the overall speeds of each race a little lower. It seems like a lot of folks were taking their time and not pushing too hard throughout the race and in a strange twist, the afternoon bike race actually saw some of the best conditions of the entire weekend. When I swept the first lap of the AM bike race, it really seemed like a big majority of the AM racers were riding really smart, taking their time picking their ways through the course and it was cool to see everyone essentially out there having a good time instead of pushing as hard as possible through the entire race. I actually made the entire first lap without getting caught by the WXC leaders, which almost never happens, and the track had already started shaping up to be really, really sweet. 

Hopefully next time we’re dealt a poor forecast with rain we could end up in a similar situation, but it would be even better if that rain would fall Thursday night and give it all day Friday to dry up just a smidge more. Oh, and hopefully it would come without the freezing temperatures because that really didn’t help either. However, even with the rain and the cold, The General really turned out to be a pretty fun course and hopefully we can expect more of the same fun as this season continues. 

Have you been checking out this year’s GNCC highlight videos? No, we’re not talking about the RacerTV Live Episodes, or the Highlight shows that will be on MAVTV later, but the actual post-race highlights Mason Rader does for us. Well, if you haven’t you should take a look as Mason has changed them up a bit for 2022 and a little more behind the scenes look at each day’s racing. Not only do these new highlight videos show the racing, but there’s all sorts of short interviews and little behind the scenes snippets thrown in as well. You can check out The General ATV video HERE and the bike video HERE. They’re worth the watch. 

While we’ve got an off-weekend this week, it’s never too early to start making plans for the rest of the season. You likely already have the GNCC schedule all planned out, which if you’re missing any dates just click the schedule link in the navigation of the site for all the details, but we’ve got a lot of other weekends packed full of fun this year as well. If you didn’t already know, outside of GNCC we and our sister company MX Sports also handles all the racing events at High Point Raceway and Ironman, as well as the Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s and manage the entire Pro Motocross and ATV Motocross series’ so we have something going on just about every weekend! 

So, if you’re looking to come ride with us at some events outside of GNCC, here are just a few that you could be interested in and see some familiar faces at. On April 16, the weekend following Camp Coker, we’ll be hosting our annual Wake Up! High Point Ride Day. The motocross track will be open for practice and we’ll have a woods loop available as well, plus a 50cc track, Stacyc course and an eMTB loop as well. This is always a really fun, laid back day of riding and there’s usually some really fast guys who show up to have some fun as well. This is a bike-only event, but gate admission is free (you only pay to ride!) so if you’re an ATV rider who just wants to come hang out, come on! 

We actually back that up with a PAMX series event at High Point the following weekend on April 23-24 and this is a perfect warm up for anyone looking to qualify for Loretta Lynn’s and will be racing the Regional at High Point May 28-29. For the ATV crowd, we actually have a third consecutive High Point event April 30-May 1 in the form of the ATV Motocross National Championship. So, during that three-week gap between Camp Coker and Hoosier, we’ve got three events happening at High Point Raceway if you’re interested. Or maybe you’re interested in coming back to Ironman Raceway the weekend after Hoosier as we’ll have the ATV Motocross Series in action there as well May 14-15. 

The John Penton follows that event and then we’re back to High Point for that Loretta Lynn’s Regional Championship May 28-29, which this event is only open to those who qualified through one of the Area Qualifiers. We stay at High Point the following weekend but move across the street for the Mason-Dixon GNCC, and finally see a weekend off before High Point’s biggest event of the year, the High Point Motocross National that will take place June 19. There will also be amateur practice and racing Friday and Sunday, so you can come make a whole weekend out of it! 

That leads us into Snowshoe and the summer break that really isn’t much of a break on our end as we made the trip to Tennessee for Loretta Lynn’s, then back that up with ATV Motocross at Loretta Lynn’s before throwing in two more Pro Motocross events at Budds Creek and Ironman before finally getting a minute of downtime prior to getting back to GNCC at The Mountaineer. Now, I should preface this with the fact that some of our staff also attend the other Pro Motocross events that take place throughout the country as we’re the administrative team in charge of the series, but our staff directly promotes the High Point event and is deeply partnered with Ironman and Budds Creek as well. 

Once GNCC is back from summer break, we also have the Big Dave Vet Homecoming at High Point Raceway September 17-18. This is one of the most fun events of the entire year as it pays no points and serves as not much more than bragging rights. There’s a full day of GP racing on Saturday with a mix of motocross, grass track and woods, followed by motocross on Sunday for Vet classes, vintage bikes, and some support classes for younger riders as well. Overall, this is a “must attend” event! 

As you can see, we’re all swamped throughout the year in addition to the 13 GNCCs. If my schedule pans out the way I’m currently planning it looks like I’m in for somewhere around a total of 32 events this year, which is definitely a full year of work and lots of fun. So, you never know where you might see some familiar GNCC faces pop up. For now though, that’s going to do it for this week’s edition of Quick Fill. We hope you enjoy your weekend and we’ll see you back here next week for one final teaser before Tiger Run!