Welcome to Quick Fill. 

Another week is in the books as we’re about one-third of the way through this year’s GNCC summer break. It’s been just over three weeks since Snowshoe and, in some ways, it seems like Snowshoe just happened while in other ways that seems like it was months ago. Maybe that’s just me but I’m sure someone out there shares a similar feeling. Regardless, there’s still seven weeks before we return to GNCC Racing but don’t get too comfortable because that time will ultimately fly, and we’ll be rolling into The Mountaineer before we know what happened. 

As I mentioned last week, our office is wide open getting ready for Loretta Lynn’s and just a friendly reminder that we will once again be hosting a GNCC eMTB round at Loretta’s on Saturday July 30^th. Now, we have changed the time of the race to 2pm instead of the traditional 4pm slot because, frankly, everyone was ready to race much earlier! So, if you’re coming to Loretta’s to race your eMTB don’t forget that the race will now be at 2pm! 

Speaking of Loretta’s, once again there are a number of familiar names from the GNCC crowd who will be racing this year’s Amateur National. Scrolling down through the entry lists you’ll see names such as current GNCC 150 Schoolboy B/C points leader, Thor Powell who will be racing the 125 (12-17) B/C and Schoolboy 1 (12-17) B/C classes and Phoenix Honda’s Heath Harrison who will be racing the Open Pro Sport class and also defending his class championship in Junior (25+). Then there’s multi-time GNCC overall winner, Jason Raines who will be racing the Senior (40+) class while his daughter and current WXC class competitor, Prestin Raines, will be racing the WMX class. 

That WMX class also has none other than Korie Steede who has been on fire in the GNCC WXC class this year, as well as on again/off again GNCC WXC competitor Shelby Rolen. Former XC1 competitor, The Sandman himself, Garrett Edmisten will actually be riding a 1998 Kawasaki KX500 2-stroke in the Vet (30+) class along with Nate Kronk who makes occasional GNCC appearances in the Vet B class, and also North Carolina’s William Hall who has a number of GNCC events to his credit as well. 

Long-time XC1 competitor Jimmy Jarrett will be back at Loretta’s once again as well as he’ll be taking on the Senior (45+) class, and there’s also legendary Pro Motocrosser Mike Brown, who also has made a few GNCC starts in his day racing the Senior (40+) and Masters (50+) classes. Ryan Sipes son, Jack, will be making his first-ever appearance at Loretta’s in the Micro-E class and GNCC 85 (12-13) competitor Mason Raynor will be running the 85 (10-12) Limited and 85 (10-12) classes at The Ranch. Canyon Richards comes from a motocross background but is actually leading the points in the GNCC 85 (12-13) class this season and he’ll also be back at Loretta’s in the Mini Sr 1 (12-14) and Mini Sr 2 (13-15) classes. Canyon’s sister, Brighton, has also ran some GNCC events this season and she’ll be racing the Girls (11-16) class at Loretta’s. 

So, clearly there are a number of GNCC racers taking part in Loretta’s and I probably even missed a name or two as well. As usual, you can follow the action all week long on RacerTV with everything kicking off on Monday August 1st with the practice day and racing starting on Tuesday August 2^nd. It’s always a really great week full of racing and if you’ve ever been to Loretta’s in person, there’s a ton of extra activities taking place throughout the week as well that truly give it the moniker of “The World’s Greatest Motocross Vacation”. 

When it comes to actual off-road news, things have obviously been a bit on the slow side. There’s been quite a few local races as well as the 9-Hours of Havoc ATV race that our friends with the NECXC put on, as well as the Northeast 24-Hour Challenge which actually took place at the old Tomahawk GNCC property in New York. The team of Cole Richardson, Jay Shadron and John Glauda Jr took the win at the 9-Hour while Joe Marsh’s team took the 24-Hour win last weekend. I’m honestly not sure exactly who all was on Joe’s team, but regardless they won the whole thing! 

Now we’ll get to breaking down some more of the championship battles as I’ve mentioned for the last few weeks. This week we’ll take a look at some A classes before moving onto others in the coming weeks. But, a quick heads up that things will ultimately get a bit hectic in the next couple weeks as we’ll be AT Loretta’s this time next week and we’ll be knee-deep in the Loretta’s race week after that, so my apologies if the next couple editions of Quick Fill are on the short side and don’t continue these point breakdowns right away. Also bare in mind that these points break downs DO NOT factor in any sort of drops, and that we still count your best nine of 13 races. Anyway, let’s take a look! 

On the ATV side there’s another fast Glauda on the horizon as James Glauda controls the College A points lead sitting 16-points ahead of Daulton Keyes in second while Layne McCormick rounds out the top three, just 13 points out of second. These three riders have been on fire in this College A class all year with Glauda holding the most wins so far with a total of six wins in nine races, but Keyes and McCormick also have claimed a few wins of their own. You also can’t count out Keaton Henderson who sits in fourth place, just ten points behind McCormick, as he’s snagged three podium finishes of his own. There’s also Nathan Dearborn who has put together a slew of podium and top five finishes, but a pair of 11^th place finishes and a 17^th have put him in the fifth-place spot. 

In the Junior A class, Jeremy Ledonne leads the way with seven wins in nine races but Alex Elioff still sits in striking distance just ten points out of the lead in second place. He’s been the only rider to best Ledonne in 2022, which he’s done twice but also has been very consistent never finishing worse than fourth place. Caden Rine holds the third place position and has fairly sizable gap to catch second place, but also will need to keep up consistent finishes as fourth place rider Seth Wilson is just 11-points behind Rine while Devin Masters rounds out the top five and is just three points behind Wilson! These guys will have quite the battle for the third-place spot through those final four rounds. 

Brad Whitehead is the current leader in the Vet A class even though he has yet to win a race in 2022! He’s been Mr. Consistent and holds a six-point lead over Thomas Koontz in second place, who has two wins to his credit this season along with three other top three finishes. Also within striking distance is Jonathan Fugate who holds the third-place spot, just three-points behind Koontz while Jeff Pickens sits fourth, just one point out of third. Rounding out the top five is Michael McAvoy who has two wins in 2022 and consistent top five finishes but a DNF and one missed round has him outside the top three looking inward. 

As for the Senior A ATV class, Chris Conklin holds the points lead with a 15-point lead over Zachary Phillips, who actually has the most class wins so far. Conklin won the first two rounds, and then has been a consistent top five finisher, never finishing worse than fifth place so far this season. Jeremy Gushard holds the third place position, just ten points out of second while Todd Moskala sits fourth and ten points out of third. Moskala also has a race win to his credit this season, along with some solid top five finishes. Rounding out the top five is a tie between Brian Shaw, who also has a race win in 2022 along with five other top five finishes and Dominick Minneci who is has consistent top ten finishes of his own. 

Moving over to the bike side, Cole Whitmer controls the Open A class points lead six points ahead of Neil Enman. Whitmer has claimed three wins so far, versus Enman’s four wins but Whitmer has been able to maintain a consistent podium finishes minus one eighth place finish. Enman ended Snowshoe with an 11^th place finish, as well as one seventh place finish but has either won or been second at each other event. These two riders have really stepped up to battle for the Open A championship and these final four rounds could produce some really tight racing between these two. Tanner Whipple holds the third-place position and actually has claimed one race win of his own, but Tanner also suffered an ACL tear at Snowshoe which resulted in a DNF. Dylan Dela Cruz holds the fourth-place spot, just seven points out of third while Ezra Prine rounds out the top five. 

The 250 A class has a pretty close battle of it’s own. Currently leading the way is Trevor Maley sitting four points ahead of second place rider, Jason Tino who only has a one-point lead over third place rider Michael Delosa. Now, interestingly enough only Tino and Delosa have won races so far, and they only have one win each! Bolton Beroth sits in fourth place just five points ahead of fifth place rider, Zachary Davidson. From there you get into riders who have been able to win 250 A races but also suffered some misfortune at other events. Bubz Tasha and Grant Davis both have three race wins each but have also suffered some issues that have them sitting outside the top five in points. 

There’s a similar battle shaping up in the 150 A class. Brady Weimer holds the points lead so far, but Cameron Matteson sits in second place just one single point out of the lead while Toby Cleveland holds the third-place spot, just one point out of second and two points out of first! However, it doesn’t end there as fourth place rider Jhak Walker is just 11-points behind Cleveland while Caleb Baltimore rounds out the top five. These guys all have a mathematical shot at the 150 A championship, so this is yet another class that could have some really close racing in the final four rounds. 

In the 4-Stroke A Lites class, it’s another Whitmer leading the points but this is Cole’s younger brother, Lane who has a cushy 28-point lead over second place rider, Mitchell Owenby. While Lane doesn’t quite have the whole thing wrapped up yet, third place rider Cole Forbes actually has the most wins of the season thus far but one DNF, a 14^th and a 10^th have kept him a little further behind. Ty Ely holds the fourth-place spot in t he 4-Stroke A Lites class while Chase Landers rounds out the top five. 

In the Junior A class, Andrew Boggs holds a three-point lead over Braydn Mohr with Matt Cerven in third. Boggs has one race win so far, while all the other wins minus Snowshoe have gone to the fourth and fifth place riders, Caleb Haynes and Brady Myers. This will ultimately play a big role later in the season when the dropped rounds are factored in as these guys have exchanged wins and either simply skipped certain rounds or have still been inside the top three. Regardless, each of these top five guys will be hungry for more race wins and as many championship points as possible in the final four rounds. 

Shane O’Banion leads the way in the Vet A class with a seven-point lead over Mark Heresco. Both of these guys are former XC2 class competitors who were always really, really good off the start and to see them battling it out in the Vet A class is pretty cool. There’s actually a tie in the third-place spot between Danny Haftl and Mike Funk, both of whom have been very consistent all season long. Meanwhile, Robby Norwood rounds out the top five and actually has the most wins so far this season but two missed rounds and a sixth place finish have kept him out of immediate striking distance for the class championship at the moment. However, interestingly enough, the spread from first place to fifth is just 15-points, so all of these guys have a really good shot at the Vet A title. 

In the Senior A class it’s Joe Marsh controlling the points lead. Joe is one of those guys who has been around for quite a few years and has won his fair share of class championships already and is gunning for yet another. While Joe has the most wins, Frank Messina isn’t making it easy as he’s been incredibly consistent and sits just two-points out of the lead. Third place is currently held by Shotgun Shawn Remington, another guy who has been around for a long time and is always really fast. Joe Dean holds the fourth-place spot but Vinny Tomich sits just two-points behind Joe in fifth place. 

Wow, that’s a lot at once and will actually wrap up this week’s edition of Quick Fill. Once again, I knocked this out early in the week as I’m headed to Washougal, Washington for this weekend’s round of Pro Motocross and no sooner do I get back (red eye out of Portland Saturday night gets me back around 10am Sunday morning) I’ll be headed to Loretta Lynn’s on Monday morning. Regardless, we’ll still work on making an edition of Quick Fill happen next week with some teasers from Loretta’s. Until then, enjoy your weekend and we’ll see you back here next week!