WFR/GBC/Fly Racing/Yamaha’s Walker Fowler would jump out to grab the $100 All Balls Racing XC1 Pro Holeshot Award and the early lead in the afternoon race, where the rain started to fall a bit harder than the rest of the day had seen. Fowler would continue to push on lap one to place a gap on the rest of the field in the slick conditions throughout the course. Fowler would have little competition during this race, as he held the lead for the duration of the two-hours and all four laps. Fowler would cross the line to earn his 72nd career overall win and close the points gap to just two. 

Battling for that number two spot on the day were Getter Nissan/Kenda/Action Off-Road/Richardson Racing’s Cole Richardson and Magna1 Motorsports’ Brycen Neal. The two would get off to decent starts as Richardson held second for majority of the race, however Neal was hot in pursuit as he came through just six seconds off of Richardson’s pace. Neal would be able to make the pass out on the course, but he would make a mistake allowing Richardson to close back up and regain his second place position. Richardson would hold onto second as the duo came into the finish line, with Neal rounding out the podium in third. Neal continues to hold the points lead with three more rounds remaining. 

The Original Formula 88/Ithaca Recreation Sports/Maxxis/Fly Racing’s Hunter Hart got off to a good start as he held onto third place for the first two laps. Hart would be unable to hold off a hard-charging Neal as he came through to take over the last podium position. Hart would try to battle back, but he would ultimately be unable to make the pass stick. Hart would finish out the day fourth overall. Abney Racing/Action Off-Road/Maxxis’ Austin Abney would have his best race of the season as he came through to finish fifth overall. Abney started his day back in sixth, but as the two-lap card came out he would find himself with a top five finish position. Abney held onto that spot and came through just twenty seconds off Hart’s fourth place pace. 

Pierce Performance/GBC/Action Off-Road/Active Waste Solutions’ John Glauda Jr. would battle throughout the day coming into timing and scoring in the sixth place position as the checkered flag flew. Glauda held fifth for the opening laps but would continue to battle with Abney for the last two laps. GBC/Fly Racing/Nine 2/BNR’s Devon Feehan would cross the line seventh on the day after making his way up through the pack from his ninth place start.

Coming through to earn eighth on the day was CBR/GBC/Action Off-Road/Fly Racing/AMSOIL-backed racer Chris Borich. Borich would go back-and-forth from eighth to ninth throughout the race but would come through holding onto that eighth place spot just ahead of OBOR/Moose Racing/Parts Unlimited/McGill Mafia’s Adam McGill. McGill was off to a good start on the day, but McGill would ultimately run in eighth and then ninth for the extent of the race. Merritt Racing/BNR Motorsports/GBC Tires’ Josh Merritt would round out the top 10 XC1 Pro finishers on the day.

Unfortunately for Bullet Proof Doorz/Senge Graphics’ Ronnie Rusch, he would be able to complete two laps before retiring for the day as JMR/GBC/Elka/Moose Racing’s Jarrod McClure and GBC/Yamaha Racing’s Johnny Gallagher were able to make their way through the course for one lap. 

In the XC2 Pro-Am class it was Action Off-Road/Pro Graphx/Pierce Performance’s Jay Shadron coming through to earn his ninth win of the season. Shadron would get off to another good start and grab the early lead. From there he was not looking back, Shadron would keep his eyes focused ahead of him, as he tried to avoid making any costly mistakes in the slick conditions. Shadron would cross the line first with a 33 second gap back to second.

Action Off-Road/DIRTNASTY/Twizted Vision’s Wyatt Wilkin and Pirate MX Powersports/OBOR Tires/Moose Racing’s Branden Owens would battle throughout the race for that second place spot on the podium. Owens would find himself running second for the first three laps of the race, however Wilkin was on a mission to get that position. As the white flag came out, indicating one more lap, Wilkin would be able to make the pass on Owens and come through to take that second place finishing position. Owens would hold on for third, rounding out the XC2 class podium.

Layne McCormick would take home the Top Amateur honors in the afternoon race as he came through to finish 15th overall and first in the College A (16-21) class. Damien Hawkins would earn second in the College A class as well as second Top Amateur honors as he came through in 17th overall. Jeremy LeDonne rounded out the Top Amateur podium with his 18th overall finishing position, as well as taking home the Junior A (22+) class win.

The morning race was full of excitement as both the 4x4 Pro and WXC classes saw some close battles for the duration of their races. As the green flag flew, it was Pro Row 784/GBC/BNR/Victory Golf Cart’s Brandon Frazier grabbing the $100 BNR Motorsports 4x4 Pro Holeshot Award. Frazier would lead the way on the opening lap, but Kenda Tires/Nine2 Goggles/Custom Axis’ Cody Collier would come through right behind him ready to battle for that number one spot.

Collier made the pass on Frazier on the second lap and would come through just 1.3 seconds ahead of him. However, OBOR/Can-Am/Action Off-Road’s Landon Wolfe would sit in third ready to strike if any mistakes were made from the two front-runners. As the white flag flew, Collier was still in the lead with Frazier two seconds behind him and Wolfe just 1.7 seconds off of them. As the conditions continued to deteriorate, Wolfe would capitalize as they made their way to the checkered flag. Wolfe would emerge first from the woods, with Collier just .484 seconds behind him and Frazier 1.2 seconds off Collier. Wolfe made his way through the last couple of turns, earning his second win of the season, Collier would come through to earn second while Frazier rounded out the top three 4x4 Pro finishers.

It seemed like a similar story in the WXC class as Team Pickens/Fly Racing/GBC Motorsports/Yamaha’s Traci Pickens had a great start, earning herself the $100 BNR Motorsports WXC Holeshot Award and would lead the way for the first three laps of the race. Elioff Racing/BNR Motorsports/GBC Tires’ Jessica Elioff made her way into second on lap two, and she would continue to push towards Pickens. However, OBOR Tires/Fly Racing’s Hannah “Hurricane” Hunter would be lurking behind them. As the trio went out on the last lap of the race, they were just seconds apart from each other.

As they appeared from the woods it was Hunter heading towards the finish line first. Hunter would cross the line first after running third for majority of the race, with Pickens making her way through in second and Elioff rounding out the top three WXC finishers.

In the Youth race it was Jordan Berg coming through to earn his third Youth Overall and YXC1 Super Mini Sr. class win of the season. Berg would have his work cut out for him as he started back in third and would have to work his way up throughout the race to move into that number one position. The YXC2 Super Mini Jr. duo of Bryce Pullen and Andrew Smallwood would round out the top three Youth Overall finishers.

Trevor Meadows and Brody Pullen would battle back after a rough race in West Virignia to round out the YXC1 Super Mini Sr. class podium. Levi Strahler would race his way to third in the YXC2 Super Mini Jr. class.

Then in the 250 (13-15) class it was Evan Ruckle earning the win, with Ryder McCormick earning the 125 (8-12) class win. The 90 (8-12) class winner was Eli Tate at round 10, as Jacob Smallwood brought home the 90 Limited (8-12) class win. The Schoolgirl Sr (12-15) class win went to Kalla McCormick, while the Schoolgirl Jr. (12-15) class win was earned by Paisley Stout. In the Girls Sr. (12-15) class it was Gabryella Whitehead coming through to take the top spot, as Kimber Lowry took the Girls Jr. (8-11) class win. Bryson Dickerson would earn the 70 CVT (6-11) class win. 

In the Micro ATV race it was Kody Buckhannon grabbing the early lead, with Bryson Dickerson and Klaiton Sampson in tow as seconds separated the top three. Buckhannon would be able to hold onto the lead for the entire micro race, while Dickerson and Sampson would battle back-and-forth for the second and third place positions. Dickerson would be able to make the pass stick, coming through with just five seconds separating himself and Sampson. Buckhannon would earn his fourth win of the season, and currently sits just two points ahead of Dickerson. 

In the MXC2 class it was Torque Tong making his way into the lead position on lap two, while Michael Stringfellow and Nevin Detato would battle back to finish second and third in the class and round out the top three MXC2 finishers. In the 50 Sr. (6-7) class it was Beau Collins coming through to earn the win, with Cash Knecht battling to earn the 50 Jr. (4-5) class win. Brantley Slack came through take home the 90 Stock (8-9) class win.

Kody Buckhannon and Karson George earned the Micro ATV and Micro Bike Overall wins at The Mountaineer. Photo: Ken Hill

The Micro Bike race had some heated battles throughout their race as Karson George battled back to take the micro bike overall win and MXC1 class win. Hunter Jones would come from the second row in the MXC2 class and finish second overall while taking his class win in West Virginia. Maverick Boyer of the MXC1 class would round out the top three micro bike finishers and finish second in his class. 

Traytin Hovatter rounded out the top three finishers in the MXC1 class, while Levi Rains and Gage Lane battled back to round out the top three in the MXC2 class. Then in the 50 Sr. 1 (7) class it was Davey Fairfield earning the win, followed by Tripp Lewis taking the 50 Jr. 1 (6-7) class win. In the 50 Sr. 2 (6) class it was Wesley Cunningham coming through to take first. The 50 Jr. 2 (4-5) class saw Cash Knecht taking home the win, while Jason Joy earned the Micro (4-6) Shaft Dr. win. Colton Propst also came through to earn the Trail Rider (7-9) class win.

In the final Specialized Turbo eMTB GNCC National Championship round it was an all-out battle in the mud for the number one plate. In the XC1 Pro class it was Specialized’s Nick Mackie out front early in the race, with Gear Bicycle Sales/Specialized’s Charlie Mullins right behind him and Rouleur Coaching/Ride Kanuga/Specialized’s Cypress Gorry in third. Gorry would make the pass on Mullins for second and set his sights on Mackie throughout the second lap. On lap three as the riders emerged it was Gorry with the lead, Mackie in second and Mullins coming around in third. They would continue to hold those positions until the checkered flag flew, and Charlie Mullins would be crowned for the fourth time as the Specialized Turbo eMTB GNCC National Champion.

In the XC2 class it was Talon Hawk and Owen Klimas going back-and-forth for the first couple of laps. Hawk would make the pass back for the lead on lap three and hold onto that until the checkered flag flew. Klimas would hold onto second, while Gavin Garlits came through to earn third in the class. 

In the WXC class it was Ginny McFall coming through ahead of Ashley Hendershot to take the class win and earn the WXC 2022 Specialized Turbo eMTB GNCC National Championship. Hendershot would finish out the season second in the WXC class.

Tim Zimmerman brought home the XC3 (40+) class win, while Gunnar Shogren came through second and Colin Dierman battled through to earn third in the class. In the Women’s class it was Megan Barnes earning her fifth class win of the season. Then in the Amateur (14+) class it was Chase Gosselin earning the win, while David Bradley earned the Amateur (40+) class win ahead of Coastal Racing’s Barry Hawk. In the Big Bore (200lb+) class it was Marty Aloisio coming through first to take the win. Troy Zimmerman would come through first in the Masters (55+) class, while Cooper Kuneff kept his win streak alive by earning his eighth-straight Youth (9-13) class win.