by: Kate Stiller
Tuesday, March 3, 2026 | 1:00 PM
After years of competing at the highest level of GNCC Racing, “The Gator” has announced that the 2026 season will mark his final year of full-time competition. Over the years, Adam McGill has become one of the most recognizable personalities in GNCC Racing. Known for his passion for the sport, he has built a career that extends far beyond race results. We caught up with Adam to look back on his career, reflect on his decision to retire, and talk about what the future holds.
GNCC Racing: Take us back to the start. When did you first realize, racing was going to become such a big part of your life?
Adam McGill: Never. I was on the playground playing on the jungle gym, and I slipped and fell and cut my side. My spleen and my organs came out. My dad picked me up and said, “You’ll never amount to anything.” So, I thought the easiest way to impress him was getting into off-road ATV racing.
Okay… Hahaha.
Hahaha. I was 14 when I started, and I had to lie about my age for 2 years because there was no youth racing at the time, but I started riding when I was 6 and fell in love with the sport at that age. I never would’ve thought I made a career out of it like I did. I was always, you know, reading Dirt Wheels Magazines, to talking about it with my buddies, to having pretend races in my field. I would’ve never thought it would have evolved into 20-year XC1 career, 24 years total, you know. I mean, I’ll be 39, so over half my life has been on four wheels
After so many years of racing GNCC, what made you decide that now was the right time to step away from full-time racing?
You want the truth, or you want the politically correct answer?
Whatever answer you want to give me!
Hahaha. Honestly, I knew I was in trouble a couple of years ago when my results didn’t matter as much as the kids and the youth that I was helping. I’m busy all day at the racetrack, between you know, different families I’m in contact with, and I’ve worked with their kids ever since they were little, to people that I work with currently that are just getting started in the sport. When it becomes more about them than about me, that's when I really started to take a step back.
I still love the sport, and I still love to be there and be involved, but my results don’t matter as much, and I think it's because I’ve did it. I’ve done it. I’ve never been a champion, right? That’s one thing I’ve never been. But I’ve been at the top, I’ve been the guy to lead the points, I’ve been the guy who could win at each event. I’ve been at the top of the top. I get more enjoyment out of it now, helping people achieve those goals. It seems like I’ve been putting my goals aside to help with that.
There’s no better feeling than coming off the racetrack and knowing exactly how that rider feels. I can see it in their face and how they look, and I understand it. That is when I knew, I'd say probably 3 years ago, I knew I was in trouble when I started really focusing on them instead of me.
You’ve become one of the most recognizable personalities in GNCC Racing. What has the series meant to you over the years?
A lot. It’s like a bad relationship, but it's a lot of fun. I mean it caused me a lot of headaches and a lot of time away from home. I’ve given up a bunch of stuff to chase a dream. Literally, that’s what it was. It was a dream.
I’ve given up homecomings, all the way back to high school, football games, dances, doing things with my friends to chase this. Now, you know, flash forward to now, I’m very thankful for that. If it wouldn’t been for that platform for me to race on, and for me promote on, and for me to be involved with. It would’ve never amounted to any more than me probably being a surfboard maker or some crap.
What has been the most memorable race of your career?
Most memorable. There’s a lot, but the one that means the most is my last one with my dad. SO, my last win at John Penton in 24? I think is what it was. That was my most memorable. There's a whole lot of other things that made it memorable, but that one is it for sure.
Who are some of the racers you've enjoyed racing alongside the most over the years?
Honestly? I mean, I’ve been around since the Ballance days, early Ballance Days. So, being able to race through the Ballance era, through the Borich era, through the Walker era, and now through the Neal era. To see the progression and see how things have changed and see how each year, each couple of years there’s a new standard set. To be involved in all that and to be one of the guys to beat all those riders is pretty cool.
I don’t know if there's a single rider. I mean, there are riders I remember working with as kids and being around as kids, Hunter Hart and Jay Shadron. Those kids were in youth when I was in XC1. Same thing with Walker. I don’t know if I have a single most favorite competitor. I mean everyone’s got their own thing, right? But, I mean, honestly, I would say my favorite competitor, if I would really have to give you would be probably Walker.
He was the guy you could always bump wheels with, you could always really push the issue with him, and I never had to worry about him taking me out or him doing something dumb to get us both hurt. Like he’s a guy that I could trust no matter what.
I remember a time at a New York round, not the Black Sky, but the other one. I forget what they called it, but anyway, it was up there. I remember coming through the field, and literally we are bumping wheels into corners, and none of us wrecked, none of us blew a corner. It was just hard racing. It was so much fun, I would say he’s probably one of the favorites I’ve ever had to race with, and he’s always ran me clean.
What part of racing are you going to miss the most?
You want me to lie to you?
Hahaha.
The most I’m going to miss about racing will be the normal. I’m so used to every other Saturday, every couple of Saturdays, you load up, you travel 8, 9, 10 hours, 5 hours, whatever the you travel. I’m going to miss that routine until I find another routine.
I don’t think [racing] is something I can ever go away from. I don’t think I’m ever going to go away. I can’t. I’m too heavily involved with a lot of people and a lot of these families. They won’t let me leave. I think the normal routine will be the hardest thing to step away from.
I’m still going to stay in contact with the families I’m working with, right? I’m still going to have that knowledge, that involvement. I’m just not going to be at everyone anymore. There will be weekends that you guys will be racing in, say, Florida, and I’ll be home with my wife. Would I be watching on Racer TV? I don’t know. I don’t know if it’ll eat me up. I don’t know if I can stay away. I don’t know if I have an answer, but I think that the hardest thing will be the change in the normal. It will be the hardest thing for me to get used to.
What are you looking forward to about retirement the most?
Hahaha. Honestly, the thing I look forward to most, so I’ve always been, and it's super selfish of me to say this, but I’ve always been about me. Because it's a sport, it has to be about you. The last couple of years, I’ve been really focused on trying to make it about us. Like my wife and I and my dad, spending time together. I think I’m going to enjoy being home, focusing more on me, my wife, and our marriage, and spending time together. She asked me, “Do you think that we would get our own camper and still go to the races?” and I’m like, “What!?” I’ve done 25 years of this, we’ve been together for 15 of it and she’s saying she still wants to go to these. It’s kind of like getting back to the original roots is what’s going to be really cool for us.
For mine and my dad’s relationship, it has nothing to do with us being like the competitive side. It’s literally just going back and having fun again. Doing cool, you know? Having fun, maybe racing 2 strokes. Maybe, I don’t know, just showing up and having a good time! That’ll be a lot of fun, going back to why I started, which was because I love to race. I love riding four-wheelers.
You’ve always been very involved with the youth of the series, from attending their starts to helping train up-and-coming racers. What advice would you give to the next generation of GNCC ATV racers?
Anything in life that you want is never easy. It always takes work, and it always has to be earned. There’s a lot of people that are gonna want to see you fail. There are a lot of people that don’t want you to do good because they want to be better than you. Don’t listen to that bullcrap. Keep your head down and keep digging. Anybody can make a career out of this if you want it bad enough. So stay focused, stay determined, and don’t quit!
How do you want to close out this final season?
Man, you’re really pulling on some heart strings aint ya? Man, I want 20 so bad. I want that 20th win so bad. I want it for me, but I want it for Dad and everybody. I don’t know how I want to answer that.
My biggest fear is that I’m worried I’m going to be forgotten. I think to [close out the season] leave like a lasting impact that is not easily forgotten over a year. Our series is so year-to-year; it's very what’s happening this week. Okay, race results are posted, and we’re focusing on the race 2 weeks from now, right? It’s like we’re rushing all the time, and we are in such a hurry to get to the next one. It’s planned so far ahead.
We’re rushing. We’re rushing. We’re rushing.
I don’t want 25 or 24 years to be rushed and forgot in a year. So I think I want to do things that will be a lasting impression. I’ve got things planned for this year that I’m wanting to do at certain events. There's a lot of things going on that I’m wanting to do that will leave a lasting impression. I’m hoping that, like I said, its [career] just not easily forgotten within 6 months of me potentially not racing. I’m still going to be around, but just not racing all the time.
Who are the people who have supported you the most throughout your career?
Did you ever hear how the number came about?
No. How?
So, 5 was my best year. I was picked up by KTM. I got my first win. I got the biggest win in history to date. Number 5 was my best year. 21 was my dad’s car number. So, I would have to say it would be my dad because of my career, his career, together. He quit racing cars to let me chase this. So yeah. That is my biggest supporter. He’s still here to this day.
When people look back on your career years from now, what do you hope they remember about Adam McGill?
You’re really yanking, aren’t you!?
I’m trying to haha.
So, I’ve got to give you a story about this. Years ago, I forget what race it was, but it was an early GNCC. I was just getting started. I remember walking down pro row, and there was everybody, you know, and when I say everybody, not many of them are left, right? Actually, none of them are left, it’s just one, it’s Chris [Borich]. So, I remember walking down that pro row and not a single pro would give me the time of day. Except for William Yokley. The rest of them were too busy. I wanted to say maybe it was a High Point race or something.
I remember telling myself, if I ever make it, I will never be like this. I remember there was one time when my mother used to go to the races with us. We went to the race, and I had a bad race. This was like factory days, so like 8-11 somewhere in there. I remember sitting in my motorhome, and my mother comes in, she goes, “Hey Kurt,” because that’s what everyone calls me. Adam, it’s… I’m not getting into that story.
But anyways she goes, “Hey Kurt, there are some kids out here that want your autograph.”
And I said, “Mom, I don’t want to deal with it. I had a bad race. I don’t feel like with it. Just tell them to come back.”
She goes, “AA.”
I’m like, “What?”
She says, “AA.”
I’m like, “I don’t understand.”
She goes, “Arrogant a-hole. These kids out here don’t give a **** about how you did today. Get out here and sign their posters.”
I remembered at that point, it doesn’t matter about the results. There are some racers out here that have fans who just chase the winner. But a true fan, and a true person in this sport, it doesn’t matter. You must win as good as you lose. I’m telling you from that day on, I tried to never be that person. I always try to give somebody the time of day. I always try to speak to somebody. If somebody looks at you and looks away, they want to say something, but they're too shy to. Go up and say hi. I never wanted to be that person at that peak, to shun the people who have been there to support me in my career. So, I hope that everybody remembers that I was good to people. That’s what I want people to say. Like he was good to us. You remember when he did this? You remember when he did that? Like that's what I want people to say. I want them to say at events that I’m not there, “remember when he came to the start and gave us fist bumps? Remember when he won that race and shot gunned 10 beers? Remember that one time he got in a fight and then got disqualified and told everybody to kiss his butt?”
That’s what I want. I want people to sit down and share good stories like that, and I want people to talk about the fun. I hate to say it, but there are guys in XC1 that are not doing crap about it, but they’re sitting there crying about it. You can’t do nothing about it unless you help yourself because no one is going to do it for you.