Rachel Gutish

• Tuesday Toolbox: Traci PickensNovember 28, 2017Traci Pickens is a 42-year-old physical therapist assistant from Shamokin, Pennsylvania, who has 10 WXC ATV titles to her name. Her most recent was a surprise, come-from-behind victory, this season. She is married to Jeff Pickens, a former ATV pro racer who now competes in Vet A and also won a championship this year. The two of them also have a son, JP, who comes with them to all of the GNCCs. She competes on a Yamaha 450cc.
• Tuesday Toolbox: Devon FeehanNovember 21, 2017Despite this being his first year in the class, Devon Feehan just wrapped up the highly sought-after XC2 Pro-Am ATV championship. The 18-year-old from Windsor, New York, is a full-time student as well. We caught up with Devon to talk about juggling racing, school and more!
• Tuesday Toolbox: Josh TothNovember 14, 2017Josh Toth, your 2017 XC2 bike champion, is a twenty year old from Winstead, Connecticut. Though he has been riding most of his life, he didn’t start seriously pursuing national-level events outside of New England until last season. For those who don’t closely follow the ISDE (meaning that they watch the club results too, not just trophy), he seemed to come out of nowhere, finishing fourth last year and then bringing home the XC2 title this season.
• Tuesday Toolbox: Walker FowlerNovember 7, 2017Walker Fowler is a name we know all too well in the GNCC Racing Nation. Walker started racing in the youth ranks and worked his way up to the XC1 Pro ATV class where he now has three consecutive titles. Just this past season Walker set the record for the most wins in a season, both bike and ATV, with 12 victories. Once the final green flag waved on the 2017 season, we caught up with Walker to celebrate his success and get some insight on his UTV plans for next year.
• Tuesday Toolbox: Kailub RussellOctober 31, 2017Kailub Russell is a familiar name for anyone who follows the GNCC series. He is 27-years-old and from Kingston, Ohio, though he currently lives in Booneville, North Carolina. Kailub has been involved in GNCC racing since he was on 65ccs, and currently has 11 titles in various classes, from Mini Junior all the way to XC1. He was kind enough to invite me into the KTM Factory semi for an interview after celebrating his 47th career win in the GNCC series this weekend at Ironman. He has now surpassed Scott Summers’ previous record to become the “winningest” motorcycle rider in the history of the series, as well as your 2017 XC1 champion.
• Tuesday Toolbox: Tyler ShepardsonOctober 24, 2017Tyler Shepardson is a 24-year-old rider from Charlotte, North Carolina. He hasn’t been riding very long, but is already totally immersed in racing, especially the GNCC series. In addition to competing on his YZ 125cc in the 125 B/C class, Tyler has worked on the Racer TV crew and has since started up an off-road focused podcast with a fellow racer. Tyler is currently sidelined due to injury, so we won’t be seeing him at Ironman, but he hopes to be back in the early part of next season.
• Tuesday Toolbox: Nate RigginsOctober 18, 2017Nate Riggins is a 33-year-old from Chesapeake, Virginia. He competes in the 30+ C ATV class, on a heavily modified 2006 Yamaha YZ 450cc. Why heavily modified? Because following a street bike accident almost a decade ago, Nate lost the use of his right arm. He actually did not start racing until after his injury, and is a true enthusiast, riding anything and everything he can get his hand on! While Nate was unable to compete for most of this year, he ran a majority of the series in 2016 and plans to return for the full 2018 season.
• Tuesday Toolbox: Bryce KosterOctober 10, 2017Bryce Koster is an 18-year-old from Sorrento, Florida who races in the Open A class in the 1 p.m. bike race. He currently sits seventh in the points championship, following a season of mixed results, ranging from fourth to 17th. His highest overall finish was a 38th at Unadilla. These results are pretty solid, coming from a rider who is racing the full GNCC series for the first time ever this season. Bryce and I talked about his experiences this year, and some of the lessons he has learned in his first year of GNCC.
• Tuesday Toolbox: Ryan SipesOctober 3, 2017Ryan Sipes is a well-known pro racer who has competed in a wide variety of disciplines and found success in everything he’s tried his hand at. After a successful pro motocross and Supercross career, Sipes became a full-time GNCC transplant where he was the first-ever American to take top individual honors at the ISDE. In 2015 Sipes was name Dirt Rider Magazine’s 2015 Rider of the Year in addition to being the 2015 AMA Athlete of the Year. Just this year Ryan secured the 125 Dream Race win at the Thunder Valley Pro Motocross National, but most importantly he just won his first GNCC at the Mountaineer Run in Masontown, West Virginia! I called Ryan to talk about his past accomplishments, first GNCC, and plans for the future.
• Tuesday Toolbox: Hannah HunterSeptember 26, 2017“Hurricane Hannah” Hunter is the youngest rider in the women’s amateur ATV class, and on the smallest bike too. But she is making a name for herself – she is currently second in points and wants to move up to the WXC class at the first chance she gets. As she’s only 15, and you have to be 16 to race WXC, she has to bide her time in the amateur class until midway through next season. She marked down her second win of the season at the most recent round of GNCC racing, last weekend at the Mountaineer Run.
• Tuesday Toolbox: Tayla JonesSeptember 19, 2017Just back from her exploits at the 2017 ISDE in France, Rocky Mountain ATV*MX/KR4/Husqvarna team rider Tayla Jones wrapped up the bike WXC title a full three races before the end of the season. To top that off, she did it with an arguably perfect season, no less (she has not raced every GNCC this year, but she has won every GNCC that she has raced. Additionally, since the WXC racers get 4 drops, she has won all 9 of the races that may be counted for the title). This is the Australian native’s first year living full-time in the United States to pursue her racing career – hopefully the first of many!
• Tuesday Toolbox: Thomas LevesqueSeptember 12, 2017Meet Thomas Levesque, the oldest rider currently pursuing the full GNCC series. Thomas hails from Derry, New Hampshire, and has been riding for roughly the last 50 years. Grandparent’s Day was the same weekend as Unadilla this year, so I thought it was timely occasion to talk to a rider who is old enough to be the grandparent of any youth rider out on the course (and in fact has several grandchildren who race). Despite having recently turned 71, he has been to every GNCC this year and is currently leading the Elite Masters (65+) class. On top of that, he is heavily involved in his local racing scene – president of a local motorcycle club and the longest continuously competing racer in the NETRA series.