Jason Weigandt
by: Jason Weigandt
Wednesday December 23rd, 2009
Print

 

Welcome to Quick Fill. Happy Holidays! If you're really reading this on Christmas Eve, you're way, way too into GNCC Racing. Or maybe you're just too good at Christmas shopping and you have nothing left to do. Either scenario demands a pat on the back.

We'll keep this short here because we know we all should get on with family affairs.


Kailb Russell gets some love in the Japanese press.
Speaking of, a bunch of GNCC staff members attended John Gallagher's viewing and funeral last weekend, and we saw plenty of familiar faces. It's terrible that it takes times like this to get the full perspective on this series, but you really see how much GNCC means to people under these circumstances. This was truly a racing-oriented affair, with lots of racers, lots of memorabilia and lots of memories shared. All-time GNCC ATV Champion Bill Ballance read from scripture during the service, which pretty much says how much the racers meant to John, and what John meant to the racers.

And because we didn't clarify last week, we need to here: John Gallagher lost his life in a terrible work-related incident. He was a landscaper, and he was struck by a tree on the job site. Worse yet, he wasn't even originally scheduled to work that day. Once again, sometimes, when it's your time....

Anyway, our thoughts to the Gallagher family once again during the holidays.

Last week, we posted the proposed GNCC rulebook for 2010, and I know our new technical director, Jeff Canfield, is just getting bombarded by emails. And they're just about all on the ATV side. So we're taking your feedback into account, and we should have the final rules posted on this site next week, so you can make your final racing plans for 2010. Just a few years ago, we were holding GNCC Banquets in January and posting the final rules two weeks before the opening round in Florida. We're trying!

Word is coming out of New Zealand that a big-name GNCC rider may have his 2010 ride finally sewn up. And that rider is none other than new GNCC Champion Paul Whibley. I saw this link from a New Zealand motorsports site regarding Whibley making the switch to Yamaha next year:

http://www.drivesouth.co.nz/news/17051/whibley-wins-in-debut-for-yamaha


They love Randy Hawkins in Japan.
I haven't seen anything official from Yamaha in the U.S. so for now the only info we have is what's posted above. I wouldn't say anything is official until we see a Yamaha PR. By the way, Whibley's agent these days is Fred Bramblett, who has become one of the most successful agents in motorcycle racing these days. Long-time GNCC fans may remember Fred as Scott Summers' mechanic back in their hey day. Then Whibley rode for Summers' team in 2006 and 2007. There's something to be said for old GNCC relationships.

It's a strange time when both the GNCC bike and ATV Champs are scrambling for rides. I haven't heard anything about Chris Borich and his plans for 2010 yet.

Meanwhile, Husqvarna announced their 2010 racing plans, and their PR included this: Aussie export Glenn Kearney will be back in 2010, competing in AMA GNCC and AMA National Enduro events. "We are glad to have Glenn back and look forward to him reuniting the Husqvarna name with Enduro dominance on his TXC250," says Scott Harden. Kearney will be supported by his brother Ben who will be traveling with him to provide technical support.


Photo By: David Scearce
What color bike will Whibley have under his Christmas Tree?
Rachel "Sending Christmas Cookies Down to Tennesse" Fluharty put together an excellent Tuesday Toolbox this week with ATV veteran Andy Lagzdins. It's been over a year since we last spoke to Andy, who had done so well at the 2008 Baja 1000 (along with Thomas Wright and Jim Stack) that one of the top desert teams offered him a ride for 2009. Personally, I'd say surviving a week with Stack in Mexico is a heck of an accomplishment, the racing is just a bonus. Now Andy is a full-time desert racer with some big plans for 2010. What's cool is, he says his GNCC skills helped carry him to the front of the pack out West. Click here to read about it.

Check out some of the photos we attached here from popular Japanese magazines Back Off and Grrrr!!! (Yes, best magazine name ever). Their coverage of the final GNCC round just showed up, congrats again to Kailub Russell on becoming an international star.

That's it for this week. Please have a fun and safe Christmas weekend. We'll have another short Quick Fill here next week and we'll be back hitting it hard for 2010 after that. From everyone at Racer Productions, Happy Holidays!


Josh Strang demonstates how to climb hills.


Photo By: From the Cooks
Bryan and Bonnie Cook's baby is ready to race!

Share