Jason Weigandt
by: Jason Weigandt
Thursday July 8th, 2010
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Welcome to Quick Fil. How will you spend your summer break?

Our GNCC reporters are weighing in with more info from Snowshoe, as well as some updates on how top GNCC riders plan to keep their skills sharp during the break. Let's turn it over to ace GNCC reporter Shan Moore for, um, more.


Photo By: Nate Kanney photo
This is the Nate Kanney Garage Mahal mentioned in Tuesday Toolbox.
Thanks, Jason. First of all, congratulations to Nate Kanney for making the cover of this week's Cycle News. Winning America's Toughest Race was big news. If you didn't read Rodney's Tuesday Toolbox with Nate then you need to, it was quite revealing and very entertaining.

Now that we are officially into the summer break, a lot of riders will be doing different things to stay in shape for the rest of the GNCC schedule this fall. Charlie Mullins and Cory Buttrick will be riding the Jack Pine Enduro later this month, which takes place in Michigan, while others will be riding some motocross to stay fit and sharp. Jason Hooper and I were both at the RedBud National Motocross in Buchanan, Michigan, this past weekend, and we were able to see Josh Strang and Kailub Russell making their AMA MX debuts. The RedBud course, one of the best on the national circuit, was at its roughest, and it was a true test of skill and endurance - and courage!

Kailub failed to qualify, but I think he would have if it had not been for a fall early in the first practice session. Kailub crashed on the same drop-away jump that Mike Alessi crashed so heavily on two years ago, and by the time he got going the session was nearly over, so Kailub only got a couple of laps, putting him way behind the other riders in the final qualifying session. Kailub looked good and there's no doubt if he rides another round (he told me he was thinking of doing the Unadilla round) that he'll finish well.


Photo By: Shan Moore
Josh Strang giving the Red Bud AMA National a try.
Josh Strang finished 20th in the first moto, which is awesome, especially considering this was his first national MX, and we ARE talking about RedBud, with Larocco's Leap, and riding against the likes of Dungey, Reed, Short, Townley, Grant, etc., etc.,. The class is stacked with 40 of the fastest guys on the planet... of course, Josh wasn't happy with 20th, but that's why he is a champ. Anyway, JS-GNCC (that's what I'm calling him) stuck his foot in one of the deep ruts in the second moto and wrenched his ankle, but he still scored a point for the day and he tells me he is looking forward to Unadilla. I called Josh on Wednesday and he was still resting his ankle, but he's thinking of doing a triathlon next weekend.  What about Larocco's Leap? Josh told me he took a long look at it in the morning when he walked the track and in practice he watched some of the guys jumping it and he decided since his "paying gig" is GNCC, he better play it safe. Andrew Short told me after the race that this year the jump had more of a peak on the landing and it was kind of tough. In fact, Shorty cased it on his first attempt in practice and he said his ankles were still hurting.

Anyway, it was cool to be pulling for our GNCC guys at the motocross, although I can't wait to get back to the real racing - Can-AM Grand National Cross Country.

Good stuff, Shan. Want to know why Strang used #832 at the MX? Because those are his last three GNCC numbers--8,3,2. Pretty cool.

Now onto Rodney Tomblin.


Photo By: Shan Moore
Kailub Russell at Red Bud. The kid's points lead in XC2 has shrunk dramatically in just two races.
Thanks Jason.  Here we are in the early stages of the seasonal GNCC Summer Break and time for everyone to go into seclusion once again and do the fine tuning and tweaks to their machines and programs that will position them to finish stronger than the competition in the last four rounds.  Another thing that some folks do not realize is that this is the time that some early stage contract negotiations begin.  And unfortunately the economy has not made a miraculous turn around on any grand scale and things are going to be tight again it appears.  So these last four races coming up for some may be the "maker" or "breaker" of contract talks.  As a GNCC Racing fan, we are in store for some incredible battles that will have to wait 'till September to materialize.

It is still pretty shocking how much press the Moto-USA Snowshoe GNCC is getting.  I mean, cover of Cycle News!!! And I love the headline, "Kanney Calls His Shot!" That is so classic and especially for Nate Kanney.  I will say one thing though, Nate is pretty determined right now.  And if you look at results it doesn't look great for Kanney this season.  However, if you break it down and scrap stupid luck, Kanney could really mix things up if he rolls out of the break like he rolled in.

Speaking of stupid luck, Kailub Russell has sure had his run as of late.  In Ohio he got caught up in an old fence and post off the edge of the trail in a super muddy section which nearly ended his day.  Then at the Snowshoe he had a great day rolling leading early then got stuck on a hill climb that set him back several spots.  Then as he was making recovery from that he broke a shifter on a rock and then flipped his bike onto a post and got it wedged to the point it took him and a spectator or two a few minutes to get it unstuck from that.  Russell saw a dominant points lead dwindle to a mere 8 points over Jason Thomas and 13 points over 3rd place rider and winner of the last two XC-2 Pro Lites class races, Jesse Robinson.  The consistency of these three riders is going to keep this one tight right down to the wire it appears.  Amazingly Russell has 5 wins and finished off the podium only twice.  This will be a hard earned championship for whoever is able to pull it out in the end.

Kailub Russell is not the only one to see an early dominance turn into fight for the points lead.  Josh Strang appeared after the last couple of rounds as a fighter who was stung and dazed a bit with his last few performances.  I do not feel that either Strang or Russell is necessarily against the ropes by no means, but the break could not have come at a better time for both.

It was cool to see both the point leaders racing the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross at Red Bud this past weekend.  I know Russell did not make the time cut but it was still a good stress reliever and I am sure he will be at it again at Unadilla. This is a great opportunity to do something different and both Russell and Strang should be fully revived and ready to get down and dirty when the GNCC resumes.

A big kudos to Jesse Robinson for his second win in a row and  nearly winning Snowshoe himself and setting history for the XC2 Pro Lites class.  Though Brian Wolfe has done it twice on the ATV, we have yet to see it done on the bikes.  Russell, Thomas and Robinson have all been in contention in for an over all this season, but all have come a bit short in the process.  It is not a question of "if" but a question of "when" and now "who is going to be the first XC2 Pro Lites rider to do it?"


Photo By: Shan Moore
Nate makes the cover of Cycle News!
On the amateur side of things for the bikes, it looks like another exciting race weekend for the regular GNCC faithful and for GNCC Racing Nation visitors.  Snowshoe is becoming more of a race of legend, so racers that normally do not race the series are beginning to race here.  One thing this did not do was hamper any of the excitement in any of the racing.

The Sunday morning Youth race started with excitement once again.  Another battle for the overall was underway by Layne Michael and Grant Baylor.  Baylor has been a huge threat for the overall wins lately, but Michael was able to best him by nearly a 1 minute margin in the end.

Triston Landrum who won the first eight rounds in his class opted to move up from the 85cc 7-11 to the 85cc 12-13 class at the Snowshoe.  Landrum wrapped up the class championship and moved on for more competition.  Congrats to Triston as he scored a 4th place finish in the class and 30th over all on the day.  Way to go!!

In the 10:00 A.M. race the action continued and these riders got a taste of some rather challenging terrain.  I know speaking with a lot of folks after that race and hearing the stories, it seemed like one the most memorable times they will ever share.  As beat up and worn out as they were afterwards, no-one I spoke with regretted it and cannot wait to try it again next year.  Several folks made only one lap.  Others did not complete one at all, but they all seemed satisfied, they had raced one of the toughest events of their life.

When it was all said and done, Gary Fridley had come out on top of the morning overall for a second race in a row.  Gary rides the Sportsman A class and like several others, has really excelled in the last two rounds in Ohio at the John Penton and the Snowshoe where the conditions have been the most challenging of the season.  J.G. Off Road / Geico Powersports rider and team manager J.T. Bennett was able to pull out the second and Robie Leese landed on the podium as third.

Some notes from the morning include:

Maria Forsberg, though way out of the top 10 overall pace at Snowshoe, took another win in the Women's Class.  If I am not mistaken that win should have sealed the deal for the FMF KTM Team rider for the Women's class championship.  That is truly an impressive season and she has most definitely raised the bar as far as the Women's class.  As a sidebar that was just the beginning for the FMF KTM Team at Snowshoe.  KTM swept the afternoon Overall podium with Nate Kanney, Jesse Robinson and Chris Bach.  They also swept the XC1 Pro Class with Kanney, Bach and Corey Buttrick. So congrats to the whole team on that!

Another thing that I noticed in the morning race is that the highest finishing non-Sportsman A rider was Masters A 50+ class winner Randal Riggs with an 8th place overall.  Riggs has had a strong season with 4 overall top 10 finishes.  He took 3rd in the rocks of The Mountain Ridge GNCC and 5th in the mud of the John Penton.  This guy is an undeniably an animal.

Another GNCC Racing Nation hero, Ron Bohn, took the win in the Golden Masters 58+ class and netted a 12th overall in the process.  Ron has only competed 3 times this season but the toughest race of the season was one of the best finishes for one of the oldest guys on the course.  Does that say anything about how tough the old school racing must have been?  I think it is pretty obvious that both Riggs and Bohn are "The Man!!" in their divisions and as far as I am concerned, "The Men" period.

Speaking of men, can someone rattle the 9 Time GNCC Bike Champ Eddie Lojak Sr. to come out race these last four rounds?  Just wondering!  How about some other retired pros like Plessinger, Andrews Summers, Smith and anyone else I may be forgetting.  That would be exciting to watch for sure!

That's it for me.  Till next time, God Bless Your Heart and All Your Vital Organs!

And that's it from all of us. Have a good and safe summer weekend and we'll see you next week!

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