Photo By: Amy McConnell
Annie finds ways to keep track of the whole family.
Annie Wolf: (Sighs) Ohh....Family and just taking everything in with the racing and Brian's last big accomplishment with the win at Snowshoe, twice in row! After all the controversy that went on there we are happy to finally find out everything was cut and dry. Now we are just taking it all in.
I know Brian really excels in those conditions and you guys have got be just pumped up after doing it two years in a row like that.
Oh yea, we are! When the races are tight, rocky and muddy like that, he gets nervous and I always tell him, "Brian this is just a race, you know that it is, you can do it again!" He always comes through.
It has been obvious you are a big part of Brian's whole program, but one thing a lot of folks don't know is that racing in your family runs pretty deep.
(Laughs) Yes it does! My brother, Josh Upperman races the AMA Pro ATV Championship. I actually met Brian through my brother a few years ago when Brian was into the motocross thing. Now we have switched over to GNCC, which we love. Yea, I kind of have been around it my whole life.
So have you ever raced?
I have never actually raced, but definitely have been on a quad trail riding and things like that for years. But I never got on a race track.
Have you ever thought about it?
Umm, yea, I had. When Brian and I first met he was always kind of "Come on, I'll get you all the gear, the boots, the helmet." You know, "Oh come on and just do a couple races!" He kind of pressured me there for a bit and I just never gave in and then once we started the family and stuff it was like "Nah, that's not what I want to do." I think that one out there is enough and I am sure that I am going to have another one or two here coming up soon. (Laughs)
How old are the kids?
Jeremiah is going to be 3 and Ava is going to be 1.
Photo By: Shan Moore
Brian on way to victory at Snowshoe.
I met Brian in '03 when he was into motocross. Then we kind of got away from racing altogether, but he always had a bike in the garage. We got the house and there was just so much to do around here and stuff. We got back into motocross here and there. We did a few nationals in '04 and '05 and then all of a sudden he said, "I am going to check out this GNCC thing." He was doing a few hare scrambles locally with some of his friends and just fell in love with it and decided to do the series and see how he would do. I'll tell you what, he loves it, he is awesome at it and its very family oriented. My kids and I, we have a blast just going. It's kind of like a little vacation to us really for the weekend. When we are out there racing it doesn't feel like a job. It's just something we enjoy doing. It's an awesome hobby and I think it is going to be with us for a long time.
One thing that is very certain at the races is that you are the main support for Brian.
I try my best to stand right there beside him. I give him 100% support in whatever he decides to do. I don't know, we are just always there for each other. Side by side, 24 hours a day, so it's great.
Brian says you help with a lot of the bike prep, what kind of things you do?
(Laughs) Well, I try. I do what I can do. We're out in the garage working and I am kind of the gopher around the shop. "Hey can you get me that, can you get me this. Hey can you tighten this?" type stuff. But you know, whatever I can do to help to get it done and get it done right, I am there right beside him. I mean we have done Tireballs at midnight in the trailer on Friday nights before the race sometimes. That's a little crazy, but we do we have to do to make it go.
Brian, no matter what happened during the race, always seems to be a good spirited person. Even when things didn't go his way during the race, he seems happy afterward. It really appears you guys are having a good time.
You know what? We are! I feel like he has the confidence to do what he has to do. When he comes off the track and something went wrong and he knows he did right, it's just one of those things. He keeps his head up and goes with the flow and maybe next time it will go his way. Just one of those things. Try to stay out of the politics, keep a smile on your face and hope for the best.
So being a young couple, racing on a privateer budget, the back-to-back wins and $10,000.00 bonuses at Snowshoe have had to be huge for your program.
It definitely is. It is amazing that it happened two years in a row. Right now I am unemployed. I take my nursing boards in two weeks. Hopefully I will be a nurse soon. He has been supporting me and the two kids. I have been paying for school out of our pocket. It's hard enough to support a wife and two kids with one income, and somehow we do it along with racing and keeping everything together as much as we can with his bike and getting to the track. You know it is a lot, but somehow we make it work, because it's something we enjoy. It's part of our life!
Photo By: Shan Moore
Josh Kirkland edged Wolf in an XC2 title fight that went down to the final round. What will happen this year?
You know there is a lot that went into it. It was getting rather overwhelming financially during the time that I was going to school and stuff. It kind of came down to just going with the flow to see who would step up and help out. He got some good guys behind him and Brian got what he needed out of the support to make work this year financially. Somehow we did it and everyone behind us is 100% supportive and got the bikes and got everything going. Everything is going great.
You guys have got to be digging deep right now. There are four more races and even though Brian is leading the points, you know as well as anyone, anything can happen. What are you guys doing right now to prepare?
With a DNF already under his belt, we are going to just hope for the best. The top 4 or 5 guys in the Pro Am class are tough competition and no one is going to walk away with it until that last race in Indiana. It's going go down to the wire and we are just going to hope for the best and hope the bike stays together. Hopefully he has his head on straight and he goes out and picks good lines and that he just does his best.
Photo By: Amy McConnell
Annie and Brian at last year's GNCC Banquet.
I am not really sure what he is going to do. I know he has two race bikes sitting here. The frames have been welded on both and he pulls parts off one to make the other one go. I just know there are always two bikes sitting, but only one is ready to ride. Between the two of them we are hoping they will hold up for the last four races.
It was a big question last year and I am sure folks are still wondering for this year. What are your plans for next year?
I know we are definitely going to be racing! What kind of bike we are going to be on and who will be supporting us I am not 100% sure, but I know we will make it work somehow. I am not sure which direction he will take us, me and the family. (Laughs)
You're just kind of along for the ride!? (Laughing)
That's right! I trust his judgment and his decisions and I definitely know we will be racing.
Thank you Annie for taking the time out to talk today and good luck to you guys and keep having fun!
Thank you. I also just want to thank my husband for getting me and my family into this great sport. We absolutely enjoy it! I don't know all the sponsors, but I definitely want to say thanks to Laz at GT Thunder. He has really been helping us out. HMF has been a big help also Rekluse and Precision. Just thanks to all our sponsors. And thanks to Amy at Xcountryphotos.com. Amy does an awesome job. She gets those shots out in the dust and mud. Thanks to all the family that comes out and help with the kids and thanks to all the people that help out when I am trying to pit Brian. It all means a lot.
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