Jason Weigandt
by: Jason Weigandt
Thursday September 16th, 2010
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Welcome to Quick Fill. We're racing!


Photo By: Shan Moore
Atta boy, Jimmy Jarrett!
And what a weekend it was at Unadilla, headlined by Ohio's Jimmy Jarrett nailing down his first GNCC win in TEN years. 10! Jimmy won a very muddy John Penton GNCC back in 2000, and back then it seemed like it would be the first win of many, because Jimmy had been a dominant talent in the GNCC amateur ranks. It didn't quite work out that way, as Jimmy had some good rides but could never seem to capitalize on his potential. But at least he kept at it! We've seen many a top GNCC amateur fall between the cracks when he tries to get to the top level, and Jimmy's struggles were no different.

He bounced around several teams, riding Kawasakis, Suzukis, KTMs and Yamahas at different times, but he really came into his own on a Suzuki when riding for the new OMA Series in the mid west. Jimmy started winning races consistently there, his confidence grew, and he eventually picked up factory support again from Suzuki. Building on that, he once again moved to the front of the GNCC pack.

Suzuki had to cut some budget at the end of the '08 season, though, so Jimmy and Paul Whibley moved to the GEICO JG Racing Kawasaki squad. Jimmy rode well for them, too, but a broken wrist last year slowed him just when it seemed certain he would finally get back to victory lane. When Whibley moved to Am-Pro Yamaha this year, JJ became GEICO's main threat, but a shoulder injury in Georgia pretty much ruined his season. It was pretty sad, because a year ago Jimmy was battling for wins, and the team was on the way to winning the GNCC Championship!

Then came Unadilla, and everything just seemed to click. Jimmy got the win--and it was tough, outdueling Nate Kanney-- and the GEICO JG Racing squad is back in victory lane. Best of all, this one was as straight-up as it gets. It wasn't muddy, it wasn't his home track, it was just an awesome ride for one of the lifers of GNCC Racing. Congrats to Jimmy, his team and his family, they worked hard for this one!

As for the rest of the racing, I can tell you we had quite a few great battles over the weekend, including an epic four-rider duel for the ATV overall between Taylor Kiser, Adam McGill, Chris Bithell and Chris Borich, until Borich launched his classic last-lap charge to get the win. Good racing there.

We'll get to more Unadilla in a moment, but I just wanted to mention to those heading to our next race in Tennessee next weekend, we've got a new co-santion partner for that race with Mid South Cross Country Racing. Click here for info on how to collect points in our series and theirs.

Okay for more, let me turn this over to our reporters, first starting with a rare appearance from GNCC TV producer Jason Hooper!

The Unadilla ATV episode of RacerTV airs this Sunday, September 19th, at 3:00pm EST. This is the closest a show airs to a race since I've been doing the shows. Pretty crazy. The Unadilla bike show airs on October 3rd. So a little more delay there, but still way better than the 2 month delay we had been running on!

After the Unadilla bike race, Rodney and I filmed the first-ever digitaloffroad.com post-race show. It's a bit of a race recap, a bit of good old bench racing, with some racing highlight clips thrown in, as well as an interview with XC2 contender Jason Thomas. CLICK HERE TO WATCH.


Photo By: Shan Moore
Chris Bach has got a new ride for 2011.
Thanks, Jason. What great racing we had at Unadilla! The battle for the XC1 win in the bike race was unbelievable and surprising. Seeing Jimmy Jarrett at the front battling with Nate Kanney was something few people expected to see, considering Jarrett's recent injuries. Kanney, of course, came in as most folk's pick to win this thing, since he always goes well at Unadilla. He even called it before the race, like he did his Snowshoe race, however it was not to be, although it was close. It was a good race by both riders and it was good to hear Kanney say he was happy for Jimmy.

JJ has had his share of problems and bad luck this season, including a shoulder injury at the Florida round and this summer he was struck by a motorist while he was riding his bicycle. So it was good to see Jimmy back on it. Jimmy talked to me before the race about his various ailments. "The bicycle accident I'm pretty much back from that but the shoulder injury, I'm still kind of dealing with that," said Jarrett. "It's getting a little better, I'm doing some new therapy and doing a little different stuff. I'm working with a doctor in Florida that's helped me out a little bit with it, so we will see how it goes from here." Obviously, he still has his speed and the shoulder help up at least for three hours in New York. Jarrett said after the event that he was a little surprised at how well the race went and he thought that he was able to keep up the pace because the adrenaline was really pumping. No doubt, Jarrett will be a factor at the remaining two rounds, as will Kanney, who had the race in the bag until getting caught up with a lapper.

Chris Bach put in a good ride as well, coming from the back - twice - to finish third. Chris latched onto Kanney at the first part of the race and hung with him for a while, but then went down and had to work his way to the front all over again. It was a good ride and a good show for those that paid attention.

Speaking of Bach, he just confirmed to me that he has signed a two-year deal to ride Beta in 2011-2012. I checked in with Tim Pilg of American Beta, the U.S. Importer, and he told me he has been watching Chris for a while. "We've been scouting Chris for a few months, we feel he has all the right tools to put Beta on top," said Pilg. "The combination of Chris' work ethic and our 450 will be tough to beat next year. My staff and I are very excited to have Chris, his mechanic Ben Weathers, and good friend Troy Ross on board."Chris said he had tested the bike and he was super-excited to start riding the machine in competition.

I was interested in how Cory Buttrick would do in his GNCC debut ride on the new KTM 350 SX-F. Cory didn't get the best of starts, and he struggled with lappers and had a few crashes en route to a sixth place finish. "I didn't get the greatest start, but that's something we just have to figure out and with this team, we will figure it out," said Buttrick. "The bike did great. I was happy with the bike and I think you can definitely win on this bike. Power-wise, the bike is great, I could pass any 450 out there I wanted to. I wasn't giving up any horsepower and it's so light, it kind of feels like a 250F, the way you can throw it around. You feel big on the bike, kind of the way you feel on a 250 two-stroke and I think it definitely saved me some energy today."


Photo By: Shan Moore
UKJT on the Husky. So much for the two stroke!
It was somewhat of a surprise to see Jason Thomas of the Fred Andrews team show up at Unadilla on a new Husqvarna - a 250 TXC to be exact. According to Fred, the team just had too many problems getting support from Yamaha this year and decided to go with a manufacturer that was willing to help them out. "We're just switching gears a bit for the second half of the year," said Andrews. "Husqvarna makes a great bike for this class - a 250 four-stroke - we're riding the TXC. We started talking with them about getting together and they sent me one and I gave it to Jason and he really likes it. So we are going to promote it and move forward with it. It's a really good bike and Jason feels real comfortable with it. We've been riding Yamaha and the way the economy you have to go where the people are helping you and Husky has got a great contingency program - the biggest in this class for the GNCC, and every little bit counts. Jason has been riding this bike for a couple of weeks now, he rode a couple of local races in Ohio and he won those. He feels good on it and we're confident in the bike, Glenn Kearney's been racing one all year long so we know that reliability is not an issue."

Jason certainly looked good on the new Husky and Unadilla and was in the battle for the win all the way.

Now onto GNCC Announcer Rodney Tomblin, with the full story on everything and anything else you need to know!

Thanks Jason! (And here ya go Joe B.) Whoa, my head is still spinning from the most perfect return to GNCC racing I can remember is some time. I don't feel anyone could have scripted such an event. The battles all began at 8:00 a.m. Youth ATV race on Saturday morning and did not end till after the checkers literally with the bike finish on Sunday. The only question that I have is; where do I begin this week's contribution? I guess the only logical conclusion is at the beginning.


Photo By: Shan Moore
Great day for racing.
I arrived at Unadilla on Wednesday afternoon to a cloudy gray sky. I could tell it had not rained yet and things were looking a little dry and dusty to be honest. Word around the track was that it had not rained since the ATV MX which was held in July and little bit of rain at the Lucas Oil AMA MX race held a few weeks later. So goes the joke that it only rains in Unadilla when we go there to race. I talked to a few local farmers that were offering a percentage of profits if we would schedule a few more races. In all seriousness though it did soon begin to rain, but not heavy enough to cause any real issues as far a set up for the race was concerned. It rained a little harder over night and on Thursday. It cleared up for Friday and Saturday and made for perfect conditions to begin the ATV racing on Saturday morning.

The stage was set with great track conditions, perfect weather and eager competitors ready to tackle the Can Am Unadilla GNCC. In the youth ATV race it was another one those unpredictable races. Early in the season we had seen what looked like and early season total dominance of 90cc Modified 12 -15 class point's leader Levi Cohen from Millfield, OH. Cohen has won 6 total over alls for in 2010 season but has not seen the strong results he carried through the early part of the season. He is still leading and may have very well wrapped up or will soon be wrapping the class title up. The question is now, what about the Youth over All Championship? And the answer to that one is still somewhat up in the air. Cohen is still the top rider, but needs to stay really focused over the upcoming 3 rounds left. Cohen finished 11th in his class this past weekend and 62nd over all. So for sure this is going to be interesting to watch.

Now with Cohen having some tough races, riders have stepped up the pace in his absence. The rider there to capitalize the last two races is Veedersburg, Indiana's Marshall Goings. I know this kid is for real as well as he comes from the Indiana XC series racing. One thing you can say is that they are farming future GNCC Pros over there and Goings was able to take his second consecutive win in the class and over all. Along with Goings on the over all podium was New York's Hunter Hart. Hart also has a win from earlier in the season and has been itching to make it happen again. Hunter is point's leader in the 90 Mod (8 - 11) class and likes to remind everyone he was born on the same day as his last name, Hart (born on Valentine's Day, that means). He is in a whole different age group and has still been seen on the podium on several occasions this season. Hart has posted up a few seconds since his win and is never satisfied with anything less since. Then rounding out the podium for the youth over all this past week was Maryland's Westley Wolfe. Wolf has yet to see an actual GNCC over all win, but has seen the podium a couple times this year and is only race or two from maybe taking his first win. Wolfe not only competes in GNCC, but is also one of the top AMA ATV MX youth stars. Wolfe finished out the motocross season with a 5th place in the 90 Automatic Jr. 8-11 class.

As we look a little deeper in the talent pool here, it looks like Emily Wise took a 4th for the weekend but again showed great consistency with her finish. Emily elects to race against the boys instead of the girl's class. It so far seems to have paid off. She has no actual class wins, but has been a top 3 contender on more than one occasion. It would not surprise me to see this young lady take an over all. She has finished on the podium and even took an over 3rd earlier this year at the FMF Steel Creek GNCC. And remember, she comes from a full family of GNCC racers.

And one last thing about the morning ATV race is the Girls (8-15) Class I have mentioned a few times this season for their stellar performances in the over all. Once again a top 10 performance was handed down by Kamron Bobb of Ohio. It amazes me how intense the ladies are becoming in the youth classes. In my opinion it is a direct result of the battles we have witnessed in the women class the last few years with Traci Cecco and Angel Atwell.

Remember one of the top girl's riders that went wheel to wheel with the boys and even won an over all or two in time in the youth ranks is Cheyanne Shadron. Cheyanne has gone on to race the morning in everything from Schoolboy (13-15) to Women's Novice to now the Women's class. Cheyanne wrapped up the Women Novice National Championship and moved up to the Premier Women class and finished an amazing 2nd place at Snowshoe in her first appearance in the class. Things were on track again this past weekend at Unadilla for the youngster when you met unfortunate end to her race day and maybe season. I saw her on Saturday sporting a sling. One tough girl, as I asked her what happened and she told me and then just kind of shrugged it off like it was no big deal. It turns out it may have been a bigger deal than realized as I got this message earlier in the week from Xcountry Photos Amy McConnell.

Cheyanne is currently in surgery at Somerset, PA hospital getting plates and screws placed into her left collarbone. Her collarbone was broken into two places. If all goes well, she will get to go home tomorrow. Cheyanne was nervous at the start of this weekend's race. She got a strong start and was 3rd going into the woods behind Kristen and Angel. Traci passed her right before the big uphill. After the hill climb just past the 9 mile marker, she was following Traci into an open field section. There was a 90 degree turn to the right and Cheyenne's bike didn't get stopped due to the wet grass. The quad flipped and she slid about 25 feet.

Thankfully all went well and we hope to have Cheyanne back to racing soon. The update I got later was this: "doctor said all went great! 6 inch plate with 7 screws and 2 bone grafts." Ouch, that is one tough young lady no doubt!


Photo By: Shan Moore
Kiser, McGill and Bithell looked like winners, but guess who floored it on the last lap and won?
In other morning ATV high lights. The Women's Class once again proved to be one of the more interesting battles to watch class wise. Kristen Atwell once again started strong and proved to be earning every bit of the nickname "Lightening". This young lady has not only learned to go fast, but she seems to of mastered the art of working her way through lap traffic. This week's course was one of the shorter tracks and we saw 336 riders trying to fight for position in the rolling hills of the Unadilla River Valley.

Atwell had early battles with the likes of the defending class champion and her aunt Angel Atwell and 7 time champ Traci Cecco. In the end it was mid race problems that took both Cecco and A. Atwell out of the hunt for the win. As it stands now Kristen has amassed 4 wins on the season in the class and 3 over alls. This win also moved her into the class points lead by a mere 1 point. She leads FRE/KTM's Angel by 1 point, Yamaha's Cecco by 2 and this week's 2nd place finisher, Can Am rider Lexie Coulter by 7 points. One has to wonder what things are like around the Atwell family gatherings as this battle heats up!

This year the Super Senior 50 Plus class was set to be one for the ages. The defending National Champ Glenn "Jody" Pritchard was a moving target for the then soon to be 50-year-old Dave Simmons. Unfortunately the battles to be never were. Since the injury and illness of Pritchard, Simmons has dominated the class and has also scored 3 impressive over all wins. Painesville Ohio's Simmons took his 7th class win at Unadilla and finished 3rd over all. He has all but wrapped up the championship and is also a contender for the morning over all championship.

U2 Class rider and Warnert Can Am's Clifton Beasley did it again! He not only is still undefeated for the season, but looking back to last year he has not lost a race since round 7 last year. He has won 16 races straight and has lost one race in the last two seasons. Wow!

Congrats to the newlywed Rick Cecco as he was able score his second win of the season in the highly completive 4x4 Open class on his Power Bar Can Am. This win positions Cecco in 4th in the class standings and is only 3 points out from behind Factory Polaris Rider Daryl Rath. Bryan Buckhannon the point's leader ended a 5 race win streak with a 6th place finish. Buckhannon is almost sure to win the title with 7 wins on the season, but the field is ready challenge late in the season and Zakowski motorsports rider Zach Zakowski sits only 9 points out of the championship himself.


Photo By: Shan Moore
With a first and second in the last two races, Nate Kanney is on fire. He was also up front all day at the Penton.
Another class that has caught my attention is the new 4x4 Utility Senior (45+) Class. Early on it looked like it was Casselton, Virginia native Forrestt Whorton's championship. He took the first 6 wins in what seemed to a mostly uncontested way. What he did realize is that he was waking a sleeping off road racing giant in the legendary Mike Penland. Penland Brothers Racing (PBR) star Penland pulled to within 2 points in the championship battle with Whorton and took his 4th straight class win. Penland is one of the pioneers in the utility style racing and created the new generation 4x4 Utility racers we see today. Penland has won championships in nearly every form of ATV racing and may be about to put another notch in the belt. Only 3 races to go in this one folks, you should really get out and support these guys as they both look to write history in GNCC racing.

In the afternoon race it was once again a "Barn Burner" as Lt. Trail Boss Buren Hamrick stated it. In a race that saw 4 different lap leaders from Donnie Ockerman to Adam McGill to Taylor Kiser and finally at the checkers Chris Borich. Though GT Thunder/HLS rider Ockerman dropped off, the battle for 2 solid hours was one with Warnert Can Am rider Chris Bithell, his teammate Adam McGill, Ballance Racing/Moto Xperts/Yamaha rider Taylor Kiser and Makita/Yoshamura/Suzuki's Chris Borich.

Borich once again rode the race he wanted. Gaining the lead for a few moments on a couple different laps was able to keep him in position and once again make a last lap pass on Kiser and hammer down to the checkers. Borich had built an amazing 14 second lead at the finish and extended his points lead in the final push to the championship and now sits with a 45 point lead with 8 wins total for the season.

In the XC2 Pro Am championship battle, even though Brian Wolf and Walker Fowler only sat 10 points apart in the championship, we had yet to see the two go head to head this season. That problem was solved on Saturday at Unadilla. These two had some of the most intense battling of the race. Both riders lead for a few laps each. As the white flag flew, Wolf had a 5 second lead over Fowler. As the checkers flew it ended with a 38 second lead for Wolf and set the stage for the conclusion of this championship battle in the next three rounds.

I realize this week I got a little long winded, but at the same time, I really had to pick and choose what stayed in this weeks thoughts. If you have not made it out to a GNCC lately, you can not go wrong with any one of the final three.

That'll do it for me, till next time, God Bless Your Heart and All Your Vital Organs



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