Jason Weigandt
by: Jason Weigandt
Thursday September 30th, 2010
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Welcome to Quick Fill. So much going on here! Jason I just put this line in.

Only two races left, so everyone is battling for position in the championships, leading to great drama on and off the track.


Photo By: Shan Moore
Strang has won a bunch this year, but this one had to feel the best.
Most people are telling me the XC1 bike and ATV races over the weekend at the Titan GNCC were arguably the best of the year, and no doubt both were motivated by points: Yamaha riders Taylor Kiser and Charlie Mullins need to make moves on Suzuki men Chris Borich and Josh Strang. They battled hard, and there was even some added drama in the ATV race, which we'll explain later.

So, you folks better get to at least one of our final two rounds. Not only do Power Line Park and The Ironman offer up some of the best tracks of the year, but the fans at each of those races are crazy. These are the perfect places to settle these battles!

But first, some news from the Youth Bike ranks, where Layne Michael has wrapped up the Bike Youth Overall Championship. Layne's been racing with us for a long time, and it's awesome to see him finally land that national #1 overall-he was close last year, battling his long-time competitor Chris Meadows. After a pile of class championships, six overall wins this year and now the overall #1 in points, Layne is moving up to the bike bikes in Ohio to prep for 2011. We'll get with him for Tuesday Toolbox next week and give him his due.

Layne had been battling Grant Baylor for the overall title this year, and Grant is going to move up to big bikes starting next week as well. Grant won four overalls this year from row two, and that's no joke-I remember Walker Fowler, back in his bike days, pulled it off once, and it was a huge deal. So the Baylor family, staples of the Youth ranks, are leaving the small bikes behind and heading for the big bikes. We got this cool letter about the great memories of Youth racing from Grant's dad, Steward:

Monday, September 27, 2010

As the sun set over the trees in Lafayette Tennessee yesterday, so did it mark the end of an era.  For the youngest of the Baylor Boys decided that he had given his little FMF/KTM 105 all that it could bear and it was time to move to a big bike.

As we left the track and started our 8-hour journey back to the barn we call "Home", Steward and Grant along with their Mom and Sister, all tired from a long day, drifted off to sleep in the back of the RV, leaving me much time to reflect on not only a great day at the track but an awesome career as a Mini-Dad that will never be forgotten.

As I graduate my youngest son into the world of "big" bikes, I am left with many fond memories of friends we have met along the way, places we have been along the way, and the hearts or determination my boys have developed along the way. Both boys left all that they had on the battlefield yesterday, and though the record books might show that they came up short, trust me when I say, they didn't.

While our hopes for Grant to earn the #1 Plate for the 2010 GNCC Youth Championship from the second row came to an end yesterday in Tennessee, neither he nor I was as sad as some may have thought.  You see, at the beginning of this season we were just encouraging Grant to do his best and he might get on the podium.  Who would have known that he would actually be able to get a record breaking four overall victories this year, and win his class every race.   So at just barely 13 years of age, Grant has a lot to be proud of, as do I.

Though Steward has set many records as a youth rider, Little Brother will now be able to say that he has some records of his own.  He is the youngest ever to get an overall victory during the GNCC Youth Race and the only rider to do it more than once from the second row.  Records are set only to be broken, and I'm sure all that these boys accomplished during their youth bike days will be overcome by another great youngster some day, but right now, if only for the moment, they are on top of the off-road world.

So as I pass the torch to the next great Mini Rider's dad, he had better have his gloves on and his boys better be ready to work!  They have much to do, and many races to win if they are going to beat the sum of 20 regional titles and 9 National titles that my boys have won in just the few years they were on the mini's.

Retired, Proud, Mini-Dad

Steward Baylor



Photo By: Shan Moore
Cory B won a close battle with Thad DuVall to net a podium. We've been waiting since the Youth days to see these two duke it out!
Good stuff. You know what was a great mark of the GNCC Youth Series? The last lap of the XC1 pro bike race, where Thad DuVall and Cory Buttrick finally got to hook up and battle. Been waiting years for this one, Cory B was always a year or two behind Thad in Youth, and they would always dominate their classes. Someday, you knew they would duel in the big class for a podium, and they did this weekend, with Cory edging Thad right at the end when Thad went down. This will be the first of many battles between those two, and expect many more between Kailub Russell, Meadows, Michael, the Baylor boys, Aaron Plessinger and the many others who tore up the youth ranks when they were young.

Now onto Shan Moore:

Thanks, Jason. You couldn't have asked for better racing action than what Josh Strang and Charlie Mullins gave us at the Titan. To have the two title contenders at the front of the pack, running wheel to wheel for most of the race was exciting to say the least. There was exactly one second separating the two riders at the finish! Then, just a minute or so back we had Thad DuVall and Cory Buttrick in another monumental battle over third. This battle wasn't decided until the final few turns when DuVall went over a berm giving Buttrick just enough room to get the lead.

Unfortunately, some of our other front-runners went down pretty hard during the race, putting an end to what might have been even more epic battles. Chris Bach led at one point in the race but crashed pretty hard, slowing his pace significantly. Nate Kanney took a hard one at the end of the long straight after the finish and came into the pits holding his wrist. Then, Paul Whibley put it on cruise control after crashing on the opening lap and re-injuring the thumb he hurt at Unadilla. Hopefully, everyone will be ready to go for the Power Line in Ohio.

Glenn Kearney had one of his best races of the year at the Titan, finishing fifth in the XC1 class, which was not surprising since he was running a new 310cc kit on his 250 TXC Husky. GK told me that the new engine was really good and that it had a lot more torque than the 250, which allowed him to ride it more like a 450 (he got a great start at the Titan). Coming into the race Glenn only had about an hour or two on the bike with the new kit, so look for him to have another good result in Ohio after he gets a little more time on it.


Photo By: Shan Moore
Kailub Russell, another star grad of the GNCC Youth Ranks, grabbed a win in XC2, helping boost his title chances.
Nate Kanney made his debut on the 2011 KTM 450SXF with the new linkage suspension. According to Nate, "the shock is a lot more versatile." "You can have a really plush shock that still offers the bottom-end resistance you would want for motocross," says Nate. "But you really can't compare the linkage suspension to PDS, it's like comparing apples to oranges. The same goes to the fork; now I'm using a standard production 48mm fork as opposed to the factory 52mm. This fork is probably one of the best production forks I've used, but it's not quite the 52mm factory fork. I could have used the 52mm if I wanted to, but I chose to use the Factory Connection fork because I'm confident in it. The 52 is amazing, but you don't need it to win."

As far as Silly Season goes, Mike Webb told me at the Titan that Josh Strang was all but signed for 2011. Mike added that he's also trying to get funding for a second rider under the FMF/Makita Suzuki tent and that next year he hopes to start doing a demo program at some of the events. Charlie Mullins told me he expects to have his contract done with Randy Hawkins in the next few days. Meanwhile, Antti Kallonen joked that he negotiated Cory Buttrick's 2011 KTM deal while the two were walking the track at the Titan.

On the Amateur front, Jordan Ashburn turned in another stellar performance at the Titan to win the overall Amateur award for the eighth time this year. The win was also good enough to wrap up the overall title for the Kawasaki support rider. Jordan's dad told me that Jordan is going finish out the year in the Open A class and then weigh his options for 2011. Check out Tuesday Toolbox with him right here.

We also have a lot of pretty fast Youth riders who will be moving up in next year or two... Layne Michael, Grant Baylor, Anthony Jackson and several others have been tearing it up in the Youth divisions and putting on a good show for the spectators. This is where tomorrow's talent will be coming from and I saw Antti Kallonen checking out the young prospects during Sunday's race.

Thanks, Shan. Now here's GNCC TV producer Jason Hooper.


Photo By: Shan Moore
Chris Borich won yet another close one. I think we say that every week.
After giving us the worst racing conditions of the year last year, the Titan GNCC did one heck of a job of redeeming itself this year by providing much, much more dry racing conditions and some of the best racing action I can remember in both the ATV and bike XC1 Pro Classes. In ATVs, after allegedly starting his quad a bit early, Chris Borich was penalized 30-seconds. Jeff Russell told Borich's pit crew before the finish, and they gave him a pit board as he came through the 9-mile mark, which was close to the finish. At that point Taylor Kiser was right on Borich's rear bumper, but the reigning champ dropped the hammer over the next three miles and pulled a 17-second lead before he was stopped to serve his penalty, effectively turning it into a 13-second deficit. From that point on the race was on as Borich quickly moved his way from 4th-place into 2nd, and battled with Taylor Kiser before making a pass with less than a half mile to go before the finish. Chris now has a 50-point lead in the series and it's looking like he'll more than likely wrap it up next weekend at St. Clairsville. My question now is who is going to dethrone the champ in the coming years? Chris has won from good starts, from bad starts, and even after a 30-second penalty. It's kind of ironic, that for years Chris Borich was the #2 guy behind Bill Ballance, and now that Chris is winning championships it's a rider on Bill Ballance's race team that has become the new "Chris Borich," constantly playing second fiddle to the champ.

Shan has touched on the XC1 bike race so I won't add too much to that, except to say that I really think it may have been one of the best pro bike races I've seen in the 5-years I've been going GNCC racing. There have been some close battles to the finish, like Barry Hawk and Glenn Kearney at Steele Creek a few years ago, but this was a 3-hour knock down, drag out, slugfest. Team FMF/Makita Suzuki race manager Mike Webb told me on Sunday after Strang's win to make sure everyone knows that they are not out there chasing points and riding conservative, that Josh is going for race wins. Strang could clinch the title at St. Clairsville if he beats Charlie Mullins, and I'm sure most of you remember the dominating win Strang had at last year's Power Line Park GNCC, and also that it was his teammate at the time, Mullins, that finished in the number 2 spot. Mullins certainly isn't going to just hand over the championship to Strang so I'm preparing for another battle royal at round 11.

If you're going to be home this weekend, be sure to watch the awesome racing from Unadilla as the bike show premieres this Sunday at 3:00PM EST. The show reairs on Tuesday, 10/5 at 5:00PM.

One last thing, be sure to check out the post-race show from the Titan GNCC where Rodney Tomblin and myself break down all of the racing action from this past Sunday. CLICK HERE

Thanks, Hoops. Here's a note from 2000 GNCC Champion Shane Watts:

Check out the latest Watts Happening Newsletter from Shane Watts to get the lowdown on the following: 1. The addition of the new two day "Hardcore - Building Champions" Race schools. 2. The current Aussie Cross Country Champions Wattsy is sponsoring to come battle with Josh Strang and the rest of the crew at the final two GNCC rounds. 3. Huge discounts on Flexx handlebars and two KTM 450 machines.

Oh yeah, and be sure to check out the teaser for Wattsy's latest (and long awaited!) Advanced Instructional DVD Volume #2 - How to Master Corners, Braking, and Roosting through Tight trees, which goes on sale Oct 20. Filmed and edited by our own GNCC TV guru Jason Hooper, it is sure to be a must have for all offroad enthusiasts

CLICK HERE to read Wattsy's newsletter:

Can you believe it's been 10 years since Wattsy was GNCC Champion?

Pretty cool deal here. The Team Faith folks are collecting used gear at the next two races for charity. Pretty neat. CLICK HERE for more.

And here's Rodney Tomblin's take on the weekend:


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Thanks Jason. And to echo the sentiments of everyone, The Motorcycle USA Titan GNCC definitely offered up a lot of great racing as we see the championships in most classes starting to become a little clear. It is going to take some pretty monumental problems to upset the apple cart at this point, but hey that is why we race the whole series and there are two more races left to see if anything crazy happens.

I know that both Shan and Hoops have covered a good bit of the Pro racing from this weekend but I do have a little info on the problems that both Nate Kanney and Chris Bach had in the bike racing on Sunday. I talked to Nate this morning and he is doing well all things considered. Nate had a bad crash right after checking in after his second lap. He was trying to make up time after going down after early on. On the 3rd lap, at the end of a long straight, he said that he came in a little hotter than before just trying to gain anywhere he could. As he approached a dip in the track he hit either a rock or breaking bump, which kicked the bike up and caused him to not be able to slow down and he dropped in at full speed basically and hit his chin on the crossbar. He said that it knocked him out for a little bit and the impact also cut his chin, which required some stitches. Nate also suffered 2 broken ribs, 2 broken bones in his right wrist and a collapsed and bruised lung.

Nate was released from the hospital this morning and is on his way home to New York from Nashville with his parents. He said that he has had his share of injuries and worse in some cases, but never this many different injuries at once. Kanney said that he as bad as it is and sounds he should only be out for about 6 weeks. Nate also said that tell everyone that he is "very appreciative of all the well wishes and support that I have gotten from everyone and that I am doing well."

Nate said he should make to The ITP Power Line Park GNCC and will be dressed in his Chris Bach attire. It appears that Chris and Nate had a bet at the Titan that whoever lost to the other would have to wear the others jersey in Ohio the morning of the race. Kanney lost and said that he would be "proud to pay his debt to the bet and wear Chris' jersey," especially considering that Bach did not leave the hospital for 3 days until Nate's parents were able to make it down. "Plus Chris handles it so well when he gets beaten by me that you have got to respect him!" Nate may also grab a microphone during the afternoon race and offer some color commentary for the afternoon race. That will be a very interesting perspective indeed.

Speaking of Chris Bach, it looks like aside from the DNF at Big Buck, this was his worst race of the season with a class 8th place finish and 12th over all. There were also reports of a possible broken finger on Bach's right hand. Chris did say he thought that it may be more of a bad bruise than break and that he was going riding today and that would be the real test as far as how much it was going to affect him. Bach was leading the race early, but then Mullins and Strang came by, and he waved Strang past in a field. He said that they had a championship to battle for and he did not want to affect it. Chris said that they were going "so ridiculously fast" that he backed it down to a more comfortable pace and settled into third. Then going up a hill under no pressure, he caught something in a berm that shot him into a tree face first and hurt his hand. He dropped to 11th but was able to battle back to 8th in the class for the day.

Beyond Michael and Baylor in youth racing, congratulations to Jon Michael Rainey also on his championship in the 85 14-15, he made the move up to the Super Mini 14-15 this past weekend to check out the competition up there and finished 12th his first time out. I feel we will see a whole different rider when they line up in 2011 for that class. This kid could be a contender for one of the top spots. Remember, JMR races both bikes and ATVs. That is a true GNCC'er through and through.

The 10:00 a.m. bike start on Sunday morning is always fun to watch. This past weekend saw one of the former top XC2 Pro Lites riders; Josh Weisenfels show up and basically dominate the morning race. He won by nearly 4 minutes and 30 seconds. Josh raced the first three rounds this season in the XC2 class and came back to race this weekend for some fun. Josh has had his share of injuries over the last couple of years and needed a day like Sunday to just keep it exciting for him.

In other morning news, defending over all champion and Masters A champion Randal Riggs has been riding another impressive series and may still be the one to beat over all when it is all said and done. Riggs has captured the championship in the class and is now looking for the top morning honors again.

Women's class racer Maria Forsberg has made her statement in that class this season. She has wrapped up the season championship and if she decides to defend the title next year may have some new competition in Tennessee's Shelby Role. Shelby had a run in with a lapper and dislocated her shoulder that Dr. Steve Thaxton from the 50+ class was able to assist her with injury and Shelby feels she may be back to riding soon and was on a hard charge after Maria when the incident occurred. I sure hope the best for her, and don't think we have seen the last of her.

That will do it for me for now. Next week I will talk a little about the brewing ATV battles and more.

Till next time, God Bless Your Heart and All Your Vital Organs!

Thanks, Rodney. And finally, our hearts go out to the Lojak family, which is dealing with the loss of Jessica. The Lojak family is as dedicated as any to GNCC racing, and our thoughts go out to them.  Click here to read more about Jessica.

And Godspeed.

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