Welcome to Quick Fill. Sorry we missed you last week, butwe're deep in the midst of making things better than ever here in GNCC land. That even includes adding a new staffer here to make sure this website works like a well oiled machine.
A big GNCC welcome to Jennifer Kenyon, who will be taking Rachel Fluharty's old position as media relations coordinator. I've been spending the last six months splitting my time between GNCC web duties and Racer X stuff on the magazine side of the building, so having some dedicated help will make things much, much, better.
Jennifer and her family have deep roots in racing, she's been going to the motocross races since she was a kid, and racing herslef quite a bit over the last few years. Welcome aboard, Jenn Kenyon, and you folks will be reading quite a bit of her writing here in Quick Fill as the new season nears.
In the meantime, we've finally published the final GNCC rules and regulations for 2011. Head back to the main page to take a glance at the rules, or, check out Rodney Tomblin's latest scoops, gossip and rumors right here:
Photo By: Shan Moore
This man is hoping 2011 goes just a slight bit better than 2010.
New Year Resolutions are kicking into full swing this week and training programs are stepping up. I would say that Florida and the entire south is beginning to "buzz" but since we are pretty much all four stroke now I will say "thumping" with riders readying themselves for the upcoming season. I know several were down before the holidays, but now it is go time for everyone.
As the winter has progressed I have been kind of just watching the scene so to speak and a couple of things I have noticed are this:
Thad Duvall needs to carry tissue in his pocket at all times. If you follow him on Facebook you saw the pictures and it was really gross. He seems to have gained a lot of patience this hunting season that unfortunately turned to frustration as he has yet to back the "trophy buck". My advice to young Thad this year is to take this as a life lesson. Patience is good, but you must be patient and position yourself to have something to strike on. If he figures this out in his racing it could be a whole different season in 2011.
Check out Thad's first ride of the year on offroadjunkies.com. Is Thad pumped for the new season? You be the judge.
I saw Tyson Ezell at various places over the course of the winter so far and I see he has had an extensive training regiment. XC2 Pro Lites look out; Tyson could be in the best form of his life when we hit River Ranch.
Speaking of XC2 Pro Lites racing, I spoke with Cody Gragg who will also be moving to that class and he tells me he has only ridden a couple of times since the Winter National Olympics in November. He also tells me that he is gearing up to head to South Carolina's premier training facility at Club MX on Tuesday. Gragg said he wants to be ready for the second row when Florida comes. He said that he is ready to shine and feels that his time at Club MX will give him the edge he will need to run up front. All I know is that XC2 has the potential to be mind boggling as far as the racing goes and I can't wait to see Ricky Towery's left arm go straight out and....well you know the rest.
I had a chance to speak with a former GNCC rider that raced for several years. It was the older brother of Ian Pannebakker, Kevin. Kevin began racing GNCC back around 2004 at Rausch Creek in Pennsylvania. He raced full time in the 2007 and 2008 seasons. He placed 3rd in the 200C 18+ in 2007 and raced the 4 Stroke B Lites class for a year. That earned him a national number ranking at 122 for 2009 which was a pretty big achievement.
Kevin hung up the racing gear a couple of years ago to dedicate himself to his dream of working for a commercial airline. Kevin is a licensed pilot with several ratings and is currently working on his tail dragging rating. That sounds pretty cool to me. He is currently going to school for aircraft maintenance and has two and half years left on his degree. Kevin told me he sold his bike to pay for more flying time and that he rarely gets to ride. He said he occasionally rides his dad's bike and that we may see him at one of the Pennsylvania races. He said he wants to ride the 4 Stroke B Lites Class again and tackle all the rocks and hill climbs Jeff, Buren and the boys can throw at him.
I asked Kevin how his brother Ian was doing and he told me that Ian was in Florida. Ian is working on obtaining his pilot license as well and wants to be an air traffic controller someday. Ian should return to GNCC in 2011 wearing his nationally earned number of 29. He finished 4th in the 4 Stroke A Lites Class. he
Another note of interest is the fact that we will be seeing a new face in competition for the Women's bike championship in 2011. Here is a press release I found on OffRoadViking.com:
Jordon Milbauer Joins the Obermeyer Yamaha Team.
In what is expected to be an ultra competitive season in the Women's Class for 2011 GNCC racing, Jordon Milbauer has effectively thrown her hat in the ring!
Jordan was able to clinch three championships in 2010, OMA Nationals, TCCRA Ladies Expert, and the Texas Shootout ladies expert Championship. She traveled east from her home in Argyle, TX to race a GNCC in 2010 and felt that is where the toughest competition was and she wanted in on the action.
For 2011 Jordon, will be racing the proven Yamaha WR250F in the ladies class in the GNCC series. The Obermeyer Yamaha, Rekluse, Factory Connection, GYTR, WR250F will sitting on the line and ready for racing in Florida for Round 1 of the 2011 Championship Series.
Looks like Mariah, Mandy, Ash and the girls have more competition coming. Speaking of which, I cannot wait to see what Mandi Mastin is going to be doing in 2011. I know she loves competition and Mariah may have woke a sleeping giant last year and with Milbauer coming, that should only add more fuel to her fire.
I got this note from Shane Watts also you may want to check out:
Rodney,
Hope you had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! Below is the link to our most recent Newsletter which contains our 2011 DirtWise school schedule and much more. We will be conducting the first of our new DirtWise "HardCore" Advanced level Riding schools here in the USA on March 10/11 (Thur/Fri) at the excellent Rivers Edge venue, in beautiful south central Virginia. This school is going to be excellent preparation for any of our northern based friends who are heading down to Georgia for Round 2 . Click HERE for more.
Cheers,
That's about all I have this week, I sure hope things are going good for you and yours. If you have any news you want to share with me just drop me a note to Rodney@gnccracing.com
Till next time, God Bless Your Heart and All Your Vital Organs.
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