Welcome to Quick Fill. Time is flying.
By now, if you're not racing, preparing to race or at least thinking about preparing to race, you're wasting your time. February is almost here, which means there will only be one month before you're punishing your hands with Florida-sand-induced blisters, Florida-sand-induced-back-pain and Florida-sand-induced-general-fatigue-and-soreness. I'm sure you all can't wait!
The good news is more riders seem to be wrapping up their 2011 deals in what has to be the slowest silly season ever (even slower than last year's slow one). I did hear this weekend that Suzuki will find a way to offer some support to Chris Borich to keep him on yellow, even though Suzuki is not officially making a 2011 LT-R450 QuadRacer production run. There are still new '10s out there so if you want one, you can still get one. And surely Chris has proven that machine's worth.
Photo By: Shan Moore
How will the 350 do in GNCC competition?
For more news, we turn it over to our reporter staff, starting with Shan Moore.
Thanks, Jason. I got word this week that Nate Kanney had just put the finishing touches on his 2011 plans and he's looking forward to a stronger than ever year in GNCC competition. Nate will be riding a 450 SXF KTM for his new team, WMR Off-Road/Clockwork/Planet Fitness/KTM Racing. For those not in the know, WMR is a performance shop and KTM dealer in Stuart, Florida, which is where Nate will base his operation. WMR built motors for Chris Bach last year, which was a big key to Chris' success. Nate will also have some support from a few outside sponsors, including St. Lawrence Radiology, SUNY Canton, and Motofit Motorsports. Nate says he's "training and working harder than ever" and says he "really feels like this is my year." In addition to GNCC, Nate says he'll also race select National Enduro, National Hare Scrambles, and OMA National events.
The KTM off-road team riders will be doing some "east coast" testing in a few weeks at a location yet to be determined. It will be interesting to see how the new 350 XCF will perform in GNCC competition. Right now, Andrew Short is struggling in Supercross competition, but SX is a totally different animal. According to KTM Supercross team manager, Roger DeCoster, the 350 needs to be ridden like a 250 and he says that Shorty is still riding it like a big bike. Antonio Cairoli seemed to have the 350 dialed in for the World GPs, and I guess we'll see what happens in GNCC competition when the flag drops for the first time this year at River Ranch.
I also got a note last week from Glenn Kearney and it seems he has landed a ride with Husqvarna again. However, this year he will be staying at home to ride the Australian Off-road series. Here's what GK told me:
"I have been enjoying the summer and Christmas/New Year here at home down under. I am really happy to have signed with Husqvarna again, only this time it is in Australia and I will be riding for the Paul Feeny group. We plan to race the Australian Off-road championship and a few other selected events. I t should be a good challenge with Bartoz Oblucki in from Europe as my new teammate. Chris Hollis is back from Europe also, Stefan Merriman multiple time world champ and some Aussie young gun's to keep it interesting. I hope to be able to get back to the US for a round or two of GNCC if we can make it happen. It would be good to get back and catch up with everyone at the GNCC's, after all it has been my home for the past 6 years." I'm sure all of us agree that we will miss Glenn and Krystle and we hope them the best in 2011.
Now, on to more signing news. Keith Obermeyer informs me that Jordon Milbauer has joined the Obermeyer Yamaha Team for 2011. According to Keith, the '11 season is expected to be an ultra competitive one in the Women's Class for GNCC racing, and Jordon Milbauer has 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 also raced a GNCC in 2010 and felt that's where the toughest competition was and she wanted in on the action. For 2011 Jordon, will be racing a WR250F in the ladies Class in the GNCC series.
Here's what I have so far for the Pro teams (Please feel free to contact me at shan@gnccracing.com with other signings so we can update this list as we go):
AM-Pro Yamaha
American Beta
Chris Bach
FMF/KTM
FMF/Suzuki
Husaberg
Kanney Racing
Nate Kanney
Obermeyer Yamaha
On a personal note, I just got home from a two-week trip out west to cover the first two rounds of the AMA Supercross series. I think I told you guys that I was visiting Hart & Huntington in Vegas to do a photo shoot and I would be coming home with either a t-shirt or a tattoo. Well, I'll be showing off my new tat at the opening GNCC round in Florida... BTW, it hurt like hell!
Yikes, thank you for that Shan. Now to Hooper with some info on the whereabouts of Josh Weisenfels.
If you've been following GNCC the past three seasons, you probably remember a kid from Arkansas named Josh Weisenfels coming seemingly out of nowhere as a privateer in 2007 and battling for podiums with the likes of Rodney Smith and Justin Williamson in the XC2 Pro Lites Class. After his impressive rides that year Fred Andrews picked up Weisenfels and he continued in the XC2 class landing himself 8 podiums before a shoulder injury put a serious damper in his results. Josh struggled in the 2009 season, tried to make a privateer comeback in 2010 and carded a solid 4th-place finish at Florida before coming down with a illness that kept him off the track until the Titan where he raced and won the overall in the morning race. Now in a full circle moment, Weisenfels has been picked up by the FMF/Suzuki team to compete in the XC2 Pro Lites class for 2011 and is currently in California training with Josh Strang, and the man who robbed Weisenfels of an XC2 win in 2007 after he led every lap of the Big Buck GNCC, Rodney Smith. It's pretty cool to see in these tough economic times a company going out on a limb to give a rider another shot at racing. I spoke with Josh Strang earlier this week and he says Weisenfels' speed is looking good and that his fitness is coming around. It'll be awesome to have another contender in that class for 2011.
Thanks Hooper, now here's Rodney.
Thanks Jason! Looks like things are starting to liven up a bit in the GNCC Racing Nation. The Sunshine state of Florida is seeing more and more snowbirds making the trek if south if only for a few days to try and get some riding and testing in.
I spoke with XC2 Pro Am class contender Mark Notman and he said that he is chomping at the bit to get back at it. He lives in Northern Ohio and there has been no relief from Old Man Winter. Mark said that all he has been able to do is ride a little indoors to try and keep sharp and fit as possible but also said he is headed to Croom in Florida soon to dedicate the rest of the off season to preparing for the River Ranch GNCC.
I heard a rumor that FRE/KTM may not be back in the ATV Pro pits for 2011. I was certainly glad to talk to Shane Hitt who works some with Tim Farr and FRE. Hitt stated that my information was incorrect. That there had been some cut backs, but that Bryan Cook would be returning to chase the GNCC Championship in 2011. Shane also mentioned there may be one more added to the team in the XC1 Pro or XC2 Pro Am class and that the details were still being worked out. So we may just get to see an announcement soon from the FRE/KTM team with some good news for another rider still waiting for a ride.
Photo By: Shan Moore
We got to see Josh Kirkland at the GNCC banquet, and hopefully we'll see him hanging out at a few races in 2011
It looks like some class changes in the morning ATV races should heat things up quite a bit. I have heard that The Warnert Racing Can Am team is going to be focusing more efforts on the XC1 Pro. They have built a solid Utility program and looks like a lot of the guys are now running the X-Team support program which is great. I know that the 4x4 Open class is going to extra exciting this year as the playing field will be kind of leveled so to speak. I spoke with Rick Cecco who was coming on strong in that class at the end of the season and he could not be more excited to race this year. I know Rick has been searching for that magic in the morning to separate himself from the rest of the field and the way things are sounding, that may just be the case this year. Morning ATV racing is only going to be more exciting this year and I for one cannot wait for River Ranch. Think about it, with the elimination of the 4x4 Limited class that should bring together riders like, Brian Buckhannon, Scott Kilby, Ken Robey, Rick Cecco, Zack Zakowski, Michael Swift and I am sure more. I think an undefeated or runaway championship is a thing of the past in this class and if you win, you will have earned it.
On the bike side of things, I know there is a lot of excitement around the announcement of Nate Kanney's new team WMR Off Road/Clockwork/Planet Fitness/KTM racing team. Tuesday Toolbox was an interesting one and I know things have been kind of up and down with Nate on his factory efforts. However, he spent much of his tenure injured or recovering from an injury and he kept a lot of that quiet. We saw a healthy Kanney winning Snowshoe and then at Unadilla and even the Titan before his big crash. Nate has lots of support and this coupled with a grassroots type approach may be just exactly what the doctor ordered.
Happy Birthday to Off Road Junkies Rob Mitchell. Looks like things are going well for his little website project. I saw this posted on their Facebook Wall: We are excited to announce that we have reached 2,000 Facebook fans! As a way to say THANK YOU to all our supporters, we will be doing a giveaway on Facebook every hour, on the hour, until we run out of prizes starting Friday January 21st @ 9:00AM EST. Hit the link for more info!
I love our great sport of GNCC. There are so many websites out there that approach the coverage from so many different angles. Speaking of different, how about the guys at Off Road Viking? These guys have been getting some really captivating video and interviews as well as scoops on things going on in the GNCC Racing Nation and the guys sent me this note about some of the new stuff they have up: We went down for the weekend and hung out with the Baylors. We shot some video of him and Grant and Grant's video will be up soon. Make sure to check it out Steward's dancing skills at the end of the video! Stewie, you Rock!
Photo By: Shan Moore
We've announced our new rules for 2011. We'll see how they change the look of our 4x4 classes
Bart Hayes and the Folks at RidePG.com are busy getting things finalized for the new season. I got this not from Bart earlier today. "We are quite busy here at Powersport Grafx (ridepg.com). We have a ton of new stuff and will announce our riders for the year soon. We are working on graphics for bikes of every color...and some colors multiple times! As Forrest Gump says: " that's about all I can say about that". Over on the mechanical side with Genuine Dirt Racer/WP Suspension USA, we just finished a very successful test with Chris Bach on the Beta and Nick Fahringer on the Husaberg. Nick will join Mike Lafferty at most of the GNCC's this year. I'm headed to Sumter this weekend to work with Stew and Grant Baylor and may even get to ride some myself! I'll have more for you in a couple of weeks. There are some cool pics up on the Powersport Grafx facebook page." Be sure to check them out on Facebook.
Chris Meadows is busy working for the new season. Chris told me this morning that he is working harder than ever before to be in shape and ready to go this year. I asked him what class he was going to run and he said that he was up in the air at the moment. He is thinking 250A or XC2. Regardless of which class he chooses, I think he is going to be tough. Chris said he has been working on building a program with Jay Downhour of JD Performance. JD Performance is a suspension specialty company that is looking to build a team around Chris and his GNCC racing efforts. I think that is great and I hope the best for Chris as they try to get this deal all put together.
One final thought this week; welcome to the team Jen Kenyon who has to have one of the coolest names I have ever heard. I hope she can live up to a name like that.
Jen Kenyon here - Thanks Rodney! I will try my best to live up to the name! First off, I just want to say I am SO excited to have the opportunity to work in "GNCC land" because as Jason said last week, I was born and raised in "Motocross land" and I can't wait to get my feet wet on this side of things. Just a quick note - as Shan mentioned, we are updating our website with teams and info for the 2011 season, so if you're on the GNCC website under Racer Profiles, please send us your 2011 team, machine, mechanic and any other info you'd like us to update. Feel free to send that or any other comments or concerns to jkenyon@gnccracing.com. Thanks!
Till next time, God Bless Your Heart and All Your Vital Organs!
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