Jennifer Kenyon
by: Jennifer Kenyon
Thursday July 14th, 2011
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Welcome to Quick Fill. We are officially on summer break, meaning we take an almost two-month hiatus from GNCC Racing until September, when the weather cools off and the days may seem a little more tolerable. After last weekend's John Penton, I can totally see why this break is necessary through the hot months of July and August, because man it was a scorcher on Sunday, not just for the racers but for everyone involved.


Photo By: Shan Moore
Clifton Beasley took the U2 Class
The John Penton GNCC will forever be a special event to me, as it was my first ever GNCC race, not to mention my first time racing anything remotely different from a motocross track. I didn't grow up trail riding, or really riding at all. At age 18, I began taking myself riding and eventually racing, but never did I imagine that I'd be racing a cross-country race in my lifetime. Nonetheless, I had an absolute blast in the woods, encountering things that I would never have dreamt of going through or over until this weekend. I had a rough start, stalling my bike early on and then getting sideswiped off my bike by a really enthusiastic rider who obviously was in a big hurry to hit the mud hole. I must have been a magnet for reckless riders because I got taken out a few more times throughout the first lap, making it very hard to get into a pace. I learned quickly that when there's a bottleneck below a hillclimb, just pin it and weave your way through the pack. Big thanks to Bolt-On for pointing me up a couple of the sketchy hills that much my surprise - I got up first try! I couldn't have asked for a better support system for my first GNCC - between the people that helped me with my bike to the ones who came up and told me good luck on the start, and even those who were out there cheering me on, I saw you all and I appreciate it!

The biggest thanks goes out to Ricky Rick and the rest of the Michael family, who pretty much took care of me all weekend long. Without them, I wouldn't have been able to have the time of my life on Sunday. That being said, you can for sure expect me at a few more of the GNCC's, hopefully with some sort of electric start bike or something that doesn't take 15 minutes to kick over. I feel so blessed to have found yet another way to have fun riding my dirtbike and work at the same time.


Photo By: Shan Moore
Fahringer debuted the 2012 300cc 2-Stroke Husaberg
While I'm on the topic of Women's class racing, it's been brought to our attention that we need to give the Women of GNCC a little more lovin' as far as the website goes. So ladies, if you have any ideas for a fun girl/women related column or feature for the GNCC Racing website, shoot me an email and we can get something brewing. Basically, I would love to give all you girls - ATVs, bikes, young, old, riders, non-riders - some extra attention but I don't quite have the time to add extra duties at this point, so if anyone wants to sort of become a reporter on this subject and send content to me for posting, have at it!

Cody Collier, winner of the ATV Youth on Saturday, if you're reading this or someone who knows you is, I would love to do next week's Tuesday Toolbox with you. So Cody, friends of Cody - get ahold of me at Jen@gnccracing.com so I can set up a time to chat. Cody killed it in the Youth ATV race on Saturday and I don't think I've ever seen a kid stay in his gear so long after his race in my life. Check out this awesome article from the Athens News featuring Cody and a few other GNCCers like Walker Fowler and Dean vanLeeuwen.

If you've ever wondered what a day in the life of a Racer Productions Intern would be, check out "Mitch the Intern's" Blog: http://mitchintern.wordpress.com/. Mitch covers a little bit of his weekend-duties with GNCC and the other random adventures he embarks upon. Mitchell, who is now a HUGE Walker Fowler and Johnny Gallagher fan after Snowshoe, has been interning with us for two summers now and he likes to ride moto in his spare time. The college-kid heads back to school in a few short weeks but we will definitely miss the "Mitchness" around the office when he goes!

Brian Temple has been working hard this year to raise money for the LiveSTRONG foundation via GNCC racers and fans. He wanted to give a shout out to the winners of the jersey raffles at Snowshoe:


  • Barry Hawk jersey won by Glen Pritchard of West Hamlin, WV
  • Charlie Mullins jersey won by Brian Wedmore of Noblesville, IN
  • Nate Kanney jersey won by Mark Duserberry of New Lexington, OH
  • Kurt Caselli jersey won by Mark Smith of Greenville, SC
  • Trey Canard jersey won by Sharon Engleman of Scottsburg, IN
  • Andrew Short jersey won by Ryan Jones of Lancaster, OH
  • The Radio Shack jersey won by Hunter Hart of Newfield, NY


Photo By: Shan Moore
Whibs was all smiles before and after the race
Here's a note from Brian: In all, we raised nearly $1000 to help patients battle cancer. A huge thanks to everyone who bought a raffle ticket and of course, the riders who donated a jersey. I would like to extend a big thanks to the GNCC staff as well!

Thanks Brian, we appreciate everything you've done for the LiveSTRONG Foundation and we're happy to be involved in such a great cause!

That's all for me, I'm getting ready to board my plane en route to Millville, Minnesota for the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Series. We also have AMA ATV Motocross this weekend at Unadilla, so keep your eyes peeled for some great racing action on both ATV and motorcycles this weekend.

I'll turn in over to Shan "paparazzi" Moore.

Thanks, Jen. You couldn't have asked for a more exciting race than the one that played out at the John Penton between Paul Whibley and Kailub Russell. Who would have guessed that it would be Whibs making the daring pass to steal the win at the last second rather than Kailub? No offense to Whibley, but that just seems like a move reserved for one of the young guns and not for a 33-year-old veteran like him. But Kailub rode a fantastic race, working his way up to the front and then stalking the Ax Man and waiting for the perfect place to pounce. I, for one, thought the race was over when I saw Kailub take the lead up the muddy hill at what I think was the nine-mile mark of the final lap. But Whibley pulled off an amazing last-second pass to take the lead just feet before the finish and he certainly deserves a lot of credit for making a bold pass.


Photo By: Shan Moore
This year's John Penton was dryer than ever
The win edges Whibley just a smidge closer to Strang and Mullins in the series point standings. And with the long summer break coming up it will be interesting to see what everyone does over that period to stay in shape and get ready for Unadilla. Whibley will be racing OMA and local races every weekend, like he always does. And Mullins has three enduros and Loretta Lynn's to keep him race-hardened. So I will try to keep up with Josh Strang's whereabouts during the break and keep you informed on what he has going on. He hinted to me Monday morning that we might see him at one of the National Motocross races, which would be fantastic. I truly believe that our top guys like Strang, Mullins, Kailub and Whibs, have as much talent as the top MX guys. Our guys just have different styles because of the three-hour GNCC format. So it's always cool to see one of our own go at it with the motocross guys.

It's cool seeing some of the National Enduro guys riding the series, like Russell Bobbitt, Nick Fahringer and Josh Gaitten. This weekend, Nick Fahringer debuted the 2012 300cc two-stroke Husaberg at the John Penton. There are reportedly only four of these in the States and Nick got one to ride at the GNCC and in this week's national enduro in Michigan. Accoring to Nick, the bike is a whole lot lighter than the 450 he's been riding and he really liked the way it handled, but he's still getting used to it since he hasn't been on a two-stroke since mid-2007.


Photo By: Shan Moore
Our own Jen Kenyon raced her first GNCC at the John Penton
Did you know that our own Jen Ken raced the Women's race? She did quite well and I was impressed with a few of her moves in the first few turns. Not only is she an excellent Media person, but an excellent rider as well. Nice job, Jen!

Be sure to check out this week's Cycle News digital edition for coverage of the John Penton: http://cyclenews.coverleaf.com/cyclenews/20110712#pg91

I was happy to see Taylor Kiser have a great race this past weekend. The Ballance Racing Yamaha ATV rider has had a rough go of it this year, but he told me this weekend that he feels he and the team have turned the corner and are on the right track. He said that getting a good bike setup and good mental focus were the difference in his race this past weekend.

It was also cool seeing WORCS Women's Champ Kacy Martinez racing the John Penton. Kacy was in Ohio at the invitation of KTM team manager Antti Kallonen and she turned in a great race to finish second behind teammate Maria Forsberg.

Saturday's quad race as pretty exciting, too. With Chris Borich, Brian Wolf, Taylor Kiser and the two Can-Am boys, Chris Bithell and Adam McGill, mixing it up early in the race. That race had an exciting finish, as well, with Borich crossing the finish line with just three seconds to spare over Kiser.

I guess we'll see who does their homework over the summer break.

Here's Rodney "10 seeecccconnnnnnnds" Tomblin. I know ya'll are going to miss this voice over the break, so I thought I'd throw it in there.


Photo By: Shan Moore
Jordan Ashburn got his first XC2 win.
Thanks Jen.  It seems like such a long time has passed since we kicked off the 2011 Can Am GNCC series.  A number of things have happened since the green flag waved back in early March in Florida and there are still a number of things to happen before the final checkers fall in November.

The point races alone are a fairly interesting point to ponder this summer break.  If you recall heading into The John Penton GNCC the ATV points were in a bit of disarray with Adam McGill leading the overall point standings and Chris Borich leading the class standings in XC1 Pro.  One at that point had to wonder for a moment, "What happens if the XC1 class champ does not win the overall?"  That's a good question, but since McGill lost so many points in Ohio this past weekend the reality of this situation just got less likely to occur.  McGill, who had a great day starting the race, wound up finishing 11th in class and 20th overall.  In the process Chris Borich was able to get his stranglehold back on the points lead in both instances and head into the break with the confidence that a third championship is becoming more and more visible in his future.  The points now have Borich leading the class by 27 as opposed to 7 heading into Ohio and the over-all standings now by 24.  These are numbers I am sure that will make Chris Borich's summer a little sweeter.


Photo By: Shan Moore
John Penton himself - watching the races
Taylor Kiser was back in Ohio and this for him will be a great way to head into the break after the lack luster 2011 season he has had so far this year.  Now ultimately looking at the results this year, Taylor has not had that bad of a year except for the fact that there is a big zero in his wins column.  Kiser has finished in the top 4 every race this year except for a 9th place he suffered at the Snowshoe.  And point wise he may not be in a total dogfight for the championship right now but if things go his way the last few rounds this season we may get see more than we even bargained for the championship.

One rider that has gotten little press this season but lead a lot of laps is Chris Bithell.  CB4 is hauling the mail so to speak this season and aside from a few mistakes in the closing laps of the races he could easily be a dominant points leader.  I honestly would not be surprised to see things just kind of "click" for him and his Can-Am and for him to be a much more formidable championship opponent.  Right now Bithell is kind of under the radar and even though he may be being watched he may not be being watched as closely as some, which may work into his advantage as the season winds down.   Bithell has been on the podium at nearly half the events so far this season and had it not been for the 11th place at the Indy 100 and following that up with a 6th at the Rock Run GNCC, he may very well be sitting in a more solid battle for second place and maybe even the championship.


Photo By: Shan Moore
Jen Kenyon on her first ever GNCC Start

The 2011 summer break may be a couple of weeks shorter this year but the wait to return back to the GNCC trails may seem longer than before.  But for some reason it seems like this whole season has been one big long waiting game and the question for now is - where do we find the patience to last till November?

That is plenty of food for thought for this week.  As the summer break continues we will take a closer look at the way things are going all around from youth on up.  Right now I am off to Unadilla Valley Sports Center for the AMA ATV Motocross National Championship Series presented by DWT so I will cut things a little short.  I will let you know how GNCC and AMA ATVMX Pro "Rookie" Derek Swartfager fairs in New York.  Swartfager really seems to be enjoying the GNCC when he can keep it on all four.  This young man has a challenge in his life right now and I for one am going to enjoy watching his progress.  Good luck "Rookie".

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


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