Quick Fill #28: This Week in Racing

Welcome to Quick Fill. It's a big weekend for the motorsports industry as a whole, as this weekend kicks off the 2011 Red Bull AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship presented by AMSOIL in Hurricane Mills, Tenn., as well as X Games 17 in Los Angeles. The National Enduro Series heads to Cross Fork, Penn., while ATV Motocross racing action hits the historical Red Bud MX track in Buchanan, Mich. I like to think our GNCC Racers are pretty versatile competitors, actually I KNOW they are because we have riders competing in all of the abovementioned events. From youth all the way to pro, so take some time to follow your fellow competitors as they branch out to other forms of racing and competition - not only this weekend, but throughout the year.

Speaking of, here's a note from our very own Jason Weigandt, who is actually at X Games right now doing some sort of work for one of his many different jobs. We didn't expect anything less, did we? Anyway, he's got the 411 on Women's Enduro X.

Thanks Jen. This weekend presents a great opportunity for some of our top GNCC Women's bike racers, as Enduro X (what you know as Endurocross) joins the X Games schedule for the first time. And, the event includes a women's class, which will give two of the fastest girls in the woods, Maria Forsberg and Amanda Mastin, a chance to shine on live TV!

So tune into their race at 9:15 p.m. EST Sunday night on ESPN. The women's event features a six-rider field, with the idea being to pit the three best motocross gals against the three best off-roaders. The MX side featured the three medalists from last year's X Games Women's Super X race--Ashley Fiolek, Tarah Gieger and Sara Price--but Fiolek chose not to compete due to her lack of experience in this type of racing. Another top MXer, Vicki Golden, filled in her spot. Defending AMA Women's MX Champ Jessica Patterson didn't make the cut since she crashed out of the Super X race at X Games last year, but, she wasn't really interested in trying Enduro X anyway.

On the off-road side, the reps are Maria (current GNCC Champ), Amanda (current AMA Enduro Champ) and Kacy Martinez (current WORCS Champ). And in case something goes wrong, Ashley Crouch, currently second in GNCC Women's points, is the first alternate. Maria has some Enduro X experience and has competed in these events twice before. Amanda has not, but we all know she's about as versatile and experienced as it gets. I'm predicting big things from these girls, in fact, based on her Endurocross experience; I think Maria is the favorite for the gold medal. Go girls, go!

Thanks, Weege. I think it's pretty amazing to see our girls who, not long ago, were probably competing against the guys because there were no classes for Women and now they're competing for the chance to win an X Games Gold Medal. So good luck to Mandi and Maria in their amazing journey through the first-ever Womens Enduro X Championship at X Games!

I know we also have GNCC racers competing at the Loretta Lynn's Amateur Motocross National next week and I'm working on getting a full list of crossover riders so we can keep tabs on them, but that's never as easy as it sounds. So if you are racing Loretta's next week or know riders who are, send over their names and classes so we can follow their progress.

All right, so I have news so BIG that I thought it needed its own paragraph. Are you ready? Chris Borich has a twitter. That's right, a twitter. We've been ragging on Chris for quite some time to join the world of Social Networking, heck he even has a Facebook imposture out there who actually made a full-blown page that people comment on and everything, but it's not him. However, @borichbandits is the real Chris Borich, so follow him on Twitter to see what he's up to when he's not racing, which is usually driving RC cars!

Another guy you can find on the RC car track with @borichbandits is XC2 points leader Walker Fowler. Walker drives a school bus-looking yellow wagon but apparently the thing rips, he says he isn't too bad on the course with it. We caught up with Walker on this week's edition of Tuesday Toolbox, so check it out!

That's it for me. I'm sitting here at the Waverly Café, who by the way has an amazing turkey provolone sandwich, using the Wifi. We got to the Loretta Lynn Ranch this morning but the internet hasn't been hooked up yet so we ventured to town to bum a connection and a cup of coffee. Be sure to keep up with what's going on in the GNCC world over break by following us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/gnccracing and on Twitter @GNCCRacing.

I'll turn it over to Shan Moore.

Thanks, Jen. Now that we're into the summer break it's not uncommon to start going through GNCC withdrawals. If that's the case, you can get a GNCC fix by just going to your local bookstore. This month alone, Dirt Rider, Dirt Bike and Dirt Wheels all have lots of great coverage of both bike and ATV action from recent GNCC races. The September issue of Dirt Wheels has a big 6-page story on the ATV rounds just before the break, starting with the Indy 100. Dirt Bike has a piece on Snowshoe in its September issue and in the August issue they have coverage of Rock Run. In the latest issue of Dirt Rider there's a cool 2-page spread of Charlie Mullins going through "Rock Blvd." at the Rock Run. All three of the mags have been giving GNCC lots of love this year, so be sure to check it all out. And don't forget the Cycle News digital editions, which have had at least 6 pages of coverage of every round so far this year. It's been a year for the GNCC when it comes to magazine coverage, and of course, GNCC gets plastered all over the Internet. BTW, Transmoto magazine from Australia also keeps up with the GNCC series and this month's issue has a two-page photo of Josh Strang from Rock Run, at the same spot where the Mullins photo was take in Rock Blvd. This was a pretty menacing part of the course and if you got to see it in person then you will remember how intimidating it looked, even if you were just on foot!

Right now, I'm in Indiana at a cheapo motel, on my way to Pennsylvania for a national enduro. A few top GNCC regs will be competing, with Charlie Mullins trying to retake the lead in the series standings away from Russell Bobbitt. It's been a pretty competitive series so far between Mullins and Bobbitt, kind of like the GNCC series has been between Mullins and Strang. It'll be interesting to see if Nick Fahringer can back up the win he got two weeks ago in Michigan. Don't forget, 'Ringer gave the TE300 Husaberg two-stroke a big win in its maiden enduro series race. The PA round is a new venue to me so I'm not sure what it's like, so I'm not sure if it will favor the two-stokes, but I am assuming it will.

I know most of our crew will be at Loretta Lynn's next week for the Amateur racing. I got a bit of a preview on Tuesday when I went to Ponca City to shoot a few photos. I can say for sure that Justin Bogle, who recently signed with GEICO Powersports Honda, is the real deal. The kid lit up the fast Ponca course and had his way with the competition in the 450 class. Bogle will be making his Pro debut at Unadilla, the week after Loretta's and I'm predicting a big race for the Oklahoma rider.

That's all for me, I'll fill you in on the enduro next week.

Here's Rodney Tomblin.

Thanks Jen.  And yes with all the excitement of everything going on, there is still time to think about GNCC.  Right now, I am headed to Red Bud USA - as it's listed on my Google Maps Navigator, which is actually in Buchanan, Mich. at Red Bud Track and Trail.  It's for round 10 of the AMA ATV Motocross National Championship Series presented by DWT.   One thing for sure is it looks like it is going to be a hot one - both racing and temperature wise.  If you are in the neighborhood, stop in!

Now as far as this 2011 GNCC series is concerned, in my opinion, there are a lot of things left completely up in the air and plenty for folks to think about in the meantime. One thing good for most of the bike guys is that some are focusing on other championship series to take their minds off the situation while a number of the ATV guys who do continue to race during the summer stay focused on one thing - and that's the GNCC title.  Like the motorcycles, it is the most prestigious in all of Off-Road ATV racing and it's that way in every class -from the morning minis to the afternoon pro class.  If you win a GNCC title you have clout and that's all there is to it.  Now I'm not trying to offend anyone but right now that's just the way it is.  There are a number of good series and great events that are happening all over the United States, and that's what makes ATV racing what it is and what it will be in the future.

I thought I would focus a little this week on some of the interesting things that take place over the course of a season - or seasons, in some cases - as far as points are concerned.

First, I know that I have tooted this fellow's horn on a few occasions in the past but you have to give credit where credit is due.  There are only a handful of racers that still have the "perfect" record for 2011, claiming class wins in each race they have competed in so far this season.  However, there is only one that has done this for a few consecutive years now and that is Clifton Beasley.

I remember last year looking through the records of Clifton Beasley and noticed he was on his way to 50 class wins since 2007 in GNCC Racing.  As I looked back again this year I see he has more than surpassed the half-century mark.  He hit 50 wins at the Big Buck GNCC and now if my calculations are correct has amassed a total of 54 class wins since 2007.  Pretty amazing and to top it off he has gone undefeated in his class for the past two seasons so far.  He was beaten only once in 2009, which was nearly a perfect season for Beasley then.  I can imagine that Beasley may now have a big target on his back and could see some guys coming to battle soon.

Speaking of perfect seasons, there are a few riders that have yet to be beaten this year so far.  Of course there is Clifton Beasley but the others include:

ATVs: #7 Walker Fowler - XC2 Pro-AM

#205 Clifton Beasley - U2 Class

#213 Kevin Tranthom 4x4 Lites Class

#1 Hunter Hart - Youth ATVs 90 Open *Hunter raced round 1 in higher age bracket and later moved to class.

Bikes: NONE

UTVs: NONE

I was kind of shocked to find that there were so few that were dominating this season.  I will have to say though that I am impressed with the number of riders that have either won all but one race this season and those winning all the rounds that they have shown up for.  So really even though we cannot report more "perfect seasons" there are still some awesome seasons working.  And of course as we head into the latter half of 2011 GNCC Racing I look forward to breaking down the championship battles that are starting to heat up in a number of classes, some nearly to a boiling point.  Boy it's going to be a long hot summer.

I guess I really don't have much more this week.  I'm sure there will be a few GNCC racers who will be racing at Loretta Lynn's this year so we will try to update you on all that next week.

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