Quick Fill #38: Powerline Park Prep

Welcome to Quick Fill. With three more stops on the tour, we're getting down to the wire as far as salvaging valuable points and chasing titles. For some, a class title has been secured and it's time to race for fun or even try a new challenge; but for most, these final rounds are the make-it or break-it point in the season. Regardless of the focus, though, there's no doubt that we have yet to see some of the best racing of the year.

The most anticipating action comes in the XC1 bike championship triangle. Mullins has Strang by 17 points, Strang edges out Whibley by 8 and there's a 25-point difference between Whibley and Mullins. A win shells out 30 points, second is 25 and third gives 21. So, all it's going to take is a slight shake up in the results this weekend to send a new guy into the lead or shuffle the order a bit. A good possibility, too, is that the 557 will pop into the picture, not necessarily in points contention but definitely for the race-win battles. Could we see some team strategy play out in these final rounds?

I just got off the phone with Walker Fowler, who will be on the radio tomorrow morning pumping up this weekend's race. If you're in the Wheeling area, tune into the 103.5 Froggy morning show to hear our XC2 Champ attempt to use the word "meow" as many times as he can in a two minute segment. Walker mentioned that he's been down in Bowling Green at Camp Ballance doing some shock and motor testing with the team. He and Taylor Kiser seem to have their set up perfected for the weekend from what he said. It seems like Bill has really taken a liking to the other side of racing and is constantly testing and pushing to make his Yamaha machines the best out there.

If you follow @GNCCRacing on Twitter, you may have seen content about the Kaskadilla 100. According to Johnny Gallagher, "if you don't know what the Kaskadilla 100 is, you better axe somebody!" Well here it goes, and you didn't even have to axe. A local race got rained out so a few of our ATV riders put together their own race at Jarrod McClure's place. Chris Borich, Johnny Gallagher, Jeff Pickens, Jarrod McClure and a few others raced for an hour through an actual marked course in the woods. Traci Cecco was texting me all the action as it happened and I felt like I was at a GNCC! From the pictures, it looked like they recruited quite a few spectators and they even had trophies for the top two. Borich took all the marbles, so I'm assuming he's feeling good heading into this weekend's GNCC, and why wouldn't he with a win like that!

It's about that time to start planning for the special round at Loretta's in November. It will be a double header for the bikes, racing Friday and Sunday so keep that in mind while planning. We're going to open registration on Thursday and go about Friday just like we would on Sunday. Check out the schedule on the LL event info page, though, for specifics.

Check out this week's Tuesday Toolbox - Youth Edition with Charlie Welch and Anthony Stone.

I'll hand it over to Shan Moore now. We've got a full slate of contributors this week with Bolt-On and Hot Rodney on board as well. See you all this weekend!

Thanks, Jen. First off, I did an interesting interview with Kailub Russell at Somerset, which I posted on CycleNews.com. Although he crashed hard at Somerset, "K-Lub" (hehe) had two really good rides at the previous two races at the John Penton and at Unadilla, which resulted in a pair of runner-up finishes. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he gets that first "W" in the XC1 class, and I kind of think it will come sometime this year. He was oh-so-close at the Penton, and he talks about that in the interview.

Charlie Mullins came up a bit short in his bid to repeat as national enduro champion, finishing behind Russell Bobbitt at the final round of that series in Indiana. Charlie told me he thought he pushed a little too hard because he kept losing the front end, but he gave Russ all the credit for the win, which is something I admire about Charlie. I think Charlie's intense desire to win got the best of him and he just pushed it way too hard. Anyway, he told me he's glad that series is over so he can concentrate his efforts on the GNCC series, so I'm thinking he'll be totally and completely focused on the task at hand when he comes into Power Line Park.

Charlie's closest challenger in the championship battle, Josh Strang, is due to have a good race after back-to-back disasters the last two rounds. A rock jammed in the rear brakes at Somerset cost Strang a ton of time, but he still managed to fight his way back for a third. Then there was the mishap at Unadilla, which ended in a 13^th place finish. Surely the bad luck is behind him and he can get back on track in Ohio. He's still not out of the title hunt, but needs to make up 17 points with four races to go.

Cory Buttrick sat out the Indiana enduro and that cost him a chance at third overall in the series standings. I talked to Antti Kallonen at the enduro and he said Cory has been taking the impact tests and he showed good improvement at first, but then the improvement tapered off after a few days and it was decided that he needed to sit out a little longer. Hopefully he will be back soon.

Keith Obermeyer was showing off the new 2012 fuel-injected Yamaha WR450R in Indiana. It's a sweet looking bike with a DOHC engine fed by five titanium valves, all squeezed into a YZ250F frame. It looks a lot slimmer than the old WRs and I'm sure it's quite a snappy trail bike with the fuel injection.

That'll do it for Shan. I'll turn it over to our newest QF contributor, Mr. Bolt-On.

Thanks Jen! So now we approach yet another weekend of GNCC racing. This time we're back in Ohio for the eleventh running of the Power Line Park GNCC.

Perhaps no rider knows their way around Power Line Park better than Chris Borich. Borich has finished on the podium at Power Line Park every year since 2003, with six of those podium finishes being wins. Borich is always a threat for the win, but could Power Line Park be his ultimate course given his nearly flawless record? On the bike side, Josh Strang and Paul Whibley are both strong at Power Line Park with Whibley logging wins last year and in 2008, while Strang took the win in 2009 and has finished on the podium since 2008.

For Borich, this could mean extending his ever-important points lead after a tough race in Pennsylvania. For Strang, this could be a chance to close back in on Charlie Mullins in the overall points, while Whibley will be hoping to close in on both of those riders. With these kind of odds, it definitely looks like Power Line Park could shape up to be yet another epic race, which would be very fitting given the season we've seen so far.

However, there are several other riders who will be looking to challenge those who have already been mentioned. On the ATV side, there's always the challenge from Adam McGill, who is definitely no stranger to this track having logged several podium finishes himself. In Pennsylvania we finally saw Taylor Kiser, who had been struggling so far this season. Kiser will surely be looking to carry the momentum into Ohio and could be yet another threat. You can never forget about the normal front-runners such as Bithell, Cook, Wolf and more. Those guys all want to log a win as much as the next guy.

When it comes to the bikes, Charlie Mullins will be hungry to maintain his points lead. While he does have a lead, it's far from over yet and with a track that favors Strang up next, he's going to have to bring his A game. Nate Kanney will be hungry for redemption after his crash with just a few turns from the finish in Pennsylvania, and there's an entire field of XC1 riders who will be ready to roll when the flag flies. Another rider to definitely watch will be Kailub Russell. KR has been close to taking the win for the past few races, so there's no doubt that he's ready to jump in there and take his first overall win. He took a commanding win over Steward Baylor and Paul Whibley at last weekend's Mid-East Hare Scramble in Yadkinville, NC. With some extra practice under his belt, you can bet that he's going to be a challenger.

It's that time of the year! Silly season rumors are already starting to fly and some of the internet forums are alive with all sorts of crazy info with some of it being realistic and some of it, well, not so much. One of my favorites came a few weeks ago on KTMTalk.com when someone mentioned hearing that Barry Hawk was coming out of retirement to race the National Enduro Series aboard a YZ250 two-stroke. I posted saying that Barry would be "riding the new Yamaha 3-stroke", a subtle joke in reference to the rumor being false. One rumor that I've heard is official is that XC2 rider Morgan Moss has officially left F.A.R Husqvarna and will be on a privateer Yamaha effort for the rest of the season. This leaves an open spot under the F.A.R tent, which Fred Andrews definitely wants to fill. One possibility is 4 Stroke A Lites rider Scott Grills, but that was not set in stone yet. There's a lot of speculation about 2012 rides across the board but some riders such as Bach, Whibley and Mullins have multiple year deals and are already set for 2012. The silly season is just getting started and there's plenty more to be discussed later. It just might get interesting.

Speaking of that Mid-East race I mentioned earlier, last week I said that Hooper and myself would be going head-to-head in the "Battle of the Gut Bulge" if I found a bike to ride. Well, it just so happens that my dad was willing to loan me his bike, so Hoop and myself did battle from the Sportsman row. I spent the early part of the race remembering how to ride and I wasn't sure if I could catch Hoop, but at a creek crossing about halfway into the final lap, I saw him ghost ride it out of the creek. I took this as my opportunity and made the pass. I ended up winning the Battle of the Gut Bulge with my 5th place finish while Hoop finished right behind me in sixth. Check out Hoop's goon-age HERE and you can see my opening lap goon-age HERE.

Well, I'm going to cut it here before I get into rambling about too much. Hope everyone has an awesome weekend, and for those of you coming out to Power Line Park, make sure you're ready for any potential awesomeness that may happen. Until next time, Bolt-On out.

Thanks, Bolt-On. Here's Hot Rodney "Sundrop" Tomblin.

Thanks Jen. Did someone say a perfect weather forecast? Sunshine and highs in the upper 70s to almost 80 is what I am reading everywhere. This is not necessarily the first time that such conditions have ever greeted us at Power Line Park, but as far as this year has gone, I must say I was expecting the worst when I looked ahead at the schedule earlier in the season. Honestly my memory recalls either a lot of mud or a lot of dust. I would venture to say that we could see a little of both this weekend. Neither to the extreme, which should create near perfect track conditions.

Looking back at Power Line Park in years past, it's been traditionally a race where anything can happen. It's the place where Shane Watts passed Barry Hawk for one of the most exciting finishes in history, especially the way Wattsy stood atop his seat with his arms stretched wide - basically ghost riding across the finish. It's the race where Adam McGill nearly drowned on a cold race day after overshooting a turn in extremely dusty conditions and landing in small pond area pinned under his quad. And it's the location of Chris Borich's infamous pass on Bill Ballance to steal the checkers, only to have it taken away shortly after. Borich was misdirected by a spectator and cut a section of the course which could have possibly turned the tables in his battle for the championship. It was in the heydays of the "Killer B" battles and in my memory was one of the closer championships that they were involved in.

It seems like each of the 10 years of racing at Power Line have left lasting impressions on us all in some way. The famous "Gus's Mud Hole" and "Dead Deer Holler" are sure to spark some memories in some way and make you pause for just a moment and say..."Oh yeah." Hopefully the beginning of a new decade of racing at Power Line will bring us new memories to cherish and place in the "remember that time at Power Line Park" stories that will live within us forever.

And I think if former top GNCC Pro Chucky Woodford could ride only once a year at this race, he would forever be a contender to win. I don't know if it was being at home or what, but if you ever wanted to see Woodford shine, take him to Power Line. One has to wonder if he is looking at an old bike in the garage and thinking, "why not?"

Surely lasting memories will be made for a few as championships in all classes wind down and possibly wrap up this weekend in some. Last week I wrote of some of the highlights in the ATV standings and this week I wanted to scan the bike standings to see how things are shaking up.

The Youth bike classes have once again offered up some exciting and challenging racing. This season has been about as simple as 1-2-3 as the #123 of Bedford, Indiana's Austin Lee has seen a lot of success this season. Lee rides the Super Mini 12-13 class and right now has 5 overall youth wins and is hoping to capture the overall championship. However, as strong as Lee has been this season, Chillicothe, Ohio's Levi Keller is coming on strong in the overall from the front row in the Super Mini 14-15 class. Keller currently sits 2^nd place in his class - only one point behind the #5 of Reedsville, West Virginia's Anthony Stone. Stone has three class wins this season but has not been as consistent in the overall as Lee and Keller. Stone has the class points lead right now by one point and this championship, along with the overall, could end up being and interesting one indeed. Needless to say, the final four races for these classes are going to be critical.

85cc (14-15) Class points leader is Register, Georgia's Christopher Williams and may be someone that ATV racing enthusiasts recognize. It seems that Williams, like a number of other riders, has been racing both ATV and motorcycles each weekend at the GNCC. Williams is ranked 5^th in the GNCC Youth 90 Open (12-15) class. Williams leads the class 2^nd place Taylor Mill, Kentucky's Jarrett Stephens by 88 points heading into the final rounds of 2011.

The 85 (12-13) Class is seeing one of the most challenging championship battles out of the division right now. #19 Burgettstown Pennsylvania's Kaleb Ward currently leads the class with 154 points. He has 3 wins for the season. Sitting 23 points behind in 2^nd place is Pegram, Tennessee's Sam Thurman who has finished consistently in the top 10 of the class this season. Behind Thurman is #114 Belmont, North Carolina's Jack Reep. Reep has missed a couple rounds this season but has a win in the class and has finished no worse than 5^th. This has him only 4 points out of second and if he could put together a win streak may be able to pull this championship out. And then there is Fayetteville, Pennsylvania's Devrynn Clugston in 4^th. Clugston is still searching for a win but consistency again is paying off in the class standings. Sitting behind Clugston though is #704 of Nelsonville, Ohio's Triston Landrum in 5^th who may be the one to truly watch in this class. Landrum has 5 wins this season and be it not for a DNF and an 18^th place class finish, he could be the point leader. And once drops begin being figured into the scores we could see a drastic change in these point standings.

The 85cc (7-11) Class seems to be seeing a clear-cut winner with #21 Morgantown, West Virginia's William Ruckle. Ruckle has 7 wins and a 2^nd place finish for the season. Ruckle made the step up to the Super Mini (12-13) and finished 4^th in the class. Way to go Will!

In the 65cc (10-11) Class it is the #23 of Fountain Inn South Carolina's "Z-Man" Zachary Ponder with 6 class wins and an 18-point lead. The 2^nd place position is Van Etten, New York's Timothy Steiner. Steiner is the younger brother of Women class competitor Samantha Steiner who has grabbed the class hole shot nearly every race the past two seasons. Steiner is hoping to capitalize on some races late in the season and close in on Ponder, but at the same time he has be watching out for #31 Teague Seccuro from Fairmont, West Virginia. Seccuro has 1 win and has been coming on strong lately and with some success the last few rounds could contend for at least 2^nd in the class.

And lastly in the 65cc (7-9) Class it looks like #91 Bowling Green, Kentucky's Daniel Spurgeon is on track to win the championship here. Spurgeon has 6 wins and a 28-point lead over 2^nd place #55 Pataskala, Ohio's Tyler Silvia. Strong consistent rides have paid huge for Silvia and one has to think the season can only get better for him.

Before I go I want to remind everyone of a few things coming up this weekend:

Chapel Services will be conducted both Saturday and Sunday morning at the Team Faith transporter on vendor row.

UTVs will be racing this weekend and a reminder to everyone that they are not to be used as pit vehicles. Actually no one should be using any machine as a pit vehicle, remember they are prohibited.

Any and all unclaimed plaques can be available this weekend if you missed picking yours up at any events. Anyone who has not picked up plaques for an event in 2011 please let us know as soon as possible and we will bring your plaque with us to Power Line Park. This will be the last event we will be carrying plaques to. Email: info@gnccracing.com or Phone: (304) 284-0084 to ensure yours will be there.

That's it for now, till next time God Bless Your Heart and All Your Vital Organs.