Welcome to Quick Fill. I'm not even sure where to begin. Ever since I started with Racer Productions, I've constantly heard about how amazing the Ironman GNCC is. I've heard everything from "it's an MX-er's dream woods track" to "the spectators are unreal." So going into last weekend, I was prepared to see something I had never seen before. It was incredible, to say the least. And I'm not just saying that because it's my job to make the series look good. I truly believe that the Ironman GNCC is the epitome of our sport for various reasons. I'll start with the Shaver Family. Although I didn't get the chance to meet the entire bunch, I was lucky enough to spend some time with Kenny, Lori and Sam while they let me eat their food, hang out in their garage and uh, ride their dirtbikes! Their generosity, hospitality and love for the sport are the biggest reason we all look forward to hanging out in a field in the middle of Crawfordsville, Indiana every October.
Photo By: Jen Kenyon
Ironman Hill was popular, as usual
Moving on to the spectators. As you all know, Ironman brings in more spectators than your typical GNCC race and that's because the Midwesterners are passionate about racing! Indiana spectators are committed to manning the hill climbs and mud holes to ensure Chris Borich makes it up Ironman Hill or that Charlie Mullins doesn't get stuck in the mud. This year GNCC implemented a higher level of security at those fan-favorite spots and it made a huge difference in the safety of spectators and helped out the flow of race action as well. The crew did a great job of containing the thousands of people, so hats off to you all!
Ironman is notorious for its special events and there is guaranteed something to do for everyone there. Can-Am, KTM and Yamaha had demo rides set up all weekend long and I heard nothing but good things coming from people who participated in those demos. That can only mean one thing - 2012 is promising even better machines across the boards and we're going to see an even higher level of competition here at GNCC. If your friends weren't able to bribe you with some sort of bet to get on the mechanical bull, surely you caught one of the many people who did. Those guys played some good ol' country tunes and the mechanical bull was a party of its own every evening as the racing wound down. We want to give a big thanks to the Welch Family for providing us with those GIANT pumpkins you saw on the podium, too. They definitely added to the festivities.
Photo By: Jen Kenyon
The Can-Am Demos were overloaded all weekend long, and why wouldn't they with that sick course!
Thanks to everyone who participated in the Industry Row at Ironman. Props to David Quillen "DQ" for taking home the...bragging rights. It sounds like Shawn Mundy gave him a run for his money but just didn't have enough to take the win. As I said before, I was lucky enough to borrow a KTM 150 2-Stroke from the Shaver Family and even though it was my first time racing a 2-Stroke I had the BEST time. The track was perfect, especially for someone like me who has no experience racing in the woods. I want to give a big thanks to Troy Lee Designs for giving me sick pink gear for the event and of course Factory Connection and Maxxis for hooking my bike up with everything I needed last minute. Hollywood was the best factory mechanic I could have asked for, but I think he forgot that I'm not actually Kailub Russell and I'm clearly not a factory rider. I'm just really thankful that I have so many wonderful people in the GNCC family that are willing to help me out. Racing dirtbikes is why I fell in love with this industry and I'm lucky to be able to continue to do it for fun in between my busy work schedule.
On Friday morning I took Jeff Pickens, Traci Cecco, Johnny Gallagher, Adam McGill and Steven Squire to the New Market Elementary school to hang with the 5th and 6th graders. The riders broke into groups and spent about 30 minutes with a 5th grade class and then a 6th grade class and I've never seen kids so excited in school before! I'm almost positive that every boy had a crush on Traci and every teacher had a crush on Johnny G (hahahahha). At one point, I walked into one room and McGill and Squire had the entire class huddled around for an arm wrestling match: winner got a Moto Tees event shirt and loser got a GNCC sticker. We made ribbons with the kids to pin on their shirt and get in for free at the race, which turned out to be pretty successful as we gained back quite a few of those vouchers at the gate. All in all, the school visit was an awesome time and I think the kids are already anticipating a visit again next year.
Photo By: Jen Kenyon
A first-class crew of racers. The kids fell in love
Instead of breaking down all the great battles of the weekend, I'm going to try something different this week. I'm going to give my standout riders report. Riders that caught my eye and deserve an old fashioned, or new-fashioned, #twitter S/O! (shout out)
So as we were hanging around the AM start on Saturday morning, Steve Nessl, the ATV/SxS Marketing Manager from Yamaha, made a comment about donating money towards Breast Cancer Awareness in relation to Yamaha ATVs getting on the podium. Long story short, by the end of Saturday Yamaha had FIVE podiums: Traci Cecco, Dave Simmons, Walker Fowler, Gabe Phillips and Taylor Kiser. Yamaha donated $1,000 PER RIDER, totaling $5,000 for the day. As if that wasn't enough, they donated an additional $1,000 after raffling off Yamaha swag at the event - totaling $6K. The money will be donated to FAITH Alliance, a breast cancer resource in the local Crawfordsville area, which is something special beyond what any of us are doing at the races. That money will help to purchase equipment that will most likely change a person's life for the better and we are thankful to everyone who donated to the cause. We're still working on totals from other efforts throughout the weekend; so if your crew put together a donation effort at Ironman and want to include it with the GNCC family, email me Jen@gnccracing.com. All donations through GNCC will go to FAITH Alliance. Also, we're going to be raffling the Pink backdrop, signed by everyone who podiumed over the weekend, either at Loretta's Finale or the GNCC Banquet, so look for information on how to bid on that, again proceeds to breast cancer awareness and research.
Photo By: Jen Kenyon
FAITH Alliance was an enormous support this year with Breast Cancer Awareness
Don't forget the 2011 GNCC Awards Banquet is coming up a little quicker this year, December 2 and 3, and the deadline for the GNCC room block is going to be here before we know it. The rooms this year are extremely nice for around the same price as the past years, so take advantage of it while you can! You can reserve online HERE and use Group ID: 102186, or call 1-866-782-9974 and request "2011 GNCC" block to get the discounted rate. We're putting the finishing touches on the online registration form so you all don't have to mess with faxing and all that. So stay tuned for that, but in the meantime, book those rooms!
Here's a few media links that were sent to us after last weekend's Ironman.
Photo By: Shan Moore
HUGE thanks to Kenny Shaver for allowing me to ride the 172 machine!
Here's a note from the Shane Watts crew:
G'day everyone! It's been another slammed few months of sold-out DirtWise with Shane Watts Riding schools.
We are already looking forward to the beginning of the 2012 race season! Our latest Newsletter, found here and at www.shanewatts.com, outlines our school schedule that many GNCC riders use to fine tune their preparation for the start of a new season - already our Feb 11/12 school in SC is nearly sold out!
Last weekend we had the pleasure of former GNCC front man Jason "The Weege" Weigandt attending our sold-out DirtWise school in NC where he made huge improvements with his skill, speed, and safety. You should have seen him continually busting out the double-blip, 180-degree wheelie variation hop over the gnarly 2 foot high, angled monster log - it was sensational!!!!!!
And lastly, after being instrumental in getting Australia's Overall Enduro Champion Toby Price (and many more before him) hooked on GNCC Racing last year it is great to have him come join us again for another crack at the podium during the upcoming double-header race at Loretta's. He will be sure to represent us well as he utilizes all of the skills we teach at our DirtWise Riding schools in his quest for the XC1 victory.
Photo By: Jen Kenyon
This is what happens when racers get around kids - ARMWRESTLING!
Thanks for the note, guys. It sounds like I had better up my skills if Weege is getting back on a bike! Here's Shan "Next to come out of retirement" Moore.
Thanks, Jen. What a wonderful weekend we had for the Ironman! The weather was fantastic, and there had been just enough rain leading up to the race to make for incredible track conditions. We also had a great turnout of spectators and lots of support for the whole "Pink" thing, which was pretty cool, and I actually think the event rivaled the turnout and enthusiasm we see at a few of the national motocross rounds.
Fred Andrews had to be pleasantly surprised at the performance turned in by Andrew DeLong. Andrew is a pretty devoted two-stroke guy and he actually told me before the race he had never raced a 250F and his only experience racing a four-stroke was when he went to the World Enduro in Italy a few weeks ago where he rode a Beta 450. So for Andrew to finish third in the XC2 class in his first race on the 250 four-stroke Husky was a surprise to many. Look out for the Pennsylvania rider when he gets used to the bike and finds a set up he likes. Fred tells me Andrew will also ride the 2012 national enduro series and will likely ride a TE310 or a 250 two-stroke.
It was a wild scene at many of the big hills - especially on Saturday - and the "hill people" were more than happy to get down and dirty when it came to pulling a bike or quad up the hills. Paul Whibley says that all the spectators actually make it more difficult to attack the hills because they all want to see the action and so they funnel down into one single line up the hill, which forces the riders to take that line, when there is possibly an easier line just a few feet away.
Photo By: Shan Moore
CB121 is setting his sights on next year with the KTM 450
Cory Buttrick was off to his best ride all year, and ran a solid third before running out of gas in one the creeks. Nate Kanney also ran out of gas, so I went to the KTM pits to see what was going on. I'm not sure what the problem was with Kanney, but it seems that Buttrick's problem boiled down to needing to learn the tendencies of a new bike. After riding KTM's 350 XC-W all year, Buttrick switched to the new 2012 fuel-injected, single-cam 450 XC-W for the Ironman, hoping the bigger motor would give him an edge on the competition. And evidently it did. C-Butt fast and strong and looked very capable of AT LEAST a podium finish for the day. Unfortunately - and I'll blame this on D-Butt (sorry, D-Butt) - but there must have been some kind of miscalculation when it came to the fuel mileage for the new motor. D-Butt told me there should have been two liters left in the tank when it ran dry. He also told me no one makes a big tank for the bike yet.
One of the best battles I saw on Sunday was between JG Off-road/GEICO Powersports Honda's Jimmy Jarrett and FMF/KTM's Russell Bobbitt. Jimmy has had a string of great rides since coming back from his injury earlier in the year, and this weekend he came out of top of a back and forth battle with Bobbitt. Bobbitt was riding the Ironman to get some time on the 2012 KTM 250 XC-W, which he will ride next year if he can come to terms with KTM on a contract. Russ told me everything should be settled by the end of the week.
Thanks Shan. We definitely saw a great ride out of Jimmy Jarrett, who also battled with Strang for a while after the two of them pulled away from Bobbitt in the second part of the race. Now I'll pass it along to Jared "Barry Hawk" Bolt-On.
Photo By: Shan Moore
This year's Pink participation was great! I think we've started an awesome GNCC tradition..
Thanks Jen! It's hard to believe we've already passed the famous Ironman. It seems like it was just a few weeks ago that we were kicking our season off in Florida and now here we are winding things down. This has definitely been one of, if not THE greatest season of GNCC Racing we've ever seen. From the battles for race wins to just battling for podium finishes, 2011 has set huge standards for 2012 to live up to. Every race this year has seemed to have some sort of epic story behind it in some way, and the Ironman once again provided us with some great action.
On the ATV side, Chris Borich would wrap up his 2011 championship title by taking the overall win. We also finally saw Taylor Kiser return to the podium for the first time since before the summer break by taking the second place spot. This also gave Kiser some valuable points in the chase for the number 3 spot in the overall standings. He has now pulled within 5 points of Chris Bithell in the overall, who finished in the fourth overall position last weekend. Adam McGill rounded out the podium and now has a healthy hold on the number two spot in points. After spending several years finishing the season in the number three spot, it looks like McGill will be moving up in the standings.
Borich would not be the only champion we saw crowned this weekend as the official handing of the number one plates took place for Women's champion Traci Cecco, who secured her 8th championship in addition to Walker Fowler who captured another XC2 class win and is just now one race away from making it a perfect season. Also receiving a number one plate this weekend was William Yokley and his team, who took the overall UTV championship. On the bike side, Maria Forsberg was crowned the Women's class champion for the second time in as many years. All of these riders (or driver to be specific if you're talking about Yokley) have all put together impressive 2011 seasons and have undoubtedly earned their championship titles.
Photo By: Jen Kenyon
I think we have a future Miss GNCC here, what a doll!
The story of the battle for the overall bike championship continued as Charlie Mullins ran away with the win at the Ironman. For more than a few years, Mullins has come close to the win and has landed on the podium at Ironman but just hasn't been able to take the win. This year, however, he broke the streak and took the win. In the early stages of the race, we saw Josh Strang out front with KTM teammates Kailub Russell and Charlie Mullins close behind - as usual. It would first be Strang who ran into trouble by twisting up his footpeg and dropping to as far back as ninth place after stopping to fix it. Next it would be Russell who would run into troubles, as he would end up with clutch issues and fall a lap behind.
With the number of riders experiencing problems, the two who were able to capitalize the most were Paul Whibley and Thad DuVall. The Yamaha duo would round out the overall podium but upon completion of the race, Whibley was docked a position, thus handing the second place spot to Thad DuVall. With two podiums in a row, Thad has seemed to finally overcome his long streak of bad luck. Hopefully it will stick.
The impressive ride would come from Josh Strang though, who put on a charge to come back from his footpeg issue to take the fourth place overall spot. There's no doubt that Strang had to have been absolutely charging as hard as he could to come back from ninth place to finish fourth. This charge kept Strang in the points chase but it would be Whibley once again making up ground as he has now pulled within just three points of Strang for that second place spot.
Photo By: Jen Kenyon
If there was an award for best outfit of the weekend, the Borich Bandits got it for sure
The big battle of the day would come in the XC2 class as point's leader Steward Baylor and Jordan Ashburn would battle neck and neck through the final laps, all the way to the finish. The two were wheel-to-wheel throughout the final lap and literally battled side by side through the final mile of the race. When they entered the final turns before the finish, Baylor would hold the advantage all the way to the finish to take the win, thus putting him one step closer to taking the XC2 class title. Baylor now holds a fifty-two-point lead in the XC2 class points. Jordan Ashburn has now moved into the second place spot with a one-point lead over Jason Thomas in third. Thomas had a tough weekend in Indiana by crashing on the first lap and salvaging a sixth place finish.
The Morning bike race also showcased some of GNCC's finest in the Industry class. I borrowed Barry Hawk's bike for the race and proceeded to absolutely goon it up the entire time. I've never been much of a 450 rider but can make do if the situation to ride one arises. Once I had adjusted to the bike, I had an absolute blast even though I made a huge mistake by forgetting a Camelbak and going the entire race without water. It's been a long time since I've actually gotten the chance to race a GNCC, so getting to actually ride was a blast. Having ridden the Ironman course first hand, I can definitely say that the track was one of the most fun layouts I've ridden in a long time, and anyone who missed out, definitely missed a good time.
I'm going to cut it here this week before I start rambling more than actually giving info. So until next week, have a Happy Halloween and start preparing for Loretta's. Bolt-On out.
Thanks Bolt-On. If Bolt-On was gooning it, I don't know what you would call my riding, seeing as he beat me! Must be BHawk's bike that gave him an extra boost. And last, but certainly not the oldest, is Rodney "I rode the mechanical bull for money" Tomblin.
Photo By: Jen Kenyon
Even RacerTV got in on the Pink action!
Thanks Jen. Even though it was not the final round of the season it was still the Amsoil Ironman GNCC. What an amazing crowd, race and weekend. The fields of the Shaver Family Farm have never been greener while we were there and thanks to Tom Shaver for making that happen this year. He told me that it was the first time in 41 years that some sort of crop had not been planted there. He said, "I did this for you guys (The GNCC Racing Nation)." And we all say a big thanks to the Shavers for all they do and have done for GNCC and the Ironman.
Heading into the weekend, it was looking rather bleak weather-wise. When I arrived on Thursday afternoon, the rain was moving out of the area but the temperature was not the most welcoming. The thermometer read lower 40s but the wind chill was in the lower 30s. It was looking like a nasty Ironman GNCC for 2011. It was cold, wet and muddy which is not something new, but after last year's dust bowl maybe a welcome change to this unpredictable and exciting racing venue.
Friday morning I arose to a whole new world in Crawfordsville, with sunshine and warmer temps. The forecast was calling for a great weekend and when I arrived to the track folks were busy moving in and setting up. Kudos to the Indiana crew for working so hard and efficiently to get all those GNCC folks in and parked for the weekend. It was a little slower than just driving in and picking your spot, but I was surely impressed how well orchestrated they seemed to be.
Saturday was a huge day to say the least. It was dark as riders headed to the start line and picked their positions to begin the day. Clear skies were forecasted and an early morning "all systems check", Trail Boss Jeff Russell stated that we were "All Go" for an 8:00 am start. He said that the situation would continue to be monitored right up till the green flag but all things looked good. And just past 8:00 am Ricky Towery waved the flag and racing was under way.
Photo By: Shan Moore
Although the weather was nearly perfect, the Indiana water was still a bit chilly!
The GNCC Youth ATV racing has always seemed to offer some exciting racing and just heart felt, hard fought battles that never cease to amaze. This week's overall podium featured three different classes and two different age divisions. Hunter Hart from the 90cc Open (8-11) posted another overall victory on the season - unofficially clinching the overall number 1 plate for the second year in a row. Hunter actually won 9 races and took two second place finishes overall for the season and has set himself up to be considered the "Chris Borich" of that division. And with his age may be a rider to set a Youth Division Championship record that may never be broken. I believe he will be eligible to ride the Youth Division for another 4 years and in that time could capture 6 Youth Division Overall Championships total.
The GNCC Youth Division has produced a number of up and comers that are making names for themselves. The most notable to date is Walker Fowler as he goes for an undefeated season in the Pro-Am class. However, the next rising stars from this division may be last year's Schoolboy (13-15) A/B champion Braden Henthorn and this year's champion Brycen Neal with the rides they have turned in lately. Henthorn from Marietta, Ohio and Neal from Bidwell, Ohio were both top Youth riders but have really seemed to blossom since moving up in divisions.
Last year Henthorn won the Schoolboy 13-15 A/B and moved straight into the College A Class for 2011. He wrapped up that championship in Ohio and decided to throw his hat in the ring for the XC2 Pro Am race at the Ironman. This young man actually ran 3rd for a while and eventually settled in to take 4th in the class, not far behind a podium finish. Another notch in the belt for this young rider is that he finished 13th overall in amongst a field of seasoned top 20 contenders.
Photo By: Andrew Fredrickson
Ironman's track conditions were near perfect all weekend
This year Neal won the Schoolboy 13-15 A/B Championship and decided to move up at the Ironman to the College A 16-21 Class. You may remember that Brycen had taken 3rd overall in Ohio at the Power Line Park GNCC in the 10:00 am morning ATV race. Neal rode an amazing race to finish 2nd in his class. Neal was running 10th place in the class early and moved into to 2nd place on lap two behind Landon Wolfe another former Youth rider and 2011 College B 16-21 class champion. By the end of lap 2 Neal took over the lead for a while until Wolfe was able to make the pass on lap three and hold Neal off by only seconds the rest of the race. As impressive if not more so was the fact that Wolfe and Neal finished 15th and 16th overall. Needless to say on the heels of Walker Fowler will soon come two more Chris Borich, Taylor Kiser, Adam McGill and the boys will have to contend with for the XC1 championship.
The Pro ATV GNCC racing action left us on the edge of our seats and wondering how this day would turn out. And as if on cue, on the last lap, Chris Borich moved ahead of the field and captured not only his fourth Ironman win but also the 2011 GNCC ATV Title. This is his third in the last three years and to CB-1 we send a big congratulations.
Photo By: Shan Moore
Ironman is always a fan favorite, especially at the hill climbs
The UTV races were surely not without excitement. William and Tina Yokely took 2nd overall but won the overall championship in their Dragon Fire Fueled National Guard backed Polaris Razor. The husband and wife duo battled the entire 60 minutes of the UTV race nearly nose to tail with race winner and 2nd overall for the season Larry M. and Larry D Hendershot, the father/son duo in their Hendershot Performance ATV built machine. Scott Kiger and his Coastal National Guard team rounded out the podium for 3rd and they too capped off a successful 2011 racing campaign.
Sunday treated us with some early morning cloud cover and overcast skies for the most part but the racing again was nothing less than stellar. Bedford, Indiana's Austin Lee captured his sixth overall win of the season from the Super Mini 12-13 class. Lee saw competition from GNCC newcomer and local Indiana rider Mike Witkowski who finished 2nd overall and only 16 seconds behind Lee. Ryan Slopko from the Super Mini 14-15 class finished about a minute back on adjusted time to capture 3rd overall for the day.
Photo By: Shan Moore
Racer X's Andrew Fredrickson rocked the pink retro JT gear for breast cancer awareness
Before we prepare ourselves for the final round(s) of racing at Loretta Lynn's in a little more than a week there is one thing I would like to share. It comes from a story that 42-year-old Phil Smith from the Vet 30+ A class told me. He said he had a great day going with a few mistakes that took him out of the win for the day but had one of his most memorable race experiences ever. He said that he had been hitting Ironman Hill every lap and had made it with no problem. After nearly 3 hours of intense racing and battling for second with "Shotgun" Shawn Remington on the final attempt he said he was beginning to tire and was not nearly as aggressive as laps before. Getting stuck about two-thirds of the way up he stopped on the hill and just looked up the hill to see a chain of fans linked arm in arm hoisting him the rest of the way up. In the process, he slid off the back of the seat holding tightly to the bars. Trying to get back on the bike was a near impossibility with the fender hooking the top of his pants holding him back. At the moment he was about to give up he said "some big farm boy" came up and grabbed the back of his pants. Lifting him up with one arm and putting him back on his seat and said, "Get back up on that seat boy!" Priceless!
Till next time God Bless Your Heart and All Your Vital Organs.
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