Welcome to QuickFill. It's officially banquet season here in the Morgantown office and while it may seem like the GNCC season is over, there's plenty going on to remind us that we're still in full swing. The banquet basically serves as round 14 of the series with the amount of planning and execution involved in putting together a two-day weekend that houses just as many people in a banquet facility as an actual race! And since the final round was pushed into November this year, it seems like the banquet dates have snuck up on us rather quickly and deadlines are pushing. If you're a class champion and haven't sent back your sizes for the sponsor swag, please email Jessica@racerxonline.com and get that to her as soon as you can or you may miss out on some cool stuff. The top ten finishers in each class will receive an award at the banquet and the top five finishers will receive contingency prizes (those prizes will vary so you'll have to wait and see what they are). The online banquet registration is now live on the website and it's actually a pretty cool way to take care of your reservations quick and easy! And if you haven't booked your rooms yet, better get on it because they are selling out faster than we had anticipated. Here's the link to reserve online: Waterfront Place Hotel or call 1-866-782-9974.
Photo By: Andrew Fredrickson
The Waterfront Place Hotel Entertainment Area
It's still early to make too many assumptions about what riders will be doing for next year, but with all the buzz floating around I'd say it's worth taking a look at right now. If you're on Facebook or Twitter you probably already know that Thad DuVall isn't signed anywhere for next year and it's going to be pretty interesting to see how that pans out-as Shan mentions below. What's even more interesting is that three-time champion Chris Borich still has yet to make a decision on what he's riding next year. Suzuki no longer makes the LT-R450 that Borich has been so dominant on, so it's no wonder he's looking at different colors-but which one will he choose? It appears that Adam McGill will be on Honda for 2012 and from his recent tweet, "self employed" can only mean the number two guy has pulled together his own deal. I think after Chad Reed's success with TwoTwo Motorsports this year in outdoor motocross, we're going to see more riders putting together their own programs like that. No word from the Can-Am tent as to who they're going to support next season but rumors have pointed to Bithell resigning. Walker Fowler is up for grabs as well, but it seems like the Ballance Racing Yamaha crew has a pretty tight relationship with the young rider and I would guess it would take a lot for each of those sides to go elsewhere. But where does that leave Kiser? And then we have Josh Strang-who's pretty much the James Stewart of GNCC at this point. Strang has a championship under his belt, the number three for next season and there's no doubt that he's got offers on the table for 2012 but he seems to be carefully weighing his options from all angles. I would say there are at least a couple riders out there who are stuck at a standstill until Strang makes his decision for sure. And who's to say we don't see more opportunities arise as far as new team efforts on Pro Row in 2012. We'll do our best to keep you all updated as the silly season progresses.
The tentative 2012 schedule dates are available on the website and soon after will be the venues. The reason the dates were released first, without locations, is because we understand folks want to know when they're going to be racing so they can begin planning for 2012, but there's going to be a few new venues added next year and the details aren't quite finalized at this point. There was a very small margin for scheduling in between other race series and important historical events such as the ISDE, so GNCC compromised their traditional schedule in order to stay off the six days and still allow racers to attend both the National Enduro finale and the GNCC finale that both take place the first weekend in November. Since the Enduro is on Sunday, GNCC will run bikes first on Saturday, and ATVs will follow on Sunday. The weekend swap will be a great opportunity for bikes to run the Loretta's course before the ATVs, similar to what they experienced on Friday of the double-header.
I'll pass it along to the guys now. If you're doing any racing during the off-season, give us a shout and keep us updated on what's going on! Here's Shan Moore.
Photo By: Andrew Fredrickson
Book your room before they're gone!
Thanks, Jen. My contribution is coming from a rest stop in Springfield, Missouri, which is just three hours from my home in Tulsa. I was hoping to make it all the way home last night after spending the last three weeks on the road but I was starting to see double and I was hearing voices coming from my radio so I had to pull over. I'm wrapping up what I call my "Head East" tour, which describes some of the music I listened to on the trip (those over 45 will understand), although my wife calls the trip "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" (I get no respect at home).
After the Loretta Lynn's portion of my trip, I was able to make it to see newly crowned GNCC champ Charlie Mullins, Russell Bobbitt, Bart Hayes, six-time National Trials Champ Ryan Young, and Joe Gibbs Racing MX, doing interviews and stories at each stop for Cycle News. I was planning on heading up to Michigan as well, but the tranny on the ole' Trailblazer started to act up so I decided to limp on home.
Interesting story, I don't keep up with NASCAR, but while I was doing the story on Joe Gibbs Raging MX (JGRMX), David Evans was giving me a tour of the NASCAR "Cup" building when we ran into Joe Gibbs in the hall. He was walking pretty fast and his face was a bit red, and he shook our hands while saying, "sorry men, no time to talk, I have a pressing phone call." That night on the news I saw that M&Ms pulled their sponsorship of Kyle Busch! I'm sure that was an interesting phone call.
This weekend is the Vegas Endurocross, which is the last round of the series and marks the official end of the 2011-racing season, with all of the major series now wrapped up. It is going to be an interesting off-season for off-road, with a handful of riders still scrambling to make deals for the coming season. I'll be in Vegas shaking hands and hobnobbing with team managers and industry types trying to get the latest scoop on what's going down. I was hoping to see part-time GNCCer Russell Bobbitt racing the EX race, but unfortunately "DangerRUSS" broke his wrist on Saturday after finishing fifth at LL on Friday. I spoke with Russ yesterday and he says he expects to be fit and ready when the 2012 season kicks off.
I saw an interesting post on Thad DuVall's facebook page that said, "Well looks like I need to find a real job for next year. Bummed nothing panned out. Reality sucks." That goes to show how tough things are right now when it comes to getting a ride. Thad had some really good rides this year, but he was also a bit inconsistent. But he proved he is very capable of getting on the box, and for sure deserves some kind of ride.
Now that James Stewart is signed with JGRMX, maybe the rest of the MX slots will get filled and some of that OEM money can start trickling down to off-road, which will help out the situation with guys like DuVall, and Josh Strang, who I think is still trying to put together a Suzuki deal. Maybe we will find out more after Vegas.
Photo By: Shan Moore
After seeing Strang on yellow for so long, we're all interested to see what color he's on next
Thanks Shan. Here's Jared Bolt-On.
Thanks Jen! I'm sitting here typing this in the dark as the power is out at my house. We actually had a tornado touch down just a few miles up the road and it took out an old ratty gas station, one of those "sweepstakes" places and a dollar store. Given that, I'm estimating losses to be at least $75 or so. All joking aside, I actually had no clue and had just gone out to get gas and wondered why there were so many cars out. Apparently the word was out and everyone wanted to come out and see what happened. Imagine how surprised I was when I got there and there was no gas station. Wild night, for sure.
Moving on to something more relevant though, we've made it through our first weekend of the off-season and are now officially in full off-season mode. I don't know about everyone else out there but I'm already looking forward to next season and I'm already wishing we were making the trip to round one. However, we still have all winter to go and we also have our banquet weekend to go through first.
Speaking of the banquet, it promises to be a good time for everyone as we honor not only our XC1 and XC2 champions, but also those countless others who fought just as hard for their finishes in their respective classes. That's part of what makes GNCC racing so great. Although it's talked about time and time again, GNCC is truly a sport for everyone and it's awesome that everyone gets honored the same.
The downside to winter for those of you up north is that now is the time to get in your last bit of riding before the snow comes, that is unless you fly south for the winter or man up and put in the studs. However, for those of us down south, there are still chances to ride and race. One, of course, being the SETRA series-which will continue this weekend with the Highpoint Hare Scramble in Georgia. The winter SETRA races occasionally attract high numbers of riders just looking for somewhere to race.
Regardless of whether you get to ride or not this winter, you know deep down that you're ready to get back into the swing of things when the 2012 season kicks off. Speaking of 2012, it's already shaping up to be an interesting season. Chris Borich will be going for 4 in a row but he'll also have to overcome a stacked field of challengers, including this year's XC2 champ, Walker Fowler. On the bikes, Charlie Mullins will be looking to repeat (and be the first repeat American since Rodney Smith in 01/02) but he's also going to have challenges from the regulars in the form of Kailub Russell, Paul Whibley, Josh Strang, Cory Buttrick and countless others.
The XC2 classes also promise to bring just as much racing action as the XC1 classes. On the ATV front, Walker Fowler will be making the move to the XC1 class and this leaves the class open to a number of challengers such as Gabe Phillips, Eric Hoyland, and plenty of others. All of these guys have battled for the podium spots consistently this past season but just couldn't challenge Walker Fowler. On the bike side, Steward Baylor will likely be defending his title in 2012 and while he'll be on the hunt for another title, Jason Thomas and Jordan Ashburn will be looking to take that title for themselves. Jen spoke with Thomas for Tuesday Toolbox this week and he seems to be motivated to make a run at the title in 2012.
I realize it's still early to be discussing the 2012 season but if it's half as epic as 2011 then it will be another season for the history books. For now though, I'm going to cut it short this week because the lack of power and internet is hindering me from being able to check the latest moto-gossip going around, so I'll have to save that for next week. Until then, Bolt-On out.
Photo By: Shan Moore
Putting the wrap on 2011 and planning for 2012 is in the works!
And here's Rodney.
Thanks Jen. Another week goes by and many of us may be feeling a little GNCC withdrawal, me maybe more so than some for the only fact that I have been virtually without internet and a cell phone nearly a week now. I am not sure what is up with my satellite internet but I lost my phone, again, and it has all taken me out of the loop. On top of that the roof at my house was replaced a couple of weeks ago and my satellite TV dish has not been replaced so there has been virtually no contact with the outside world.
However, this does leave one with a lot of time on their hands and an opportunity to be productive and do a little reminiscing 'and forward thinking. It has really opened my eyes up to what "Silly Season" is like for some of the GNCC Racin' Nation. I do have one upside, my contract appears to be intact and I should have "my ride" for next season behind the microphone as usual. There will be a new change to my team though as Miss Hannah Reid will be stepping away to seek an education to further herself which is awesome. I know I speak for a number of folks when I say she will be missed. She is a huge asset to the program and has become a fixture in our series in a short time. Hannah said she will be back to visit sometime and will surely not miss the banquet. Thanks Hannah for all your help!
I am not sure who will stepping in to Miss Hannah's role just yet but this to me (being left to my own devices) is a similarity to what some teams may be going through right now. Change is definitely in the air and there will be obvious changes all around the GNCC pits in 2012.
How big will the changes be? It could be monumental. The only team that I know for sure that has secured most everything for next season is the FMF KTM team. We may witness a little tweaking but for the most part that team is already looking ahead with the newly crowned champion Charlie Mullins, Kailub Russell and Corey Buttrick.
I understand that New Zealand "Axe Man" is secured for the most part for next season and with the way things were looking at the end of this season will be back to try and steal the champion's cup back the international spotlight. He will be joined in this fight to steal it back with the Australian Super Star Josh Strang who watched his championship repeat hopes slowly slip away at the end of the season. Rumor there is that Strang is talking with several sponsors for 2012 and could be looking at a monumental change himself.
Photo By: Shan Moore
What color will Borich ride in 2012?
I spoke with the legendary Keith Obermeyer of Obermeyer Yamaha at Loretta Lynn's and he told me that they are teaming up with Raines Riding University to field a team of XC2 Pro Lites riders for 2012. The team ran with former MX'er Steven Squire, Morgan Moss and the French sensation of Romain Demotier who ran a solid 3rd place for the first two hours of Friday's Double Header weekend. Romain stated he felt good until the final hour when fatigue set in. One has to wonder with the recent success of the Frenchman with the ISDE Jr Trophy Team Co-Championship if maybe he is setting his sights on the World Premier GNCC Series.
Fred Andrews seems to have picked a sure fire winner for the spot Morgan Moss left late in the season. Moss decided to move in another direction and F.A.R. Husqvarna leader and 1993 GNCC Champion hit the jackpot with XC2 Pro Lites late season bloomer and newly crowned AMA National Hare Scrambles Champion Andrew Delong. Delong more than earned his spot on the team and has stated that it could not have come at a more perfect time.
Also it has been said that the 2012 Can Am efforts will be changing quite a bit. It is still early in the whole change up but there has been talk of the legendary Tim Farr maybe taking over there and running the program for Johnny Leach and the MotoWorks /DWT Team. Again it is early and it is "Silly Season" so who really knows how things will end up. Regardless how things end up there will be change and it will be good.
This leaves the question of "what about an FRE KTM ATV Team" and according to Farr a few weeks ago that is not out of the question still and he made no mention of a move. So the reality of it all is that there are still a lot of questions without a whole lot of answers which helps fuel the fire of the "Silly Season".
Photo By: Shan Moore
Jed Haines was always a hot contender for the Motosport.com Holeshot Award
I spoke with 9 Time Champ Bill Ballance of the Ballance Racing Yamaha and he stated that though they had some sponsorship change in the works that the program he built for Taylor Kiser and Walker Fowler is still intact but some finalizations of some of the big players was not expected to happen until sometime in early January. I am just throwing this out here but if Borich ends up on a Yamaha it could be a near total domination for the "Blue Crew" in 2012. This could mean several podium sweeps if Walker Fowler lives up to his hype and Kiser continues where he left off in 2011.
Interesting note from the ATV world though. I spoke with Brian Wolf and he seemed a little determined to come into the 2012 season looking for the title. Wolf who admittedly raced as more of a hobby over the last few seasons keeping the fun factor in it as much as possible seemed rather serious in conversations about what the new season would hold for him. I think somebody made him mad and he may have a point to prove.
Like I said in the beginning, I have had a lot of time to think and as you can see I have had plenty to think about. Good news is that I am heading to Florida for the 40th Annual Mini Olympics and there is always some juicy news it seems about GNCC that comes from there and I will let you in on what I find out next week.
Till next time, God Bless Your Heart and All Your Vital Organs.
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