May 17, 2007

The first GNCC race I ever covered for Racer Productions was the 2001 John Penton GNCC. I had always followed the series on the ATV side, since I grew up as a four-wheeled rider, reading about GNCC in Dirt Wheels, ATV Action and those other magazines. I had heard of the bike guys because they were big names, too, but really, I followed motocross for the two-wheeled set. So when I went to The John Penton seven seasons ago, I didn’t know what to expect once the ATV race ended on Saturday afternoon (Bill Ballance held off William Yokley for the win, by the way).

Hot Rod graduates. Hooper photo

Anyway I thought the race was over, but then I heard there was a minibike race at 4 p.m. I figured it was worth watching just in case there was some crazy hot shot kid out there that I could say “I saw him way back then,” kind of like that amateur sensation James Stewart on the motocross side.

There was. A kid on the #7 YZ85 checked out from the very start of the race and left everyone behind by several minutes. He dominated that Penton race, getting the start on his Yamaha and never feeling any pressure. The rider was Charlie Mullins.

Charlie didn’t race enough races that year to qualify for a year-end award, and I remember his dad called me asking about how that all worked. He said they would be back the next year, and they were. Charlie started winning races on big bikes, and his dad would call every Tuesday to tell me how proud he was of “Hot Rod” and how he was beating riders much older than him. At the end of that season, 2002, I found Charlie’s dad, Charlie Sr., in the pits and we ventured out to their pit area so I could finally meet this prodigy. Charlie Jr. sure wasn’t much of a talker. He said the only pro he really knew was Scott Summers. He worked some during the week and didn’t have much riding or training time. And he and his dad traveled to the races in one of the most beat-up vans at the whole track.

But Charlie Sr. sure believed in Charlie Jr. and he still called all the time, tracking the great battle they had with Scotty Watkins to finish second in the 2003 200A battle, and another second in 250 A behind P A Allen in 2004. Eventually, this kid was going to get a championship, but it didn’t seem like the Mullins family was interested in cashing out for amateur titles. They kept moving up as quickly as they could. At the Ironman in 2004, Charlie tried the pro class. At just 18 years old, he finished 9 th overall.

Mullins in 2007. Hooper photo

Over the winter, his dad made another phone call. This time to Randy Hawkins, of the Am-Pro Yamaha team. Randy was shifting the focus of the Am-Pro squad to include more amateur riders, as two-time minicycle standout Thad DuVall was moving up to the big bikes for 2005. Randy agreed to give Charlie a shot at the 250 A class on Yamahas, and the result was an amazing run with seven wins in nine races, a title, and then three podiums in the last four races after switching to the pro class. Charlie was still only 19, but by then, his name was out and the expectations were sky high. Juha Salminen had just dominated the series, so the hope that someone, anyone, could challenge him, was really high, and a lot of that hope fell on Charlie.

Maybe that was a bit much. To expect a 20-year-old rookie to dismantle the 29-year-old 10-Time World Enduro Champion was a bit crazy. Charlie sure tried, though, and he finished on the podium a ton, and we all made a habit out of asking him “Is this the weekend where you finally get one?”

Charlie Jr. had collected 14 podium finishes in his GNCC career heading into the Penton this year. That’s 14 podiums in just 22 races in the pro class, and amazing record. Then finally, at the same track where he checked out as an 85cc rider years ago, he did the same thing again to win an overall. He dominated that Penton race, getting the start on his Yamaha and never feeling any pressure.

So “Hot Rod” has passed the next big test in his career. He proved he could make the jump from amateur to pro, and now he has proven he can win. Next up could be more. Time and time again in this series, once a rider gets one win, more start coming. We’ve seen it with Barry Hawk, Jason Raines, Chuck Woodford, and most recently just last year when Nathan Kanney won two of the last three events. Can Charlie start a streak, too? We’ll see. There’s still a very determined David Knight out there, and Barry himself sure isn’t going to roll over. But with the way Mullins has adapted so quickly to every challenge, he looks like a can’t-miss talent right now.

In many ways the same type of thing can be said about our current points leader in the ATV XC1 class. Chris Borich also jumped into the headlines in 2001, when he went from a 250 A ATV Champion wearing #14 to a genuine threat to win races. And win he has over the last few years, but he’s had to deal with Bill Ballance on the championship side every year, too, and he’s come up short time and time again.

There were moments in both 2005 and 2006 where Borich looked like he was finally going to take the #1 plate. Now we’ve seen it happen in 2007 again. Chris is riding his first four-race win streak, and he’s going to be hard to stop.

Borich in Ohio. Scearce photo

Bill will try, though. Few are as determined as Ballance, and with the record-breaking eighth-straight #1 hanging in the (pardon the pun) Balance, you know he’s going to give it his all. And when all goes right, he may still be the man, but the last few races haven’t given him the opportunity to show it. I think everyone expected Bill to completely destroy people at the Penton, and when he snagged the ITP Holeshot Award and checked out on the first lap, it was all going to plan. Then his clutch started slipping, and so did Ballance. Is it bad luck for the champ? Or has the kid finally broken through? That’s what makes racing so exciting.

Clutch problems also did in William Yokley. The Yoke ended up on the sidelines on Saturday when his clutch started slipping, and William believes all the heat from the clutch may have damaged the ignition, because he ended up with electrical problems, too. No one has fun at the races like William, but even he was bummed out on Saturday. William knows he and that new Monster Energy/Kawasaki are a podium combination, but small issues inherent to a brand-new machine are nagging him. And William doesn’t want to let the rest of his sponsors down while he develops this new machine. The good news is, he is in constant contact with Kawi in the quest to make that new KFX450 totally bullet proof. It will happen.

And speaking of all of this, I have heard the story that Chris Borich has signed with Can-Am to run some WPSA races on an Outlander. When the Can-Am DS450 does come to the races next year, will Chris be on one? Hmmm.

(Honestly I don’t have any inside info here. Just thinking out loud).

A lot of the news from The John Penton involved the course. Especially on bike day, I heard more raves about this track than perhaps any other course I’ve ever been around. And remember, this one was dusty. The raves came from the “Penton section” which was all single track and virgin terrain. Thanks to Sunday Creek course worker Jeff Hupp, who had actually cut that trail in for last year’s race, but we couldn’t run it due to rain. This year it was dry, and we didn’t have to worry about the course becoming one big, single rut, so we ran it and the riders loved it (except Glenn Kearney, who admitted to me he has no experience running through first-gear types of trails for that long). Everyone else I heard, from B riders up to Barry Hawk, who called it the best GNCC track he had ridden on in ten years, loved it. It would be tempting to build sections like that all the time, but it’s not that easy.

“We had to do it just right,” GNCC Trail Boss Jeff Russell told me. “We would have some tight, and then some open grass track, and then some quad-width trails. This way if you get behind a slower rider, you know a spot to pass is coming up soon.”

Hawk loved this track. Hooper photo

Got a call this week from 4x4 Lites hero Dave Reese, who goes for it every week on the old school Honda Foreman 450. Unfortunately, Reese was seen hobbling around the pits during Saturday morning’s race, because apparently he got rammed into a fence by some other riders off the start, and ended up hurt. Reese hung out all day at the track, and then went home to find out his scapula (shoulder blade) has a 2.5 inch long fracture, and he has a few fractured ribs.

Ouch. Get well soon, bud.

We had a call come in from a reporter from RPM magazine, which is a mag for truckers. The writer, Dan Anderson, is writing a story on truckers who race, anything from cars to motorcycles to, yes, off-road. So, anyone out there racing our series who also drives an 18-wheeler for a living? You may just get your close up in a magazine.

If so, email us at info@gnccracing.com

410-218-5301

Big Buck GNCC landowner Henry Turner sent this email. The Jr. ROTC in Union was presented with Big Buck GNCC t-shirts in appreciation of helping at the race.

Here's a picture of the Union High School Jr. ROTC Color Guard receiving their Pirelli Big Buck GNCC t-shirts. This was at the Awards Ceremony at Union High School. Next school year approximately 10% of the student body has signed up for the Jr.ROTC program!

Thanks to all the support from the GNCC family; we look forward to seeing each of you again next year!
Henry Turner (Big Buck Landowner)

Have you been watching Racer TV on Versus? This weekend we’re off due to Stanley Cup playoffs hockey, but we’ll be back in our regularly scheduled slot next weekend. In the meantime, our TV crew is looking for an extra camera man. The TV crew needs one person for each day (Saturday and Sunday), and the gig pays $100 a day. If you can do both days, that’s $200. Either way, you get to shoot the action and get paid for it. The Gear Media and Marketing team will train you, so even if you’re a total novice with a video camera, you should be able to handle it as long as you’re responsible. Send an email to john@gearracewear.com if you want in.

Shoot good video of GNCC action and we'll pay you.

 

Last week we talked about all of the companies that are readying 450 racing ATVs for the near future (like Can-Am, which is coming soon). Well, the bikes are the same way. BMW is developing a 450 enduro bike right now, with Simmo Kirssi, who you may remember for nailing a solid top-ten performance on a Kawasaki at our opening GNCC in Florida. Anyway, Simmo raced the bike at a round of the World Enduro Championships, and then again at a German cross-country race (GCC!) last weekend. The bike didn’t finish, but it’s supposed to be a time for BMW to test the bike and work out the development. Someday, they may have it dialed in.

Meanwhile, Buell, yes, Buell, the streetbike company, is working on a 450cc motocross bike. They’ve hired well-traveled motocross team manager Dave Osterman to head their program. I have no idea when it will come out, but it’s coming for sure. Yes, Buell is a Harley-Davidson company.

The Racer Productions crew is now full-speed ahead on the Monster Energy/Kawasaki Pro National at High Point presented by Centra Bank. We hope to see some familiar GNCC faces out there next weekend. We’ll run Moto-X-Country next weekend in the field next to the track, with a super-fun three mile loop of GNCC-style trails and grass track, with a few jumps thrown in for fun. And it will be fun, ask anyone who has raced the event over the last few years. We’ll have amateur motocross racing on the High Point track on Friday, Moto-X-Country on Sunday, and then the pros racing on Sunday, including James Stewart, Ricky Carmichael (he’s not retired yet) and Ryan Villopoto. For more info, check out www.racerproductions.com.

Some people are really pumped up on the race next weekend. Read this letter:

WOOHOO!!!!!! HIGHPOINT 07'!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait! I don't go to the beach for my vaction, I go to HIGHPOINT for my vacation.
Always have and always will! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Thanks guys, I LOVE HIGHPOINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jason Engle

Wow.

If you were with us at the John Penton, you no doubt heard us plugging the Hard Core Racing Team’s KTM 85SX raffle. Here it is again:

I was hoping that you could let everyone know about a really neat raffle that will be going on at the next couple of GNCC races.  As a lot of people are aware, there is a youth race team called Hardcore Racing.  The team consists of 10 youth bike riders, one mini quad rider and their team manager.  As you can imagine, the expenses for a team this size can be very high.  With the assistance of KTM and one very brave Dad (Steve Evans), the Hardcore Racing Team has purchased a brand new, 07 KTM 85sx, which will be raffled off with all of the proceeds going to the Hardcore Racing Team to help cover their expenses.  Racer Productions and GNCC have graciously agreed to allow the team to sell chances for the raffle at the next GNCC races in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia.  Chances will be $5.00 per ticket.  The drawing for the bike will be held at the GNCC race in Snowshoe, WV, which is the home state for the Hardcore Racing team.  The winner of the Pro bike race on Sunday, June 24, will draw the winning ticket on the podium.  We would like to stress that you do not have to be present to win.  As our team motto states, "It takes team work to make a dream work."  We felt that this was a great way for these little guys to work hard and earn money for their team while at the same time giving something back to the racing community.  The Hardcore Racing Team is looking forward to seeing everyone at the GNCC races.

Sincerely,
Proud Parents of the Hardcore Racing Team

Jenks finally made the podium! Look for more on him next week. Hooper photo

Another note:

Hi Jason. Its Mike Bauer. I just wanted to say that I am leaving for Navy bootcamp in May. It was a pleasure racing the GNCC series last season in the 200 A class and despite having bike trouble about every race I had a great time. I just wanted to tell everyone involved with the GNCC series thanks for putting on such a great series! I am hoping I can schedule my leave around future races next season. Thanks again.
Mike Bauer
bauerracing129@hotmail.com

Our man Nate Kanney continues to carry the American flag through Europe as part of the World Enduro Championship. But unfortunately, the most recent performance was the worst yet for Kanney, since he injured his knee and couldn’t ride. Here’s a quote from his CH Racing Husky team.

Nate Kanney: “The weekend wasn’t good for me. I crashed on day one and injured my knee. I actually broke my knee brace when I crashed as well as tweaking my knee pretty badly. I couldn’t bend it before the start of the second day so I decided there wasn’t much point in trying to ride. I’m really disappointed but I hope it’s not too bad.”

Finally, here are our holeshot awards from The Penton:

ATV XC1 ITP Holeshot Award—Bill Ballance
ATV XC2 ATVRiders.com Holeshot Award— Ryan Lane
Bike XC1 Racer X Holeshot—Charlie Mullins
Bike XC2 Thumpertalk.com holeshot Award—Chris Robertson

As always, we have a ton of team race reports filed from our latest event. We're putting them together right now so look for them on the site by the end of the day.

That’s it for Quick Fill this week, it’s long, and we’ve got plenty more to give next week. So come join us then.

 

They love GNCC in Ohio. Scearce photo