Welcome to Quick Fill. The season-long drought continues.

By that I mean, we should not be having a mudder at Unadilla this weekend. What a relief! Last year’s bike race was one of the worst mud races in awhile, partially because of how much it rained (a lot!) and partially because a few spots on this track are low land areas, and they become swamps when it rains. But this year we shouldn’t have that, in fact, it should even be better than 2005 at ‘Dilla, which was a little slimy but nothing like last year.

'Dilla '06.

Last year I raced (or rode) Unadilla myself in the morning bike race. Tim Boryk, who runs the scoring for our series, went to England last year for the Motocross of Nations instead of Unadilla, so I borrowed his KTM 200XC and just tortured it in the mud. It was pretty bad, and then it started raining just as I got into the field for the first time, which toasted my goggles and made the rest of the lap nearly impossible. Riding over roots and rocks in the mud is hard enough, and it is just about impossible when you can’t even see them. But I did complete one lap—I didn’t want a DNF in the record books.

So I, like everyone else, am hoping it’s not so bad this year. According to the weather forecast, it won’t be, click HERE to see it. But I have another reason to believe it won’t be bad. Seems like each year the series falls into a weather pattern, and right now the pattern is to not have any rain or mud for Sunday’s bike race (ATVs have had it pretty good this year, too). Some years we have all mudders on Saturday and all dry races on Sunday, and then it reverses. This year, look: no mud races at all for the bikes yet through nine rounds. Last year, do you remember Missouri (misery), the ultra slimy Spartan GNCC, rain at the Wisp and rain at Unadilla? Of those, I think the ATVs only had to deal with that much mud in Missouri—it was pretty good on Saturday at the rest of those races.

It’s just funny how this all works, funny enough for me to stand face to face with jinxing this whole thing. Boy, I hope it doesn’t pour down hard now.

We don’t want to put a damper on what should be an awesome weekend. Can-Am is title sponsor of the event for the first time, and they’re going big by offering demo rides throughout the weekend (for free!). Here’s the scoop from our newbie, Jenn Sheppard:

As an added bonus to this weekend’s third-annual Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series race at the famous Unadilla Valley Sports Center, Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) will offer Can-Am ATV demo rides at the race this weekend, Sept 15 and 16.

“Can-Am will have a selection of Outlander and Renegade models to ride,” said Dave Ahlers District Sales Manager for BRP. “Our plan is to do ATV demos across the street from the GNCC track. We've had demos there before at previous BRP events, so a trail exists that is safe and far removed from the GNCC event. Can-Am is confident that once you ride one of our ATVs you will be impressed. The ride says it all!”

In order to participate in the Can-Am demo ride, you must be at least 18 years of age and must not consume any alcohol or drugs prior to riding. The Can-Am ATV is a zero tolerance machine.

“Simply come to the Can-Am display truck and sign a safety/waiver form and we will do the rest,” Ahlers continued. “Rides will start at 10 a.m. and go to 3 p.m. Bring your riding gear if you have it, or borrow one of our helmets.”

By the way, Can-Am won't let any stone go unturned in ATV Racing. Now they've announced a DS90X machine for 2008. Take the standard mini machine and add big time suspension and shocks plus some cool bolt ons. Could be a contender next year. Click here.

 

Also at Unadilla, Parts Unlimited is holding a free dinner for everyone Saturday at 5:30 p.m., in their big tent near the podium. Awesome.

You can also expect plenty of newcomers to the series, as a lot of locals like to come out for this one. Thanks to the good folks at WNYOA, we will have a strong contingent of NY riders in all of the classes, and also an exclusive 50cc PeeWee race on Saturday. We’ve run 50cc bike Saturday at 4 p.m. for the last two years with success, so now WNYOA will host 50cc ATVs on Saturday at 2 p.m. for good measure. Click here for all the Unadilla GNCC event info.

Barry Hawk raced an OMA last weekend to stay sharp. Can he keep Knight on his heels this weekend? Brockett photo

Should be some very interesting racing this weekend. I talked to David Knight today, he flew back to the States yesterday and is doing some testing today in New York. Honestly, I think the grind is getting to him a little bit, I think this was the 16 th transatlantic flight for Knighter this year, which is more than most people will do in a life time. Also, he’s trying to fight on so many fronts—trying to win this GNCC title with now no room for error, while also preparing for the Maxxis EnduroCross Series (where he will have to race Saturday night in Denver and then fly overnight to Yadkinville, NC for our next GNCC) and a few beach races mixed in, too. Those are all completely different types of races that require different bikes and different mind sets, not to mention a lot of frequent flyer miles.

Winning all of this stuff used to be easy for Knighter, but today he told me it’s getting harder because riders are starting to specialize—rumor has it that people have built EnduroCross practice tracks and are even developing some wild bikes to attack those races. Meanwhile, he’s trying nail down his main goal, which is to win this GNCC title, and he says going back home and riding and testing on terrain he is familiar with is the best way to do it.

Knight will have a little relief this weekend as one of his old mechanics from Europe, named Timo, comes over to handle wrenching on his bike. After three races with mechanical issues, Knighter can no longer afford to take any chances. His old mechanic, Shawn, will still be around, too, providing some help, but Timo will do most of the work.

Maybe Barry Hawk has Knight where he needs him, then, because if Knight has one more slip up, it’s game over for the title. Hawk and his crew has been through this drill over and over so you can count on him hanging tough over the next four rounds.

The AMA ran a National Hare Scramble last weekend in NY. I don’t think many ATV riders were there on Saturday, but the big bike race on Sunday drew some names. Apparently it rained pretty hard all weekend, and Justin Williamson won the race—so much for 250Fs sucking in mud races! Jason Raines was second and Robbie Jenks was third. Look for Justin to be tough this weekend, muddy or not. I know Dustin Gibson also does well in mud, so he won’t mind in XC2, either. The real question is Rodney Smith. A groin injury that doesn’t heal in two months sure should be iffy after just two more weeks of healing. Rodney says it’s only a problem in rocks because he has to dab his feet, but mud won’t be much better.

By the way, Nathan Kanney, you will be missed this weekend at Unadilla.

We will also miss Shane Watts this weekend. Congrats out to the Wattsy clan, who added another member to their team:

Born 9-12-07 8:54pm
Rionn Kaleb Watts (boy)
5lb 10oz

Shane and Carrie are taking care of baby right now so no racing this weekend.

We’ve talked about the Borich/Ballance battle plenty of times on here, and this weekend should be pivotal. Borich hasn’t had the same success in the mud that he has in the dry, so he’s probably pumped to see the weather forecast. I’m also looking forward to that sophomore tandem of Chris Bithell and Adam McGill—those boys are getting so darned close to that first win. Bithell even raced a hare scramble on Saturday over the weekend and then came back for some ATV MX racing at High Point on Sunday. The young man wants it.

#784 is hard to stop in ATV XC2 Scearce photo

In GNCC ATV XC2, Brandon Sommers has become a dynamo. Word from an insider is that Brandon simply has a full program together that no one in this series (not just his class, but anyone in any class) can match. The dude trains, tests, works the mental game, he has it all wired, and he’s still working a regular job right now. Give it a few years and he might be right there with McGill and Bithell, or maybe just ahead of everyone.

Now what about this morning race? After Traci Cecco won the first seven rounds overall, we’ve had 4x4 riders sweep the podium at the last two. Have the big guys figured out how to beat TLC once and for all? I wouldn’t say that just yet—Traci has had troubles in each of those last two races, and she didn’t even win her class at either won, so, like Mark Twain, rumors of her demise have been greatly exaggerated.

But, Angel Atwell is sure capable of giving her a great run, and Traci does not have that Women’s championship locked up yet, so she needs to get back on her game. The rest of the 4x4 and Utility guys will put on a show, I know the Kilby and Cecco battle in Open 4x4 is not over, and Mike Benson should be right up there on his Four-Stroke Tech KFX700. That guy has suffered from some bad luck lately, too, but that doesn’t mean he’s lost a step.

But before we go, congrats to Michael Swift for winning the overall in the morning in PA. He’s come close several times, so this was much deserved.

How aptly named this Swift guy is. Scearce photo

We have reports on all of this stuff posted on this very site. Be sure to check out our race reports page for the latest on each GNCC series—from Jenn Sheppard’s ATV Report from Somerset, to Youth Bike Reports from Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. There’s good stuff there.

Also, the Team Race Reports from Pennsylvania are now posted.

Here’s a shoutout to the big winner of the AMA/Toyota Motocross Championships presented by FMF. It’s not Grant Langston or Ryan Villopoto, it’s super-agent Fred Bramblett! Bramblett is the manager for Andrew Short, Tim Ferry, Langston and Mike Alessi—the four title contenders in the AMA Motocross Class. Long time GNCC folks might remember that Fred got his start as Scott Summers’ mechanic back when they were dominating the GNCCs in the early 90s. He’s still the agent for Paul Whibley’s program today. Good going, Fred.

That was then, this is now. Get ready to go GNCC Racing this weekend in the legendary confines of Unadilla Valley Sports Center. See you at the races!

 

 

Please tell me the ghost of Unadilla will be here this weekend!