What I Learned at the Mountaineer Run GNCC
- Updated: May 30, 2014
My name and where I’m at you ask? I think I got it now, it’s all starting to come back to me… Just kidding, it wasn’t that bad, but I did get nailed in the head HARD by a tree limb, that nearly knocked me out. I’m still feeling it right now. I guess this is what I get for arriving to the Mountaineer Run GNCC too late to walk the track. From the looks of all the damaged driver’s side nets, I’m pretty sure all 60 entries also had an encounter with that tree limb. Hopefully everyone’s okay. I praise Barry Hawk and crew for creating monumental tracks time after time, but check the photo to the left, why in the world was that guillotine not chain-sawed off, and not left dangling three feet into a high-speed dusty corner of the track? Man o man, that thing could have killed someone.
Luckily I was able to shake it off and keep charging. What a great rest of the track. I love the Mountaineer Run GNCC. Last year I was able to finish tenth overall from row 17, my best GNCC UTV finish of the year, but that was then and this is now. To tell the truth I was going to have to skip the birthplace of the GNCC circuit, (yeah this round is where GNCC racing started, it’s just down the street from the Racer Productions’ headquarters).
Loud Performance owner Dee Dippel and chief mechanic and copilot Casey Mulkins.
Anyway, after all the damage I did to the front end of my stock Polaris RZR XP 900 at the last round in South Carolina I was ready to throw in the towel and surrender to the fact that I’m not financially sound enough to tackle any more of these GNCC courses, but my friends Dee Dippel (owner of Loud Performance), Casey Mulkins (team mechanic) and the whole crew at Loud Performance wouldn’t let me park the machine just yet and hooked me up with a bunch of stock XP 900 parts. Huge thank you Loud Performance! While I’m at it, thank you to my buddy Nick Keglovic for helping me wrench on the Team UTV Scene 260 entry, and to my copilot Drew Blackley. We were prepped and ready for the rocks.
Who has the most fun at a GNCC? My money is on the Loud Performance crew. Come on by and see for yourself.
Team Skull Crusher
Unfortunately I hit a stump in a fast wooded section on the second lap and ripped the driver’s front wheel right off the machine. When your tire and wheel beats you to the next turn, you know your day is over. Yeah, new parts don’t last very long in the rigors of GNCC UTV racing and Drew got to see first hand how tough it is to finish a GNCC UTV race. I was in the driver’s roost ahead of me and never saw the stump, which also took out fellow Ohio driver Cole and copilot Alyssa aka Team Skull Crusher, yeah perfect name for this round – and yes, Cole did indeed get his skull crushed by the branch that better not be there next year or I will personally saw it off. Anyway, another DNF. Same for Cole, he has had the same issues as me to a tee at each round of the series. Our conclusion, stock ball joints aren’t strong enough for the extreme GNCC courses. I wonder if I need to call Guinness and see if I might have the record for most consecutive ball joint replacements in a UTV?
Since I arrived somewhat late and spent most of the day waiting to be towed out of the woods, I didn’t observe much at this round, other than the disappointing observation that it costs a fortune to keep a machine GNCC-race-worthy, but I did learn a few interesting things worth noting..
- West Virginia is beautiful, especially with a finish line in it. Jeremy at The Rider Scope.com takes excellent photos.
Larry Hendershot Jr and Sr rounded out the all Ohio and all Can-Am podium.
Can-Am has won a UTV GNCC overall before with their mighty new Maverick, but unlike Polaris, they’ve never completely dominated a GNCC UTV event, that is until now. It looks like several teams have finally figured out how to make a Maverick podium-worthy. I always knew they were fast, but now they seem to be fast AND reliable, so it seems the Polaris XP 900’s days of dominating the GNCC Series may be over. Mark it in the calendar, Masontown, WV May 24, 2014 Can-Am’s 1-2-3. There’s no doubt about it, three Can-Am Mavericks stole the show. It was new points leader, Kyle Chaney with a respectable ride to victory, in a close second Tim Farr, who appears to be slow and steady this year, yet always seems to log the fastest lap times. I think if it were less dusty Farr would have won this race and own the points lead. The final spot on the box was Larry Hendershot Jr. who seems to put he and his copilot father Larry Sr. at the front of the pack in every race they enter.
Kyle Chaney and Chris Bithell won and took over the points lead. It’s a great XC1 points chase from here on out.
Tim and Julie Farr finished with another runner up. Could the JB Racing Can-Am husband and wife team be your 2014 GNCC Pro UTV Champions?
With the above results the XC1 points-race couldn’t be tighter. At the half way point of the series Kyle Chaney leads by one point over John Yokley, who holds down second by only one point over Tim Farr. Could this finally be the year someone de-thrones the best GNCC UTV racer on the planet, William Yokley? William only managed to put three laps in and fell to fifth in the points, as hard as it is to count him out, my mid point championship prediction is that Tim and Julie Farr will give Can-Am their first XC1 UTV GNCC National Championship, he and his JB Racing Can-Am team sure do have that machine dialed in. Who ever does win it sure will have earned it. This year’s XC1 championship points race is fantastic and really exciting to watch.
Speaking of points. Let’s talk my class for a minute, the XC2 ranks. Hats off to my friend and fellow Fischer Racing teammate Chris Brockway of Ashtabula, Ohio, his consistent fourth place in South Carolina, third in Georgia and third in West Virginia has him leading XC2 championship points. I’m so jealous, I would love to be sitting there instead of 18th with three DNFs. Chris is a humble quiet guy that funds everything himself with very few sponsors. He’s also a fantastic driver and got that way from years and years of ATV racing, both in four and three-wheeled form. I like guys like this, that actually have deep roots that were created far before UTVs were even invented. Friend or not, if you ask me he’s earned his keep and I really hope he can maintain the lead through all six rounds then get some sponsorship help so he can properly defend his title next year.
And speaking of XC2 drivers, John Henry of team RE/CON was really moving, I saw he had a 9:29 lap, that’s Tim Farr kind of pace. He won the XC2 class by almost two minutes! He could have had a beer and a sandwich by the time second place crossed the line. At John’s pace he won’t be able to be beat if he can keep it going all the way to the checkers for the next three rounds.
60 Entries at WV… This was the lowest all year. I thought we would surely see 100 this year, and even wondered what they would do with that many teams, but entries look to be tapering off. I think it’s because it’s so hard to keep a machine rolling for more than a few rounds, that’s just how treturous these GNCC courses are. Actually I think the amount of teams are about perfect to tell the truth. More entries mean deeper ruts, more dust, more passes, even more dust and more risk of someone getting hurt. Not to mention, since there’s no GNCC UTV payout, even in the XC1 pro class – it’s not like more entries will bring higher purses.
On the drive out, while getting gas at the local gas station, a guy and his wife walked over and talked to me. An open flat bed trailer with a muddy three-wheeled UTV tends to lure people over for a chat, anyway his name was Walt. He said it was his land we were riding on. And it turns out he grew up with the Coombs family, even played in a band with Dave Coombs Sr, the guy that started the GNCC series in that area of West Virginia decades ago. Anyway it was kind of cool to get to talk to him and remember how great of a person Dave Sr was and how instrumental Racer Productions has been to not just the GNCC series but all thing moto.
If you want to see some great photos from the Mountaineer Run GNCC check out the gallery at The Rider Scope.com. And if you want to buy a nice print or poster from the event click over to 502 Photoz and check our Kristen’s killer photoz :)
Well that’s all for now. I’m a glutton for punishment so I’m off to make more repairs in order to race the next round in my home state of Ohio. Hopefully I can finally get back to the success I had last year and quit getting towed out of the woods.
