Doug Fortner’s Never Lift Column
- Updated: April 15, 2014
photos by 502 Photoz and theriderscope.com
In this edition of Never Lift I’m going to talk my experiences at round one at the AWRCS and the second UTV round of the GNCC series in Union SC.
AWRCS
This was my first experience racing with the American Woods Racing Championship Series (AWRCS). It started out a cold overcast day with a steady wind. We were bitter cold while setting up our machines in the pits. There were plenty of UTV entries for the opening round so they decided to split the start into two waves. With random draw I started on the front row. I had a guest co-pilot Patrick with me for the day.
We headed into the woods in a mad rush with mud flying everywhere. Once we got sorted out I was in a solid fourth place. With one lap in and the Loud Performance machine feeling good we picked up the pace and started gaining on the front runners. Both second and third pulled off with mechanical issues and that left us chasing the leader Larry Hendershot’s Maverick 1000. The track was fast but technical, demanding the best of each driver. I, and everyone I talked with really liked it.
Larry was running a super fast pace and leaving little room for us to get by. Finally on the second to last lap we made the pass for the overall lead. It wouldn’t stick though. We made a mistake and Larry got by us again. For the last lap we made several attempts for another pass but couldn’t make it stick, and ended up finishing second overall by a mere two seconds. We really enjoyed the track and we’ll be back for more AWRCS fun, it’s a great series, I would highly suggest you check it out for your self.
Teeeeen Seconds!
We made a mad rush through the week to get all four Loud machines ready for the Big Buck GNCC in South Carolina. The weather was hot and the track looked to be wide, fast and in perfect condition. Toad and I lined up on row four and got ready for battle. Ricky Towery started us and we went into the South Carolina woods in third place. Half way through the lap we had passed for the lead of our row. With open track in front of us and our machine working perfect we set a blazing fast lap time on par with the overall leaders. I lknew the track well, I’ve loved the Big Buck GNCC since I fiirst attended it 2001 when I raced a bike. Everything was clicking well, but a good finish wasnt in the cards for the second time in as many GNCC tries. Our fun was over about a mile into our third lap when we had a tie rod end let loose. With no steering we thought we were done, but I was able to make a trail-fix on the tie rod and we decided to continue be it at a slow pace to salvage some points.
After four miles the temporary fix let loose in a deep rut that caused us to hit a tree and sheer off a ball joint. I took the front wheel and put in the back of the machine and we finished on three wheels. It was a disappointment to have a mechanical failure but we felt good about the pace we were running and we really enjoyed the track that Barry Hawk and Jeff Russel set up for us.
I want to welcome Kiersten Scholl from 502 Photoz to the UTV Scene team. She is a young talented photographer with a keen eye and a good attitude. Look to 502 Photoz for your action sports photography needs and support those who support us.
That’s all for this now, thanks for chekcing out my Never Lift column, till next time ride hard and have fun.
