RaptorRacer45
03-24-2009, 11:17 AM
Heres a review of my experience and my Race from this past weekends GNCC in North Carolina, enjoy :D
With Spring just arriving and the month of March winding down it was time for Round #3 of the 2009 GNCC Series at the Steele Creek camp ground in Morganton, NC. After my 2nd place finish in Florida 3 weeks ago I was looking forward to getting back out there and seeing what could happen in the triditional woods of the series. I loaded up my "new" Race transport vehicle and trailer and set out with ECOR29 for a nice 7 hr trip from PA to NC. The Trip went smoothly as we arrived about 7:15pm and set up camp along with Steve and John Cunningham. Some Fireside chat and it was time for bed about 10:30pm.
After a cold night in the Cunningham trailer (which was better than a tent) the sun finally peaked over the Blue Ridge mountains and my mind quickly started to ignore the 40 degree temps and prepare for the day ahead. Josh Helm and Eric Stahl arrived at our pit early in the morning after sleeping in there truck all night. I wasnt sure how the track conditions were gonna be so i prepped for alittle bit of mud and then headed for registration and Tech. The AM race was ready for action right about 10 am and confident my equipment was good to go I was eager to get going. A handfull of handshakes, "Good Lucks" and The National Anthem. The rows started taking off 1 by 1 and heading into the woods.
I was in Row #10 for this event in the 20+ class while Chris Holtry (ECOR29) was ready to go for his 1st Race of the 2009 Season. When the green flag flew on the 16-19 class Chris's YFZ fired up quickly and he found himself solidly in the top 10 after the 1st turn, I later learned he got punted by another rider (not gonna mention names) outta turn 3 and spun around losing alot of ground. It was then time for me to get to work. "10 Seconds!" was called and my eyes were locked on the grean flag of Ricky Towery...After a count to 11 i clicked my key and timed my start great with my EFI system and fired off the line near the front. I did alittle tire rubbing and shuffled around through the 1st few turns and as we got to the entrance of the woods i followed 2 riders on a new line. Unfourtunaly there was a mudhole at the bottom and 1 rider had already gotten stuck in it. I quickly clicked into reverse and took off back on the main line but now near the back of my class, which im pretty fimiliar with on the starts anyway. With an approx. 10.5 mile lap I just settled into my normal rythem and prepared to slowly make my way to the front. Steele Creek is known for some great hillclimbs and I used the power i had to make some nice passes on them early in the race and about the 6.5 mile marker there was a decent sized bottleneck of about 20-30 riders on the 1 hill. I saw another trail around it and as i crested the top of the hill the bottleneck had broken and i funneled in right with alot of riders from other classes and we were all bunched up again. I made it incident free to the completetion of lap #1 currently sitting in 7th. The Sun had finally cleared the clouds as the temps started to rise. My hands were numb from the cold but my body felt good and was ready to start climbing higher. Ive noticed more people every race cheering me on and I cant thank them enough, it just gives me that little more motivation to push myself when theres fans along the track cheering...so thank you! I Plunged into the creek again on Lap #2 and tried my best to stay dry. Luckly this was about the only muddy section of the track and i was thankful for that. As Lap #2 came to a close I had gained 1 spot upto 6th and still running strong. I caught a glimpse of Chris at about the 2 mile marker and set my goal to catch up and and run with him for alittle. I caught him and made the pass around the creekbed but he would take it back shortly after I i made my 1st Pitstop of the day for a Milk jug of Fuel (Yeah No more runnin outta gas!) and a quick gulp of Gatorade. About 15 secs and i was gone. I managed to catch Chris again at the infamous hillclimb at the 6.5 mile marker when he got stuck on a Log. I took the line to the right once again and made the pass. He would get free and continue never more than a few mins behind me. I checked in at the end of lap 3 sliding back 1 spot to 7th and with 2 laps to go I knew now was the time to make some stuff happen. A new line had opened up through the creek and the rider in front of me was alittle eager to get through the water and decided to peg it and roost the crap outta me through that section. Luckly my pit was only about another half mile from there so a quick stop for fresh goggles and I was good to go. The lappers were slowly starting to fade back and tire out so making passes became alittle easyer at this point. The kid who owns my old 2001 Raptor Raced this weekend and i almost watched him roll off the mountain after catching a tree. He would be fine and continue on. I took the white flag still solidly in 7th and set out for a final 10.5 miles to finish this 1 off. My thumb had started to tense up but with temps now up around 60 my hands finally thawed out and I knew a top 5 wasnt outta reach yet. As the miles clicked by My Fuel light finally made an appearence about the 5 mile marker. Knowing I could go about 9 miles after the light comes on I wasnt worried a bit. I made my way around to about the 9 mile marker before i decided to collect a tree on a tight corner. A few choice words to myself and i backed up and continued on only getting passed by 1 rider in the mishap. The Quad was fine as i came outta the woods 1 final time to the last few feild corners. With no pressure I flat traacked my way to the scroing Tent and checked in 6th in class and 66th overall. Sure it wasnt a Top 5 but another solid run was enough to make me smile and add some valuable points to my name. I made it back to the Truck and was ready to relax a bit before the Afternoon event got underway. Chris would make it back to the Truck a few minutes after me. He managed to score his best GNCC finish and 1st career National top 10 finishing 9th in the 16-19 class and 85th overall, and after having 2 wild wrecks he was happy but beat up after this 1. Eric returned only about a minute after Chris as he captured 9th in the 20+ class and added a few more points towards his year end tally. We all had our work finished now it was time for the Big boys of the PM race to begin there day.
Steve Cunningham would have a solid run till back pain would take over, he managed to salvage 22nd in the XC2 Pro Am class. Josh Helm would have the most dissapointing day after only 1 lap he got swamped in a bad mud section and was forced to call it a day finishing 27th in College B. Hometown Favorite Bryan Cook would go onto win the Pro Class and the Overall with Adam Mcgill and Bill Ballance (He's Back!) rounding out the top 3.
After another great GNCC weekend we packed up and hit the Highway for the trip back home to PA. Sadly im not made of money so my next GNCC will have to wait till Somerset but from then on Im planning on making 9 total and finally earning a National Number! Ill be at the PA State opener at Dutchman on April 5th and hope some more seat time will get me going for the middle part of the Season and the hot summer months that are not far off. If ya ever see me around feel free to say hi, I always like meeting people from the forums. For now just some cleanup and practice riding for the next 2 weeks. Ill see everyone at Dutchmen!
Till next time, just go have fun and the Speed will follow!
BJ Naugle
RaptorRacer45
With Spring just arriving and the month of March winding down it was time for Round #3 of the 2009 GNCC Series at the Steele Creek camp ground in Morganton, NC. After my 2nd place finish in Florida 3 weeks ago I was looking forward to getting back out there and seeing what could happen in the triditional woods of the series. I loaded up my "new" Race transport vehicle and trailer and set out with ECOR29 for a nice 7 hr trip from PA to NC. The Trip went smoothly as we arrived about 7:15pm and set up camp along with Steve and John Cunningham. Some Fireside chat and it was time for bed about 10:30pm.
After a cold night in the Cunningham trailer (which was better than a tent) the sun finally peaked over the Blue Ridge mountains and my mind quickly started to ignore the 40 degree temps and prepare for the day ahead. Josh Helm and Eric Stahl arrived at our pit early in the morning after sleeping in there truck all night. I wasnt sure how the track conditions were gonna be so i prepped for alittle bit of mud and then headed for registration and Tech. The AM race was ready for action right about 10 am and confident my equipment was good to go I was eager to get going. A handfull of handshakes, "Good Lucks" and The National Anthem. The rows started taking off 1 by 1 and heading into the woods.
I was in Row #10 for this event in the 20+ class while Chris Holtry (ECOR29) was ready to go for his 1st Race of the 2009 Season. When the green flag flew on the 16-19 class Chris's YFZ fired up quickly and he found himself solidly in the top 10 after the 1st turn, I later learned he got punted by another rider (not gonna mention names) outta turn 3 and spun around losing alot of ground. It was then time for me to get to work. "10 Seconds!" was called and my eyes were locked on the grean flag of Ricky Towery...After a count to 11 i clicked my key and timed my start great with my EFI system and fired off the line near the front. I did alittle tire rubbing and shuffled around through the 1st few turns and as we got to the entrance of the woods i followed 2 riders on a new line. Unfourtunaly there was a mudhole at the bottom and 1 rider had already gotten stuck in it. I quickly clicked into reverse and took off back on the main line but now near the back of my class, which im pretty fimiliar with on the starts anyway. With an approx. 10.5 mile lap I just settled into my normal rythem and prepared to slowly make my way to the front. Steele Creek is known for some great hillclimbs and I used the power i had to make some nice passes on them early in the race and about the 6.5 mile marker there was a decent sized bottleneck of about 20-30 riders on the 1 hill. I saw another trail around it and as i crested the top of the hill the bottleneck had broken and i funneled in right with alot of riders from other classes and we were all bunched up again. I made it incident free to the completetion of lap #1 currently sitting in 7th. The Sun had finally cleared the clouds as the temps started to rise. My hands were numb from the cold but my body felt good and was ready to start climbing higher. Ive noticed more people every race cheering me on and I cant thank them enough, it just gives me that little more motivation to push myself when theres fans along the track cheering...so thank you! I Plunged into the creek again on Lap #2 and tried my best to stay dry. Luckly this was about the only muddy section of the track and i was thankful for that. As Lap #2 came to a close I had gained 1 spot upto 6th and still running strong. I caught a glimpse of Chris at about the 2 mile marker and set my goal to catch up and and run with him for alittle. I caught him and made the pass around the creekbed but he would take it back shortly after I i made my 1st Pitstop of the day for a Milk jug of Fuel (Yeah No more runnin outta gas!) and a quick gulp of Gatorade. About 15 secs and i was gone. I managed to catch Chris again at the infamous hillclimb at the 6.5 mile marker when he got stuck on a Log. I took the line to the right once again and made the pass. He would get free and continue never more than a few mins behind me. I checked in at the end of lap 3 sliding back 1 spot to 7th and with 2 laps to go I knew now was the time to make some stuff happen. A new line had opened up through the creek and the rider in front of me was alittle eager to get through the water and decided to peg it and roost the crap outta me through that section. Luckly my pit was only about another half mile from there so a quick stop for fresh goggles and I was good to go. The lappers were slowly starting to fade back and tire out so making passes became alittle easyer at this point. The kid who owns my old 2001 Raptor Raced this weekend and i almost watched him roll off the mountain after catching a tree. He would be fine and continue on. I took the white flag still solidly in 7th and set out for a final 10.5 miles to finish this 1 off. My thumb had started to tense up but with temps now up around 60 my hands finally thawed out and I knew a top 5 wasnt outta reach yet. As the miles clicked by My Fuel light finally made an appearence about the 5 mile marker. Knowing I could go about 9 miles after the light comes on I wasnt worried a bit. I made my way around to about the 9 mile marker before i decided to collect a tree on a tight corner. A few choice words to myself and i backed up and continued on only getting passed by 1 rider in the mishap. The Quad was fine as i came outta the woods 1 final time to the last few feild corners. With no pressure I flat traacked my way to the scroing Tent and checked in 6th in class and 66th overall. Sure it wasnt a Top 5 but another solid run was enough to make me smile and add some valuable points to my name. I made it back to the Truck and was ready to relax a bit before the Afternoon event got underway. Chris would make it back to the Truck a few minutes after me. He managed to score his best GNCC finish and 1st career National top 10 finishing 9th in the 16-19 class and 85th overall, and after having 2 wild wrecks he was happy but beat up after this 1. Eric returned only about a minute after Chris as he captured 9th in the 20+ class and added a few more points towards his year end tally. We all had our work finished now it was time for the Big boys of the PM race to begin there day.
Steve Cunningham would have a solid run till back pain would take over, he managed to salvage 22nd in the XC2 Pro Am class. Josh Helm would have the most dissapointing day after only 1 lap he got swamped in a bad mud section and was forced to call it a day finishing 27th in College B. Hometown Favorite Bryan Cook would go onto win the Pro Class and the Overall with Adam Mcgill and Bill Ballance (He's Back!) rounding out the top 3.
After another great GNCC weekend we packed up and hit the Highway for the trip back home to PA. Sadly im not made of money so my next GNCC will have to wait till Somerset but from then on Im planning on making 9 total and finally earning a National Number! Ill be at the PA State opener at Dutchman on April 5th and hope some more seat time will get me going for the middle part of the Season and the hot summer months that are not far off. If ya ever see me around feel free to say hi, I always like meeting people from the forums. For now just some cleanup and practice riding for the next 2 weeks. Ill see everyone at Dutchmen!
Till next time, just go have fun and the Speed will follow!
BJ Naugle
RaptorRacer45