2004 GNC Round #11 Southwick (Video Footage)

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The 11th National was held in Southwick, MA which is the only GNC National in the New England Area, so on my way up North, I traveled through New York City for the 1st time since September 11, 2001. As I listened to the radio, I heard late breaking news of New York City being the target of another attack and the security levels would be raised for the city and several other cities.

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I decided to visit the Statue of Liberty and see for myself how the New York Sky line has changed since that horrible day almost three years ago. I felt strange looking at New York City without the Twin Towers that I remembered as a child. Now, once again, America is under high alert with the anniversary quickly approaching.

The Statue of Liberty was opened yesterday for visitors to get a glimpse inside the huge statue after being closed for years for renovations, and I was glad to hear that they didn't postpone its public opening after the new alerts. We as Americans must continue living our lives and not stop enjoying our freedom because of Fear.

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I am Proud to be an American and hopefully one day "Alcada" won't be word heard everyday on the news.

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Later the Evening, I finally arrived in Southwick, MA. The only problem, I found was that there wasn't any signs to direct you to the track off the main road into town. I couldn't believe that there wasn't anything at all to direct people to the track that have never been there in the past.

Luckily, I found a person at a gas station to direct me to the track, and once I arrived. I found a very small sign for the track along the road at the end of a long lane that lead to the track behind the woods in the distance.

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The Southwick 338 MX track looked very similar to a European style MX course with mostly elevation changes and sweeping turns, but not many jumps at all. The track consist of sand and more sand. The tractors went out early and groomed the sand level and morning rain dampened the track, so we didn't have to worry about any dust.

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I must say that they crew at Southwick did a nice job of leveling out the track, but it sure didn't last long.

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After only a few practices sessions and a couple of Motos the track quickly became a washboard with some deep sand ruts. Many riders found themselves hung up in the ruts if they got off line any, and it became very difficult to pass because the track became one lined.

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The sand took it toll on engines as well. Several riders spent Saturday night replacing or fixing their engines after the 1st day of Motos.

Chad Lohr's Father had to fix a blown gasket on his YFZ before he could race on Sunday.

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Mark Baldwin had Tim Farr's 450R All cleaned up!

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In my walk around the pits, I saw this awesome three wheeler that was completely restored.