Quick Fill #27: This week at the GNCC

Welcome to Quick Fill.

It’s time for GNCC Racing again, and this weekend we’ll be back at Sunday Creek Raceway, this time for the Burr Oak GNCC. Now, we know not everyone is a fan of double events at the same venue in one season, but this is a far cry from The John Penton earlier this year. More on that later. But first, let’s cover a few more interesting tidbits before we talk a bit about the track and then wrap up another edition of Quick Fill.

First, if you’re not thinking of coming this weekend, then get out and hit the track. Even if you’re not racing, the races can be some of the most intense racing we’ve seen in a long time. Walker Fowler and Brycen Neal are tied for the national ATV championship, and it’s a track where both riders have had their fair share of success. In addition to this, there are tons of other guys who are looking and able to play spoiler for these guys as well. All in all, this weekend’s quad racing could be nothing short of epic.

As far as bikes go, Jordan Ashburn may be in a pretty comfortable spot in the race for the GNCC National Championship, but there are a few guys looking to end this season on a high note, and while the field is riddled with injuries, there are a number of guys who who are still capable of winning races. Now the afternoon bike course will once again have a special section that could also shake things up. With that said, let’s talk a little bit about the track and what to expect in the woods.

When you take off from the start, you’ll start about half a mile on your knees. You’ll cover one mile fairly quickly and do a little zig zag at a mix of tight and medium speeds until the two mile mark. This look continues to three, but you’ll add a couple of short sections of the pitching field to contend with as well. On the triple, you’ll go through the pro pits and then across the road through fun sections of the course to the four-mile mark. You will then enter the woods again for a while before another short field section takes you back across the road and on a faster trail to the five mile mark.

Once you get past the five, you’ll find a slightly slower trail with some up and down sections that are very interesting all the way to the six mile mark. From there it opens up in several places and around 6.5 the 1PM bike splits off into the John Penton section. Now the Penton section is not included on the course map or the full mileage, but we have put in some special handwritten mile markers so you know where you are. For this race, the Penton section just might be the most technical ever. Our buddy Jeff Hupp has been working for weeks to get it all done, and this time he really outdid himself.

This will certainly be a Penton section you PM riders won’t soon forget. You will go across the road and over some single track to an additional hill climb of about three tenths of a mile into the Penton section. It’s a doozy, and if you don’t want to get into it, you can find an easier but much longer route to the right. Once you get to the top of the hill, there’s a long steep descent to the bottom and some more singletrack before you jump out onto the gas line.

You will follow the grassy track along the petrol line and finally find mile marker P1 (Penton 1). This takes you on a narrower trail full of ditch crossings, log crossings, switchbacks and more all the way to mile marker P2. After P2 there are some short but steep drops through some gullies and over a service road inside the Penton section. They are a little stiff, but I got through everything without much trouble.

This will take you to mile marker P3 and through even more single track before you find a really nice section of rock garden. Once you get out of the cliffs, there’s another singletrack and another steep descent to P4. From there you head back uphill and some more singletrack before returning to the main trail. This Penton section will add 4.4 miles to the PM bike race!

For everyone else, you will pass the entrance to the Penton section and continue on. For PM bikes, you return to the main trail just past where you left it. This will continue on an open trail until the seven mile mark before you drop into another narrower and more winding section. This will take you to a faster section until the eight mile mark, where you will descend back to the lower trail along the gravel road at the back of the property.

It zigzags back and forth a bit before heading uphill to the nine mile mark. The PM races split up and head down to the Monster Mile where you make your way back around a flat rock bike section, up a creek and a nice tough climb. From there, you’ll return to the AM loop and start on a slightly faster trail until the 10 mile mark. Shortly after ten, you’ll find the FMF Powerpoint, once again on the rise behind the concession stand.

From there you’ll be within sight of the finish, then drop back down into the narrower woods and work your way up to the 11 mile mark before popping out at the finish. Then just a half mile of woods and pitting on the track back to the starting line for a full lap at the Burr Oak GNCC. In total, that would be 11.1 miles for the PM quads and a whopping 15.5 miles for the PM bikes!

Fingers crossed that conditions stay nice and dry like they are now because things are very, very good in the woods. With that said, this will be it for this week’s Quick Fill issue. Have a great weekend and I’ll see you in Ohio!