On The Fast-Trak 1-26-02

Year 4, Issue 1
by John Pellan
jpellan@atvscene.com

GNCC Banquet
Choices choices. Cruise to St. Louis for the tip off of Clear Channel Entertainment’s Pro Quad series, or head east to check out the ’01 GNCC banquet in Morgantown, WV. I’ve been to a ton of Pro Quad and Mickey Thompson events, so actually the choice wasn’t too hard to make. Although I’ve raced a few GNCC events in my time, including the legendary Blackwater back in ’86, I never attended a GNCC banquet. With that, my choice was made. A quick e mail to my buddy Bryce Tischer at Wiseco (which is only about 15 minutes from me) and the trip to the Morgantown Ramada Inn was set. Everyone knows we need to support those who support us, especially GNCC guys and gals. Since Wiseco is the longest running company to sponsor the series, they definitely get a lot of love from fellow GNCCers. I was in great hands.

Photo by: Mike Nichols Bill Ballance excepted the pro class title, a championship ring, the Rider of the Year Award and a thousand dollar tip from Racer Productions.Top ten finishers in every class got personalized plaques along with a bunch of contingency prizes. Bill Ballance was awarded a gold championship ring with his picture engraved on it for his second GNCC pro championship. He also took home the GNCC Rider of the Year Award. Other special awards went to Chad Duvall, Chris Borich (Most Improved Rider of the Year), the Travalena crew (Rough and Ready Pit Crew) and Heidi Landon (Sportsmanship Award). William Yokley won the “Swamp Award” for his role in testing mud puddle depths for the pro class. Scott Cupp’s luck in Racer Production’s reverse raffle boards was incredible. He won two out of four boards and walked away with almost $1,500 – this is unheard of! I rubbed his head for luck on my way out.

It was a fun night to say the least. I think the cross country scene is much more easy going and laid back than the GNC scene. The banquet fit perfect with the GNCC way of things. It’s a kick back, relax, be yourself kind of celebration. What a great bunch of people! All in all, this whole sport, whether it be GNCC, GNC, SCORE desert racing – whatever, has the same brotherly blood flowing through our veins, this kind of camaraderie really makes banquets fun.

 

Last year, Cherokee Indian, Brock Parker won himself the GNCC Stock Utility title on a Yamaha Kodiak. Now he’s done it again on a bone stock Kawasaki Prarie. For 2002 he is wanting to form an all-out race team to further wreak havoc on the GNCC utility class. The team is also ready to claim its stake on the ’02 Baja 1000 (along with a few other key events along the way).

His success has caught the eye of some interesting people to say the least. The Cherokee Nation Tribal Council has vowed to help the full blood Cherokee youngster. The council put a good word in for Brock and his team with the powers that be at O’Hara’s Gambling Casinos, (which is owned by the Cherokee Nation). They have recently approved Brock’s racing resume and allotted $50,000 to help the team follow their dreams. There is a catch however. The Cherokee Nation and O’Hara’s Casinos state that they will need to see exposure in return for their investment. They’re asking Brock to find involvement from other sponsoring organizations. He’s also been instructed to find another Cherokee Indian to race on the team before they can cash the check. Hold up there Chief Ride Em’ Quad, before you run out and buy face paint and that Indian feathered headband to claim that you have Cherokee blood in you — know that they will indeed check into your roots. If you’ve got an idea or means to help Brock and his potentially well backed team, shoot him an e mail at 10bearsoutfitters@aol.com

GNC TV coverage news moving at a snail’s pace
Nothing new to report really. GNC television news is still stagnant. The ATVA is negotiating with a few production companies, one being delivered from Wes Miller at H-Bomb Films. No official announcements yet though. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we hear something.

Rem-N-S Productions
Speaking of ATVing on television. There’s another plan in the works. PA’s Rem-N-S Productions is producing a a half hour show that will highlight many of the big events in the sport of ATV racing and recreation. Rem-N-S Productions’ Rick Frisco says the show is coming together very nicely. While the show is still in the programming mode, Frisco says he has some serious interest to air it from a few different networks. Rem-N-S also makes the news with their new website. Check it out www.remnsproductions.com

More GNCC News – with host, Nate Gogno…
Well, GNCCers, we only have to wait about a month before the opening GNCC
round in Okeechobee, FL. The quad race is on Monday, March 4 then round two a few short days after in Macon, GA.

This year should be very interesting to say the least. Bill Ballance keeps his number one plate from last year, but it won’t be on the front of Bill’s familiar 250R. He’ll be riding with help from Yoshimura, Roll Design, LRD and American Suzuki on their new QuadSport Z400. Yes you’re reading this correctly. Suzuki is actually going to help out a racer. Question is, will he be able to keep up this year on a new and unproven race quad? Ballance is pretty positive that he can win on the machine. Like I said it will be an interesting year. Since 1984 when Ted Trey won the GNCC pro title, it has been nothing but Hondas winning the pro class championships.

Cannondale and Nac’s Racing have formed a team this year to chase points in the GNCC series. GNCC number 8, Kim Kuhnle and Tyson Thomas are the team’s riders. Chris Borich is sticking with the Laeger 250R, although he is riding for East Coast ATV this year, rather than Team Pompton.

Production Classes
As most of you know, the whole ATV Racing industry is so untypical to normal motorsports’ sponsorship programs. Most ATV aftermarket companies cant seem to keep up with the demand for their products from the thousands of riders wanting it. Many of these companies feel that they don’t have to sponsor riders at all. Hell, most don’t even have the time to look over a rider’s resume, let alone ink a free product deal for him. Some may genuinely want to hook up riders but can’t catch up with customer orders as it is. Add in missing involvement from outside the industry and the lack of support from most OEMs, and you have to ask, how in the world is a rider supposed to try his hand at a national number on the 2002 race scene?

Great question. It’s not easy to answer. I think a part of the answer might be found in Racer Productions and Fast-Trak Promo’s introduction of production ATV classes. These class additions might eliminate the rider’s need for high priced aftermarket products like frames and built to the hilt 250R motors in the need to keep up with the competition. The Racer Production’s GNCC version of the production class falls under the pro ranks, while Fast-Trak delivers the class in an A and B level. The ATVA is watching to see what kind of interest develops. If it goes like they think it will, both the pro and the amateur production class will become a national level classes in the GNC series for 2003.

We’ve yet to get the official details on the new class from Racer Productions. We’ve only talked it over in a few telephone conversations. It will be introduced officially very soon.

I’m hoping that they will offer the new class the same kind of purse or possibly combine the two pro class purses. As for the start, I would like to see both pro classes start with the same wave of the flag. If there wasn’t enough room for both pro classes to start in one long row, then I would recommend an alternating front row at each round. One round would have the pro productions start in front of the pro class and the next round would switch the productions behind the pro class.

The key objective, in my opinion, should be to allow for the most interesting racing possible for fans and media alike. This starting procedure will do just that. Down the road, after hearing about these heated battles between riders competing on ATVs that are currently available, I would think a few manufacturers would jump at the opportunity to field teams and support the series. I really think the Cannondale and Raptor can run up front and even win a few overalls this year, but it will be pretty difficult if the pro production class has to wait at the start line and then try to catch up.

As for the Fast-Trak Fourstroke Production class at our two GNC TTs, we’re getting some good response for quality prizes to reward the A and B level production thumper riders. If you’ve got a four-stroke ATV that has the OEM frame within it, you might think about riding this class. The top five will receive some valuable prizes like engine kits, A-arms, stems, pipes and with help from an OEM – we would love to offer the winner a new ATV. We’ll announce the exact available contingency shortly. Feel free to shoot us an e mail with your thoughts on the production class subject. And if you know of a company that might like to get involved in this kind of program tell them to give us a call, we can offer them some great exposure in return.

Huevos 4 DVD
The Huevos 4 DVD absolutely Rocks! DVD players are on sale for under $100 now, so with all the bonus stuff on the H4 DVD, you might want to select it rather than the VHS version. Bonus stuff on the disc includes some interesting behind the scenes footage and extra eatin $#@* crashes. There’s exclusive interviews with Keith Little, Dana Creech, Greg Little, Joe Byrd and Tavis Cain. Also Director Wes Miller explains it all in a bonus feature commentary. It’s a must see for you extreme ATV enthusiasts. www.hbombfilms.com

ATV Scene.com – Steppin’ Up
Your favorite web site will get a much needed face lift in a few short weeks. The new site still sits on the same URL address and has some of your favorite columns, but other than that it will be completely fresh, new and innovative. Look for many new user friendly features and some creative new surprises. This year we’ve got the tools in place to keep you posted with timely race reports and results as well. All in all, we’re steppin’ up to say the least.

ATV Scene.com Race Team
Our new race team was started with the sole purpose of winning the Baja 1000 this November. The team consists of yours truly, John Natalie (Houtzdale, PA), Keith Little (Russellville, AL), Kory Ellis (Murrieta, CA), Nick Nelson (Chino, CA), Jason Greenhaw (Bakersfield, CA) and Poncho Castro (Resarido, Mex). Plans to add 2000 GNC Champion, Travis Spader are also in the works. We’ll be riding an Aren’s Sparks Racing 330R in the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. Parts of the team will compete in other events in 2002 as well, including the Baja 250, Baja 500, 12 Hours of ATV America, the GNC series and possible the entire GNCC series.

ATV Scene.com – Official website of the Grand Nationals
We’ve just finalized sponsorship of the 2002 ATVA Maxxis Tires Grand National Championship series. ATV Scene will continue its role as the official website of the GNCs.

ATV Scene.com – Track-side Hospitality
ATV Scene will make its presents known at major events throughout the year. This year we’re sporting a fully customized 20 foot United Expressline trailer, complete with all the toys to better display what the site and our events are all about. Check us out at the GNC, GNCC and other big name events this summer. Be sure to stop by, say hi and grab a few ATV Scene stickers.

SHIFT focuses on the ATV scene
Agreements were just made with SHIFT to position the clothing company as a key player in ATV racing. SHIFT will help us in our goal of taking ATV racing to a higher level. Plan on seeing and hearing the SHIFT name at Fast-Trak events and here on ATV Scene. While most clothing companies continue to shovel money into the bike scene, SHIFT sees the ATVer as an equal! What a refreshing change! You know the drill, support those who support us! So get with the SCENE – lose that old apparel and SHIFT into a whole new look. www.shiftmx.com

’02 New Year’s Resolutions
To go to more ATV races! — Bryce Tischer, Wiseco Piston.

Stay in better contact with John Pellan. — Terry Beal, Yamaha Motor Corp.

Damn the torpedoes – let’s keep going faster! — Scott Montgomery, Cannondale Corp.

My only new year’s resolution is to simply walk on two feet and completely recover from my knee surgery. — Mona DeShong, ATV Scene.com

We’ll, I succeeded with half of last year’s New Year’s resolution. My wife Michelle and I are expecting our first child in May! Now for 2002, racing has to make the list again! Oh, and to avoid buffet lines! — Jerrod Kelley, ATV Sport Magazine

My resolution for 2002 is to not worry and to be happy. If that doesn’t work, I guess, Prozac is always an option :) — Debi Bartosek

To pull off the superman and get Huevos 5 back to Hawaii. — Kelly Chang, H4 video star.

To find a job that works out with my racing schedule, practice more, win a MX and/or TT championship and not crash myself or anybody else while doing so. — Angela Moore GNC Women’s Champion

Quit drinking, finish in the top seven in the motocross series, and respect my parents more. — Jimmy Elza ’02 GNC Pro #14

I’ll wait until the end of the year to have an opinion about the 2002 ATV race season – the split series, rule changes, all the NEW stuff but work hard in the meantime to make sure it’s yet another great year of racing action in our magazines. — Carey Bohn, Group Publisher, Ehlert Publishing.

To finish in the top five again this season in the GNC MX series in the Women’s
class. — Brook Perry, JPMX Racing

To train hard and represent myself and my sponsors to the best of my ability —
Johny Hale, ’02 GNC #19

I Mom, being of not even remotely sound mind, do intend to extend my feeble
attempts at journalism to include a write up of every class at the GNC MX
series at least once during the season. I will try to profile one new class at every race for Mom’s Column, as well as the classes that I am drawn to (that would be the class where I am standing on the sideline with a severe case of hyperventilation – when my kid is out there). — Teresa Creech AKA Mom

Too many to list. To be short, I want to deliver the most interesting, fun and biggest nationals on the circuit, offer more timely updates on ATV Scene and successfully promote what we feel will quickly become the Indy 500 of ATV Racing – the 12 Hours of ATV America in Ft. Dodge, IA on Oct. 12, 2002. Plus I want to win the Baja 1000 this year. Oh yeah, and to be less trusting of people. — John Pellan, President, Fast-Trak Promo Inc.

Supercross Crossover Challenge
Below is a list of riders that competed in the Supercross Crossover Challenge at round one of the EA Sports Supercross series in Anaheim, CA. There was no ATVers on the list. What gives, Clear Channel? I think it would have been nice if they would have found a professional racer to represent the sport of ATV racing, after all there was representation from paint ball players – c-mon! My money would have been on Doug Gust or possibly Travis Spader for the win.

1. Victor Sheldon, jet skiing
2. Dan LeGiere, actor, Temptation Island
3. Brian Lopes, mountain biking
4. Robbie Van Winkle, musician
5. Adam Booth, editor, BMX Plus
6. Robbie Miranda, BMX
7. Aaron Vincent, snow boarding
8. Ross Robinson, music producer
9. Aaron Cooke, BMX
10. Josh Blackman, Anaheim Police
11. Bobby B, musician, Kotton Mouth Kings
12. Mark Osborne, NHRA
13. Mark Ellis, SWAT Team
14. Larry Waterhouse, Anaheim Fire Department
15. D-Loc, musician, Kotton Mouth Kings
16. Cobe Mikicich, wake boarding
17. Jason Ellis, skateboarding/ESPN
18. Jordan Burns, musician, Strung Out
19. Salman Agah, skate boarding
20. Scott Tinsley, triathlete
21. Cameron Evans, editor Popular Hot Rodding
22. Steve Caballero, skateboarding
23. Tex Davenport, snow boarding
24. Rocky Cagnoni, paint ball

 

ATV-Industry Magazine launch. Win free prizes!
Motorcycle Industry magazine, a powersports industry publication, is expanding its coverage by introducing ATV-Industry magazine in February, the first trade publication dedicated solely to ATVs. While not a consumer publication, ATV enthusiasts can still benefit greatly by visiting the magazine’s new web site, www.atv-industry.com  Readers can win prizes each month by participating in surveys. We’re told that filling out a survey typically will take five minutes or less, and enters the participant in a drawing where he or she can win ATV accessories and/or cash prizes. While there, check out their previews of new ATV products and information on happenings in the industry.

Jim Pinkston lands a Tucker Rocky position
Speaking of industry news GNCC regular, ’02 GNCC Vet #7 and all around great guy, Jim Pinkston was recently hired as a Tucker Rocky Distributor Rep. Jim has been a excellent spokes person for the GNCC series and ATV racing as a whole for many years. He’ll represent Tucker Rocky well.

The AMA’s newly elected Directors
Possible bad news for ATVers and the ATVA. The AMA has officially named the new board of directors. Diehard ATVers, Ellis Robertson, the former Southwest Trustee and Carl Reynolds, the former Southeast Trustee are no longer on the board. They were instrumental in establishing the ATVA and fighting for equal ATV treatment within the AMA. The AMA board of directors consists of 12 members. The three new directors are Jeff Nash, who will represent the South Central region. Kevin Schwantz (Southeast). John Ulrich (Southwest).

Arctic Cat
Expect a hot new sport quad from Arctic Cat very soon. Rumor has it that they’ll introduce a new pure performance quad in a few months. Arctic Cat has used Suzuki powered motors in their tank-like ATVs in the past, so they might have worked out a deal to utilize a Suzuki DR400 in this new rumored quad. Only time will tell if we’ll see this new performer on a racetrack or plowing the fields at warp speed.

E Mail of the Week
This e mail came from Todd Macke, who suffers from Cerebral Palsy but doesn’t let it stop him from doing his favorite thing in the world – racing ATVs. He’s got an interesting idea that could gain a ton of media exposure. Anyone out there want to help him out with this?

Dear ATV Scene,
I was hoping to get your opinion on an idea I have and possibly help me with some contacts to make it happen.

I want to ride an ATV from Illinois to Colorado and then race the legendary Pikes Peek event – then ride it back to Illinois. The reason would be to raise awareness and show that people with disabilities can ride ATVs and climb mountains. I would like to see if one of the factories would be willing to donate a temporary ATV for this event and let me set it up to be street legal. It wouldn’t necessarily be how quick I ride out to Colorado, so I could stop for media promotions along the way.

I’m thinking about doing this maybe June or July. I know this would take a lot of effort and realize an OEM might not be very receptive to loaning an ATV for on-road use due to legal reasons.

I’m still open for the above, but have some other ideas in mind if this wouldn’t be workable. One is to solely race the Baja 500. If I can complete the physically demanding Baja 500 in the allotted time, it would be a major achievement. I will need sponsorships to help with the necessary travel expenses and race equipment such as tires, fuel, lighting, gas tank, etc. The other idea is to race Pikes Peak (but drive out there in an automobile). I would need someone out there to sponsor me and assure proper setup and jetting. Can you help with making any of this happen?

‘Holeshot Todd’
mxquad@hotmail.com

Quotes of the Week
“I remember watching this guy race the pee wee class” — Rita Coombs to Moto Tees’ John Ayers on his many years in the sport.

“Yeah, well I remember when we used to gather around to watch you bend over” — John Ayers response to Rita.

“Yeah I’m happy with this season. I remember watching Ted Trey and Tom Tokay do it up in the pro class. I used to think they were like God. Now hear I am following in their footsteps and ridding at their level. I’m really thankful for this opportunity. I’m having a blast with it” — William Yokley on his racing career achievements.

“Well you’ve got to ride a lot, work hard, wrench on everything, sell yourself on and off the track, but most importantly never forget to be the best person you can possibly be at all times, with that said I think the GNCC series is represented well” — Bill Ballance.

“Once we got the word out about the ATVA, the manufacturers did start talking with us about the future of the ATVA and OEM involvement in it. Their involvement might be soon than later” — Doug Morris.

“If there was a lifetime ATV Sport Award, my vote is for Tony Kellner” — John Ayers

“The best! ATV Off Road Fury is the undisputed champ. They may not be motocross bikes, but you can’t ignore that this is the best video game made” — Motocross Action Magazine on PlayStation 2’s ATV Off Road Fury.
Pix of the Week

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