Jason Weigandt from GNCC gave me a call today to talk about my win and put it on the website for the Tuesday Toolbox. Head on over to www.gnccracing.com to check it out!

This week will definitely go down as one of the biggest so far in my life. I graduated high school, which will let me now focus 100% of my time on my racing. For the past two years I’ve been going to real school, not homeschool, and we all know what a significant chunk of time school and homework can take out of your day. On top of graduation, I had probably the biggest achievement of my racing career so far—winning the XC2 Pro Lites class at the Sparta, KY GNCC!

The start of the race for me was pretty lousy. I didn’t get a very good jump and was mid-pack heading into the woods. With a few miles of virgin trail ahead of me I knew it was going to be tough to work my way through the very fast XC2 pack. By the end of the first lap, I had moved my way into 4th but was nearly a minute behind the leader, Dustin Gibson.

I hooked up with my buddy Andrew Matusek and we rode together for a couple of laps. I was feeling really smooth, and not pushing too hard. I made my way around Andrew and got the pit board from my mechanic Hollywood telling me I was 40 seconds down. I kept riding well and the next lap I was 42 seconds down! At that point I wasn’t too sure if it was going to be my day! Somehow though, I slowly began to start reeling Dustin in, and was able to get past him.

With 2 laps to go I really put my head down and charged. I rode my fastest lap on lap 5, and my 2nd fastest lap on the last lap (lap 6). I think this is a great testament to the training program that Steve Hatch has created for me. Mentally I felt really tough, and once I was in the lead I knew that the race was mine to win.

As I rounded the final few turns before the finish, I finally took a look back and realized I was all by myself. My last lap charge was too much for Dustin and I ended up winning by 1 minute and 2 seconds. What an awesome feeling!

Photos by Hoop

With it raining nearly everyday the week prior to the 2008 John Penton GNCC in Millfield, OH we headed to the track prepared for some seriously muddy conditions. It started raining on Saturday night and only quit a few brief times on Sunday meaning some of the wettest and muddiest conditions in GNCC history. My mechanic Hollywood had my bike prepped for the mud with big old elephant ear covers on my  barkbusters and strategically placed pieces of foam to prevent mud from getting packed in. Mud races are all about your mentality and I headed to the start ready to get muddy and most of all have a good time.

The race started out awesome as I pulled the holeshot which got me two awesome things: clear vision and $100 from Thumpertalk.com! Unfortunately the start was the highlight of my race. I slipped back to 4th place on the first lap behind Josh Weisenfels, Thad DuVall, and motocrosser Kevin Hoge. It was really a survival race with down riders everywhere, and the course becoming nearly 200ft wide at times with lines going everywhere. It was one of those races where you don’t know where you are, where anyone else is, or what’s really going on. When it was all said and done I ended up 7th in the XC2 class and 17th overall. It definitely wasn’t the finish I had hoped for with such a great start, but in mud races anything can happen and I am just happy to have escaped healthy and with some points. 

2008 John Penton GNCC XC2 Class Results
1. Thad DuVall
2. Scott Watkins
3. Ryan Echols
4. Eric Bailey
5. Josh Weisenfels
6. Dustin Gibson
7. Kailub Russell
8. Kevin Hoge
9. Johnny Barber
10. John Bennett

All photos by Jason Hooper.

Results:
1    Justin Williamson
2    Jason Raines
3    Cory Buttrick