GNCC: For the Love of the Sport

People who are passionate about playing sports ultimately will say that their involvement in sports whether it's baseball, football, tennis, basketball, or racing is "For the love of the sport." You might say it was for the love of the sport of motocross and cross country motorcycle and ATV racing that was the seed for the creation of the Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) organization. Dave Coomds and his wife Rita started the GNCC in the late 1970s. Today the GNCC holds 13 races a year with as many as 68 classes of racers including Pro, Amateur, and Youth categories in the ATV division. According to Jason Weigandt, public relations manager of the GNCC, each race attracts an average of about 1,000 participants.

What the GNCC Does
Just before the GNCC was founded there was one group of off-road races that were not part of a series during the late 1970s, explained Weigandt. These races were 100 miles long and they would usually have the name of the race and t hen the reference "100." The most famous set of these races was the Blackwater 100 which is raced in West Virginia near the Blackwater falls. "Once they had a few events together, they started calling it the 100 miler series," continued Weigandt. "In the early 1980s the races were cut under 100 miles because the events were so grueling. They started calling it the GNCC Series."

The GNCC makes races happen. "We decide where they are going to be held, what the track is going to be like, what classes there will be, the rules, how much to charge to compete, and getting the word out," said Weigandt. "Basically, we oversee suggestions from the racers. A lot of the evolution of the series is having an open ear and listening to racers who tell us what they want. In the early days of the sport, there was no one there who knew what the best way was to run the sport. The GNCC stepped in and listened to the racers to fill that void."

Moreover, the GNCC has been influential in getting bike and ATV racing on television. The show on ATV racing is on the Outdoor Life Network twice a week --
3 p.m. eastern time on Saturdays and 3 p.m. eastern time on Wednesdays. "We wanted to get woods racing and ATV and off road racing on TV," explained Weigandt. "That is not an easy task. But, because of Suzuki, we have been able to buy time and make it happen." 2006 marks the second year that racing has been on television in the format that is being used. However, there has been exposure on television since 2001.

The group receives heavy manufacturer support. The title sponsor of the series is Suzuki. However, other companies are involved. "They sponsor both sides of it," said Weigandt. "They sponsor the bike and ATV racers as well as the series. They have contingency programs which any racer on that brand can collect from. For example, if a racer in an amateur class finishes fifth in a race, that may be worth a $50 prize. The racer can go out and get parts for his ATV or bike with the value of $50 at a local dealer of the manufacturer who sponsors him. On the very top of the pro class, those guys are paid by the manufacturers. Beyond that there is the equipment itself. There are a lot of people who ride the woods. So a lot of equipment the manufacturers make is built for this type of racer. So you will see a lot of machines being released by manufacturers whose reason for being is to race in this series. One bike company actually started making a new line of bikes called the XE line specifically for cross country.

"If you want to race most of the performance ATVs out there in a motocross, you have to put on wider axles, wider A-arms, take the lights off, put on smaller tires and things like that," continued Weigandt. "For cross country you can race the performance ATVs as they are. Manufacturers have definitely kept that in mind when they make their ATVs."

GNCC also sets up race schedules. The races are sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). "They sanction almost every motorcycle race in the country whether it is dirt bike racing or ATV or street bike racing," added Weigandt. The schedule is based on the AMA schedule and on weather. The racing series starts in the southeast where the weather is warm enough to race in the Spring time. "We start in Florida and Georgia in the beginning of March and work our way toward the northeast where we run races in the Summer and Fall when it is warm enough to race." No races are held in the west. "The furthest west we've been is Texas and Missouri," said Weigandt. One reason it is restricted to the east is terrain. "Once you start going out west, there is more desert. That's not the type of courses we build. The courses we build are usually trails and trees and things like that. It is hard to keep the racing conditions consistent with the different terrain as you go out west."

Series that are held in the west are the WORC, Best in the Desert, and others. According to Weigandt, racers go back and forth to participate in series in the west as well as the GNCC series races in the east. "Our series gets the most exposure in magazines and television. It's where everyone wants to go to prove themselves. So there are a lot of racers from the west who come to race in our series. People consider the winner of the GNCC is the top rider."

The Nuts and Bolts
Anyone can participate in a GNCC race. "We have a class for anybody," said Weigandt. "We have a class called First Year Racers for people who have never raced before. And our classes go all the way up to pro. We also have age divisions including Youth Racing for kids as young as 6 years old. And a super senior class for racers 50 and over.

"We have special guidelines for the 6 year old racers," continued Weigandt.

"The guidelines dictate how big the machines the 6 year olds ride can be and that's based on an agreement that the manufacturers and the AMA came up with together. We work under that agreement. So 6 year olds up to 11 year olds have to race 70. Twelve to 15 year olds race a 90. You can't race a full size ATV until you are 16 years old."

Weigandt also pointed out that the Youth racing courses are a lot smaller than the courses for the older riders -- about one-third to one half the size of a regular course. And a lot of the real tough spots found on a regular course are left out of the Youth course. In addition, the Youth races run about 45 minutes. The adult races go for two hours. And, the Youth course is laid out so that it is all in sight of the parents who are watching the event. The course for older racers are through wooded area and the riders can be out of sight for 10 to 15 minutes.

The Youth Series was added last year because people asked for it, said Weigandt. He noted that a lot of the kids who race have gained experience in local series and races before coming to a GNCC race. "So very rarely are there any kids who have never raced before participating in a GNCC event," he said.

Safety is a major concern for the GNCC. The group works under the umbrella of the AMA and uses safety guidelines endorsed by the AMA. And equipment rules mandate that riders wear helmets, long sleeve shirts, long pants, goggles and gloves.

The rules are based on the AMA rulebook which is consistent with other racing series rules. They are also based on feedback from the racers. "At the end of each year we have a banquet and meeting where we give out trophies," said Weigandt. "In the meeting we discuss rule revisions. We also get feedback from sponsors. Someone suggests a revision, we talk about it, post the suggestions on our website, get feedback from sponsors and racers and anyone else who is concerned and then we discuss them in the meeting. It is at the meeting that we actually make the revisions a part of the rules. The revised rules are then posted on our website long before the first race in March so everyone is familiar with them before they participate in a race."

The Races
GNCC sets the location for the races. Weigandt volunteered that this task is harder than it may seem. "We have to find a location that has a combination of woods to race in and open field so people can park their cars, motor homes and trailers. We usually find places through word of mouth. People who have raced in our series know what we are looking for and suggest locations. We also have a track crew that lays out the course who look for locations. They have been building courses for so long they know what is needed. Rarely do we use open riding areas. The key is to have trails no one has raced on before so no one has an advantage. We mostly use private property and pay the owner to use the land." In addition, ski resorts have been used as sites. "We can attract about 1,000 racers and about 3,000 spectators to a resort at a time when they don't get many guests," pointed out Weigandt.

The GNCC knows a year in advance where their races will be held. The track crew visits the site about a month before the race to determine how to construct the course and then returns the Tuesday before the weekend the race is held to build the course. The track is similar for each race. It is about 10 to 12 miles long with about the same amount of woods and open section. There are hills to present a challenge for the racers but these hills are not too steep so that amateurs can make it over them. "The crew finds a balance and they are able to achieve that balance because of their experience building courses," said Weigandt. The GNCC announces its race schedule in November for the Series that starts in March.

Contestants are expected to pay a fee of $40 to race and they get to race for two hours. Spectators who come to see the races pay a fee of $12 to $15.

National vendors also exhibit at the events. It gives them an opportunity to show their wares and to interact with the racers to find out about the equipment they are riding and what improvements or enhancements should be made.

It is obvious that the existence of the GNCC has influenced the construction and sale of ATVs in the United States. It has opened up worldwide knowledge of a vehicle through television exposure and assistance in the expansion of a sport that hardly existed 30 or so years ago but now influences what manufacturers and vendors offer to the market. Not bad for a group started by a husband and wife and is still family run with about a dozen people who do it for the love of the sport.

GNCC 2006 REMAINING SCHEDULE
Round 9 June 24 & 25
Parts Unlimited Wisp GNCC
Location: Wisp Resort in McHenry, MD

Round 10, Sept. 9 & 10
Yadkin Valley Stomp GNCC
Location: Yadkinville, NC

Round 11 Sept. 23 & 24
The Moose Unadilla GNCC
Location: Unadilla Valley Sports Center in New Berlin, NY

Round 12, October 7 & 8
The FMF Power Line Park GNCC
Location: St. Clairsville, OH

Round 13, October 21 & 22
The Klotz Ironman GNCC
Location: Crawfordsville, Indiana