GNCC Series.. history

In the mid-1970s, enterprising motorcycle racing promoter Dave Coombs stumbled onto the small West Virginia town of Davis. Looking at the beautiful yet rugged terrain, "Big Dave" realized it would be the perfect spot to hold a motorcycle race. And best of all, it would be a tough one-an event only the strongest riders and machines could even finish. This was the way Big Dave liked it. He called the race the Blackwater 100-"Blackwater" for nearby Blackwater Falls, and "100" for the number of miles in the race.

Blackwater soon became legendary: "America's Toughest Race." As Dave's company, Racer Productions, grew, he and his wife, Rita, began holding additional 100-mile-long events, and the series became known as the Wiseco 100 Miler Series and then the Grand National Cross Country Series.

Three-wheeled ATVs were added to the program in 1983, and four-wheelers became popular a few years later. Instead of 100-mile races, which often lasted five hours, the events were pared down to two hours for ATVs and three for bikes. The ultra-tough races were cool, but it really cut back on the amount of people willing to come try it.

By then, the first stars of GNCC Racing had been born. "Fast" Eddie Lojak took control of the first bike GNCC title runs, with Ted Trey and Tom Tokay emerging as the first ATV stars. By the 1990s, GNCC Racing was known nationwide. Blackwater reigned as the toughest event, until the town of Davis shut the doors on the event in 1993. But by then the GNCC Series was going strong even without it. This was the era of the "Great Scotts"-Kentucky's Scott Summers and Ohio's Scott Plessinger-as well as "Fast" Freddy Andrews, an aggressive motocrosser-turned-woods racer. Meanwhile, Indiana's Bob Sloan and Pennsylvania's Chuck DeLullo battled for the four-wheeled title.

Summers became a hero to the whole off-road racing community, as his professionalism and public relations skills introduced the sport to a much larger audience. Summers became one of the first off-road racers in the U.S. to make a real living as a racer.

He wouldn't be the last. Team Suzuki brought its powerful factory team into the series, led by Rodney Smith, a former motocrosser who had won races all over the world. When Smith, a Californian riding on a California-based team, signed on with GNCC, it signaled the emergence of the GNCC Series as the nation's most prestigious off-road series.

Four-Wheeled Frenzy

Barry Hawk is the only racer to win a GNCC title in both ATV (7) and bike (1)

The ATV racing world was struggling at the time, though. A rash of safety concerns in the late 1980s had scared ATV manufacturers from the racing scene. Factory rides dried up, and Honda dropped the dominant TRX250R from its lineup in 1989. But the concerted efforts of the ATV aftermarket industry and a determined gang of racers kept the flame alive. Pennsylvania's Barry Hawk became the superstar of the sport, notching an amazing seven straight GNCC ATV Championships from 1993 through 1999. By then, the ATVs were made up almost entirely of aftermarket equipment, even though they looked just like the old Hondas.

Hawk's rise culminated in a series of battles with Sloan. Sloan was so tough that he would win ATV races on Saturday and then race the bike events on Sunday, lending credibility to his "Ironman" moniker. Hawk wanted to topple Sloan on an ATV, so he copied his style and started racing a bike on Sunday. It would lead him in an entirely new direction.

Sloan, meanwhile, had been diagnosed with a heart problem, but he kept on racing, true to his Ironman spirit. But one day his heart gave out in a hard-fought race to the finish. One of the series' greatest champions had passed. In his memory, the GNCC finale runs in Bob's home state of Indiana and is nicknamed The Ironman.

The Vision

Dave Coombs poured his heart and sweat and life into the series. It wasn't rare to see Dave lay out the course, run the riders' meeting, patrol the track, give a TV interview, guide photographers to prime spots, keep tabs on the pits and parking, and then go out and race a few laps himself!

The series lost Big Dave in 1998, leaving a major void in the sport he helped create. His family stepped up and continued to run the series, keeping true to Big Dave's vision. His son-in-law, Jeff Russell (JR), won the 1991 AMA National Enduro Championship; a few years later he began working side-by-side with Big Dave building the tracks. JR, as he is called, is today's GNCC Trail Boss.

At the turn of the millennium, changes were afoot in the series. Hawk had progressed so far on a bike that Yamaha offered him a full factory contract. The deal was too good to refuse, so he parked his ATV and a huge chase for his ATV title ensued. Kentucky's Bill Ballance claimed it, leading a Southern surge in the series. More races were being hosted in the South, with help from a variety of regional figures like Buren Hamrick, who runs the popular Mid-East Hare Scramble Series in the Carolinas and joined the GNCC crew to assist JR at the races.

The series was about to grow a whole lot more. In 1999, Australian off-road sensation Shane Watts ventured to the U.S. after an incredible run through the international enduro scene. In 2000, he dominated the GNCC series and won races on five different sizes of KTM motorcycles.

Watts' personality drew plenty of attention too. He was brash and outspoken. He showed up at all sorts of events-even motocross races-and rode well at them all. Unfortunately, Watts suffered through a huge string of injuries and rarely had the patience to heal properly before returning. Watts, considered the Travis Pastrana of off-road, was never able to win the GNCC crown again.

New Heroes

Smith proved to be the ultimate GNCC lifer, as he fought off "too old" claims to retake the GNCC title in 2001; he would win it again in 2002 and 2004, at the age of 40. The series kept drawing exciting new talent, but perhaps the strongest of all turned out to be the quad guy: Barry Hawk claimed the 2003 GNCC Bike title, and with eight GNCC titles (seven on the ATV and one on the bike), Hawk serves as the only rider to win championships on both sides of the spectrum.

While Ballance was busy trying to break all of Hawk's ATV records, his championships were gaining attention too, as ATV manufacturers slowly began to introduce sporty models again and the sport grabbed another gear. Ballance kept winning and Yamaha offered him a factory contract. The other manufacturers soon followed, and new manufacturers like Can-Am and KTM even jumped in with race machines and factory rides. Suzuki young gun Chris Borich snagged the 2009 and 2010 GNCC ATV titles, but not before Ballance smashed Hawk's all-time championship record. Hawk hung up the boots at the end of 2010 and now spends his time assisting JR in his Trail Boss duties and has become an asset to the Racer Productions crew year-round, giving Ballance a little more breathing room until the next multi-time champion comes along.

Chris Borich has taken the ATV torch with 3 championships under his belt

Borich returned in 2011 to gain his third-consecutive championship, but with the increase in young talent moving up each year, can Borich hold on long enough to challenge Ballance's nine-time record?

The other GNCC classes kept growing too. The morning race created its own stars, like eight-time Women's Champion Traci Cecco, who scored a factory Yamaha deal, and KTM rider Angel Atwell. The Utility classes evolved from a class for farmers into a full-blown race division, with factory teams and hungry privateers pushing it every week.

On the bike side, the series had evolved from a single race in a small West Virginia town to a global phenomenon. In 2005, KTM imported Finland's Juha Salminen, known as one of the most talented riders the series has ever seen, and he dominated the Bikes game for two years. Then, Isle of Man ace David Knight took his place and took the 2007 and 2008 titles. New Zealand's Paul Whibley took the 2009 GNCC title, and Australia's Josh Strang won the 2010 edition.

Charlie Mullins became the first Amercan-born bike champ since 2004, proof that GNCC Racers are the best from all over the globe

In 2011, Ohio's Charlie Mullins, arguably the first champ to have gone all the way through the GNCC-ranks, from youth to pro, became the first American champ since 2004, when Rodney Smith won his fourth and final GNCC title. Mullins set the bar for a whole new generation of amateur racers who have now seen the American Dream play out before their eyes.

GNCC Racing has been making strides in the exposure department for years, but what really separates the series is the elevated television package that began in 2001 and has since evolved into part of a 52-week package on the NBC Sports Network.

It's also a big credit to a man named Dave Coombs, who thought this whole thing up thirty years ago. Even with all the growth, there has always been camaraderie and a family atmosphere at the events. Win or lose, pro or amateur, GNCC Racing is all about simply trying your best against the terrain. It's the way Big Dave wanted it back then, and it's the way it remains today.


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