THE GRAND NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY SERIES
The Grand National Cross Country Series was started by Dave Coombs, but before the series started, it all began with one race, the Blackwater 100. With the Blackwater 100 becoming Americas toughest race, Dave’s idea that it was going to be a race that only the strongest riders could finish was right. The transformation from a one race a year series to a thirteen round series, which is now known as the Grand National Cross Country Series, or the GNCC, wouldn’t have been possible without the creator “Big Dave” (Series Profile Par. 1-2). Now, with the GNCC being one of America’s most popular off-road racing organization, on any given day there could be over 1,500 riders participating (Transponder Scoring Par. 3). To become the most popular series the GNCC went through many changes to accommodate the racers and make the series a success.
According to the GNCC website, “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.” Dave thought that it would be a race that only strong riders on strong and reliable machines could finish. The race would later be named the Blackwater 100, “Blackwater” for the Blackwater Falls located not to far away, and “100” for the number of miles that the race would be (Series Profile, Par 1-4). With the Blackwater ending in 1993, there would be no track as physically and mentally demanding until 2007. In 2007, the Snowshoe GNCC debuted and is often referred to as the modern day Blackwater 100 (Track Info, Par 1). While the Blackwater was still going on, Dave and wife Rita held a few more 100-mile duration events, which in partner with the Blackwater 100, became known as the Wiseco 100 Miler Series (Series Profile, Par. 3).
In 1983, the GNCC decided to add three-wheeled ATV’s to their racing program, later leading to four-wheeled ATV’s a couple years later. To make the races shorter and more accommodating to the average rider, the GNCC races were cut down from five hours for ATV’s and three hours for dirt bikes (Series Profile, Par. 4). “Alas the town of Davis shut the doors on the Blackwater in 1993”, said the GNCC website. No worries though, the latest stars were already beginning to show themselves, including “Fast” Eddies Lojak taking a commanding control of the bike series, and Ted Trey and Tom Tokay becoming the stars of the ATV show (Series Profile, Par. 5).
Without Dave Coombs the GNCC wouldn’t have been in existence, he did everything from laying out the course, put together a riders meeting before the race, take control of the pits and parking, or just tell the cameras where to get a few good pictures. In 1998 “Big Dave” passed away and it was up to his wife and kids to keep the series running. Dave’s son in law, Jeff Russell became the trail boss because of his years of experience from working side by side with Dave.
If it wasn’t for the persistence of the ATV racing world, ATV racing would have been non-existent after the late 1980s with manufactures being scared away with safety concerns hitting rock bottom. After 1989, Honda no longer produced the class dominant TRX250R, but with aftermarket parts everywhere, many racer kept the older 250Rs and made them faster, better handling, and an all around better bike (Series Profile, Par.
. Now with manufactures staying away from the sport ATV manufacturing, they aimed their attention toward their utility ATV line-up, so racers decided to see how they would handle the rugged terrain of the GNCC circuit. Once the factory manufactures got word of this, they decided to help them out by making them more worthy of a racing bike (Series Profile, Par. 10).
Dave Sloan was a fierce competitor in both the ATV and dirt bike classes and became know as “The Ironman.” Sloan would race in the ATV classes on Saturday and then turn around and race the dirt bikes on Sunday. Even after being diagnosed with a heart problem he kept racing both classes on the weekends of the races, but one day he came up short of the finish line. He passed away from his heart condition doing what he loved, racing a hard race until the finish. In memory of Dave “The Ironman” Sloan, the season finally was named after him, “The Ironman” which takes place in Indiana where he lived (Series Profile, Par. 10-11). Before Sloan died, his main competitor was Barry Hawk who he raced with in the ATV classes at first, but Hawk began racing both bikes and ATVs to keep up with him. Before long, Hawk was keeping a greater focus on his bike team more than his ATV team, after a while he even gave up the ATVs. With so much work going into his bike team, he earned a full factory sponsorship with Yamaha in 2000 (Series Profile, Par. 11, 15).
New in 2008 for the GNCC is Transponder Scoring, which will replace the bar code scanning scoring system used in years past. With this new system, all the riders will have to do is drive through the check points instead of stopping to get your bar code scanned, the GNCC hopes to reduce bottlenecks in the woods and check points by doing this. Fans will also benefit from this because the scoring collected from the transponder check points will be posted on the GNCC website, GNCCracing.com lap by lap for real time scoring. Jeff Russell adds, “Transponder scoring is a major step up for the series,” “The system will reduce bottlenecks in the woods and the finish line, and it should be more accurate than scanning bar codes each lap” (Transponder Scoring, Par. 1-2). The testing of the transponders started in the late 90’s and Kirk Sessions and Racer Productions worked together until now to get an affordable cost that the average weekend racer can afford, they finally decided to go with the Sport Tag transponder, developed exclusively by Kirk Sessions. Racers can either purchase the transponder, ($60), or rent them race-by-race, ($10 with a $50 deposit returned when the transponder is returned) (Transponder Scoring, Par. 4-6).
If you want to compete at the GNCC level, you need to know how to attack certain obstacles such as hills and ruts, here a few hints that many pro riders use. Here are a few hints from the ATV racing king, Barry Hawk, “Momentum is the main thing for hill climbs. Don’t square of the corner before the hill, but rather rail around with a lot of momentum. Choose a line with the least resistance and always look ahead to see if anyone might be in the way. While climbing, keep your weight forward but don’t stand up with your legs looked, you won’t get good traction that way, especially if you are leaning over the bars (Tackling Obstacles, Par. 1). Barry had the following to say about tackling rocks, “If you can, avoid big rocks completely. If I am going to hit some rocks or ledges, I can slip the clutch right before impact to get the front-end light. You can also use body English to lighten parts of the quad, say for example, if you’re going to hit with the right front, jerk up on the right handlebar and put your weight back on the left rear upon impact. For tight woods, Barry recommends: “Pick one side and put your front tire as close as possible to it and you won’t have to worry about the other side. For tight woods use lower gears and slip the clutch to slice and dice through tight trees. I like to brake slide down tight trails since that allows me to stay on the gas and keep the revs up” (Tackling Obstacles, Par. 3).
Bill Ballance, the eight time GNCC ATV Overall Champion has the following tips for making sure that you and your bike will finish the race. “Make your quad like a tank, Loctite nuts and bolts that you wouldn’t normally do, especially the ones that you don’t plan on taking apart for a some time. The tracks have been getting faster and more wide open lately, so with a four-stroke you’ll want to try and get some more top-end, since four-strokes already have the low end torque for mud and tight stuff. The least expensive way to get a little more top-end is with a pipe, check with other racers to see which ones work the best, since some of the four-stroke pipes don’t seem to do a whole lot. With a two-stroke, you’ll want to add some grunt to the bottom of the power band and smooth power out. This can be done with a pipe as well (How to Win a XC Race. Par. 4-5). For tires Ballance recommends the following, “I used the six-ply Maxxis Razrs last year and those things are tough, I only got one flat during the whole season. I wouldn’t try t race on stockers, you’re only asking to get a flat. For wheels I use Douglas beadlocks, they’re the number one choice if you can afford them. Don’t use 1.25 aluminum wheels that aren’t reinforced, they can’t take the hits from rocks. Most stock wheels are actually better for cross country racing than the aluminum racing wheels that are made for MX or TT” (How to Win a XC Race, Par. 6)
In conclusion, the Grand National Cross Country Series has come along way in the past thirty years. This wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication of the fans, racers, and most of all Dave Coombs. I’d like to take this time to thank each and everyone who made this series a success, without you this great series, or big family as many refer to it as, may have never existed.
