Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/110132
2013 GNCC BreaKDOWN By Jared Bolton Will it be Mullins in 2013?? BaYlOr? T he story of the 2013 GNCC Racing season has the potential to be one of the greatest seasons in the 39 year history of America���s Premiere Off-Road Racing Series. To truly understand what could make the 2013 so amazing, you have to take a look back at 2012. Heading into the season, Charlie Mullins had a lot of momentum as the defending series champion, but a stretch of bad luck during the early rounds of the AMA National Enduro Series made many wonder exactly what was going to happen. Of course, Mullins didn���t disappoint early as he and 2009 GNCC Champion, Paul Whibley would battle all the way to the finish line at the opening round in Florida, and both riders would collapse just past the finish. To make things even more interesting, Steward Baylor put in an impressive ride from the XC2 class to challenge for the overall win on time adjustment, but would have to settle for 3rd overall. This wouldn���t be Baylor���s only Overall threat 18 Trail Rider of the season either. And just a mere 5 days after the sands of Florida, a new winner would emerge in Georgia, and go on a win streak. That rider was Kailub Russell. After struggling with a shoulder issue in Florida, it became apparent that Kailub would be asserting himself into the championship race. Russell wasn't the only new face mixing it up for the overall. Newcomer to the XC 1 class, Rory Mead earned the top spot on the podium twice in 2012 and logged a few other podium finishes in his first full season of GNCC Racing. And finally, Thad Duvall got his first XC1 overall win at Unadilla after several seasons of bad luck. As the season wore on, the points battle between Paul Whibley and Kailub Russell would heat up with the duo swapping the points lead a couple of times. However, things would really get crazy in the final rounds. At the penultimate round, Charlie Mullins would get his first win of the season but the big story line of the day was the battle between Paul Whibley and Kailub Russell. Russell had ran into some issues and was buried out of podium contention while Whibley led the race. However, Whibley would end up running out of gas on the final lap. He managed to get gas on the trail from another rider but had lost ground and the lead. The pro pits were only about 1.5 miles from the finish, and Whibley didn���t stop. GNCC rules state that pro riders must pit in their designated pit area, unless they run completely out of fuel. Then they can get fuel only sufficient enough to get back to the designated pro pit area. When Whibley didn���t stop, he violated that rule which resulted in a penalty and dropped him to a seventh place. Things would really heat up through the final four rounds. Heading into the final round at Loretta Lynn���s, Russell held a 1 point lead over Whibley. In XC2, Steward Baylor had injured his wrist earlier in the season and was just trying to stave off a surging Jason Thomas and Andrew Delong. Eventually, Jason Thomas overtook the XC2 points lead with a 1 point advantage over Steward Baylor heading into the final round. Many were expecting the Loretta���s round to result in epic battles for these two titles. However, Kailub Russell would go down in the first turn, and have to come from behind. He never was able to catch up to Whibley. The duo would finish 1 and 2, with Whibley taking the win, and the championship. Baylor's luck got worse, suffering a broken collar bone the week before Loretta Lynn���s. He attempted to race anyway, and finished but was way off the pace of the XC2 leaders. Jason Thomas walked www..TrailRider.com