Trail Rider Magazine

A er a few more years in J Day, we decided to take on a bigger challenge and move on to the GNCC series in 2017. For any parent thinking of making this commitment, BE PREPARED! It takes a lot of travel- ing, money, me and family sacrifice. We threw Nich- olas into the wolves racing the YXC2 class. His first race was an eye-opener, finishing 22nd, but he could only build from there. With each race he learned and improved on his Kawasaki KX100. In 2018, Nicholas wanted to try something different and moved on to a Honda CRF150. Nick finished 5th that GNCC season in the YXC2 class. Boy, do we miss the sound of that bike, such bark! Even though the bike was easier to ride and had power to spare, it wasn't the bike for him. In 2019 we decided to get him a KTM. A er a phone call to Trail Rider adver ser Edelmann Sales, we were on a road trip to pick up a 2020 KTM 105 SX. Just days a er picking up the KTM, we were off to the Northeast 24 Hour Challenge and signed up for the Family Duo class with his dad. Nicholas rode hard and was impressive doing 21 laps, with his pace never slipping. In fact, Nick got faster each lap. Nicholas and dad finished 2 nd at the NE24 in 2019. Not too shabby a er Nick and a junior team won that class the previous year! In GNCC he placed 4th in YXC2. Seeing how he was progressing, the family decided on a huge change. At this point we were s ll living in a small town in Connec cut, ge ng ready for a big family move to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This way we could be more central to the GNCC series and other Na onal series and be able to prac ce year round in warmer weather and on higher speed terrain, although he misses the rocks and roots. So the busy 2020 season began like normal at Big Buck in South Carolina. Nick rode hard and was on a mission. Big Buck is where Nick earned his first 1st place podium! With this good feeling, we were off to Florida and Georgia. Again two great races, then the season came to a screeching halt due to the pandem- ic. Not sure of what was going on and if racing would con nue, we kept prac cing and preparing for racing to start, and with school cancelled he prac ced a lot! When racing started back up, he put his head down and ba led hard with Andrew Segars for that top posi on. Halfway through the season, Nicholas had to go to a race by himself (thanks for the li , Norm) as we were moving south. At the John Penton GNCC, he had a rough day with a fuel line coming off. A er one of his biggest compe tor's dad fixed his fuel line, he put his head down and threw some of the fastest lap mes on the track.

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