Story: Rachel Gutish | Contributor - Enduro.Media
Union, South Carolina | February 21st, 2024

The moment we’ve all been waiting for – the opening round of the Progressive GNCC Series! Round one, the Big Buck GNCC, took place this past weekend in Union, South Carolina.

The Bottom Line Up Front

WHAT:

Johnny Girroir (FMF KTM Factory Racing) took his second-ever overall win, continuing what has been an exceptional start to his 2024 season. Steward Baylor Jr. (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) placed second and his brother Grant Baylor (Monster Energy Babbits Kawasaki) finished third.

In XC2, Gus Riordan (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) took a very close win over last year’s series champion Liam Draper (AmPro Yamaha. They were joined on the podium by and last weekend’s Sumter NEPG winner Grant Davis (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers).

Rachael Archer (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) followed up her Sumter NEPG win with a GNCC win here at Big Buck, after battling several laps with second place Korie Steede (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) and third place Brandy Richards (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers)

In the XC3 Pro-Am 125cc class, the riders were very spaced out. Koda Devore (KTM) ran away with the race, winning by well over four minutes. Second place finisher Jhak Walker (Factory Beta USA) in turn had nearly six over third place Dustin Simpson (Yamaha).

SO WHAT:

Nerves and expectations are always high at the first GNCC round. Yes, it is a thirteen-round series that runs from February to October, so there’s a lot of racing and oftentimes a good bit of attrition that happens… but the opening round often sets the tone for the early part of the season. As expected, we also saw a lot of crossover, with the riders who performed well at the USSE rounds and the NEPG continued to perform well here at GNCC.

NOW WHAT:

For the next few weeks it will be all GNCC, all the time. There’s no national race on the east coast next weekend, but Wild Boar, one of the most physically grueling GNCCs, takes place in two weeks. It is then immediately followed by the General GNCC the very next weekend.

The FULL story

Since 2017, Big Buck has been the opening round of the GNCC series. The property has hosted a GNCC since 1997, and in some years has held a second round (Tiger Run) in the same season, so while the course is good, it’s also… shall we say…. “well-used.” Many sections of the course will be very familiar to anyone who has ran the series for more than a couple years. For the most part we run the same trails, just in different configurations.

Aside from the Big Buck hill climb, a sprinkle of single track and a few muddy creek crossings, there isn’t much technical challenge to be found at Big Buck. The course is quite fast, even by GNCC standards, and has a tendency to get rough and choppy.

The dirt here isn’t sand like most of South Carolina, it’s a reddish clay closer to what you might find in Georgia. This weekend, conditions were nearly perfect – no mud, no dust, perfect traction everywhere, a rarity this time of year. It was a little chilly, but not bad once riders got warmed up a few miles in.

Big Buck has a large enough turnout that the promoters run a “split AM format” where the AM race is divided into an A group (WXC, Sportsman A/B, and age group classes) and a B group (most of the C classes). For the purposes of this article, this only plays a factor in the WXC class, but it does play a significant one, since it greatly reduces traffic and allows for cleaner, better racing in the WXC division (and a much more enjoyable race for all parties involved).

XC 1

Last year’s XC1 championship battle was intense, with seven different winners in the first seven rounds. Given the depth of talent right now, I have similar expectations this season. Ricky Russell (AmPro Yamaha) grabbed the holeshot award and carried the early lead through most of the first lap, before being passed by Girroir. Russell maintained second place through most of the race, with a consistent gap of about twenty seconds between him and the leader. In the meantime, S. Baylor and reigning champion Craig Delong (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) were having a tight battle for third and fourth, with only seconds separating them. On lap five, Delong crashed hard, and although he wasn’t injured he “had a severely bent-up bike” and is “lucky to be healthy going forward.” He ended up finishing eleventh, a disappointing start to the season for the number-one-plate holder. Lap five for Russell as well, who also crashed, damaging his shifter and falling back to sixth, which is where he remained the rest of the race.  

This allowed S. Baylor to move into second. Although he gained ground on the last lap, Girroir still came through with just over a ten second lead, taking the win, leaving S. Baylor in second. G. Baylor had a slow start to the day, coming thorough in fourteenth on the first lap, but steadily working his way through the pack. His third place finish was an impressive comeback, especially since he only finished eighteen seconds down from second place and twenty-nine seconds down from the leader. G. Baylor was only on the podium once last year (a win at Camp Coker), so this is a very strong start to his season.

The battle for fourth and fifth place in XC1 was down to the wire. Jordan Asburn (Coastal Racing Factory GasGas), known for his consistency, finished fourth, not far off the podium. He had what looked like a smooth and steady ride that never saw him below fifth place or above third. However, Evan Smith (Blud Lubricants/Scott Goggles/FXR)Husqvarna) was definitely applying pressure – he charged hard from behind and finished less than a second down from Ashburn. This is a fantastic ride for Smith, who seemed to struggle last season on the Beta, mostly finishing in the eleventh to sixteenth overall range.

“I feel awesome, felt good the whole race. Couldn’t ask for anything more! I feel good for this season, love the sand so I’m ready for Wild Boar” – Johnny Girroir

XC 1 BIG BUCK GNNCC OVERALL RESULTS

1. Johnny Girroir

2. Steward Baylor Jr.

3. Grant Baylor

4. Jordan Ashburn (Coastal GasGas Factory Racing)

5. Evan Smith

XC 2

In the XC2 class there was a heck of a battle between Angus Riordan and 2023 XC2 Champion Liam Draper. Draper had a slow start, coming off the line last. That didn’t stop him from charging back to the front though, and by lap two was right behind Riordan. They battled each other hard for the next four laps, all the way to the finish line. Riordan ultimately took the win by less than a second over Draper, and celebrated his win the Australian way, with a podium shoey. Their battle with each other pushed them  high into the overall - 6th and 7th overall, respectively. Impressive, given the current depth of talent!

Grant Davis wasn’t too far off their mark, battling for the lead in early laps before falling back slightly. Even so, he finished third in the class, and ninth overall, a very good finish. Davis spent a good portion of last year dealing with injury, so he should be feeling good  about starting off his GNCC season on the box.

Former XC2 champ and XC1 competitor Josh Toth (Enduro Engineering) finished fourth after a season spent away from GNCC, running the schedule I think all of us pros secretly wish we could have – only doing the events we absolutely want to do. Recent arrival from the XC3 class, Toby Cleveland (Bell’s Electric Husqvarna), kept Toth honest, finishing just nine seconds down from Toth and rounding out the top five.

“First place to start the year out! I’m stoked. It’s a long season ahead but I’m ready for some more” – Gus Riordan

XC 2 RESULTS

1. Gus Riordan

2. Liam Draper

3. Grant Davis

4. Josh Toth

5. Toby Cleveland

WXC

The top three riders in WXC were close together through the early parts of the race, freight-training though the trail. Brandy Richards grabbed the holeshot and held the lead though the first lap, with Korie Steede in second and Rachael Archer in third. By the end of the second lap, the order had inverted and the riders were a little more spread out, with Archer now leading, Steede still in second, and Richards in third, and all three of them separated by around twenty seconds.

Steede put on an impressive charge on lap three, getting back within seconds of Archer. Richards fell a little further behind, and ended the day in third, saying after a few small mistakes she struggled to make the time back up due to the lappers. This is a little concerning for Richards – while she is undoubtedly one of the fastest women in the world, having trouble with lappers at a split-format race like Big Buck could spell trouble for her at Wild Boar, where the AM race lappers will be much denser and even more unpredictable due to the sand.

Archer and Steede battled hard right up until the end, finishing only seconds apart, with reigning champion Archer taking the win. Shelby Turner (Enduro Engineering GasGas) finished a few minutes down from the lead pack in fourth. She and Rachel Gutish (Sherco USA) both had rough starts and were forced to pass their way through most of the WXC field. Turner was more effective at making those passes and broke through to an open track near the end of the first lap. Gutish, meanwhile, didn’t make her final pass until well into the second lap. Turner held a consistent lead of about a minute over Gutish, and the lead pack slowly pulled time on them as the race wore on, though not nearly as much as they had in the early part of the race.  

“Stoked with how the race went. Feeling right at home on the new bike and really excited to see what we can do this season”  – Rachael Archer

WXC OVERALL RESULTS

1. Rachael Archer

2. Korie Steede

3. Brandy Richards

4. Shelby Turner

5. Rachel Gutish
   

XC3

With 2023 XC3 Champ Toby Cleveland moving up to XC2, the field was left wide open for the remaining riders. Koda Devore, who ended the series in third place last year, took home the win at Big Buck. He started the race out in third, behind Jhak Walker and Sawyer Carratura (Yamaha). By lap two he had worked his way around Carratura and was battling with Walker for the lead. Dustin Simpson had also passed Carratura for third place and continued to extend his lead over him the remainder of the race. Devore and Walker stayed close until lap four – during that lap Devore moved into the lead and put a minute-plus on Walker, who continued to fade back the remainder of the race. At the end of the day Devore finished 33rd overall had pulled a five-minute lead over Walker, who in turn had an equivalent lead over Simpson.

“I still have some bugs to work out, but it was a good start to the season with twelve to go and Florida up next!”

XC3 OVERALL RESULTS

1. Koda Devore

2. Jhak Walker

3. Dustin Simpson

4. Sawyer Caratura

5. Zachary Davidson

The GNCC series will return on April 7th with the Wild Boar GNCC in Palatka, Florida.