Story: Rachel Gutish | Contributor - Enduro.Media
March 3, 2024

Johnny Girroir, Grant Davis, and Brandy Richards Take the Wins in the Mud & Sand

Round two of the GNCC series, Wild Boar, took place this weekend in Palatka, Florida at the Hog Waller Mud Bog.

WHAT?

In XC1 Johnny Girroir (FMF KTM Factory Racing) followed up his win at Big Buck with another overall here at Wild Boar. Steward Baylor Jr. (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) finished second again. Lyndon Snodgrass (Monster Energy Babbits Kawasaki) finished third, earning his first XC1 podium and redeeming himself after a 13th place finish at Big Buck.

Grant Davis (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) had an outstanding ride, winning XC2 by over three minutes and finishing second overall! He was joined on the podium by Gus Riordan (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) in second and Canadian ISDE and MXoN rider Tyler Medaglia (GDR Honda / Phoenix Honda) in third.

Brandy Richards (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) earned her first-ever WXC win this weekend at Wild Boar. Korie Steede (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) finished second and Rachel Gutish (Sherco USA) rounded out the podium in third.

In the XC3 Pro-Am 125cc class, Jhak Walker (Factory Beta USA) took the win, pushing the bike the last 200 yards across the finish line. Phil Chainé (TCO Offroad KTM Canada) finished second in his first GNCC of the season, and Dustin Simpson (Yamaha) took home another third-place finish.

SO WHAT?

Johnny Girroir has shown that right now he is the man to beat. With two GNCC wins, two US Sprint wins and a NEPG podium under his belt already, his season is off to a truly incredible start. In XC2, Grant Davis had an amazing ride at Wild Boar, but Gus Riordan has also had plenty of strong rides this season – I expect to see these two teammates having a good battle for the season. Of course, you can’t forget Josh Toth or Toby Cleveland either. In the WXC ranks, there are plenty of strong riders, this is perhaps the strongest WXC field we’ve ever had – between Richards, Steede, Archer, Gutish and Turner, there are plenty of heavy hitters, with any of these riders being theoretically capable of taking a class win on any given weekend.

NOW WHAT?

For both bikes and riders, this race was tough, with plenty of mechanical failures, crashes and DNF’s across all four pro classes. There is little time to repair and recover though, because the GNCC series will resume next weekend with The General GNCC in Washington, GA. That round was a mudder of epic proportions last year, and the weather reports this week have shown a serious wave of storms moving in. GNCC will be reluctant to cancel or reschedule a race this early in the season, so come hell or high water (and maybe both if last year was any indication) I expect we will be there racing in a few short days.

The Full Story

The Wild Boar GNCC (or any GNCC that’s ever been held in Florida, honestly) has a reputation for being tough. The sand whoops are unforgiving, and even for riders who are in good shape and enjoy sand, the race is a physical and mental challenge. Adding to that, when you’re racing at a place called “The Hog Waller Mud Bog” you know mud and deep water holes are going to be involved – especially when you have a rainy weekend like this past one. There are several long sections of thick, black mud, and a few other spots with water crossings. The water here is so murky that it’s impossible to guess how deep it is. Many spots are shallow, only ankle-deep… but since the place is used by ATVs and utility vehicles, there are occasionally random chest-deep holes and trenches. This makes it critical that you carefully walk the course beforehand, or else leave yourself to the whims of fate, chance and line-pointers who may or may not have your best interests at heart.

The sand here was strange when it rained. Like any wet sand, it became much more hardpacked, but it also got oddly slippery, especially during the first few laps of the AM race, and presumably during the massive thunderstorm that occurred halfway through the PM race as well. Putting too much trust in the front wheel or charging too hard into the corners was a sure way to lose the front end.

Typically, the Florida heat plays a role in the difficulty of this race, but the overcast skies and rain kept the temperatures within reasonable bounds. Of course, the rain presented its own issues, making the swamps exponentially worse than usual.

XC1

The XC1 start was gnarly, with Craig Delong (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) and Jordan Ashburn (Coastal Racing Factory GasGas) banging bars and Johnny Girroir (FMF KTM Factory Racing) going down in the first corner. Ashburn took the holeshot, but by the end of the first lap had been passed by both Ricky Russell (AmPro Yamaha) and Steward Baylor Jr. (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki).

This would be another disappointing weekend for reigning champion Craig Delong (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing). He experienced a mechanical failure before completing a lap. I’m unsure about the exact nature of the failure, but I saw his bike as it was getting towed in, and it appeared to have been on fire, with the plastic of the side number plate panel scorched and melted.

Despite the early lead and battling closely with the other riders in the top three on lap two, Russell would ultimately have a disappointing weekend too. A crash caused a lingering injury to flare up, and Russell withdrew from the race just past the two-hour mark.

S. Baylor had worked his way into the lead by the end of the second lap, with Girroir fighting his way through the entire pack and locking onto S. Baylor’s rear fender. The two riders were separated by mere seconds through laps two and three. On lap four, Girroir passed for the lead and pulled a seventeen second lead. S. Baylor had a rough fifth lap, having to stop for a wheel change and surrendering over two and a half minutes to Girroir.

In the meantime, G. Baylor had also fought his way up from a lackluster start and had passed Ashburn for third. G. Baylor was now only thirty seconds down from S. Baylor, and it looked like the podium might be a repeat of Big Buck. However, G. Baylor had a mechanical on the final lap, dropping him back to tenth place.

His teammate Lyndon Snodgrass (Monster Energy Babbits Kawasaki) finished foruth overall and took home the final podium position in the premier class. This was Snodgrass’ first-ever XC1 podium, ended up taking the final podium position. This is the Australian’s first-ever XC1 podium – not bad, given that this will be his first full season in XC1.

Ashburn would hold on to fourth place in XC1 and sixth overall, while Josh Strang (Sherco USA) steadily clawed his way through the pack, finishing fifth in XC1 and seventh overall.

“I went down in the first corner and started back of the pack. I just kinda picked my way through those guys and got into a battle with Stu. We were going at it for a while there but then he tucked the front end a couple times and I found myself in the lead, so I said “it’s time to go” It was war out there! The course was brutal. Three-quarters of it was sand whoops and the rest of it here near the finish was just survival , bikes buried everywhere… it was gnarly!” – Johnny Girroir

XC1 Big Buck GNCC Results

1st            Johnny Girroir

2nd           Steward Baylor Jr.

3rd            Lyndon Snodgrass

4th            Jordan Ashburn

5th            Josh Strang

XC2

In XC2, Toby Cleveland (Bell’s Electric Husqvarna) took the holeshot, but by the end of the first lap had been passed by both Grant Davis (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) and Josh Toth (Enduro Engineering). Over the course of lap two, Toth moved into the XC2 lead, battling closely with Davis as they passed through several of the XC1 class riders. In the meantime, Cleveland dropped back to tenth and ended up exiting the race several laps early, most likely with bike issues. He was not the last victim to be claimed by Wild Boar though. Toth and an XC1 rider he was passing came together while Toth was attempting to make a pass. Toth’s clutch cable was damaged in the process, causing the clutch to alternate between dragging and slipping. Toth was able to hang on to a podium position until lap five, when the clutch finally melted down.

Gus Riordan (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) had already passed Toth on lap five, and easily held his second place finish on the last lap – too far behind to really challenge Davis, but far enough ahead that only a major mistake would have taken him out of second.

In the meantime, Tyler Medaglia (GDR Honda / Phoenix Honda) was able to rebound from a nasty crash in the first quarter-mile. He ran a solid fifth place the majority of the day, slowly gaining positions as the attrition from this brutal race set in. The Canadian kept it smooth and steady through the midpoint of the race, and a few issues late in the day weren’t enough to keep him off the box.

Florida boy Jesse Ansley (Sarasota Powersports Kawasaki) finished a strong fourth place, after working his way up from ninth place – even after losing brakes on the third lap. He was gaining on Medaglia, but ultimately finished thirty seconds down from the Canadian, and thirty seconds ahead of fifth place Jonathan Johnson (Factory Beta USA)

“It was a tough one, especially when it started raining! I rode a whole lap without goggles, then I got a pit board that said third overall and then they said five seconds not far from the finish so I just held it wide, and I got it! It’s insane to have gotten my first XC2 win and my first overall podium… I don’t even know what to say, honestly. Feels like a dream!” – Grant Davis

XC2 Big Buck GNCC Results

1st            Grant Davis

2nd           Gus Riordan

3rd            Tyler Medaglia

4th            Jesse Ansley

5th            Jonathan Johnson

WXC

Korie Steede (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) took the holeshot and was closely followed into the woods by Brandy Richards (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers). The two of them battled for the lead throughout the first two laps. Rachael Archer (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) was able to play catch-up after a bad start and work her way into third.

That third-place position would not last long though, as Archer went down a few miles into lap two. This allowed Rachel Gutish (Sherco USA / Moose Racing), who had worked her way up from an even worse start than Archer, to move into third. Jordan Jarvis (AmPro Yamaha), who had been in the mix earlier in the race, caught back up to Gutish and the two swapped positions a few times before Jarvis sank her bike in a deep rut and remained stuck there for over a lap.

By lap three, Richards had taken a forty-second lead over Steede. Richards had resolved after the last round to be more aggressive when working through the lappers and she was clearly able to deliver on that. She continued to extend her lead all the way to the checkered flag, taking her first ever WXC win. With her 1-3 finishes, she now takes over the WXC points lead. Just like the racing at Wild Boar though, the points battle is very close between Richards and Steede, with only a single point separating them.

In the meantime, Gutish and Archer battled briefly, before Archer crashed a second time. Gutish took the final podium spot, while Archer held on to fourth place, with a sizable gap over fifth place Shelby Turner (Enduro Engineering GasGas). There was a serious battle going for that fifth-place spot though. The race came down to the final straightaway, with Turner eking out a one second victory over Jocelyn Barnes (Husqvarna USA).

“I’m so stoked to get my first WXC win! I had a blast playing in the sand and mud, and it was a fun battle with Korie Steede the whole race”  –  Brandy Richards

WXC Big Buck GNCC Results

1st            Brandy Richards

2nd           Korie Steede

3rd            Rachel Gutish

4th            Rachael Archer

5th            Shelby Turner

XC3

Phil Chaine (TCO Offroad KTM Canada) took the holeshot in XC3, but last round’s winner Koda Devore (KTM USA) quickly took the lead and initially appeared to be running away with the race, leading by a minute on the first lap and two minutes on the second. A massive crash on lap three eroded that lead and put him into second, very close behind Jhak Walker (Factory Beta USA). However, that was not the end of Devore’s misfortune, as he drowned the bike out two laps from the finish, ending up sixth on the day.

Headed into the last lap, Walker had a massive lead over Chaine – which was a good thing for Walker, since he had a bike failure at the very end of the race and had to push the bike through deep mud to take the win. Chaine finished second, a full lap ahead of third place finisher Dustin Simpson (Yamaha).

“I was very lucky to finish on top, it was a struggle to get that win, as I had to push the bike the last 200 yards through the mud [to the finish line]. That was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done” – Jhak Walker

XC3 Big Buck GNCC Results

1st            Jhak Walker

2nd           Phil Chainé

3rd            Dustin Simpson

4th            Zachary Davidson

5th           Sawyer Caratura

The GNCC series will return on March 10th with the The General GNCC in Washington, GA.