Jurisdiction United States Founded 1975 | Abbreviation GNCC | |
Headquarters Morgantown, West Virginia | ||
The AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series is an American motorcycle racing series. The off-road race series was founded by Dave Coombs in 1975 and is sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). The competition is similar to motocross but, instead of using an enclosed race track, it features extended cross-country, off-road courses of 8 to 12 miles in length and competitions lasting up to 3 hours. GNCC races are physically demanding, leading as many as 2,200 riders through tracks ranging from woods, to hills, mud, rocks, roots, motocross track sections and more. The series has classes for off-road motorcycles, ATV and UTV vehicles. GNCC Racing is open to both professional and amateur racers in a variety of skill level and age classes. The current title sponsor is Amsoil, a synthetic oil company.
Contents
Current GNCC Events
Wild Boar GNCC – Palatka, Florida
Cannonball GNCC – Sparta, Georgia
Steele Creek GNCC – Morganton, North Carolina
Big Buck GNCC – Union, South Carolina
Camp Coker Bullet GNCC - Society Hill, South Carolina
X Factor GNCC – Peru, Indiana
The John Penton GNCC – Millfield, Ohio
Tomahawk GNCC – Odessa, New York
Snowshoe GNCC – Snowshoe Resort, West Virginia
Unadilla GNCC – New Berlin, New York
Mountaineer Run GNCC – Masontown, West Virginia
Powerline Park GNCC – St. Clairsville, Ohio
Ironman GNCC – Crawfordsville, Indiana
List of all GNCC events since 1975
GNCC History
In the mid-1970s Dave Coombs was contacted by a preacher from a church in a small West Virginia town. The preacher wanted to help the economy of his struggling town by hosting a motorcycle race. Dave Coombs saw major potential in the land and thought that a grand prix style race through the town and surrounding country side would be special enough to bring visitors to the town.
He named this race The Blackwater 100. The name "Blackwater" originated from nearby Blackwater Falls and the Blackwater River, while 100 for the number of miles in the race. The land was rugged, which would make the race itself one would be difficult for riders and their machines. The race became popular when Dave invited a group of magazine editors from California, who went back and wrote about their experiences with the rugged race. Eventually, Blackwater would become known as "America's Toughest Race".
Dave also promoted the first ever AMA National Hare Scramble, which was held at High Point Raceway in 1979. With the popularity of this event and the Blackwater, the Wiseco 100 Miler Series was born. The series would then evolve into the GNCC series in the early 1980s. The GNCC series began experiencing more growth when three-wheelers were added in 1983, and four-wheelers replaced them a few years later.
The famous Blackwater was shut down after the 1993 event, but by this point the GNCC series had earned the reputation as being the Premier Offroad Racing Series in America. Throughout the 90s the series would still grow more and more. With domination on the bike side by riders such as Scott Summers, Scott Plessinger and Rodney Smith, while Barry Hawk dominated the ATV side, the series gained even more mainstream coverage in various media. The series patriarch, Dave Coombs, died in 1998 but Big Dave's family stepped up to continue the success of the series. His son-in-law, Jeff Russell, who claimed the 1991 National Enduro Championship, is today's GNCC Trail Boss.
In 2000 the series saw its first non-American champion, as Australian Shane Watts took the title. On the ATV front Bill Balance continued to dominate through 2008. Barry Hawk made the switch to bikes in the early 2000s and found success gaining many top 5s and wins. In 2005 Factory KTM brought ten-time World Enduro Champion Juha Salminen over to contest the bike series, and his experience and talent was on another level compared to that of the American competitors. This pushed the other pro class riders to train harder and become faster than ever. Salminen won two championships in the two years he raced the series. In 2007, KTM brought another world champion to dominate in the form of David Knight.
Since then the tracks and the racers have become increasingly faster. This has propelled the riders to becoming even higher-level athletes and has also provided some amazing racing action for the fans. Barry Hawk retired from racing after the 2010 season and went to work on the GNCC track crew laying out the racecourses through 2015. Hawk would transition to a Team Manager role with the Coastal Racing Husqvarna team in 2016, turning the reins of GNCC course layout over to current GNCC course designers Jared Bolton and former XC2 Pro class racer, Ryan Echols.
Past Champions
Over the years the series has been contested by thousands of different riders across the world. Each year an Overall Champion is crowned for both the bikes and ATVs.
GNCC Overall Bike Champions
2016 Kailub Russell KTM Boonville, NC
2015 Kailub Russell KTM Boonville, NC
2014 Kailub Russell KTM Boonville, NC
2013 Kailub Russell KTM Boonville, NC
2012 Paul Whibley YAM New Zealand
2011 Charlie Mullins KTM Hickory, NC
2010 Josh Strang SUZ Australia
2009 Paul Whibley KAW New Zealand
2008 David Knight KTM Isle of Man, UK
2007 David Knight KTM Isle of Man, UK
2006 Juha Salminen KTM Vantaa, Finland
2005 Juha Salminen KTM Vantaa, Finland
2004 Rodney Smith SUZ Antioch, CA
2003 Barry Hawk, Jr. YAM Smithfield, PA
2002 Rodney Smith SUZ Antioch, CA
2001 Rodney Smith SUZAntioch, CA
2000 Shane Watts KTM Maffra, Australia
1999 Rodney Smith SUZ Oakley, CA
1998 Rodney Smith SUZ Oakley, CA
1997 Scott Summers HON Petersburg, KY
1996 Scott Summers HON Petersburg, KY
1995 Scott Plessinger KTM Hamilton, OH
1994 Scott Plessinger KTM Hamilton, OH
1993 Fred Andrews YAM Salem, OH
1992 Scott Summers HON Petersburg, KY
1991 Scott Summers HON Petersburg, KY
1990 Scott Summers HON Petersburg, KY
1989 Ed Lojak YAM Tarentum, PA
1988 Ed Lojak HUS Tarentum, PA
1987 Ed Lojak HUS Tarentum, PA
1986 Ed Lojak HUS Tarentum, PA
1985 Jim Maltba KTM Mount Clare, WV
1984 Ed Lojak HUS Tarentum, PA
1983 Ed Lojak HUS Tarentum, PA
1982 Ed Lojak HUS Tarentum, PA
1981 Ed Lojak HUS Tarentum, PA
1980 Ed Lojak HUS Tarentum, PA
GNCC XC2 Bike Champions
2016 Trevor Bollinger HON Morganton, NC
2015 Jason Thomas KTM
2014 Grant Baylor KTM Belton, SC
2013 Grant Baylor KTM Belton, SC
2012 Jason Thomas KTM
2011 Steward Baylor KTM Belton, SC
2010 Kailub Russell KTM Boonville, NC
2009 Kailub Russell KTM Kingston, OH
2008 Thad Duvall YAM Williamstown, WV
2007 Justin Williamson KTM Sanford, FL
GNCC Overall ATV Champions
2016 Walker Fowler YAM Rogers, OH
2015 Walker Fowler YAM Rogers, OH
2014 Chris Borich SUZ Sunbury, PA
2013 Chris Borich SUZ Sunbury, PA
2012 Chris Borich SUZ Sunbury, PA
2011 Chris Borich SUZ Sunbury, PA
2010 Chris Borich SUZ Sunbury, PA
2009 Chris Borich SUZ Sunbury, PA
2008 Bill Ballance YAM Oakland, KY
2007 Bill Ballance YAM Oakland, KY
2006 Bill Ballance YAM Oakland, KY
2005 Bill Ballance YAM Oakland, KY
2004 Bill Ballance YAM Oakland, KY
2003 Bill Ballance LRD Oakland, KY
2002 Bill Ballance LRD Oakland, KY
2001 Bill Ballance ROL Oakland, KY
2000 Bill Ballance ROL Oakland, KY
1999 Barry Hawk LAE Smithfield, PA
1998 Barry Hawk LAE Smithfield, PA
1997 Barry Hawk LAE Smithfield, PA
1996 Barry Hawk LAE Smithfield, PA
1995 Barry Hawk LAE Smithfield, PA
1994 Barry Hawk LAE Smithfield, PA
1993 Barry Hawk LAE Smithfield, PA
1992 Bob Sloan HON Martinsville, IN
1991 Chuck Delullo HON St. Marys, PA
1990 Chuck Delullo HON St. Marys, PA
1989 Bob Sloan HON Martinsville, IN
1988 Chuck Delullo HON St. Marys, PA
1987 Tom Tokay HON Webster, PA
1986 Tom Tokay HON Webster, PA
1985 Tom Tokay HON Webster, PA
1984 Ted Trey HON Frederick, MD
GNCC XC2 ProAm ATV Champions
2016 Greg Covert Ithaca, NY
2015 Cole Richardson Edinburg, PA
2014 Cole Richardson Edinburg, PA
2013 Brycen Neal HON Bidwell, OH
2012 Patrick McGuire YAM Valencia, PA
2011 Walker Fowler YAM Rogers, OH
2010 Brian Wolf HON Medina, OH
2009 Josh Kirkland KTM Proctor, WV
2008 Donald Ockerman YAM Marshall, IL
2007 Brandon Sommers YAM Millersburg, OH