The Thanksgiving Holiday has come and gone, and in all honesty we as an ATV Racin' Nation/community have so much to be thankful for. I realize this is a week removed from the celebrations, but we took a break last week to be with our families. Although, in some of our cases, some of us went to Florida and got to enjoy a little two-wheel MX action at Gatorback Cycle Park for the 43rd Thor Winter Olympics presented by Pro Circuit. To my surprise, there was even a little four-wheeled blood amongst the masses! However, I want to still extend a happy season to all, as Christmas is only a few weeks awa,y and it will be here before we know it. Tis' the season!

As mentioned I had the opportunity to attend Mini O's last week, and I was not the only four-wheeled enthusiast there. Jeremiah Jones was there, representing Hinson Racing Components, and the former ATVMX and GNCC Champ was all smiles. I was especially thrilled to see our good friend, and top AMA Pro ATV star and Pro Am champion, Jeffrey Rastrelli racing that week.

That's right! Jeffrey Rastrelli decided to try something different, and bought himself a KTM and raced the 450 C classes. Jeffrey participated in both Supercross and Motocross qualifying through a massive number of entries. I have to admit it was kind of amusing at first watching Jeffrey and the unique "body English" he brought to the two-wheeled side of things. As the week progressed he actually became quite accustomed to a bike and racing. 

I am not sure where he finished overall but I think he may have gotten a top 10 in at least the SX portion but MX I am totally at a blank. However a good portion of the racing was captured live on RacerTV.com and you can watch the archives and see for yourself.

I didn't get a chance to speak much with Jeffrey but he did say it was way different and he was going to stay focused on the ATV racing. He and his pops were all smiles all week, and it was good to see the family settled in for a week of fun and laughs with absolutely no stress to worry about. 

The last couple of editions of Site Lap have featured a word from Rich Gillette letting us know what's up in the world of Root River Racing. He contacted me after his last contribution and wanted me to let everyone know he had made a mistake. He was apologetic but wanted to correct things. He said that he had reported that Nick Weber was a partial sponsored rider and actually meant Tyler Davis was a partial sponsored rider. He is sorry for any inconveniences it may have caused bit wanted to make sure things were clear.

Let's check in with Ken "Where have the deer all gone to?" Hill:

It has been an interesting year for me as I have spent just about every Friday morning at a computer writing my inclusion for Site Lap. I started out in January and February doing the A typical type of stuff, grabbing an interview etc but decided that since my main focus for the series was on Social Media, that I should be using that as the basis for my information. That should have been an easy job and some weeks it was, especially after a race weekend where the information flowed out from just about every source. Other weeks it was like the spigot had been turned off and little to no details were available until just before the next race. This wasn't going to be as easy as I had first thought however what I have learned should be a big positive for the upcoming season.

Several times I would fire up an email only to restrain from sending a request for info from a rider or team as I wanted to stick to my guns and see just what info was being put out there. The way I see it, is if I could get what I needed then so should your fans and sponsors and if not, I might find a hole in the system that we could fill or fix so that everyone could benefit.

I have commented in many of Site Lap's posts about getting onboard with social media posts and having dedicated pages. Many have seen the benefit and they have started making them as the year progressed. I kept an eye on media outlets to see if they picked up, stayed the same or dropped off with both their main news stories or on their social media pages. My findings are that 2014 saw little to no improvements in new information being released, just more of the same style and type of race report that included little to no big swell of growth for anyone. Now keep in mind that we are small compared to other racing styles so a secret doesn't stay that way long and the same information gets passed around by everyone involved so there is no fault or blame to assign, merely a season long observation that has room for improvement and is something I will be addressing with the series head honchos when we sit down in December to discuss 2015. Yes, it was outside the box thinking and I am positive it added a few grey hairs to my head but if we can find these holes in our media we all should be able to use it to our advantage. Racers and teams may be able to see numbers they can share to their sponsors, the series should see more growth through all of its outlets and the media should be able to grab information much faster and easier via the social media posts that you put out there.

Last weekend at the GNCC banquet I was talking with Mark Baldwin about the video release and how it seemed to get the response needed to garner attention as well as promote his team and rider and that "out of the box" thing came rolling into the conversation. It was apparent to me right at that moment that others were not just doing the same thing they had done for years but were also thinking of ways to try new things and be different. It was funny learning that Baldwin and John Natalie had not conspired on releasing the images and video but they worked well together out of pure coincidence. Could that be a sign of things to come for 2015 and their new team venture?

That is all from me this week. I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the Thanksgiving Day images and stories from our racing family as everyone sure looked like they were having fun and enjoying friends and family all over our great nation. I hope everyone has safe travels as we all move about during the holiday season!

Good stuff again my friend! Wise observations from a wise man.

Here is some good information from atvmotocross.com home page about the hall of fame inductions coming up. Stand up ATV Racin' Nation and let's be heard on this one.

Each year, the AMA accepts applications for consideration for induction into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.  For the past several years, MX Sports Pro Racing has nominated Gary Denton, one of our sports most celebrated and accomplished athletes, for this great honor.  This year, Gary was elevated from Applicant to HoF Candidate, making him eligible for selection as a Nominee for induction – an honor in itself, but not the same as actually being inducted.  Unfortunately, the HoF Nominating Committee failed to induct Gary, or any ATV racer for that matter ever.  

The ATV racing community has supported the AMA through its membership requirements since the series’ inception in the early 1980’s.  Yet not one ATV racer or supporter has ever been inducted into the AMA HoF – not in motocross, off-road, flat track or TT. This is unacceptable. 

The deadline for the 2015 nomination cycle is December 31, 2014.  We urge our ATV racing community to support our efforts to get Gary inducted into the AMA HoF.  The complete application process can be found here:

Also here is some more cool information and your chance to help our sport get more due recognition. The American Motorcyclist Association is announcing the nominees for 2014 year-end awards, which recognize individuals and organizations that excelled in AMA competition and recreational activity during the previous 12 months. Our own Sam Rowe, Megan Manshack and Cole Sepisi were all nominated for special awards so follow the links and help out. 

All AMA members are invited to help select the winners of the competition categories, including the prestigious AMA Athlete of the Year honors. 

The awards will be presented at the 2014 AMA Championship Banquet on Saturday, Jan. 17, at the Aladdin Shrine Event and Conference Center in Columbus, Ohio.  

"AMA-sanctioned events are the gold standard of motorcycle and all-terrain vehicle racing," said AMA Chief Operations Officer Jeff Massey. "These are the greatest grassroots motorsports disciplines in the world. The racers and organizers nominated for these awards have all exhibited poise, dignity and excellence, while helping to advance the AMA's mission to promote and protect motorcycling."  

AMA members can vote at www.americanmotorcyclist.com/Racing/RacerVote.aspx through Sunday, Dec. 7. All AMA members who vote will be entered in a drawing for AMA-branded gear.