I did hear very briefly from Chad Weinen on last Thursday. He said he had been on vacation and that he would call me on Friday. I am not saying he didn’t try because I was busy at the Mtn. Ridge GNCC but I didn’t see any missed calls so I assuming vacation was extended for a day or two. You might be thinking he just told me that to satisfy me but I don’t think that is the case he actually contacted me first. So I have to say in your face if you thought that. (Ha-ha)

I do look forward to hearing from Chad though and hope to have a full report on Chad and the entire Wienen Motorsports program. I wonder if he is going to let us know he will be racing the Ironman GNCC this year as rumored. Also remember they added Cole Sepesi to the line-up and I for one am excited to see how that is starting to look with some time now on the bike. Hopefully this will be available by Friday.

You may remember a few weeks ago I anticipated the arrival of 2014 Mtn. Dew AMA ATV Motocross Women National Champion Megan Manshack to WXC class in GNCC. Megan did not make her debut in New York like I thought but waited till this past weekend at the Mtn. Ridge GNCC near Somerset, PA. Megan was treated to a real challenging GNCC and we will have more on that in this Friday’s Site Lap.

Don’t forget the banquet coming up. You can make reservations and such by logging onto the ATVMotocross.com website and find all the details and information. One exciting element to the banquet this year is the fact that the Pros will be back in attendance. Then we will all get the full updates. Something tells me that may be part of the reason for all the silence, as folks will make some big announcements at that time. I certainly hope that is the case. It would make a lot of sense for all the silence.

With the silence that we are experiencing and lack of information from the ATV MX Racin’ Nation, I thought this may be a good time to share with you something that you may or may not have ever wondered about on occasion. The name “Site Lap” really doesn’t make sense the way it is spelled. And if you were an early reader of the article when it first began 3 or 4 years ago then you may remember it being called “Sight Lap” as well.

When I first had the idea of the weekly feature we were really kind of unsure which way to go with it. Then I thought I would have some fun with it and change it up a little to “Site”. The reason was because it kind of previews some of the events before we go but more times than not it only talks about things going on around the ATV racing world. I figure since it is a website and our lives revolve around this wonderful World Wide Web or the “www” as I like to call it that it would be more fitting to call it that. It is sort of a loop around the site to see what’s going on, what has changed and what to expect. Therefore Sight Lap became Site Lap and the rest is history.

Also if you have any interesting stories from the season you would like to share, please feel free to email me. I know there are a number of good stories to tell. I had some adventures of my own this season and I heard of many more.

Now let’s check in with Ken “feeling much better than before” Hill:

Thanks Rodney " I am getting senile and leave things all over the county and have to have help finding them" Tomlin!

Can you tell we have as much fun as they will allow us to have? It is a great thing because if you aren't having fun than life can get miserable really fast!  I can't pick on Rodney too bad, I am still looking for a camera that I seem to have misplaced. In my defense, it is camo and most things around here are camo so it may take some time finding it! 

Last Site Lap I told you all about Gloop and some of his crew that keep RacerTV and MAVTV stocked with footage and I need to add that Gloop is always looking for people to run a video camera at the races. If you've ever dreamed of being a famous guy that can shout "Hey I filmed that", then get in touch with Gloop and do some discussing about getting your shot at being a videographer! 

This week, I wanted to fill you guys in on the main man at the races, the go to guy for any complaint, problem or grievance. The guy everyone loves to hate, the guy who gets praise and yelled at by the same person in the same sentence! That is right, Mr. Dean VanLeeuwen.  I have known Dean since he started with the series but for the first few years I paid him no attention. I had my job to do and it did not concern him so I never took the time to get to know him. When I became part of the series in an official capacity, I got to spend much more time working with him and seeing how he goes about doing things as he handles both the ATVMX and GNCC series. I have watched him rub elbows with the biggest in the world of MX and XC and walk away only to pick up trash from the pits or along the track so he kind of does it all and then some.

Many don't know this, but the series has laid out a system that involves how they want things done and Dean is the man who makes that happen. From conversations over the years I think most feel they just wing it when it comes to things but that is not the case. A ton of thought and pre planning goes into just about everything and when a racer or team decides it is not the correct way, Dean is usually the first one approached and the first to catch every ounce of flak from what ever may be the world ending ordeal. Now I am not saying the series is always right, but keep all this in mind when you go stomping up to Dean with a problem, the man will break his back making things right but the stress that can be created over a simple problem is unreal and no one needs that. Some of you may arrive early enough to see Dean and his can of paint methodically marking parking areas, laying out the vendor pits and generally setting up what will be that races layout. You might catch him putting up banners and such as his crew turns an empty track and pit area into a vendor and sponsor-laden track. It is indeed work that requires thought and when they don't get it right they hear about it all week!

So Dean is a hard worker and handles a load of responsibilities and we sure do appreciate all his hard work. I had the chance of going to check out a possible new venue with Dean in the off-season and I listened closely to what he asked the track owner and how he went about putting the track under his microscope to help the series decide if the facility was capable of handling everything from parking to our series vendors and even the track itself. And with the TV package, even how the track and area would be viewed was discussed, so there was much more to it then I first considered. He even measured the distance to hotels, fuel stops and restaurants, which I never thought of as being something that was considered but is important to everyone. 

So as you can see, behind the scenes with this guy is much more than just seeing what we all see as we go about our hurried schedule on race day. And I could dive deeper into what makes Dean tick but I will save that for a future Site Lap! Hopefully this gives you a sneak peek into one of the busiest men in the world of off-road sports as he works hard to make each event the best it can be for you and every racer and fan.