The fact that the season is over and the Awards Celebration is less than a month away has not seemed to slow things down much in the ATV Racin’ Nation. The QXoN coming up this weekend has many folk's attention as we anticipate a win, but there are still some uncertainties that it will happen on our first time out. I feel that too many see this as a slam-dunk opportunity, but I caution to realize it really is not. We are in a foreign land, with foreign designs, foreign rules and foreign riders that may have never had the opportunity to race in or against Americans. There may be some talent that is undiscovered to us as Americans and this may be there one shot on a world stage to show who they are. It is good to be confident, but let’s be realistic at the same time. It isn’t over, till it’s over!

The boys of Team USA have arrived for the QXoN in Italy and have been pretty busy taking in the beauty and history that Rome and the surrounding areas have had to offer. If you follow Chad Wienen, Joel Hetrick or Thomas Brown on social media then you may have seen they have posted several videos and actually live on the @TeamUSAATVMX on Instagram. Make sure you follow that for sure and use #teamusaatvmx for any related posts you make concerning the big race this weekend. And don’t forget #longlivequads as this is starting to be a more popular trend and may help unite all our quad posts in one place. 

As far as information on how to keep up with the event I have not been able to nail down anything at press time. However I know there will be and if you stay tuned to social media and to ATVMotocross.com the appropriate information will be shared. Till then watch and share everything the boys post up and get ready for hopefully some good news of what signals an ATV world championship win. 

Now the rest of the ATVMX community is busy with either local school functions like Homecoming and such. Chance Nekola recently attended and he is so cool the pretty young lady actually asked him to go. I don’t know if he is bashful or just that cool but I’m going with cool till further notice. Chance had an amazing season this year winning championships in the Open C and the 450 B/C Limited classes. Chance is expected to be a strong front-runner right out of the gate next season when he steps up to the B level. Chance matured strongly this season and his future is looking pretty good. 

The folks of D-6 Ultimate Quad Series hosted the Steve Wotring Memorial race this weekend and looks like a nice turnout for a great series and in the memory of a great man. This little series continues to pick up steam as it pushes quad racing on a local level and is starting to produce some fairly nice local turnouts. The next event for D-6 will be at Pagoda MC near Reading, PA on October 14 and 15, 2017. Hopefully you can try and come out. As extra incentive there is a pro am purse payout as well. So guys go get’em. Find out more about the series on the D-6 Ultimate Quad Series Facebook Page. 

This weekend the GNCC will be back in action at the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Mountaineer Run GNCC. It is located right outside of Morgantown, WV only minutes away from the home offices of MX Sports and Racer Productions. This kind of serves as a mini homecoming for the GNCC Racin’ Nation and if you are in the neighborhood you should stop by. Haedyn Mickelson, Noah Mickelson and Grayson Eller will be at the event giving it another shot. Haedyn has run several 4x4 A class events and is actually sitting top ten in points. He should be able to be top five if he can run together a few decent rides in the closing rounds of the series.

Westley Wolfe will be back in action as well. If you remember he ran AMA Pro ATV and GNCC XC1 this season. He is a rookie in both and even though he was edged out of top rookie position in ATVMX by Parker Wewerka, Westley looks to be the a top contender for top rookie in GNCC. The final rounds will tell the story but right now he sits several points back but is still one of the top rookies and stands a chance of top spot if things go his way. It’s a tough field in GNCC as the talent pool is deep through XC1 and XC2 Pro Am riders. If you finish top 20 overall in this series you are considered one of the elite off road racers in the world. Westley is having no problem maintaining that status. 

That’s it for me for now. Let’s check in with Gloop and Ken “Senior’ Salsa” Hill. Till next time, God Bless Your Heart and All Your Vital Organs.

In The Loop with Gloop:

Keeping up with Ken Hill:

I see all the cool kids are gallivanting around Italy… I mean I thought they were going to race, but all I have seen are pictures from vineyards, some outdoor cafe and some buildings made a long time ago. Ok, Joel did post a picture of him standing in front of a billboard advertising the race but other than that it looks to me like they are all just hamming it up! Oh I forgot, I did see some wicked cool helmets, a Hinson clutch cover and a few other items all done up for Team USA, but nothing that really got my motor running, kind of boring stuff if you ask me! Now if you can’t tell I am being a jackleg and in full envy mode as the team spends a few days exploring and fully enjoying the trip overseas. I even sent Gloop an address to a restaurant in Florence Italy and if he makes it there, we may never see him again! It has been fun following things thus far and I hope to see some serious domination, but it is racing and anything can and will happen so I know I am not alone as I remain glued to the Internet to see what the heck is going on! 

Who would have thought that these fine folks representing our country would be the cream of the crop at the peak of their racing careers and young enough to really soak this all in for a lifetime of memories. It is the perfect storm! And for Joel and Carlie, this is just the build up of things as they head through the championship season, to Italy for the MXON and then to be married. What an incredible year they are having and what if the team wins! That truly would be quite an accomplishment that we all hope and pray comes to fruition. Of course I am slightly biased because I want to see the boys waving old glory high and proud after they decimate the world on the track! What can I say, I am full of American pride and wish to see our boys stand victorious! In any case, I pray for the safety of every rider on the track and that everyone gets home with good memories of a great event.

Now, I have no clue who will be in contention at the MXON event. All I know is that between Joel, Chad and Thomas, I can’t think of anyone else in the world that could hold a line better than the team has on the bars. This should be a cake walk right to the podium but from my observations over the years, bringing riders in from other countries, regions and such usually doesn’t always work out so well for the traveling rider. Maybe with riders coming in from all over the playing field will be about as even as it can be and the time spent leading up to the event will allow the riders to acclimate themselves to things and when the gate drops we get to see our best do exactly what they have been doing here and never look back. I did a search online and could not find much in the way of information about the format, the course or any real hard details so I am flying blind with speculation. I did read all about the bike team but ATV motocross pales in comparison regarding info but came away with nothing more than what I already knew.

Ok folks, that is all from me this week. Next week we should all know how the boys did and hopefully we will be cheering them on a win and proudly boasting of their achievements. No matter what, come home safe and sound and I will be happy but the trip home will be much better for everyone if that trip is filled with talk of how cool it was to win! USA USA USA!!! Good luck and God bless you all!

ATVMX on MAVTV

Tune in to this weekend's premiere showing from the RedBud ATVMX National at 9:30 a.m. EST on MAVTV! If you miss the premiere there will be a repeat airing at 12:30 p.m. EST.