GNCC Round 8 Coverage: Mason-Dixon

Round 8 is in the books.

The Progressive Grand National Cross Country (GNCC Racing) Series presented by Specialized, an AMA National Championship, hosted its eighth round of racing in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania with the Parts Unlimited Mason-Dixon GNCC. As the weekend rolled around, the sunshine and warmer temperatures greeted the series.

As the green flag waved it was WFR/GBC/Fly Racing/BNR Yamaha’s Walker Fowler earning himself the $250 Kanati Tires XC1 Pro Holeshot Award. As Fowler and the rest of the field headed into the woods it would be BNR Motorsports/Fearless/Kenda Tires’ Steven Harrell emerging first to come through timing and scoring on the opening lap of the race. Soon Fowler and Phoenix Racing Yamaha’s Brycen Neal would make their way into the first and second place positions, where they would battle back-and-forth for the remaining laps of the race.

Neal would make a last lap pass on Fowler, pushing towards the finish line and crossing to earn his sixth win of the season. Fowler would come through just 1.1 seconds behind Neal to finish second overall on the day.

Action Off-Road/GBC/BNR Motorsports’ Josh Merritt would have his work cut out for him as he started his day back in the ninth place position. Merritt would put his head down and continue to push towards the front, making the necessary passes to put himself in podium contention. Merritt would find himself fourth as the white flag flew, but he would not give up as he continued to push on. Merritt would make the pass for third and hold that position until he crossed the finish line.

Coming out of his “retirement” for the Mason-Dixon GNCC was Richardson Racing’s Cole Richardson. As the race got underway, Richardson found himself up in fourth for the start of the race but would battle between fourth and fifth for the majority of the day. Richardson would come through to cross the finish fourth overall on the day.

Hunter Hart Racing/Fly Racing/Ithaca Recreation Sports’ Hunter Hart would come through to round out the top five overall finishers on the day after running in third at the halfway point of the race. Action Off-Road/GBC/Houser Racing’s Wyatt Wilkin would finish sixth overall on the day, after battling through the pack throughout the race.

Coming through to finish seventh overall on the day was BNR Motorsports/Fearless/Kenda Tires’ Steven Harrell. After leading the opening lap of the race, Harrell found himself fall back to fourth and then seventh as the checkered flag came out. McGill Mafia/OBOR Tires/Moose Racing’s Adam McGill found himself finishing eighth overall on the day after starting in the back of the pack.

Making his way through to finish ninth overall was Sturdivant Racing’s Branden Owens after he would come through tenth and then eleventh at one point in the race. Bullet Proof Doorz/Kenda Tires/Senge Graphic’s Ronnie Rusch would round out the top ten overall and in the XC1 class on the day as he battled his way throughout the race.

In the XC2 Pro-Am class BNR Motorsports/Pierce Performance/GBC Tire’s Alex Thieman jumped off the line first to grab the $100 BNR Motorsports Holeshot Award and the early lead. Thieman would hold the lead for the duration of the race placing a gap over the rest of the XC2 field. Phoenix Racing Yamaha’s Grayson Eller would come through to finish second in the class after battling with CST Tires/LMR Motors/Elka/Fly Racing’s Braxton Grosse at the halfway point. Grosse would hold on to finish third in the class.

Earning the Top Amateur honors at the Parts Unlimited Mason-Dixon was Talon Stout who finished 23rd Overall and first in the College A (16-18) class. Jeremiah Wolf came through 25th Overall to finish second in College A (16-18) and earn second place on the Top Amateur podium. Logan Steele would round out the Top Amateur podium as he came through to finish 27th Overall and third in the College A (16-18) class.

As the morning racers took off it was Pro Row 784/TMS/Edgwood/DeRisi Racing’s Brandon Frazier getting the jump off the 4×4 Pro line to earn himself the $100 4×4 Pro Holeshot Award courtesy of BNR Motorsports. Frazier would continue to push forward as Kenda/KMK/Ryco Electric’s Cody Collier would manage to close the gap to just 1.1 seconds between the two for the last couple of laps. Frazier would be able to hold off Collier to earn the 4×4 Pro class win at round eight in Pennsylvania, maintaining his points lead as they head into the ninth round of racing. Collier would hold on and come through to earn second in the class, and third overall on the day. Making his way up to third in the 4×4 Pro class was KMK Off-Road/OBOR/FXR’s Kaden Wharff after starting back in seventh on the opening lap. Wharff would continue to push for the duration of the race making the necessary passes to put himself up on the podium once again.

However, the overall win would not go to a 4×4 Pro or WXC competitor this round, the overall winner would once again be Cole Lykins out of the 250 All-Star (14-17) class as he came through to take the overall win on adjusted time. This is the second time Lykins has earned the morning overall win this season as he did before at the Camp Coker Bullet round. Brandon Frazier and Cody Collier would round out the top overall finishers.

Even though Sportsman A is taken out of the overall running due to it being a non-points paying class, competitor, Layne McCormick would cross the finish line first in the morning race.

As the WXC made their way into the woods, it was Elioff Racing/BNR Motorsports/GBC Tire’s Jessica Elioff out front leading the way. Elioff would continue to lead the way for majority of the race, but as the white flag came out indicating one more lap Osburn Off-Road/Pierce Performance/Moose Racing’s Chloe Harper put the pressure on and made the pass for the lead. Harper and Elioff would battle for the entirety of the last lap with Elioff being able to make her way back around Harper and into the lead to take the checkered flag, while Harper would finish second on the day. JMR/Action Off-Road/GBC/Moose Racing’s Katelyn Osburn had a consistent race as she started off second and would round out the top three WXC class finishers.

Catch GNCC Pro ATV and Motorcycle Racing free via RacerTV.com all season long. Pro ATV Racing starts Saturday’s at 2pm ET, with the exception of Big Buck, Snowshoe and Ironman events where they will start at 1pm ET.

For more information on the GNCC series, visit the official website at www.gnccracing.com.

Parts Unlimited Mason-Dixon GNCC Results and Points Standings
Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania
Round 8 of 13
Saturday, June 1, 2024

XC1 Pro Event Results:

Brycen Neal (YAM)
Walker Fowler (YAM)
Joshua Merritt (YAM)
Cole Richardson (YAM)
Hunter Hart (YAM)
Wyatt Wilkin (YAM)
Steven Harrell (YAM)
Adam McGill (HON)
Branden Owens (YAM)
John Glauda Jr. (YAM)

Overall National Championship Standings:

Brycen Neal (222)
Walker Fowler (186)
Joshua Merritt (165)
Wyatt Wilkin (145)
Adam McGill (120)
Steven Harrell (101)
Hunter Hart (100)
Austin Abney (91)
Chris Borich (85)
Jarrod McClure (74)

XC2 Pro-Am Event Results:

Alex Thieman (YAM)
Grayson Eller (YAM)
Braxton Grosse (HON)
Daulton Keyes (HON)
Tanner Walker (YAM)
James Glauda (YAM)
Greg Covert (YAM)
Dylan Walraven (YAM)
Keaton Henderson (YAM)
Christopher Howard (YAM)

XC2 Pro-Am Series Standings:

Grayson Eller (190)
Alex Thieman (180)
Braxton Grosse (134)
James Glauda (133)
Daulton Keyes (115)
Christopher Howard (114)
Dylan Walraven (108)
Alex Elioff (99)
Keaton Henderson (90)
Kenny Shick (84)