2024 GNCC Racing Live | Round 1 – Big Buck ATVs

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GNCC on Racer TV returns for the 2024 season this the progressive grand national cross country racing series presented by specialized your AMA national champion I ship we set the stage Bryce and Neil coming off backto back national titles the big question can the bidw bullet pull off the three

Pat now he’s going to be challenged Hunter Hart finishing in the number two spot last year no more excuses for Hunter he knows he’s a Podium Contender he knows he is a race win Contender he has got to throw his name in the half for this Championship you know the young

Man is going to come out swinging focused and determined here this this season Cole Richardson the big news in the off season announcing his retirement from a full-time racing gig now will we see him throughout the year I got to think the answer is yes but nonetheless

Not going to be contending for the title then we got to talk about Walker Fowler the injury last year the question marks will he return yes he will will he be able to compete yes he will can he get podiums yes can he win yes he proved all

Of that last year year so now the big question can Walker fer return to that Championship Glory will Bryson Neil stand in the way will Hunter Hart stand in the way all that and more starts right here right now on Racer TV are you ready to go gmcc [Applause] Racer good afternoon and welcome to round number one of the 2024 Progressive grand national cross country racing series presented by specialized your AMA National Championship we are here in Union South Carolina for this the VP racing fuels big buck GNCC Mikey Way’s here Johnny Gallagher welcome back man hey I don’t

Know what else to say we’re back it’s GNCC let’s get it going you know people were talking about how short this offseason was I just agree it feels like it’s been a million years since we went racing but we’re back baby and it’s time

To light it up I’m ready for it well hey Bry and Neil obviously the big story back-to-back Champion now uh I think he’s got to be feeling comfortable the big question can he threee yeah that is a big question I mean obviously on the ATB side we’ve seen big runs of

Championships Barry Hawk with uh seven ATB championships bill balance with nine Chris borts with six Walker fer with seven Bryson now with two can he keep this dynasty going uh I think there’s a lot of guys in line wanting to try and knock him off that box but man he was so

Strong last year and uh I think there’s no reason to think he may not come out swinging again in 2024 yeah that’s it I mean he he is the man to beat he’s proved it uh the big things here we’ve got no Cole Richardson Cole announcing

His retirement at the banquet uh I saw on social media I think he might already be having that uh oh man I wish I was there so I think we’ll see Cole maybe a little bit here and there throughout the season but nonetheless not racing a full

Year let’s talk about him and Hunter Hart I mean there was no love loss between these two guys on the track they kept a professional off the track most of the time but if it was Cole in this situation or Hunter I think in my mind you say okay

The guy that you complained about all year is out the window now now if you’re Hunter heartt no more excuses you got to get up and get in the fight yeah absolutely and I mean that was an epic battle for second place in the series last year I mean those guys threw down

All the way till the final round uh with obviously some additional mixers thrown in there a lot of guys up in that mix but you know Hunter Hart is Young he’s in the up incomer I mean he was a youth Champion he’s worked his way up through

The ranks you know the question is can he take it to a championship battle obiously had the points lead early in 2023 Bryson just got on a roll Hunter wasn’t able to match that uh and then obviously a lot of other factors you know a lot of other players here Adam

Mill back with a vengeance last year he’s back again this year uh not any reason to think that he won’t be right up in the mix mixing it up for podiums obviously a lot of other guys up in the Josh Meritt with the with the you know

Season to remember for him ending up in the top five for the first time in his professional career I believe he could be a Podium Contender and then you got that we’ll put it the Dark Horse the three-digit machine the 73 you know Walker coming back uh obviously our

Seven time champion and uh last year out with injury came back at the end of the season was able to get a win and closed out the season with the first and the second the last two rounds um you know a lot of people speculating that maybe he

Could bring the fight to Bryson as well uh I mean Jared mcair Steven harell moving up for me to uh you don’t want to slide anybody or Miss anybody John GL Jun absolutely there’s a ton of those guys that absolutely could all battle for a top five and and and maybe even a

Podium and we’ll see how it all shakes out it’s going to be good I want to talk a little bit more real quick about Walker Fowler and that situation last year where it was in question will he ever race again and then it became okay well will he be competitive so he knocks

Out a Podium and then he gets a win so all of those I think boxes that he wanted to check that maybe we didn’t anticipate him checking off he got it done so now it’s it’s hey I’m still capable I can go out and get a championship but they still have to go

Through Bry and Neil and we actually have Jackson Burl standing by with Bry and Neil right now all right thanks Mikey yeah we’re here with BR nil Bryson take us through this offseason how you feel going into 2024 oh it’s been a great off season uh you know one of the

The great things we got going to this year is no changes uh last year we had a few big major changes going on engine team a lot of other things and um had a lot of work in offseason do but this year it’s been smooth and easy um built

The bikes I’ve been able to train good and uh we’re feeling good feeling really good going into this year Bryson how does it feel to be a two-time champ uh I can’t lie it’s it’s a huge weight off the shoulders so uh to get the second

One to back it up uh I feel like you know going into this year uh the pressure is there but it’s not the same weight so I think that’s definitely a good thing Bryson how crucial are these first few rounds oh it’s it just sets

The tone for the year you know um I’ve been I’ve been the guy in the past who’s came out here and had a bad race in the first one and been in the in the hole right off the bat so uh you know it’s critical to try to come out make the

Most of your first three races uh try to take care of the bike try not to make no mistakes and uh try not to have no boo boos and put yourself in a hole early and uh then have to claw back the rest of the season so uh that’s the ultimate

Goal all right thanks Bryson well Mikey that sounded like a confident Bryce and Neil Jackson put him on the spot asked him the tough questions and uh he definitely sounds like he’s ready to come out swinging in 2024 it’s going to be a good one we’ve still got more to do

We want to take a look at what our Riders will be facing today so we will throw it to Jared Bolton for our Yamaha racing course description well thanks guys and welcome back to the 2024 GNCC Racing season it’s it’s awesome to be back racing and there’s no better place

To do it than right here at the big buck farm this is an awesome piece of property we’ve been coming here for a long time and that’s for a good reason the track GE is really fun and this year is probably one of my more favorite big

Buck courses we’ve ever had uh big buck tends to be a little bit on the faster side but there’s places that it slows it down gets a little tighter kind of cuts up some of the uh faster sections as well and you never feel like you’re

Going that fast here it’s not what you would call a sketchy fast it’s more of a flowy really fun kind of fast kind of tight little bit of rock you know a lot of people think go to South Carolina you’re going to find sand well here big

Buck there’s actually a big little bit of rock to find as well so uh overall beautiful place to have a race it’s going to be awesome year racing can’t wait to get it started back to you guys all right thanks Jared for that Yamaha track description obviously we

Got a preview of what the uh guys and gals are going to be out there battling on today uh we’re going to let this guy Mikey Waynes he’s got some 10 seconds to call and he’s going to head out to the starting line we’re going to catch a

Word from our sponsors and we’re going to be back with the starts and all the live racing action right after This you know when I take the bike out like this all my stresses just melt away I hear that this bad boy can fix anything y tough day of work nice Cruiser sort you right out when I’m riding I’m not even thinking about my painful cavity well you shouldn’t ignore that and every

Time I get stressed about having to pay my bills I just hop on the bike man oh come on man you got to pay your bills you don’t have to worry about anything when you’re protected by America’s number one motorcycle insurer well you definitely do those things aren’t

Related so ah oh that is a vibrating pain GNCC Racing on Racer TV is brought to you by Progressive Insurance you could save hundreds on car and motorcycle insurance specialized specialized Turbo ebikes it’s you only faster Rocky Mountain ATV MC get ready and there you go and thank you Amy house for that Union South Carolina Zone

And as she wraps up that national anthem we want to welcome everybody watching at home and around the world live on racertv.com this is round number one of the 2024 Progressive cran national cross country racing series presented by specialized the VP racing fuels big buck GNCC and as uh we welcome everyone

Watching at home on racertv.com we are ready for our Pro Rider introductions Big John where you at there he is I got a thumbs up okay make sure him and Ricky to are ready and we’ll start introducing our pro row for the XC one here we go got the thumbs up without

Further Ado rolling to the line first the number one and backto back defending Champion Kenny 3p this season on the Phoenix racing Yamaha the bid well bullet Bryson NE rolling to the line next the number two out of New Field New York aboard the hunter heart racing fly racing back Yamaha Hunter

Har rolling to the line next the 5 2 1 out of Waverly West by God Virginia on an over tires moose racing and Migel Mafia back Honda the gator Adam Mill rolling to the line next coming off his best season so far in the xc1 Pro

Class the number five out of akan Ohio on an action off-road GBC and BNR back Yamaha Josh Mary rolling to the line next the 712 out of waaw North Carolina on a pierce performance action Offroad in GBC back Yamaha John glada Jr rolling to the line next the 6 21 out

Of Hillsboro Ohio on an action off-road GBC and Hower back Yamaha Wyatt Wilkins up next the number nine out of Pennsylvania on a jmr GBC and elat Ponda the Cobra Jared Mure rolling into the line next the 703 out of vburg Indiana on the action off-road Maxis and fly racing back Yamaha Austin abne rolling to the line next the number eight making his xc1 full season debut out of Maryland on a BNR and fearless back Yamaha Steven

Harell rolling to the line next he’s healthy he’s having fun he’s gurgling water or salt water I don’t know what it is but he’s back racing and we’re here for it out of Rogers Ohio your former champ on the GBC fly racing and BNR back to ahaha Walker

Fowler and rolling to the line next the 714 out of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania on a bulletproof doors in BNR Motorsports back Yamaha Ronnie rush and last but certainly not least the number 12 he sits at top the all time wins list out of sunberry Pennsylvania on the action off-road AMS

Oil and CB racing back Yamaha Chris Bor and that ladies and gentlemen is your starting Row for the xz1 pro class here for the VP racing fuels big buck GNCC and as DJ Jud exits the Monster Energy activation transport the meats jumps into the r Max

1000 and this is where we like to say DJ Jud remove the meats yeah buddy about to go now here at the VP racing fuel’s big puck GNCC so much at stake let’s lay the foundation for what this season’s going to look like here in 2024 let’s get folks off the starting line

And back that way there you go there you go thank you thank you thank you thank you keep moving I got you I got you and GNCC hey we’re all about family we’re all about fun right I would be remissed not to wish a big old happy

Birthday to Rider Canfield out there he said what do I want for my birthday I want to go to GNCC dad you’re here buddy you made it now let’s watch some racing and have some fun Ricky to now down on the starting line he looks down at the

Watch and he steps forward and he lets our Riders know one minute one minute until we’re ready to go VP racing fuels big puck GNCC Racing so much at stake B Neil tries to threp a healthy and focused and ready Walker Fowler making his return here for a full

Season wants to contend for a championship Hunter Harts in the mix McGill coming off a good season Josh Meritt on the rise we can keep going all day everybody’s ready and there we go the blue flag waves shut them down shut them down shut them

Down as we are just about ready to roll now guys get those machines shut down and we are about ready to roll now and I got to ask you shut them down there you go good job that’s what we’re here for South Carolina are you ready to go GNCC

Racing that’s pretty good but by God it’s the first round of the year we got to make some noise so they can hear us throughout the entire country I’ll ask you one more time are you ready to go GNCC Racing seconds for row number one the xc1 pro bang and we’re

Off oh a b Neil trouble on the start he’s going to have to do it the long way around oh and it was Meritt and Jared McLure side by side I don’t know which one it was somebody’s got to take that Kady H shot award to close to call to the naked eye

We may have to go to the tape and the replay on that one I like how this year stting xc2 proam BNR Motorsports whole shot award up for grabs Alex Tan Keaton Henderson Jeremy Leon Dalton Keys Grayson Eller danic P ready to roll in 10 seconds Nate Harvey Christopher Howard Braxton gross Gabriel nod Kenny schik tavin cook Alex elof Jonathan fugan Chase Allison AJ Connor Dylan wall Raven Chris McClean and that’s going to be the 016 that is Alex Tan grabbing the whole shot and early right lead right there for what is a

Stacked xc2 class here we go College a 16 to 18 another stacked one right here ready to roll in 10 seconds Aiden Jones Jace Cooper perker Henderson Evan osbor Andre Williams Ty MC Kaden lamb Bruno Brody Lee Jeremiah wolf oh and a big pile up in turn number one grabbing

The whole shots going to be the 927 of Damen Hawkins out of Bear Branch Kentucky and Ricky to still standing by with our Rider in that xt2 class able to get her off and going that was the 341 right there Jeremiah wolf got some making up to do junior a

19 plus coming up next 10 seconds Cory vandelinder David misisco Colton Kusa Logan case Ryan Hendershot Briggs Lazelle Mitch murer Conor Brandt James Pat Lane Caleb Vanderpool Kai arberg David Whit Trey Fury Bradley burrow 153 that is Mitch M out of Glenrock Pennsylvania on the Yamaha grabbing that

Early lead as we turn our attention now to the vet a 28 plus Tyler Griffith Henry Moore Jonathan Singleton Cody spino 10 seconds Nick Davidson Pierre vest denal Alan blos Kevin yo Michael Aldridge Justin Miller Brian folz Thomas coup SP Tom cots get you some 516 Justin Miller out

Of Hughesville Maryland on that Miller Racing BNR Motorsports back Yamaha with the whole shot and early lead right there as we turn our attention now to the senior a 40 plus Jeffrey Pickins Luke grees 10 seconds Sean Slattery will Jones Nathan Yates Rick Marino Chris Conlin and Derek Hart

Here they come around turn number one they go and that is going to be the 303 a papa p Jeffrey Pickins grabbing that whole shot in early lead right there love the little checkup from the neck up he said let’s go boys we’re racing here we go College B

Head second Cameron mahand James Burger Austin ker Austin Miller trip alexo Isaac Hart Seth n Jake cter Jackson Carol Danny Barber ostrich Quinton Galer Landon kler Braden Garrett Aiden Doyle Noah deeri Evan ruckle and Aiden Al and with a commanding lead early look like the 472

Maybe L I’m seeing that wrong don’t have a 472 on the paper but it could be my eyes could be my eyes Junior B 19 plus ready to roll Michael worth Jack Neely Michael lman 10 seconds Bob duer Cav Temple Denton white Jackson Lutz Austin Nome Michael dson Shane

Croll Colin Dunn Adam wle Zachary deny Andrew Taylor Joe Brooker Tyler fiser Adam schael big big pile up there in turn number one and the 420 will grab the hole shot that’s D white out of Manchester Ohio on that young Cycle Works and how’s her racing back righted

Our Riders are all right just trying to get them untangled wo there they go one two and three got some time to make up right there remember to breathe boys it’s all good in the hood vet b 28 plus Matthew Hartwell Tanner doav Simon and David kite ready to go in

10 seconds Tyler Travis Steven lion Eric Murphy Frederick Harter Joshua Axel Doug Ryan Travis Rafael Dustin Brisco Christopher string as well as David Darnell William Barger Zack bwell John Higgins Travis Schaefer and Robert Henson who wants it the 088 wants it that is Matthew Hartwell out of Virginia putting that

Being our Motorsports Hower racing and fly racing back Yamaha to good use early as we turn our attention now here senior b 40 plus 10 seconds Shane worth Ricky Lewis Ben Dunlap Russell fry Bobby McCauley Ryan Dixon Joe deart Forest cross Douglas Bailey Aaron Delany Chad Wallace and Steve

Kiggins here we go on the inside he goes that’s going to be the 487 of Ryan Dixon out of Milford Square Pennsylvania aboard the Yamaha grabing that whole shot an early lead ladies and gentlemen that was a lot of fun let’s do it again tomorrow wo we got a lot of

Racing left we’re going to take Qui a word from our SP and we’ll be back with more Bry how about the start he had not good can he make up time we’ll be right back after this this is the VP racing fuels big buck GNCC you know when I take the bike out

Like this all my stresses just melt away I hear that this bad boy can fix anything yeah tough day at work nice Cruise you right out when I’m riding I’m not even thinking about my painful cavity oh you shouldn’t ignore that and every time I get stressed about having

To pay my bills I just hop on the bike man oh come on man you got to pay your bills you don’t have to worry about anything when you’re protected by America’s number one motorcycle insurer well you definitely do those things aren’t related so ah oh that is a vibrating pain It’s a big world out there how do you choose to see it when you crave the long Canyons Rocky Trails rded tracks and lonely highways they become a part of you podiums and personal records we choose it all because life is about moving and feeling it’s about being connected to the

Adventure some just never pull the trigger they keep waiting wondering what it means to wander it’s a big world out there you just need to ride where you Belong Whatever you drive however you drive AMS oil especially Engineers lubricants to maximize power performance and protection in your vehicles so you can work hard and play hard with confidence order onlined and amsoil.com unleash aggression reliability and premium quality with kinda tires delivering exceptional performance on all types of Vehicles Automotive ATVs utvs

Motorcycles bicycles trailers lawn and garden and even golf trust kinda tires to guide you on your next adventure K designed for your journey testing testing hey what’s up everybody at Racer TV we got it figured out here welcome back to round number one Jackson Burl alongside Zack Heron and Johnny G man

Caught us a little off guard there had a little technical difficulties but hey we got it out of the way early here in 2024 shouldn’t have to worry about it anymore Jackson what a race we’ve had all day today and man I’m just excited to see

How this Pro race is going to finish up yeah man it has been a day of it Jessica Elli off taking the win there in our women’s Pro class in the 4×4 Pro it was Cody carer our reigning Champion but Zach we have a start recap if you’ll

Take us through it absolutely the specialized start recap back with us once again in 2024 and take a look at your reigning Champion all right the number one of Bry and Neil talked to him earlier he’s wanting to start things off strong really looking to get a good

Start and a good finish here at round one but boom right in the center of your screen trouble for the number one right off the bat he’s going to be coming from the back of the pack from that first turn now it is a allout battle between

Merritt and Mur I still haven’t found out exactly who has been credited the lead or who’s credited with that ho shot I’m going to have to wait and see who I’m presenting the ho shot Award with I believe that’s Walker Fowler dipping in third as they head into the woods good

To see Walker up front early we take a look at the xc2 class and it’s one of the new guys in xc2 Alex theman going to end up taking that early race lead as they make their way around Carnage a couple Riders getting up on two wheels

But everybody able to make their way out clean and it is the number 16 machine in the xc2 class leading them off into the woods that might be ler there on that Phoenix racing Yamaha in second I know Grayson looking for some big things here in 2024 as well but that is your

Specialized start recap here for this first pro ATV race of the year and man expecting big things looking like this is your leader on screen that is the number five of Josh Merritt taking over the number one spot believe was that McClure still holding down second and

Then wow look at how much time Neil has already made up Jackson and I were talking previously as we see Adam McGill go by on screen as well but intensity I think going to be the main thing to talk about for Bryon Neil early in this first race

Yeah yeah no doubt about it Bryson Neil he’s going to have the intensity up here at Round number one you know he wants to get off to a good start to the season already making his way up was that third place he had made his way up to so third

It wasn’t it might have been fourth or so but I know he was inside the top five so making his way on up and I saw Jared McClure as he was coming through he was looking confident he was smiling on his way to the line and it looks like it’s

Paying off for him he is in a good spot here at the beginning of this one another Rider looking very confident coming into round number one is Walker Fowler now Jackson for you and I last year at round one we were almost saying did we miss Walker Fowler did we miss

The Walker fouler era we weren’t sure whether he was going to be coming back at all now on screen we see about it looks like that is Bryson Neil already starting to apply pressure moving forward in the pack but as I saw Walker Fowler riding to the start a big smile

Give me a big knuckle tap headed that way he looks confident and looks like he’s here to prove something in 2024 yeah we’ll uh try if you guys can hear me now sorry a little more technical difficulties there had to unplug and plug some stuff back in but

Uh yeah it was a quick start for uh Josh Merritt Walker fower right up there Jared McClure as well looking like uh unless we missed Walker in that shot looking like he may have dropped back just a little bit uh they’re off the start but yeah Bryce and Neil making

Quick work of it you know as much as in the booth here we want to add drama to it uh talk about we here’s the word back from the track guys hard to pass they’re saying it’s a very uh batt shoot like track so far uh any of the the option

Lines are kind of hard to get into it’s just the way the track flow laid out um but Bry and Neil without a bad without a good start you could say oh that’s going to make it harder to come up through well he went ahead and erased those

Doubts in the first couple miles worked his way up to uh third place he’s with ins sight of leaders already looks like we do have the leaders on screen and uh update update it looks like that may be Bryson Neil with Hunter Hart hard to tell keep in mind we had some team

Changes this year John GLA now also a part of that Phoenix Yamaha racing team so he has same helmet same gear uh looks just like brys and Neal on the bike so we’ll have to wait till we can get an actual shot of the number but uh it

Looks like that that may be them there uh coming back to xc2 that’s the 171 of Grayson Eller leading the way with your whole shot taker he’s got 311 on the bike but he’s registered as number 16 that’s Alex Tan winning his debut race in xt2 at Iron Man last year those two

Already starting to check out a little bit there just a few miles into this one back to that Yamaha racing live drone you can see uh you know the battles are going to be tight and Furious but it’s interesting to see we’ve already seen some separation in that xc1 class uh it

Looks like Josh Meritt had a couple bike links already and that’s a rider a lot of people have their eyes on you know a record season for him last year coming in a big win at the mid East last weekend uh pulling quite a lead over

John GL Jr and uh yeah we’re going to see how it all shakes out today boys absolutely now Johnny one of the riders that we didn’t see getting a bad start but in that first shot it looked like he was pretty far back inside the top 10

Was Hunter Hart and he was one of our I mean arguably the Challenger finished second on the year still waiting for absolute confirmation if that’s him on your screen or not but in that first group of them coming through he was in the fifth or sixth place spot he’s going

To have to get right on the rear wheel of Neil if he wants to hang on and fight for this win so that is Hunter Hart the second rider in the shot there I do not know if that is John GL Jr or Bryson Neil in front of him uh we’ll have to

Wait and get confirmation from our spotters if this is the battle for lead we’re watching uh if it is we’re going to make we’re going to make the assumption that that is brys and Neil and he’s now worked his way to the lead the riding style to me looks a little

More brys and neish than does John Glau Jr John’s a big tall guy kind of Falls all over the bike if you will uh Bryce Neil kind of stout stays in the middle of the bike so if this is the case if the battle we’re watching which we

Believe it is the number one of Bryce Neil on that Phoenix Yamaha front Hunter Hart right behind him pushing hard in the number two spot alternate lines here they’re going to come together and oh we almost saw a uh a pass for the lead there but hunter heart has some

Different lines here look at this they’ve changed oh and they come back together Bryson still holding on Hunter again off to the right and he’s got him that is Bryson there in the lead there is the number two of Hunter har in second and Jared McClure in the number

Three spot now at the eight mile marker uh I think there might be a little separation between these camera shots Adam Mill there uh looking like he is in the number four spot different line up the hill climb this year yeah it’s interesting to watch I mean for what

Those other Riders were saying I am certainly seeing some different line options a perfect example on your screen right now but yeah Hunter har and Bry and Neil one goes left the other goes right not following whatsoever as it looks like the pressure continuing to be applied to the number

One yeah and got a little something oh Johnny G Going techno on us here he’s going to work on that but one of the things Jackson and I were talking about early in uh earlier yesterday was brys NE in 2023 he he rattled off three wins

In a row the first three rounds he got his wins and it almost seemed like from that point on he was able to roughly manage the rest of the series how important is it to get out front and get a win early in the season so guys I want

To clarify uh sorry the mic went a little wild I mean there there are Riders ahead of these we could see them in the previous shot this is not actually for the battle for the lead so what we did see was there is three Riders at least ahead of these guys

Possibly four I think that’s Adam McGill you see just out in front of this camera shot which is your fourth place Rider so this is actually a battle for fifth place that we’re watching fifth and sixth here with Bryson Neil and Hunter Hart so yes Bryson did make a big charge

Up through but not quite to the front just yet it looks like it is still Josh Merritt uh leading the way on that number five our Motorsports action off-road uh machine and he is uh putting in the paces early and you know we expected to see him off to a good start

He grabbed that whole shot again we don’t know if it was Jared or Josh that was credited with it but they were both right there uh Jared McClair still in that lead group so things starting to stretch out a little bit and that looks to be Adam McGill right there that is

Your fourth place Rider and then behind him the number one of Bryson Neil and number two of Hunter har so um the pre-race interview you know with Bryson talking about he just wants to get through these first couple races uh now here we see okay so this is Bry and Neil leading

So that other Rider has to be John GL Jr because there is Josh Merritt in second and that is Jared mcir right behind him in third we watch back next will be Adam Mill in fourth and then fifth place John GL Jr so that’s the the mixup hard to

Tell those guys wearing the same gear between Bryce and Neil uh and John GL junor John Glau junr I’m trying to figure out what shot that is so that is Hunter har there we can tell easiest way to tell he and Josh Merritt have the same gear on so that makes it

Really difficult uh but Josh Merit does not have a cam back on Hunter har has a chest protector on a cam back again that like you see in the center of the screen that is your fourth place ride of Adam Mill followed closely by the 712 of John

GL Jr and then the number two of H and it looks like GLA and Hart starting to creep up on the back of McGill as well and it was funny we we were talking about the the stature differences between Neil and Hart but GLA and Hart very similar very tall kind of lanky

Riders rather big on those ATVs we hear the difference of opinion as far as sometimes it’s beneficial to be a shorter Rider on a motorcycle versus longer as far as the ATV Side of Things is there a preference is there one better especially for this weekend at

Big Buck I mean it would be easy to say uh looking at the stature of our previous Champions I mean you have Barry Hawk with seven championships shorter guy uh bill balance shorter stock year guy nine Champion ships in a row Chris for uh you know not very tall kind of a

Stockier guy uh with six championships Walker F short stocky then you go to Bryson Neil I mean he’s a bigger taller guy um so I I think it’s you can get it done a lot of ways um on the bike side of things you know we we’ve made a lot

About the fact that the guys with the longer legs do better in the ruts on the ATV I think it really comes down to a comfort thing if you can get your machine set up for you um you know as long as you use the right components get

The machine set up you know your height isn’t as much of a factor uh once you get things dial now talking about new part sorry go ahead no as you pointed out they are starting to John GL Jr closing up the gap on the rider in front

Of him which we believe to be Adam Mill uh he is there in the fourth place spot John GL Jr wanting a piece of it and Hunter Hart pushing hard you know we know Hunter knows he needs to get up in there get in the mix early uh Bryce and

Neil being up front you know that’s that’s bad news for these guys uh it looks like Josh Merritt and uh Jared mlar able to keep Pace with him right now and keep him in sight uh but I think we’re going to see a different uh approach from Bryson if you think back

To early in the year last year he would try to get out front get those big leads later in the season he realized maybe he was doing a bit too much and just kind of manage those gaps got that 30 40 second Gap and and held it to the finish

And was able to bring home that 2023 Championship absolutely and talking about the rider in the center of this battle right now John glad Jr uh like we said earlier going over to the new team going to Phoenix racing Yamaha and clearly a team with success knows how to

Get the job done if you’re in the glot camp how much is that playing a part new role he said he was feeling comfortable on the machine uh talk to David talk to everybody over there with the Phoenix team they all seem extremely excited uh big things I’m expecting out of Glau for

This season yeah I I think a lot of people are expecting Johnny going to unplug and plug back in here try to get it figured out but uh check check okay uh yeah I think a lot of people last year were check were uh you know expecting big things out of

John GL Jr uh obviously he had that wrist injury Midway through the season uh was not able to come back uh and race the final few races I think that is really the big question with John you know his speed not a question uh he’s

With a great team got a great machine a great program with that first performance uh prepped machine uh Phoenix Racing just adding the fining finishing touches to that machine and that program uh I expect to see him up battling solidly in the top five and potentially for podiums week in and week

Out but I think the big question for John GL Jun right now is how is that wrist holding up I I can tell you from uh talking to his crew he’s only been on the bike about a month uh which a lot of these guys really never stopped riding

Since the season ended so he’s going to be uh you know maybe a little behind the eightball in that regard but so far looking strong putting pressure on Adam Mill trying to wrestle away that number four spot I’m really surprised to see Hunter Hart not able to make passes here

Sitting back in that number six spot this is a rider we fully expect to see up front battling for the lead you know that bad start right now costing him what we don’t know we won’t know until they check in is just how much time is

This cting are the top three that are ahead of this shot checked out or are they just out of camera shot only you know four or five seconds ahead uh we’ll know when we get a static camera shot or when we get them checked in we’re able

To get a uh actual transponder reading well and it’s two totally different stories you talked about some Riders really not spending almost any time off the bike and Hunter Hart was one of those guys he was talking to me yesterday said I spent a lot of time down in Florida riding the roughest

Grossest conditions I can because he felt like that’s what he needed to to do he needed to get in the toughest stuff possible and really focus on getting some intensity and uh bringing the heat to these Riders to the number one to Walker Fowler this season so far so uh

I’m expecting Hunter to have a lot left in the tank as this race goes on maybe maybe we’re pacing it right now but I think he made a great point we can’t see these other riders in front of this three- Rider battle right now but if we

Can’t and they can’t you don’t know whether they’re stretching it out on you or whether you’re holding Pace yeah no you hit on a good point there Zach is you know it you don’t know what you’re going to have left later in the race all

You can do is manage what’s going on in front of you right now I can tell you it’s it’s got to be frustrating for Hunter har if he does in fact have more Pace than the two riders in front of him because what we’re seeing on screen is

He’s trying everything he’s just not able to make the pass stick uh but at the same time you can’t allow that to get into your mind you can’t start pushing uh in places where you can’t get away with it because it’s so easy to take you know a six Play Still within

Sight of the lead and put yourself to outside the top 10 minutes back by clipping a tree you know by Rolling yourself upside down tangle with another rid or wherever it may be so I’m impressed to see the Poise and the patience of Hunter art looks like he

Might get no look at that these lines all just working out to be so even Adam Mill just steady Pace there in that fourth place spot John Glau J as we’ve seen over the last two miles just kind of inching inching inching up closer to Mill’s rear wheels and Hunter har kind

Of seesan off the back there he’s trying every line even if they’re bad lines just trying to make a pass and he’s just not able to make it stick and that right now is I believe it’s costing him some time well and it’s interesting to see here right now Adam Mill full defensive

Effort trying to I’m sure you can hear the Riders behind him trying to protect those good lines as now we see Bryson Neil on screen making his way through the mechanics area but hunter Hart complete offense and then you got John GLA Jr Stuck in the Middle got to

Protect the line so Hunter doesn’t get by him but still trying to catch up and make his way around the gator himself it’s a tough spot to be in well and this answers a lot of questions right now that is a pretty good size Gap brys Neil

Out front pulling away and look at this these guys are just now entering the pro pits Hunter har and John G Jr both got around Adam Mill in that last camera shot so they are now up to fourth and fifth but we didn’t even see Jared mcir

Come through in all that time that camera was there uh looks wow that was an interesting okay they ran into oh look at that Hunter hard drops back he actually looks like he kind of clipped the front of Bryson Neal’s truck par there in pits uh so now it is back to

John GL Jr in fourth Adam Mill in fifth and Walker Fowler has entered the chat he is now there in six and behind him looks to be hard to tell who that is it is not Hunter har so Hunter Hart now has dropped back to at least seventh place

After being in sixth he clipped the front of the truck no damage done to him or it looked like the truck but just blew through the banners and we could see him backing up trying to get back in and uh yeah we’re see that looks to be

That may be Austin abne the next Rider on screen there hard to tell we we’ll get uh hopefully get a head- on shot of these guys and be able to tell for sure but this is the battle for fourth fifth sixth and seventh as they run on screen

Well I tell you what Johnny if the championship rivalry wasn’t enough between Hunter Hart and Bry Neil he smacked into the front of his truck they might be having some words after the race but all joking aside that’s got to be tough and and a little demoralizing

For Hunter Hardy we saw over this last you know lap half a lap or so working trying different lines doing everything he could finally started to make some forward momentum and almost immediately something happens to put him back we heard from Hunter Before the Race he’s big on breathing work trying to keep

Himself calm in these races what do you think is going through the head of the number two right now uh what I think is going through his head or versus what I would hope should be going through his head what I think is going through his

Head I think there’s a lot of expletives and a lot of heavy breathing uh I think it’s easy to panic in that situation talked about it he looked so poised on screen just moments earlier he was patiently waiting back there you know taking his opportunities taking a shot

At every line but smart moves and then fast forward 30 seconds and oh here we see Bry and Neil on screen these are the Finish Line Corners coming in he has opened up about a three or 4 second Gap over Josh Merritt Josh Merritt folks

This guy looks good he has come to race this weekend jm5 as he refers to himself earned that number five and he is the only one right now able to keep sight of Bryce and Neil they have dropped Jared McClair Jared McClair is out of the

Screen we’ll see if we can see him coming the other way but those are your one and two Place Riders Bryce Neil leading the way Josh Merritt second and look at the Gap they have opened up on third place these two are on the gas absolutely and man how awesome would it

Be to see Merritt really be able to lock onto the back the number one late into this race as well we talked about it before so many riders they have big expectations coming into to round number one but something as simple as a bad start can really put you in a bad spot

Right off the bat as now so the right side of your screen that’s Jared mcair leaving score that’s your third place Rider John GL junr in fourth that is Adam Mill still in fifth Walker fer in sixth still can’t get quite a few maybe Austin happy maybe not we’ll get the

Live scoring up and going here Here Comes John Glau Jr sorry that is Bryce and Neil man we got to get them wearing different gear different moose racing gear for the Phoenix Yamaha guys from now on please for us in the booth and the number five of Josh Meritt again

Still in sight what a feeling this has to be for Josh Meritt we did see him lead some races last year uh actually Le quite a bit of the John P GNCC where he ended up his first ever and only Podium of his career and you know just a solid

Ride he had a Sol ride here at Big Buck last year Came Out Swinging with a top five ended up holding it all the way throughout the season ending up number five for the year so this could be a huge confidence builder for Josh and you

Know really take him to the next level in tracing well when you talk about confidence building I got to talk to Josh on the podium last year and that was what he talked about man it feels so good to finally be able to actually do this people have told me I’m capable of

It for a long time now but now to put myself up here and do the interviews it feels great now he wants to battle for the win what are you seeing Johnny all right so I need to to clarify I was saying that may have been Austin Abney

Apologies forgot last year’s xc2 winner Steven harell seventh place behind Walker fer there little shout out so the gaps here they are as well run him down Bryce and Ne Leading The Way with a 4sec lead over Josh Merritt 28 seconds back to Jared mcair John Glau Jr closing up a

Little bit on Jared mcair now only 11 seconds back and then listen to these gaps 1 second back to Adam Migel one second back to Walker Fowler one second back to Steven harell and then 5 Seconds back to Hunter Hart there in the number eight spot another two seconds back to

Wyatt wilin in ninth Austin Abney in 10th just 8 seconds back another two seconds back Chris borch in 11th and then 25 seconds back to Ronnie rush in the number 12 spot uh in the overall and in class we’ll see the xc2 Riders should be checking in here in a matter of

Moments we’re uh pushing ahead here to the three mile marker we’ll wait and we’ll watch we think it will be the number one of Bryce and Neil working his way coming through uh with the lead and then Josh Merritt hot on his heels there in second and as we wait on our leaders

Here at the monster mile we talked a lot about the Riders the racing potential let’s talk about this big buck course on your screen right now look at the Rocks you’ve got throughout this South Carolina soil Jackson and I were able to go out and actually walk the trail some

Yesterday we don’t get to do it a ton I felt like it was the only thing we talked about I was tripping over my own feet I couldn’t figure it out there are there are loose rocks there are giant Boulders stuck in the ground into some serious treacherous conditions out here

At Big Buck yeah we’ve been racing here a long time and I remember the first time we came here thinking like okay South Carolina we’re going to have some red clay maybe some sand we know there’s going to be a lot of pine trees we got here and and there’s not rocks

Throughout the entirety of the property but there’s these sections where you have like this and you know you would look at this and You’ be like oh it must be Pennsylvania uh you know here in in uh South Carolina there’s some Rock Gardens there’s some rock sections and

Uh it can be Heck on equipment if you’re just not uh not easy on your stuff not prepared for it looking at the Trap M track map you know this track really does weave its way all over over this uh big buck Farm here in Union South

Carolina uh an 112 mile track I believe it is today and uh it’s it’s really providing some Dynamic racing there’s a lot of different train here there is some Sandy mix there’s some tighter stuff we’ve seen uh this place has grown up a lot since it’s been logged years

Ago so that makes the track tighter more confined and uh I I do think it’s going to be a race where we’re going to see a lot of challenges making passes even if you’re faster absolutely and you could even tell in those early front race battles line Choice was crucial it was

Impressive to see those front guys no matter how tight the racing might be they’re always Taking Chances finding new lines especially early in the race like you said try to figure something out slip it in the back pocket for late in the race when you need it yeah

Absolutely you know and that’s the thing with with limited passing opportunities you have to make the most of the ones when they come about uh and I think that may have been back to that Hunter heart incident in in the GBC tires Pit Stop area it actually looked like he and John

GL may have made some contact and cuz they both kind of were backing up and and that’s what uh you know really kind of was the deciding factor there I think Hunter just got pushed wide through the banners and had no choice there was a vehicle parked in front of him you had

To put on the brakes these machines don’t have reverse he had to put his feet down back up and and lost a couple positions in the process but when you have those passing opportunities making the most of them is key on a race course like this absolutely now talking about

The xc2 class like you said Alex deman grabbing a win at the end of last year jumping up to the xc2 class what a great way to end your season you jump up say I’m going to get my feet wet in the class and then to pull off a win there

Now he grabs the early race lead in xc2 trying to check in on Lifetime and scoring to see is he still up there up in first so Leading The Way It Is greller the number 171 uh Phoenix racing Yamaha uh he is leading the way with a

Seven I’m sorry A 1 second lead over Alex theman who’s there in the number SP two spot on that number 16 machine and then it’s James GL the number 928 in third place there 17 seconds back so the top three there in xt2 all pretty close together but the leaders literally knows

The tail Gray lead the way Alex them in there in second and those doers starting to Gap out just a little bit on the guys behind him absolutely I’ve said it before I’ll say it again we got a lot of glaas out there all right I was talking

To Landing GL earlier today at the ATV youth race he got on the podium he said I’m putting the challenge out I’m the youngest and I put it up on the box rest is up to you guys so uh The Gauntlet has been thrown down for the GL family well

Right now it’s uh two of the three glas are in that position uh Landing GL already getting it done this morning James GL in third place in that xt2 class and JN GL just off the Box in fourth place in that xt1 class right now looking like he’s making up some ground

We’ll really look forward to this camera shot to see how things have shaken out you know has Bry and Neil been able to open up this Gap has Josh M been able to get right to the rear wheels I’m going to make a prediction before we see him

If Bryson Neil is able to open up a gap it’s going to make it harder for Josh to continue that pace if Josh can keep him in sight it’s going to keep him pushing that’s going to be the kind of tail of tape and it looks like right now Bryson

Has in fact opened up that Gap quite a bit as a matter of fact uh 3446 coming through that camera shot at the tail end of it uh we’ll wait and see yeah so he has opened that up about 11 to 12 seconds it was 4 seconds

At the finish so nothing huge but this is where it would be easy for Josh to get frustrated you know he’s throwing everything he has at it and he’s just watching that number one get smaller and smaller off from the distance it he’s doing great though I mean look at he

Still got a a gap on Jared McClure uh at the Finish Line McClure was 28 seconds back looking like it is going to be that and possibly a little more so the next battle will’ll be watching for can John GL Jr uh Adam Mill Walker Fowler Steven

Harell Hunter Hart can that group close up on Jared mlar and start to make it a multi- rider battle for that final Podium position because as you can see right now it looks like uh that Gap is at least still 28 seconds absolutely pretty significant Gap back to the third

Place spot from Meritt let’s see and here comes all of them they’re all together so it’s Merritt there or I’m sorry it’s uh J mcair in third John GL Jr in fourth Mill fifth Walker 6th barell seventh and Hunter Hart in eighth so you’ve got three through eight and

Look at this here comes our Ninth Place Rider let’s give him a little shout somebody making a pushup that looks to be Wyatt wilin it is you can see the long hair flowing he’s out there he’s feeling it and he’s closed up on that

Gap so we now have what is a seven Rider battle over that final Podium position well the battle is on and it’s still anybody’s guess who’s going to be grabbing the ATV Pro win here from round number one this is the VP racing fuels

Big buck G n CC we’re going to get a word from our sponsors and we’ll be right back born of family values and a homegrown work ethic ktic gasket seals your machine so you can focus on the Finish Line kdic gaskets are the competitive standard for Racers who

Demand the very very best inside their engine kdic gaskets are always constructed from Superior materials designed to perform in the most demanding environments whether it’s a championship on the line or a day in the dirt with friends professionals and enthusiasts alike depend on kdic ktic gask sealing championships since 1989 I’m seven time GNCC Champion Walker fer and I run GBC Like a bullet into the first turn the number one with the pink helmet and pink bars it is Walker power The and a fist pump you should be proud of yourself a ride to dat I’m Deon fan and I run GBC I’m Josh Merritt and I run GBC I’m Chris Forge and I run and I run I run GBC Well ladies and gentlemen it’s officially time to kick off the 2024 Progressive GNCC season and what better way to do it than we little Monster Energy preseason meet and greet we’re hanging out here at magnetic South brewery in Greenville South Carolina we got our top racers in all of our classes

DJ judge spinning some tunes and some great drinks as well let’s check out what’s going on man what a great time it was here at the Monster Energy meeting greet there you go you see me chatting it up I’m talking with all the who’s who’s the

What’s what we had fans we had Racers we had dogs I mean what more do I need to say uh I’m telling you what some of these Riders they might be good on ATVs they might be good on bikes they’re not very good on the pool pool table but

Levi Baylor I’m telling you what give him a couple more years till he can actually see on top he might be a pool champion before he’s spinning lasts of GNCC but a great time had uh look at that I mean what better opportunity you get to not only meet and get an

Autograph with your favorite writers but actually have a conversation with them as well on your race weekends they’re in the zone they’re focused I mean they’re going to give you the time of day they’re going to talk to you but at these meet and greets you really get the

Opportunity to chat it up and they’re more than happy to spend some time with you out here at this Monster Energy meet and greet over at magnetic South brewery just about 45 minutes away over in Greenville a great job there they were happy to have us man they took good care

Of us look at all those TVs we were rocking Racer TV all night long even had a couple of new people come at me and they were like what is going on what what is this and uh I hope Greg and Jeffrey I believe I hope you guys are

Out here this weekend hanging with us in person I know they said they wanted to check it out so a great time there at the Monster Energy preseason meet and greet but man uh he met him and he’s greeting him and said goodbye to him that’s the number one of Bryce Neil he

Is checking out right now and that is the last thing the rest of the field wanted to say but if that’s the number five I’m impressed yeah I mean still he is hanging in strong and he’s in a tight spot right now kind of in that no man’s

Land nobody right in front of him nobody right behind him even more difficult to keep the pace well uh we’ll keep an eye on that as they came by at the six mile marker 41 minutes even was the uh the time stamp when Josh Meritt came through

So it’s actually now only about 10 seconds back to this Gap if if the camera shots are correct and it looks like that battle is still raging on uh Steven harell Walker Fowler Adam McGill Hunter Hart uh John GL Jr all those guys just flying information and hey we have

An announcement here in person at the track Jessica elof you are needed at the Finish Line once again announcement here at the track Jessica El off please report to the Finish Line scoring trailer but absolutely fantastic action Jessica throwing down earlier today out on the track uh but right now it is it

Is anybody’s guess Bryson’s in a great spot right now but I believe he was out front pretty far before when we saw something crazy happened right it is whether it’s a crash whether it’s a lap ride or a mechanical issue it is far from over here in the opening round well

We don’t even need anything really crazy to happen I me with the Gap he has he has about a 10 to 12 second gap on on Josh Merritt and now we see that pack behind him really starting to form up almost like they’re flying in formation starting to really push the pace if

They’re able to close up on that battle on Josh Merritt now you’ve got would be eight guys battling over those final two Podium positions and only 10 15 seconds behind Bryce and Neil folks there is a whole another race about to start because they’re going to enter into

Lapers and on a track like this it is hard to make those passes here we see on screen there is Hunter heart that is your eighth place Rider just in front of him Walker Fowler just in front of him your defending xt2 Champion or previous xt2 Champion Steven harell just in front

Of him uh Adam Mill just in front of him uh Jared McClair I mean it’s just the list goes on and on John GL Jor in the mix as well this is more what I was expecting to see when things were starting to sort themselves out so early

And the Riders spacing out I was kind of surprised this was the type of racing action I was anticipating today and now we’re starting to see it come uh we’ve got your third place all the way back through eighth place Riders uh just wheel tohe here battling it out well

It’s two riders that have taken the victory over the last couple of years and both of them are out on track right now Bry and Neil uh getting the job done in 23 22 and 21 and then Walker Fowler of course 2019 getting rained out but

Those last four all the way back down to 2017 he has handled business and they are not out of this by any means obviously Bryson’s got the spot right now but Walker still in a great spot we’ve seen Walker especially last year he said hey I don’t have to come out

Swinging quite as early in these races as I thought keep the pace I know I’ve got the job done I’ve got the training and he likes to be there at the end looks like that’s Meritt headed up the hill that is your second place Rider we are getting reports Bryce and Neil

Already through in clear of that camera shot we’ll see what the Gap is back here was uh 30 about 34 seconds when he went up over the top of the hill here looks like we may have Frozen uh I think so so I I think there was a little something

Deceiving with the camera shots Before the Race clock and the cameras are independent folks I think we had a gap in our camera shot there I knew it wasn’t only 10 seconds from Josh Merritt back uh that Gap had been 28 seconds upwards of 30 seconds so we’ll see if we

Can get a continuous shot here so I think it’s going to be a pretty good Gap back to Jared McLaren in that third place spot so Josh Merritt we don’t know exactly how far behind last check I think it was 12 seconds it had been four

At the Finish Line we’re at the 8 Mile Marker now meaning they only have about 3 miles left until we get a transponder absolute check-in time Gap Mikey yep well uh Mikey will join us back here in a minute I’m in okay here

He is no no no I was just going to to your point Here Comes our Riders now uh and they’re all of yeah forget it throw a blanket over about six guys right there Jared McClure John Glau Jr Adam Mill Steven harell Walker Fowler and Hunter heart all up and through and here

Comes Wyatt wilin again still on the tail not quite able to get right to the rear wheels to grab that draft but uh right there able to see those guys at this point uh what I was going to say was you know when I left the start it

Was Neil last off the start and I come in here and hey he’s already out front we know all the chaos that ensued after that but now like I heard you talking Johnny for Meritt and we talked to him before the race uh just about perspective there’s Bryce an Neil on

Camera the 9 mile marker the FM at PowerPoint but for Meritt how do you feel right now if you’re Meritt you’re on an island I mean you you Neil inching away but you’ve got that big gap behind you if you’re Meritt right now and he’s not really been in this situation before

How not a huge gap right I mean it’s not he’s not out of this thing yet yes he’s losing ground yes Bryce and Neil is is slowly slipping away but he’s not marching away he’s not putting 30 second gaps of time on him I mean we’re now approaching an hour almost halfway into

This thing Josh Merritt in the more wide open sections if he looks one one section over he can still see Bry and Neil on some of these switch backs yes he’s not right on him the biggest disadvantage for Josh is he’s not able to get in that mental and physical draft

He’s still got to read the track he’s got to choose his lines he’s not close enough to see exactly what Bryson is doing he is at a disadvantage on that mind but if his Pi crew tells him hey you’ve got a big gap over the guys

Behind you ride your race and he focuses on that that’s the best thing he can do at this point cuz he looks really good he does he does it’s his time I you just talking to him you could see that confidence there was you could almost

You know when a guy is when he’s saying something and when he really believes it and I think Josh Merritt was like okay yeah there’s some hype I’m doing well you know but there was kind of that Reserve like well it would be nice to

Run with these guys it would be nice to this year he’s like I know I can I know I can the only thing that he mentioned as here comes the rest of our xc1 Riders it is still Jared mcair there in the number three spot John GL J up to Fourth

Uh just off that Podium position there is Walker fer trying to make passes in the alter line Adam Mill so fer has gotten around Neo and Hunter heart still stuck back there in that number eight spot you want to talk about we thought how frustrated he must be in the number

Six spot after that mistake now back to eth and just not able to make moves yeah and as you mentioned we are knocking on the door of that halfway point for Hunter and it’s but that is this is one of those everybody’s so close you can

You can take an eighth place ride even a Ninth Place throw Wyatt wilin in the mix and he could be fourth very very quick one one other thing I want to make a Shameless GBC plug here because it is the GBC tires Pit Stop area a lot going

To be decided in that in that part of the track here coming up in just a few minutes because here’s why folks these guys are having a heck of a time making passes out there you could pass a whole lot of guys in the pits if you can

Either go an extra lap and hit the next lap or get in and out of the pits quicker so that is going to be like an air traffic controller trying to control these guys coming in they are going to be flying in there and trying to fly out

Of there they are going to try and be in and out in record time to gain a few spots in the pits somewhere back home in New York big sex he watching just going man I wish I was there right now going up against Mark notman with McClure in

Second and Walker back there third third and Walker back there in about sixth it looks like but they’re all right together looks like still the same running order there Walker not able to make the pass on Mill still is behind him there Hunter har Steven harell in

Between the two and a good run for harell shout out to him I mean he is currently playing with some big dogs right now and this is a kid just fresh out of xt2 uh a lot of want and a lot of only ring it’s know he’s in his early to mid but

He’s only been racing just a few short years yep yeah he’s not that I was going to say that he is not that you know tried and true GNCC pedigree where you know hey I started on the P dub and then I you know so yeah oh we we got passes

We got to talk about those when we have Walker Fowler made the pass on Adam Mill and is now already starting to March up to the back of John GL Jr Jared McClair still holding strong there though third Jared another Rider we talked about with those injuries last year Jared had that

Broken collar bone had to sit out the second part of the Season uh just missing time on the bike didn’t really even start riding until just a few weeks ago I believe and same with John GL Jr but right now they’re making it work third and fourth place spot but they’ve

Got a little heat from a guy who knows a little bit about winning Walker Fowler had a good start looked like he faded to the back guys let’s throw it back to 2023 Walker Fowler comes out he not looking so good early in the races halfway through something clicks and the

Dude’s like on another level like yes Bryson Neil won Walker did win the One race got a little bit of a help from a battery issue from Bryson there but without question you look at the LA Times aside from Bryson Walker by far the fastest guy on the track later in

The races don’t know if it’s just the time off the bike that’s causing him not to have that Sprint speed early that we’re used to seeing but once he gets rolling look out and you know too early to tell but we could be coming up on

That part of the race right about now yeah that’s absolutely correct when you look at your top guys right now CL I think he’s a guy that really really really needs a Podium to help that mental game to get himself back to where he’s used to being at the same time I

Got to think John glad Jr is feeling pretty good about himself Lil brother got the podium so there’s that added pressure but he is still nursing that injury and I’m thinking a fourth right now in the fight I’m feeling good if I’m John GL well and if you think about it

Back to last year we said it yesterday John GL junor missing one of the early rounds from food poisoning that last year and so while he wasn’t out of the championship he was in a hole almost immediately here it’s a great opportunity even if he’s not at 100%

With that injury hey let me get some good points get a good position see where I’m at on this new ride and how I’m feeling and be in the championship fight throughout the 2024 season all right guys keep an eye on this on screen the rider out front in this battle is

Jared mclair just behind him the 712 on that Phoenix racing Yamaha Walker fer or of John Glau Jr just behind him the 723 of Walker Fowler the rider on the move right now appears to be Fowler wasn’t even in this battle about a half a lap

Ago has marched his way up and made passes on 1 2 3 four five Riders and is now up into that sixth place spot put heavy pressure on John Glau Jr for the uh fifth place spot sorry fourth place spot he’s in he’s in fifth now Johnny I

Got to ask let’s say you’re Hunter Hart and you’re in the the backside of this Freight chain of riders are you only paying attention to the rider in front of you or do you think Hunter’s able to see hey Walker’s figuring something out he’s making passes what what am I not

Doing how far ahead are these Riders looking I got to tell you right now if I’m Hunter H I’m like I feel like you know he’s been here he’s been on the back of this train he hasn’t been able to make moves everything he tries just doesn’t work

Out could be bad luck maybe bad line choices hard to know hard to say but whatever he’s doing it’s just at this time not working and it’s so easy to start getting frustrated but if you’re his crew and if you could be that little voice inside of his head you got to say

Hey man keep making the right decisions the good things will come you can’t force it you got to let it come to you you got to hit your lines hit your marks know your spots and and try to get get it done Bry Neil in the pits already

Here the GBC tires Pit Stop Chris Neil on the fuel can not a lot of sense of urgency here business as usual getting a drink of water and he is on his way still with a comfortable lead over Josh Mary as we wait on the rest of our

Riders to come in for their GBC Power Sports tires pit stop okay Johnny I got that plug in there for you no uh when I knew brys and Neil it was a change man which we we talked about it enough he he was he’s changed over the last few

Seasons that’s where the Championships came from of him being patient not always going 100 mph even Chris Neil on the start This Afternoon no Panic in him when when Neil had his trouble he wasn’t Dad wasn’t panicking I’m like oh this is dangerous when Dad is is calm Merritt

Now into the pits yep so it looks like about 29 seconds 29 30 seconds is the gap from Bryce and Neil leading the way to Josh mer dur in second so still guys 52 minutes racing only 30 seconds that’s still close racing and we know that he’s

Got a pretty good solid lead over the group behind him Josh Meritt absolutely lighting it up today in that number two spot not not you know not to take anything away from him of course he wants to be up there battling with Bryson for the lead but if you’re Josh

Merritt if this race ends like this dude this is better than a win I mean to come out at Round One get the whole shot or right there for it we still don’t know who was credited for it uh regardless somebody’s going to get that $250 check

From Kady tires TIR uh happy to give these guys a little traveling money uh maybe they’ll use it to go out and buy some Kady tires to but Josh Merritt on screen on that Yamaha racing live drone just a great guy you know have the opportunity to hang out with him he’s a

Young kid from my area he’s come up through the ranks uh and he did it the long hard way I mean he wasn’t the flash in the pan that was the next big thing he’s just grounded out you know he was happy to break into the top 10 and then

It was you know one number at a time kind of having some off years and falling back he’s put together great program the last couple years with Mark notman turning the wrenches for him uh obviously great report from action Offroad Shameless plug GBC tires helping

Him out a bunch fly racing uh oh so Jared mlar in and stopped and it now he may be farther down so we’ll see there is that is white wilin the 621 we’re going to have to wait to get a shot coming out to see exactly how that all

Panned out because a lot of those guys pit farther down so we won’t know until we see uh that is Josh Merit again on screen there’re still your number two and talking about mer sorry Mikey you’re talking about Merritt at what point do you think his team is saying hey you’re

In second the first race of the Season like don’t ride over your head trying to catch Bryce and Neil you’ve got a good Gap behind you at the third place a Podium is a great way to start the season Bryson Neil on screen there is your leader he is looking smooth looking

Confident and looking good here leading the way in this VP fuels big buck GNCC three laps down and sorry two I’m getting ahead of ourselves 54 minutes in so we’ll wait for the official call but looking this one probably probably going to be a five lapper it’s going to be a

Long five lapper Austin abony now on screen Chris bour there on screen these guys just now coming into GBC tires Pit Stop area and that is your 10th and 11th Place Riders overall so here’s meridon screen that’s the number five he is now into the Finish Line Mike’s going to get

Us an update get us the official time we think it was around 32 to 34 seconds when they came through the GBC tires Pit Stop Aira mered having a stall there uhoh oh he’s now he’s a little high centered just a couple seconds maybe we’re going to be up closer to 40

Seconds what do we got there Mikey all checks in 40.41 for our mathematicians those are my digital eyes I could dang that was good seconds I’m just guessing I’m not going to lie I’m try and make it cool back to your point Zach you know what is

Josh mer thinking what’s his scw telling him uh PR on screen marker business as usual guys just looking good looking powerful looking like he’s got it all under control we’ve missed him the last two runs all the way through Pit Road do you think you think we’ve locked in yet

Lock yet we need a 2024 lock in I was about to say we got to kick the season off lock cam folks if you’re out there listening on the uh the live PA system we need the pit Boards out in full effect for Bry and Neil lock we need

Lock in for Racer TV lock in we we should start like hashtag prizes uh did you see the scrub lock in on the oh my goodness yeah that I can’t even imagine all the uh excitement Josh Merritt on screen there is your number five machine little hiccup there in the scoring

Corners but uh looking good again looking smooth not a lot of sense of urgency I’ll tell you what Josh Josh likes to tell me here’s my voice in his head when when he’s out there racing the only thing I told him on the starting

Line he seems like he you know he had a lot of hype coming in season was a lot caught up in a lot of things I said Josh johs there’s nothing going on today except you racing forward focus on the track and the race itself doesn’t matter

Who’s in front of you who’s behind you doesn’t matter you know who may have gotten a better contract than you or Worse contract than you I said you want to be the man you got to act like the man drown out the boys he’s doing a

Great job of it so far he’s just riding his own race yeah I I love talking with Josh because the man is real like you’re you’re getting exactly what you want to hear out of it not what you want to hear he’s not saying what you want to hear

That I’m trying to say no unil yeah he’s it’s it’s just hey here’s my expectations for myself and a lot of guys put that out there and you’re like is it but Josh means it he knows what he’s capable of the one thing he told me

Today was yeah Cole’s out so you know I should be battling for podiums however Walker Fowler is back he’s like but that doesn’t change the goal for me I still feel like I need to be a Podium guy hey we’re two laps in call it the halfway

Point and he is in that position he’s right where he wants to be there is Adam Gil I don’t think we may have missed some other Riders there there was some other guys ahead of him or did he make passes looks like he did make passes

Adam Mill made those passes in the pits now it’s McGill in third GL in fourth McLaren fifth Walker fer in Sixth and wow this one’s getting wild they are too wide and just behind that that is Hunter Hart now he has made one pass he’s gotten around harell and Wilkin so he’s

May still be in eighth seventh or eighth right there yeah and then uh here we back to Josh Merritt there the number two ride the number five machine that action off-road being our Motorsports machine just clicking through the woods clicking off the miles and at this point

You start counting down like all right is this thing over yet I really want to finish on the box uh but hopefully he’s just focused on the race focused on the ride and and just clicking off the miles so Merritt right now trying to focus and

Hit his marks uh that’s the last thing you want is a silly mistake for to throw it all away we saw it earlier today a couple of split-second decisions even in just the scoring area coming towards and leaving the Finish Line some of those rocks kicking a couple Riders completely

Up and over in some of our ATV am races and so uh it’ll sneak up on you out here big buck yeah absolutely you know we and we saw even on the start in some of the further back classes in this afternoon race you know Riders getting connected

Getting up on top of each other guys under their bikes but luckily every all the starts everybody got up rode away under their own power you know ready to take on the race so we know that uh a lot can happen out here we follow as

Much of it as we can obviously with this Yamaha racing live drone we get to see a whole lot that we’d have to have hundreds and hundreds of cameras to be able to follow around this course Josh Merritt we’re just seeing him saw his way through these uh South Carolina

Pines in that number two spot I I you know this is really for me really exciting to see you know you Mikey you touched on it you know Josh felt he should be a Podium Contender we spoke at the end of 2023 and he said I’m so

Pumped to get number five but I feel like the next step is I need to not be a guy that gets a Podium he said I need to be a Podium guy there go he said I want to be you know I want to be battling

With Hunter Hart with Walker fer um and this may be I don’t want to pad brys and Neil’s ego but he feels like he’s not ready to battle brys and Neil for a win or for championships on any given day maybe but not for the

Season but he feels like he should be in the battle with Hunter heart Adam Mill you know maybe Walker fer on a day just depending who all there he said he doesn’t care who the Riders are he knows he should be a Podium guy week in and week out not a

Top five guy who gets a Podium yeah I that’s a very very good perspective for him and it’s uh they’re not easy like Johnny you were in the Pro class podiums they don’t come easy I always think about this when I when we I was doing podiums now Zack and Jackson doing

Podiums sometimes you get that rider that’s in the amateur classes that gets a top amateur what ever and they kind of hold hum about it and in my head I’m always like man no no no you need to enjoy this because you don’t know how many you’re going to get let alone wins

If if you’re listening at home and you’re watching this and you race or your children race someday they’re going to you know it it I will say this obviously celebrate every Victory every Podium you know every race every opportunity you have to spend with your family in such a great environment like

GNCC or local series whatever that may be but podiums and wins and top finishes get harder exponentially each class you go up you know when you’re a youth Rider and this isn’t taking anything away from youth class wins you know it’s just you’re you’re kind of limited by your

Age there’s a lot of things you’re not racing such a wide group of age group of of experience uh you know then you move up to your you know your C classes and your B classes and your a classes and proam and you keep moving up you know

Xc2 next thing you know you get to xc1 and you’re battling the best of the best in the world you got guys like this Bryce and Neil been chasing this dream since he was a little kid on a trx90 and his dad was racing you know this has

Been a singular Focus not only for him for his family for his support group they have poured everything financially emotionally mentally into this Sport and into this one goal of winning GNCC racing on four wheels and now he’s doing it that’s a tough road to you know just

To break in a guy like stepen harell just coming into XC one with just a few years of racing experience Neil I don’t know exactly but I’m guessing I think 29ish yeah I think that’s right 28 9 30 somewhere right in there he’s been doing

This since he was like 6 years old he’s got 24 years of experience doing this Steven harell learned what a four-wheeler was potentially four five years ago 28 it there you go 28 years old uh this guy right here also I think Josh either

29 I believe he is is he 30 so he’s turn I didn’t couldn’t remember when his birthday was there you go 30 years old hey look at this Adam with the great graphics for it number five out of akan Ohio 30 years old uh you know again

Another Rider his dad raced I remember when I was young his dad being a fast guy locally uh Josh wasn’t even born yet wasn’t even thought of uh and you know came up through raised the youth ranks in GNCC uh won some races on a cobra

Back in the day when they had ATVs uh you know so he’s been doing this forever but again celebrate those wins celebrate those podiums and don’t take them for granted just because you know you feel like maybe it wasn’t a great day for you and you should have won

They’re going to get harder to come by further the longer you race and the further up in the ranks you get they just get harder well and you know it’s funny you say that Johnny because it’s it’s a lot of people think the pros don’t think like that right they think

Once I get the big contracts and the money starts coming it’s it’s all you know what Bryce and Neil was talking to me about yesterday how excited he was that his mom was here so it’s still it’s a family thing for anybody whether you’re the number one of

Bryce and Neil or one of our top amateurs but we’re going to get a word there he is the number one right now feeling good still waiting on the lock in but I know it’s coming soon this is the VP Racing’s big buck GNCC will Bryon

Neil hang on for the win or will Josh Merritt or one of our other xc1 competitors be able to get the best of them stay tuned we’re going to get a word from our sponsors and we’ll be right back it takes Commitment passion and endurance to make something great made by champions for champions would we do that because we find if we can build the curriculum around the things you are interested in you’re going to do a better job the mission at on track school is that educational success is possible while chasing your

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Check it out 30 minutes and 2s let’s go racing Contact that The jet Lord still on top oh the podium here I don’t think any atmosphere can match it nothing quite like proot we’ve been there since the very beginning M organizing the industry and building champions 100 Years of Defending Your rights to ride into the future hello everybody and welcome back to the VP racing Fu’s big buck GNCC this is round number one of the 2024 Progressive GNCC Racing Series my name is Zack Aon here we’re alongside Johnny G and Mikey Waynes as we are just over

Halfway about an hour and 6 minutes into this 2hour long ATV Pro Race and uh no surprise really right the number one Bryson Neil doing what he was looking to do early here in the 2024 season uh and it was great to hear Mikey you talked to

Him a little bit earlier we talked about the pressure of the number one plate he’s not feeling a lot of it that flash that just went by your screen that was Bryson Neil but he seems calm cool and collected even coming into this new season yeah we talked to with him uh

Prior to the race in the Monster Energy pre-race report uh here on the the property and you know I it was everything’s lined up every he’s checked all the boxes everything I don’t want to say perfect but kind of you know uh and I said what do you we did just see him

Cross through here in the mile marker six by the way but I asked Bryson okay one Championship all right you did it you have a championship backing it up and you had a new team last year with Phoenix racing Yamaha some changes there so now racing I’m in sales for the day

Job right and it’s always like what have you done for me lately Sports is the same thing stick and ball Motorsports doesn’t matter it’s what have you done for me lately so I said Bryson do you feel any pressure of that okay well you got two congratulations the greats

Getting three and four and five and here comes the rest of the xc1 Meritt still on the Move we’ll see what that Gap is now back to uh Mcgill and GL and he’s like no honestly I felt more pressure coming into last year defending on the

New new team and new uh structure for everything he’s like but this year he’s like I feel good good it’s terrifying it’s terrifying like oh you you got better okay and now you have no nerves at all and I think today was a good example of that by the start that he had

Wasn’t great but you know old Bry and Neil Johnny can talk to it uh he would have been going 120 miles an hour from the start he would have had some sort of mishap and that would have been the day for him not the new Bryson Neil not the

One we’ve seen over the last three seasons and that’s just confidence over time right that’s just and I mean Johnny’s even said this before he’s earned it right it’s time and year after year it’s gradually picking your way towards the top of the field and then

Kind of like what we’re seeing with Josh Merritt right now it’s almost a change in mindset the confidence to truly feel like you belong and I feel like if you talk to Bryce and Neil there’s no arrogance it’s just plain old confidence that I don’t think no matter where he

Starts on that starting row coming around turn one he feels like somehow someway he will be in a Podium fight if not fighting for the win guys just want to point out here one minute back from Josh Merritt and still no third place Rider so you know he may have lost some

Ground to Bryce Neil looks like we have some ATVs working their way through the trees is now Adam Mill there in the number three spot about a minute and 15 seconds behind Josh Merritt they’re in the number three spot we wait and we watch for the Riders behind him mcil

Turning on the afterburners he was the rider getting caught now it’s Walker fer there up into the fourth spot made his way around those riders in between last we saw he was two positions further back so he passed this guy John GL Jr and Jared mcair Hunter har now up to the

Rear and putting heavy pressure on the back of Jared mlar so again looks like Steven harell still there and Wyatt wilon is latched on so that battle still rages on all the way back to the number nine spot Hunter Hart still stuck back there it’s seventh a rider we saw in

Sixth early on hold his way back if you’re looking at your onc screen graphic uh everything the same except for Walker fer has displaced both Jared mcair and John Glau Jr worked his way up to the number four spot the rider on screen is Josh Merritt 1 minute 15

Seconds he has on third place if he he could know that if he’s gotten a pit board you got to believe at this point I didn’t I oh oh confirmation race I went in and asked I wanted to know cuz we were saying it may may be a five laap

Race it’s on that cusp yep and uh we did get confirmation thank you for that to our producer Adam Gordon Dan Reinhardt those guys in there doing the real work finding out uh all the information that we like to speculate about that’s and uh they go ahead and get straight to the

Facts so four laap race meaning when we come through uh that we’re going to have a white flag waving with Bry Neil comes through and only be one more lap of racing action so you’re relieved if you’re being Neil you’re probably relieved if you’re Merit Mill we’ve not

Shown him a lot of love I mean you got to consider what he’s doing is pretty incredible and I think uh there once he found out like the lme disease thing for for Adam Mill was like I got to change so many things about my program and what

I do and last season I think was kind of telling to that and the results that he had uh here I’ll say it in the Twilight of his career why not and then this year uh I know it’s just you can’t judge a whole season by One race but he’s been

Stellar today leading the Young Guns of John GL and McClure and Fowler and Hart are all back there uh are you panic button right now if you’re har and Fowler is it okay I got to make a move now I don’t I don’t think it’s panic button time but I I definitely think

It’s time to go um I think so far watching just the action we’ve seen on screen guys keep in mind a lot happens that we don’t see uh so so far I think you know Walker has had a lot better luck at at working through and making

Passes since the last camera shot we saw he’s already made two passes we’ve yet to see Hunter Hart make a move today he has not moved up a spot every time we see him he’s he’s there he’s pushing he’s trying he’s just not able to make

Passes stick so I feel for him like I’ve been there there’s those days where and I’m going to go ahead and speculate the fact that he’s staying right there on those Riders I think he has the speed it’s not a speed issue it’s something with the execution he just can’t put the

Lines together to make the passes stick and especially seeing a guy who was at one point not even in the same section as you Walker fer way behind you now not only catch you pass you but put several rouers in between you and start to disappear and he knows that’s a guy that

Is probably going to end up if not on the podium in a battle for it and uh yeah he’s he’s he’s got to be starting to get frustrated I’m sure Walker Fowler probably a little bit panicky button just because he didn’t come here to expect to be sitting in fourth trying to

He wanted to be Bing for a win so things didn’t go way early in the r and now it’s time for him to start doing Dage contr but uh one guy that definitely we hope to not see hit the panic button today the guy on screen Josh Meritt uh

Yamaha racing live drone following him along and uh he’s doing just such a great job a phenomenal ride for him today he’s really managed this one from the drop of the green flag he was the first guy one of the first guys to the first corner he was first into the woods

He was leading in our first camera shot he he held under the pressure Bryson he got around him kept him in sight for just about a full lap and really has kind of managed that Gap it’s not he’s not minutes out of this thing he’s still Bryson neel’s up there in those trees

Somewhere ahead of him you know somewhere to the tune it was 40 seconds at the pish line um that’s still that’s pretty close man yeah it’s it’s it’s been a good race day I mean you look at it on paper you’re okay honestly if you look at anybody who picked Neil Meritt

Mill I know we’ve got plenty of race left anything can happen but who picked that top three not me not me oh look at this we got Jackson standing by in the pits Jackson what do you got I’m here with Macy Josh Merritt’s girlfriend could you tell us what if anything has

Changed with Josh this year I think staying on the same program from last year they were able just to fine tune a little bit better he worked a lot with Levi and a lot of the guys um on the action team over winter he worked out a

Lot he rode a lot and I think he just built on his confidence from last year so we’re really happy we’re hoping that he just carries his confidence throughout the rest of the race and rides hard so the confidence is up I’d say so we tell him all the time we

Believe in him it was just time for him to believe in himself and we’re happy that he’s finally doing it all right guys you heard it from the team all right that was uh Josh’s girlfriend Macy devonport a former ATV motocross racer and uh recreational GNCC Racers came out

Last year uh gave it a go I believe she is going to do some races this year but in talking with her I don’t know I don’t know the final decision but uh she said you know it’s just a lot with with Josh’s program obviously you see he’s a

Top tier Rider it takes a lot of effort and energy she just didn’t want to really retract detract from that she wanted the focus to be on him she’s going to pick and choose some races but a heck of an ATV racer in Road and uh

Yeah she’s I’m sure she’s proud of her man out there getting it done and you know confidence is key and like I said a great race uh just uh last weekend at the mid East not too far from here able to take the win and commanding fashion

Against some really good Riders I think that was just a little bit extra icing on the cake Josh came in uh this weekend ready to roll and look at this get smoke Walker Fowler making the push So Adam Mill had a pretty good Gap and now

Walker fower is all over him again folks uh yeah he’s my buddy but I’m not talking about him because of that he is and watch the lap times he is the rider on the move right now you can see when we saw in the last camera shot he was

Not near Adam Mill he had a whole bunch of pressure behind him like couple bike links now these guys still oh look at this h Hunter heart question mark yes Hunter heartt has made the move so panic button or not he’s got the job done and he’s made three count him three

Passes since our last camera shot John Glau Jr Jared McClure there on screen uh there is Wyatt wilin has now made his way around Steven harell so Steven dropping back to the number nine spot and Wyatt wilin up to eighth these guys absolutely just laying it down pushing

The pace and uh right now we’ve got a battle for that final Podium position Between Two Old Dogs I was going to say we got a little retro GNCC battle between Mill and uh and Walker Fowler we’re here for it we’ll try to follow that one and there we see on screen

Looks to be camel back or no camel back no camel back so that is Josh Merritt yes it is white handguards that is Josh Merritt there in the number two spot again a uh would be if it finishes this way tying his career best finish of

A second place last year at the John Penton GNC he’s able to finish this one bring it out got just over a lap of racing left uh again with Tai a career best and you can’t really uh start things sure he could have won but what a what a great

Year to and still could this one isn’t over he 40 seconds back anything can happen we can see now a lot of these other Riders on course these are laed riders that are one lap behind your leaders they’re working their way through having to make the passes a

Little bit of a tight course anything can go sideways we could see Bryce and Neil tangle the lap on the side of track and suddenly Josh mer could be leading this thing not wishing it on sure but you know we got to keep the hype in it

That’s it Merritt is so good at the building blocks with his career like you said he wasn’t that you know flash in the pant he was the flashy young Rider but he seems like anytime he gets to check one of those boxes off he continues to take it to that next level

So this is a scary thing uh for the rest of these guys Josh Meritt coming out here in round one uh you know the question is going to be was it a fluke when we get down into Florida so Merritt’s got to keep this kind of stuff up but he’s impressed me to

Well and I think the question is Mikey you even said it Josh wants to not just be a guy that gets a Podium but a Podium guy how many podiums does that take before the mindset switches over and then all of a sudden he says you know

What man I can battle for this Championship I can go the full distance and so especially getting up front early in the season not only has he got the results here at this round but he’s got those points to look at too he’s got a twoe gap coming into Florida he puts

Together a good rounds two and three and he’s he’s in a championship fight you’re absolutely right that becomes a part of the mindset and I can tell you I’ll share something Josh has said mult multiple times to me over the years uh well since 2017 anyway uh when I won

That race in 2017 Josh said to me I can’t believe he didn’t quit right then and there like why wouldn’t you just you want to go out on top you know you want to win a race and you want to quit and Josh has said ever since then I’ll

Probably never win a GNCC but if I do I’m going to quit right then and there and he he means it he means it when he says it until you’re in that position I bet you’re right yeah that’s because Josh probably would have said a few

Years prior hey if I ever get a Podium I’m done I’m just going to quit that’s the Pinnacle of my career now he’s a guy that’s thinking hey I want to Podium every time I get on my ATV you know this guy’s running second there’s only one

Rider between him and win if he wins this thing today he’s not quitting he’s just getting started but it’s that mindset like you set that goal for yourself and you’re like oh once I achieve that goal what do I do from there this guy the goal just keep

Extending the lead yeah and right now he’s doing it uh 118 35 exiting the GBC Power Sports tires Pit Stop area we’ll see if we can keep this camera shot roll rolling see what the Gap is to Josh Merritt with uh just about a half mile

To go to the finish line for what will be a white flag waving and uh yeah it’s that mindset though you’re exactly right Zach it’s you know you start to expect more from yourself the confidence the confidence Brees results and the results breath confidence and it becomes this

Moner absolutely it’s it’s a deadly combo for sure Khloe Harper comes to mind from last year in the wxc class got that first win and she said on the podium things have changed for me just from this race I know I can do it and

Man she was giving fits at the end of the year and was battling all the way to the finish line here earlier today so yeah this could be the start of something big for Josh Merritt absolutely looking like the Gap may have opened up just a little bit uh we don’t

Know exactly how long it’s going to be until Josh makes his way through here but it is slightly more than the 40 seconds it was a lap ago uh looking at it on screen looking like we’re approaching getting closer to a minute here now uh so he has given up some time

But when we check back about the six mile marker I believe it was he had a minute 15 on the third place R of Adam Mill and there is Josh Merritt seeing the pit board and you got to wonder what’s going through this guy’s head right now you you envision it you

Believe you can do it you want to do it now you’re just a handful of Corners away from seeing white flag waving and the only thought that should be going through your mind is I’ve already proven I can do it I’ve done it three laps in a

Row just go out and do it one more maintain this pace get this thing to the finish line now I tell you what I’m interested to see is this battle between Mcgill and Fowler because when it comes to racecraft I mean Wy vets both of them they’ve been there they’ done that and

Man it’s going to be cre racing at its finest we saw some split lines action earlier in the day between I believe that was heart and gla just swapping back and forth it didn’t really seem like one line paid off more than the other but I think things are going to

Get dicey here between the gator and Walker Fowler and the question is if Fowler gets Gator do we see it as a possibility to catch up to Meritt in time we’ll have to see what the gaps are but that’s a that’s a big bridge to

Cross I mean it was a minute 15 you know Walker has we were talking about this you know bench racing last night over a few adult Beverages and uh Walker still has that jawdropping speed that not many riders have but a minute 15 that’s a lot

I think that maybe Mill and fer it is that is uh Mill there in the number three spot with heavy pressure from the 723 of fer now we jump ahead over a mile ahead is Bryce an Neil of that batter battle for the final Podium position

We’re going to see Ricky to with a white flag waving Bryce and Neil only one lap to go to put the finishing touches on the win here did watch did he just check us is that a new form of a lock in good Lord that’s a clock in right there oh

Thank thank you be here week look at that Bry Neil with the clock in checking the time maybe checking the heart rate hard to know but uh we’ll we’ll fast forward ahead ask him that please well assuming he makes a top three today uh I don’t want to speak too soon but yeah

Ask him about the clock in 2023 we had the lock in 2024 we’re breaking it out the clock in Bryson Neil man and it it’s that’s what I mean when you’re at at that level even to do something like that whether he was checking the heart rate whether he was joking around that’s

A that’s a Clarity of the Mind type thing right there I mean and like example of that uh I don’t know if it was last year or the year before I think it was everything’s blending together but St Baylor was one of those guys where you know he needed to win races

Toward the end of the year to get back in the championship battle and we were like there’s no way he’s out there doing the math in his head of okay if I pick up it and he’s like no yeah I was here we go Ry Neil what we’re seeing though a

Lot of lap traffic in front of him a don’t see can we get a fresh uh Josh Meritt should have checked in by now uh he has not oh let maybe him coming in now question mark seemed like he was a little closer than that where he yeah he did just check in

1126 back so 1126 back from 40 seconds so he gave up another uh 32 seconds that lap so nothing crazy Bryce and Neil just having a bit more Pace right now and you got to wonder if Josh Merritt isn’t really starting to manage this one you

Know I’m sure he’s gotten pit boards he knows he’s got a pretty sizable Gap over Adam Mill uh one one thing I can tell you if they give Josh a pitboard that is Walker Fowler behind him the intensity will suddenly come back depending on what that Gap is uh you know those two

Ride together uh at home some you know he knows that crazy speed that Walker fer has not that Adam Mill doesn’t and throwing it back to that you mentioned Adam Mill a rider that really has in reinvented himself in the last two years I think we’ll give a shout out to his

Sister uh Haley in that HC conditioning uh came in 36 years old and uh set it on the podium a number of times like he’s had to just kind of change his eating habits a lot uh change his training a lot used to just ride the ATV kind of

Eat what he wanted realized hey man I’m in my mid-30s now I can’t get away with stuff I could in my teens we actually saw this this is the second coming of the reinvention of Adam McGill he reinvented himself in 2008 it would have

Been uh when he went from a guy who was just a top five guy came out and won four races at the beginning of of uh 20 n it would have been eight or nine I forget uh he was riding for KTM at the time uh came out just winning races like

Crazy had dropped like 35 or 40 pounds over the winter he did the same thing last year this year he kind of Managed IT and and maintained um looks like is that ad it does not appear to be refreshed that is that did they check in

Walker F has F got around a the the third and they we’re waiting on Adam checking in right now that’s him on screen just going through the stop 11 and a half half seconds back from Fowler that Gap from Fowler up to Meritt though a minute 35 yeah that so major gap

Between first second third I’ll I’ll answer your question right now Zach that is a big bridge to cross it’s not nothing is I mean Josh Merritt isn’t out of the win here he’s only a minute 12 back walker fer minute 35 back of of Meritt Adam Mill only 11 seconds back I

Mean Adam Mill could with this thing like you just never know how these things are going to pan out but if you want to talk about based on speed La time what I know of this track how the race is likely to develop I really think our top three

Podium positions are kind of set not saying the gaps may not change um I think if you’re Bryce and Neil you really start thinking manage you know you kind of watch the pit board the sections where it’s a little sketchy when you’re in lapers you know you take

Your time you don’t push the passes you don’t take the chance of allowing a lapper to put you in a position where he Clips you send you into a tree you don’t want to give up you’re willing to to give up 3 to 5 Seconds you don’t want to give up the 30

Yeah no that’s that’s absolutely right more shakeups Hunter heart up to fifth which we saw this earlier I guess Wyatt wilin six MCL back in the seventh spot glat junor has checked in in the number nine position oh no that was stepen Harold scratch has so Steven harell up in

Eighth waiting on GL to check in still and I think what we may be seeing is a little bit we talked about John glato with very little seat time coming in you know had great Pace early in the race was up battling inside the top five

Banging on the door of a Podium and now is back to that uh we believe the Ninth Place spot we know Steven harell checked in an A so shout out to Steven harell number eight in the e place spot you know just proving consistency he’s he’s

Doing the things that he needs to do to learn the ropes he’s been in a battle with these guys I know his his goal uh from talking with Brian Smith who’s instrumental in his program and being our Motorsports there they just kind of want to stay where overall wise where he

Was last year if he can be in the top 10 you know around that Ace play Spot of course they went some top fives of course he’d love to get some podiums heck he’d like to win races but the goal is don’t give it away keep yourself in

The battle you know stay around that e eighth place spot yeah they think that’s very realistic about it where is the sophomore Rider we haven’t talked much about him oh why wil back in six solid day for Wyatt Wen so far and I tell you what talking about

Keeping it in the fight Hunter Hart now working his way inside the top five definitely probably not the day that the number two wanted to have but as far as big pictures he’s one of the Riders we know for a fact is think thinking Championship hey let’s get some good

Points in let’s not make any silly Mistakes by riding over our heads uh the question is uh what’s the gap between Mcgill and Hart right now is that a possible additional pass so it’s 23.9 seconds but I think just basing it off the fact of what Hunter’s done here in

The last half of a lap I think we may see that Gap close up not not throwing any shade I that’s just my speculation he seems to be the rider on the move and honestly with Walker Fowler only 11 seconds ahead of that I mean Walker’s not comfortably in that Podium position

You know Anything Could Happen you got lap Riders Adam Mill could put in a last lap push Hunter har could get up there push Adam and we could see a three honestly what I’d like to see is a three Rider battle over that final Podium

Position just cuz I’m I’m a race fan and I like to see battles man so it’s uh you know it’s exciting but I think we may see Hunter Hart the rider on the move here in the next couple miles if we keep an eye on this cam these camera shots

Hopefully we can see that I think we’re going to see him push closer to Adam mill than that roughly 24 seconds they were when they checked in I think you nail because if you’re Hunter Hart you’re sitting fifth right now and you’re like okay top five finish after a

Not great start pretty good day when you look at the big picture hunter Hart is a championship Contender how many times are we going to see Bryce an Neil finish fifth or back so this is a huge huge points L if you thick Bryce and Neil

Working his way through and he’s got him just lined up in droves uh but again keep in mind folks all the other Riders are going to have to encounter these same lap Riders the difference is once Bryce and Neil has gotten by they see that big number one they know okay I’m a

Lap down most likely you know if they have much race awareness they know hey this is probably the last lap now I’m going to get a checkered flag I’m going to really kind of be paying attention I don’t want to mix up any of these uh you

Know these other battles that are coming up behind me we’ve got a little bit until we see Josh Meritt minute 12 is what it was last time let’s real quick just want to run down the top three or five here in our xt2 class uh Alex theman leading the way uh don’t know

That he’s checked in yet with three laps complete uh looks like like he had no still two laps complete but on screen he is the leader in that xt2 class Tanner Walker up to the number two spot a big push from Tanner Walker and Grayson Eller on that number 171 machine in

Third John GL Jun or sorry James GL in in fourth and Braxton gross a visiting Rider from the work series is here this weekend he is in the top five spot there uh in the number five position uh great ride for him nice young kid uh young uh really lot of

Talent there coming from the west coast and excited to throw his hat in the ring for GNCC this year yeah I got to talk to him a little bit yesterday he’d been hanging out with Hunter Hart not a bad guy to uh key off of and there is

Merritt right there still in that number two spot got a pretty good Gap this guy’s getting excited yeah he he’s firing up there Adam we still good on Commercial all right we’re going to we’re going to take a quick commercial break B Neil the Bidwell bullet picking

Up where he left off in 2023 trying to make it a three Pete got a long way to go a lot of racing left in the year Meritt in the two spot Fowler in third Migel fourth and Hunter Hart running out top five will it stay that way we’ll

Find out when we come back after This you know when I take the bike out like this all my stresses just melt away I hear that this bad boy can fix anything yeah tough day of work nice Cruiser sort you right out when I’m riding I’m not even thinking about my painful cavity oh you shouldn’t ignore that and every

Time I get stressed about having to pay my bills I just hop on the bike man oh come on man you got to pay your bills you don’t have to worry about anything when you’re protected by America’s number one motorcycle insurer well you definitely do those things aren’t

Related so ah oh that is a vibrating Pain It’s a big world out there how do you choose to see it when you crave the long Canyons Rock Trails rded tracks and lonely highways they become a part of you podiums and personal records we choose it all because life is about moving and feeling it’s about being connected to the Adventure some just never pull the trigger they keep waiting wondering what it means to wander it’s a big world out there you just need to ride where you Belong whatever you drive however you drive AMS oil especially Engineers lubricant to maximize power performance and protection in your vehicles so you can work hard and play hard with confidence order online at amsoil.com unleash aggression reliability and premium quality with kinda tires delivering exceptional performance on all types of vehicles autom mode ATVs

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Faster Rocky Mountain ATV MC get ready and welcome back to Racer TV GNCC 2024 season kicking off we are here at the VP racing fuels big buck and we’ve got ourselves a good one uh Bryce and Neil leading the way surely you guys been tuned in for a while

That’s Walker follow and there is Walker that is not a real time camera shot all right it hasn’t been quite that long uh but he is there we believe still in the number three spot uh we’ll wait and we’ll watch it was 11 seconds back to Adam migil looking like it’s still

Around that same Gap there is Adam Mill there in the number four spot and then 24 seconds back was Hunter Hart wait and we’ll watch has Hunter been able to make up any ground don’t know really we’ll find out I guess baited breath the baited breath

All right we jump ahead to the six M marker uh we should get to see the number one of the Bidwell bullet here at the six mile marker we see some uh lap Riders battles in their own right and wow Josh Merrett blitzing by the

Camera we did see Bryce and Neil So if you’re a Bryce Neil fan do not panic still out front still leading the way still with a comfortable Gap over the number five of Josh Merritt there Josh looked like he was absolutely on a mission so maybe it’s not race manage

Point for him he’s uh he’s still pushing the pace trying to either close up that gap or make sure he has plenty of cushion over the number 723 of Walker fer who has worked his way up to the number three spot yeah I got to think regardless of what timing says if your

Pit board says that the 723 of Walker Fowler is behind you probably Puck her up a little bit and get moving like I you know he he has overcome some major gaps so uh yeah I said it earlier in the race you know I I I told Josh I think he

Needs to focus on dring out the noise but that might be one sound you don’t want to ignore uh you know if you got a seven time Champion behind you that’s won 74 races I believe at this point it is now uh you know you don’t want to

Give him an opportunity to see you you’re not scared of him you’re not running from him you’re just keeping the cushion you’re just little Insurance there it’s like having Blackjack and them saying you know you got a $110,000 hand and I’m saying you want to take

Even money I do as a matter of fact I would like to take even money I’m I’m I’m going to go ahead and do that looks like we’re waiting and watching for the number one of Bryce and Neil on that Phoenix Racing Yamaha at the 8 Mile

Marker this is our Hill Climb man this thing’s got gnarly over the last couple years don’t know if you guys got a chance to go down and look at this thing but years ago it was just you know nice little easy Hill Climb and you see all

These rocks down here at the bottom those have all been shuffled off the face of the Hill uh you know just from all the years of climbing it and now we’ve got rock ledges that you see the Riders kind of having to hop up over uh

It really is a technical hill climb a lot of time could be gained or lost uh want to give a oh there we go NE the that was a good example sideways he got there yeah he was a little uh little on the edge there but a shout out to uh

Jared Bolton and Ryan Eckles our Trail bosses I’ve heard several Riders come up Pros down to the amateur level complimenting how great the track has been today absolutely yeah even talking to Bolton he was like I’ve spun many laps around big buck he said I I genuinely think this is one of my

Favorite layouts he liked the couple of different changes that they’ve made for this year and it’s tough keeping things fresh keeping them exciting and so both of those guys do a fantastic job here each and every year but yeah to your point Johnny especially with this hill

Climb you got to commit so early beforehand you see these guys kind of lining up picking a line and then dropping the hammer wide open headed into the hill and man you saw right there the number one getting a big kick I don’t know if it was a root a rock or

What but it picks the back end up throws him sideways throws them forward uh it can get chaotic in a hurry on that Hill yeah the key is on a climb like that you know you have to do all your accelerating before the before the sheer

Face and and up the bottom of it once you get to the top I mean it’s like ice on that rock face you want to be super easy on the the throttle if not off of it completely and kind of coasting over that section once you get to the top

There’s a little dirt there you can kind of grab some track shot and get back on the throttle and uh pull yourself with some speed up over the top you can see multiple different uh line choices and these guys kind of taking the outer line it appears you can carry a little more

Speed into that entry uh there is Josh Merritt coming down man he is still charging hard he’s not uh doesn’t look like that outlier Performance Fitness training from uh Levi Cohen has left uh oh see the same thing happening there to Josh M except he got even more sideways

Uh he may still be up there camera turned away but he looked like he was sideways I’m sure the fans will get him going he’s got plenty good of a gap enough but he actually same thing that happened to Bryce and Neil in that line there uh just kind of got thrown

Sideways uh didn’t quite correct it quick enough maybe stay down the Gas a little too long and next thing you know he was he was sliding sideways that’s an uneasy feeling terrifying it’s scary enough to watch my heart rate went I’m like seven be I could imagine being the fan

Standing right there getting ready to see Josh Merritt headed towards him as there is the number one no problems up that power hopping floating over making that Phoenix Yamaha just absolutely work what do these guys throw at Bryson Neil to try and slow him down fight him compete spin him around backwards off

The start next week I guess we’ll try that one you know I’m going to say and I’m not taking anything away from any of the other Riders mer threw quite a bit at him today I mean maybe Bryson was able to get the lead early but you know

Bryson was looked like he was pushing for about all he had you know comfortably but he wasn’t gapping Josh fast it was you know bike lengths and bike lengths and sure if you’re Bryson you look back on this race you got to be happy I mean he started virtually last

Worked his way up through looking like he is going to grab the win today with a comfortable margin but a minute 12 with three laps complete I mean that’s a couple little mistakes that’s Josh finding a little more confidence you know I I think the guy looks good I mean

Bryson looks excellent but I’m not ready to hand over a number one PL just yet based off today’s performance you know Josh Merritt has been impressive uh Adam Mill was impressive has been impressive all day you know Walker Fowler charging his way up through the pack now up into

A Podium position Hunter hard I think he’s just kind of getting rolling John Glau Jr has a lot left I mean all these guys Jared mcair great start ran up front doesn’t have a lot of seat time I think a lot of these guys will have

Something to throw at Bryce and Neil but I think what we learned today coming into round one Bryce and Neil best prepared physically mentally uh looking like he’s got that machine on Rails and yeah these guys are just going to have to go home do the work figure out what

They feel the weak points of their program were maybe come back watch the Racer TV broadcast you know see maybe where their bike wasn’t working the best maybe where they weren’t taking the best lines see what Bryson was doing better do their homework come back in uh Hey

Two weeks we’re gonna do it all that’s right in the Sands of Florida that’s something too was talking with Walker last night and you know he agreed you can’t really judge a whole season really with the way the schedule is almost till round four cuz you know this one hey

Guys got Jitters things happen Florida that’s the oneoff go down there and just survive right despite them training in those conditions uh and then Georgia is that very next weekend so they have a very very short break uh in between those races but then by the time we get

To round four all right we’re back up north a little bit we get into some of that terrain we’re used to then the season starts taking shape so no Panic Button yet but I think if I’m Hunter har I think if I’m Fowler a three finish I

Think Hunter heart to me today is the is the guy that’s like I left a lot on the table today and maybe not a lot a little bit I think you got two winners today I I think if things finish the way they are guys we still got you know several miles of

Racing Anything Could Happen we’re not handing out you know Podium positions based off this if they finish the way they run Bryson Neil wins obviously he’s a winner Josh Merritt with a second man in my opinion he overachieved today not saying he should be a second place guy

But based off a lot of people’s expectation they had him as a fifth place guy cuz that’s what he was at the end of 2023 so you got two winners there I think Walker fer kind of you know okay that’s a good day we’re on the podium we

Got some good points Adam Gil sure he wants to be on the podium feels he should be but if he finishes there and fourth if Hunter can’t get around Adam and get to that number four spot I I think it’s a lose for him today it’s a

Loss it’s it goes in the L category not that a top five isn’t a good start but this is the guy that vocally has said I want to be battling for wins I want to be battling for this championship and if you come out of round one with the five

That’s a subpar performance I I think he’s going to have to go back figure some things out obviously we saw he looked like he had speed all day just couldn’t make the passes so I don’t think it’s again no panic button but that’s uh hey we need to reevaluate some

Things Wyatt wilin you know good day for him I think in the six spot uh Jared MC great comeback in seventh after you know so much time off the bike Steven harell rookie great finish John Glau junr I think if he finishes up in the top 10 is

A good run for him just coming off an injury was limited uh and he looked really good early and I think that fade was there to your point by the injury yeah I I think it’s just lack of seat time maybe a little bit of lack of of

Training just time to be able to you know you guys talk about it all the time and I try to kind of stay out of it because obviously it sounds you know it sounds like oh what we do what I did was so hard but folks you’re watching world

Class AB like these guys are not just out here riding an ATV or dirt bike tomorrow right these guys train fulltime yeah this is they are phenomenal physical specimens you take let’s be real you take your top 20 and you throw them at a local and they’re they’re

Probably winning and probably by a big margin if not Podium if one of the other top 20 guys shows up at the same time uh yeah there is such a a huge uh Gap in the ability of an xc1 Pro compared to just the rest of the world

And not only that like you take when I speak of athletes I’m talking about you take Bryce anneal you take you know um Hunter Hart you take these guys you throw them in a bicycle race you throw them running race you throw them in a triathlon you put them out Alex T Garden

Is a good example of that maybe not stick in Ball Sports cuz that’s different type thing you know but physical like training type Sports CrossFit you know these guys are athletes man they are they are very very fit and an hour and 44 minutes in with the heart rates that they’ve been

Holding as much as those machines way and as freaking rough as those tracks are when medical doctors are telling our our professional athletes uh that is impos 180 for 3 hours that’s impossible and they go well look at the data doing it for yeah I I I had uh people tell me

That obviously your heart rate monitor is broken you know you can’t you’re 40 years old you can’t hold that heart rate for that long and I would just kind of chuckle and smile you don’t even say anything back to him they don’t know there’s no frame

Of ref they have no frame of reference this isn’t your one element this is your fraction of a fraction of a tenth of a percenters these guys are so next level in terms of their their physicality it’s their specimens I mean it’s phenomenal yeah it’s fun to

Watch you guys are watching Racer TV Bryson Neil leading the way the Bidwell bullet uh going after I believe win number 25 if I’m not mist I think this will surpass Bob Sloan uh here for I believe fifth all time I don’t have my cheat sheet in front of me but I think

Fifth all time officially I think he was tied for that at Iron Man this is coming to the GBC tires Pit Stop area so he is getting down now to the final biome of racing he’s got this one in his sights ah man if we could get a lock in it

Would just make my day Mike running the bolt down there will he get us the shot of the lock in did it happen oh there was a head B we got a head okay that was probably it Ducks under the tree there and uh still pushing you know at this

Point I think Bryson’s obviously in control but at the same time he wants to look back and say that was enough of a gap that I shook these guys confidence a little bit you know and when you win by 10 seconds guys start thinking man that

One mistake I had or if I could have got a little better start you know when when you win by looking like we might push up close to 2 minutes possibly um but definitely looking like it’s going to be solidly over it you start to take some of the

Confidence out of the Riders behind you yeah yeah I mean it is one of those like we just talked about it a little while ago what do you do like what do you throw at this guy and it’s you you almost have to be perfect and something’s got to go wrong for Bryson

And then even that’s not a guarantee the start didn’t go right for Bryson today didn’t matter he still found a way out front uh another thing to take into consideration Riders have tracks like that are their and and this has been his track the last few years getting stuck

Behind a laer this is definitely a Bryson Neil track I mean it uh I don’t know I’m not going to specifically say it’s just like where he rides but something about this track obviously has gelled well for him looking back you know we showed our winning history uh

You know and a lot of times we ran twice here and he yeah he won both that’s good point I forgot about that so this is a track that he has a lot of confidence he rides well uh so I I I think the fact he’s doing kind of what was expected but

It’s still impressive yeah um I think you know we go to Florida a track where I don’t want to have to say I think I know was the first time he won last year because it was the first time anyone ever won that track besides Walker

Fowler Oher has won every time we race there up to 2023 where he did not race and Bryson Neil won so you know it’s not a thing where you can’t win on certain tracks but some you go to and I think Bryson probably at this point expects to

Win everywhere he goes yeah but this place it’s almost like well yeah duh I’m going to win I always go win when I go to so and he you know know he made it work today yeah did impressive it’s hard to pick uh pick apart anything he did

Wrong doing all the right things just a couple more corners and Bryce and Neil will be popping out into the Finish Line area looking like we are working our way that way again just a few Corners he will pop out he’ll have just a few chicanes and then it’ll be Ricky to with

The checkered flag waving and Bryce and Neil maybe he’ll give us a lock in at the Finish Line locking in on win number one of 2024 win number 25 and this is it folks Bry Neil and the Phoenix racing Yamaha out front and there it is a wheelie across the finish

Line and an excited Bryce and Neil takes the win here at the VP fuels big bu another day at the office for Bryce and Neil but you know honestly like the celebrations they they don’t look I was trying to read the not something not is it going to be not bad something

H we’ll have to see if we can we’ll hope for the best oh they’re rasing it whatever it was it may not have been Racer TV friendly that’s possible Helm it off already he’s uh is he mouth breathing or he just calmly breathing through his nose yeah uh just remarkable

I mean absolutely Sensational as Bry and Neil one down 12 to go I’m not throwing out that conversation yet way too early for that there’s the uh fiance oh yeah I know that’s right he said the girlfriend but I corrected himself that I believe the fiance there Brook and there

Handshake for this D that’s the team right there BR yes he rides for Phoenix Yamaha he’s got a lot of great sponsors but these guys have been a team since brys on9 I was talking to the guy those guys yesterday and it’s all off the Record stuff and we can’t dive into it

But they’re like Mikey we are the oldest sobs out here by like many years as far as a pit crew goes and I’m like man I think yeah you’re right there’s like no question like and they oh we’re all 60s kids I was born in and I wasn’t going to

Say it and I’m thinking my mom was born in ‘ 65 and my dad in ‘ 63 and they’re like when were you born I said 85 how about let’s celebrate it Josh Merritt jm5 coming across second place finish a big fist pump and he deserves it he’s revving that machine Josh

Merritt you have earned it your second career Podium giving out the high fivs this guy came in with big expectations for 2024 and quite frankly smashed him today absolutely smashed him Levi Cohen with a big congratulations to him I want to be down there yeah I know

I I’m I’m I’m stoked uh that’s awesome yeah good to see and and I uh just saying it now it’s not going to be the last time we see Merritt battling for a Podium you know what that looks like that looks like a man that now if you

Asked him if you got a win would you just call it say he would say no yeah if you guys if you hear us down there ask him hey not you know let’s put it in the universe if you get a win is the mindset still walk away after that because I’m

Thinking no and if it does shame on you because there it looks like there’s a win in the near future for Josh Merritt he looked phenomenal today the whole day uh he earned this he didn’t lock into it he was there from the beginning you know let once Bryson got

Around just never gave up any time really big time stayed back there stayed close looks like he finished well within uh four laps complete it was minute seconds that is close man I’m sorry that is really really close for Josh Meritt to stay of res heal he’s a minute 34 away from

Batt yeah I mean it’s um it’s impressive ride Walker Fowler should come in for that number three spot he was about a minute 35 back looks like Zack Haron standing by with Bryce andal waiting on the okay he he wants to know where we can that’s right over there Zach how you

Doing hey Bryson good job today buddy hey we’re doing great down here we are hanging out with the number one grabbing position number one man you did everything right but we got to go back to the start what happened off there last end of the first turn take us

Through that I just I I I I I just got too anxious that uh it’s been a long winter and uh I just gave way too much throtle way too quick and I I just killed it so uh not the way we wanted to start today but uh man we was able to

Slice and dice our way through the pack pretty good uh make some quick passes uh some other guys um clipped off some trees got some uh got around them but uh Man by the end of the first lap he’s already in the lead and uh this track

Today was amazing flat out one the best big buck track I think we’ve ever raced track had everything it had a lot of tight a lot of little fresh sections a lot of old flowy Trails of the water bars you can jump and get some air it

Was um was a great track for everyone today well man pretty crazy to hear the two-time champ still gets a little nervous on the St line but man we got it going and you got it figured out we were talking about 2023 was the season of the

Lock in it’s 2024 the season of the clock in man what was going on you came across the Finish Line we didn’t know if that was for style points where if you were checking the heart rate what was going on uh what on the last lap or you

Took the White Flag I didn’t know if you thought we threw it earli or what well I thought that we did because in my head I was like I was expecting a five lap race whenever I biked the track yesterday especially where uh we not going all the

Way down to that super green Lush section that we always hit that bottom in the far end so uh I in my head I was like it’s going to be a five laap race going into it whenever I saw the White Flag I was like you know I was just

Checking myself so uh nothing to do with anything just kind of just seeing where I was at time and then then I was thinking about fuel as well so um but hey I’m sorry Dan on the start Lonnie and Brandon my bad I’ll get it back next

Round hey I think they take the Finish over the start any of these days man I know you got great people helping you out who do you want to thank uh first and foremost uh my my dad and my mom my girlfriend Brooke my fiance Brooke uh my

Whole family who comes all these races um I got a slew of people who come down uh Brook’s uh Mom and Dad uh Grandpa Bill my Uncle Mike Justin Fallon Troy edbl uh Tyler Ward muel Robinson all my friends from back home everyone who supports me um David Eller Wayne Eller

Heath Harrison the entire Phoenix Racing um ATV yal team Donnie Donnie Lucy yaha this w z450 r 20th anniversary edition it’s freaking awesome this thing is awesome right now with all the power handling I just can’t get enough of it um I’d also like to thank um CST um DWT

Uh Das racing um engines exhaust U I’d like to thank tireballs Hower Ela J go with impact Solutions anti-gravity batteries moose racing gear Parts Unlimited uh guts racing seats ODI handlebars Walsh racing Lone Star Racing um webcams comedic gaskets Wiseco Pistons Sunstar chains sprockets and um

Uh SSI decals I I really appreciate it and the fans today were freaking awesome everyone was giving me thumbs up hooting and holler I appreciate it well there you go guys your reigning Champion starting off 2024 with a win big buug all right folks just to clarify when you

Talk about about the clock in Bryce an Neil checked his watch said he was looking at the race time just to clarify rule state the afternoon race with promoter discretion is scheduled to go 145 Plus or or two hours plus or minus with 145 being the minimum length that they’re shooting for

Today 14818 the elapse time for the win the scoring trailer Melissa Kirk you guys got it right you always do a lot of people questioning should it have been a five lap race price deal himself we don’t know we’re just I think if we were closer to summer we had more Daylight

Probably we do have another race after they nailed it we got it we did it Jackson Burl standing by with a very happy man is that oh it’s a liquid death I thought that was no duels take it away all right guys I’m here with our second place Josh Merritt

Josh what a ride today take us through today oh man I got off off to an awesome start the BNR motor GBC tires hooked up man got the hole shot and uh just try to put in solid laps I saw Bryson and Jared behind me and uh Bryson must have got

Around Jared pretty quick and he was putting the pressure on and made one little mistake and he was uh in front of me um he uh kind of paved the way for the for me for the race man he like showed me a couple different lines and I

Was like okay we can get rolling on this and uh really just you know rode the track I listened to Johnny this morning well right on the line he said hey you’re not racing anybody but the track so go out there and have some fun so

It’s what I did and uh I came away with a second place I couldn’t be any happier right now man how do you feel going into round two uh it’s a lot of pressure but you know we’re going to take a race at a time and

Do it here we’re can do it anywhere so let’s get it done Josh a big topic we talked about today was your confidence do you feel your confidence has grown yeah finishing the year strong last year with the consistent top fives and uh that Podium last year man it I’m I feel

Like a new racer I’m 30 years old and I’m going as fast as I’ve ever gone before so you know if if this is it man I’m going to take advantage all of it all right well congratulations guys that’s your second overall today Josh Merritt well there you go folks he uh he

Did he did what he needed to do today he tuned out the noise he focused on the race you got your shout out yeah yeah sure feels good but no it’s sometimes you know as an older guy who’s been around you kind of feel like you’re wasting your breath at certain times but

When you hear that you know guys are actually listening and oh yeah whoever they’re listening to when you listen when you learn from it when you move on it’s very gratifying to hear and you know Josh has a talent and he’s working incredibly hard that guy standing next

To him shout out to Levi Cohen and outlier uh Performance training you know he’s whipped Josh and and so many of these guys that are top Riders into shape uh you know and and it the work gets noticed on days like today you put in the work you get up there second

Place I mean again I I feel there’s two winners today won the race and Josh Merritt won the day yeah and you could see it I mean that was a man celebrating like win and uh you know the the more podiums that he gets though it’ll reel in and be okay

Today was a good day on the podium that’s probably the next step right I I I would like to know or you want to see that energy every I’m going to ask Josh in person when I see him if he’s still planning on quitting if he wins a GNC if

So it’s going to be a sad day because I’m going to go on the record Josh Meritt is in the mix for a win right now like the way he wrote today again One race can’t judge a season but the way he wrote today if he can replicate that you

Know more throughout the season he can be in the mix for a win so I don’t want to see Josh retire he’s 30 years old sure plenty of good years ahead of him and sounds like Zach is standing by with Walker Fowler yeah guys we’re here with

Our third place Walker Fowler man take us through today take us through getting back racing here in 2024 I mean cool to race that’s pretty neat good to be able to drive here and not be in the clam shell brace hold on I can’t hear myself thanks we’re in a

Bad spot but uh just yeah good good jump obviously uh Josh Mar got the ho shot I went right in the woods with them these BN our Motors man we’re really starting to get that figured out it was uh it was an Army anchor for sure really happy

With that uh missed the suspension setup a little bit and and it it definitely was partially just the track and the faster you went the better the bike felt uh there towards the end I definitely felt more comfortable but uh I just I needed to stay out front and I just

Literally one of these trees right here there’s no bark left on it and the bumper is about gone on the four-wheeler uh second to dead last uh had to lift a quad over my head and and just uh get back on the track and take a breather

And go well it’s going to be a long day you know just get what you get and and enjoy the ride that’s that’s my uh kind of my Mo this year is I’m just enjoying the ride I never know when uh when the end’s going to be for me and uh you know

These remaining years of my career I’m just I’m just enjoying it so uh I thought I was fourth the whole time I I thought Hunter Hart was up there on the podium and I’m like H you know what for a fourth place coming from dead last and

I felt like I rode decent at the end I was honestly pretty happy You’ put yourself in a good position starting the season out how do you feel going into round two yeah uh just got to not be making dumb mistakes at the beginning of

The races I I literally said that in an interview last year that the first lap is going to be my uh demise so I got to have a clean first lap try to stay up front I don’t know if I have the speed to run uh you know with Bryson or

Honestly Josh Barrett at this point but uh you know I figure I’m that three four guy and uh uh I just got to stay consistent and uh you know pick my battles wisely and and uh just go have fun and stay healthy all right guys that’s your third place Walker

Fowler all right I’m gonna I’m goingon to take over here Mikey Walker Fowler said something there that was pretty intriguing to me he said these remaining years of my career you know he’s made the comment he’s made the post multiple times 13 races left we just heard him

Say he might go longer might have been a third today but that was the first time we’ve heard him say that since coming back from the injury and I want to see him stick around this guy there’s a lot of fight left in that yeah he he used the plural of

Years singular so I’ll take it I’ll take it big takeaways today Johnny Merritt obviously yeah Josh Merritt phenomenal ride can’t take any away price that was a textbook performance uh all those those Podium guys I mean honestly we saw a lot of battles we saw a lot of things

That That Shook out uh what are your takeway Mike uh I think yeah Merritt was enormous I I’m I’m not 100% sure Bryce and Neil is in a superum um he’s just been stellar and I don’t know what the heck they got to throw at this guy to

Get up and get in the fight and outside of that man it’s going to be a wild Championship season quick shout out to our xc2 Pro Alex demon getting the win leading most of the day today Grayson Eller in second and James G rounding out the top three so those are your top

Three Podium contenders so we got two glas on the podium today and the uh third John was up there throughout much of the race hey John God is only going to get healthier and we want to I did not catch that Adam oh there you go all right there we go

Thank you well on behalf of everybody here at Racer TV jacksonboro Zack Haren Johnny Gallagher our camera operators JC Matt Josh Mike Don and Kiren as well as the Drone pilot Gabe sha uh our spotter Hollywood David KP our EIC engineer inch charge Jordan McFadden our director Don

Ham Hampton welcome aboard Don fantas fantastic job today our producer Adam Gordon we got to get uh Dan Reinhardt in there he doesn’t even put his own name in there but I’m throwing it out there anyways and of course our executive producer Miss carry Jo Russell I’m Mikey

Waynes we’ll see you at the races