I had an absolute blast at the Sumter National Enduro. It was only the second NEPG event I’ve ever attended, so I was still a bit out of the loop on what was going on but thanks to our pal Shan Moore, we ended up doing a fairly decent job covering the event. I’d like to apologize to everyone that was blowing up our Twitter looking for updates. I was under the impression we’d be able to make it to more of the out-checks and have an idea of what was going on, but in reality we were pretty much as clueless as anyone at home as to what was going on. It was easy to tell if a rider from a row behind had caught someone in front of them, but otherwise we couldn’t tell much. In the brief glimpses of the guys you could tell who was really ripping and who wasn’t, but the 10-seconds of a 15-mile test in which we saw them doesn’t really mean much in the big scheme of things.

Getting his first National Enduro win at age 17 is pretty impressive for Steward Baylor.

So, obviously, the guy who was ripping just a little bit harder than everyone else was Steward Baylor. Stew has really taken his whole program up a notch this past year and it really showed this past weekend as he was able to handle the pressure of 8x National Enduro Champion Mike Lafferty breathing down his neck in the final two tests. Baylor had a pretty big crash in the 4th test and was feeling a bit loopy from the hit to the head he took during the crash, but was still able to hold on for the win. As he told us in this interview, he isn’t planning on hitting the rest of the rounds besides the first three as he doesn’t have a contract to do so. If Baylor is still in the points lead after the first three rounds I really hope someone steps up and gets the kid to the races.

The big story of the day was FMF/KTM’s Charlie Mullins having some crazy issues with his new “Dungey Edition” KTM 450 SX-F. The team was running the standard rubber oil fill cap and Mullins’ boot was hitting it and making it loosen up and eventually fall off. This resulted in Mullins running the 3rd test blowing a ton of smoke the whole way, with 400+ degree oil flowing out and actually melting the plastic on his Alpinestars boot! Thankfully for Charlie, his father was chasing the KTM van throughout the day with his practice bike in the back of his truck so they were able to yank the engine out of his practice bike and put it into the race bike. Unfortunately, the same problem would happen again and the team with no other option but to put a quart of oil into the engine and do a duct tape job on the oil fill cap to keep it closed. Charlie told me that at one point he was really worried that the bike wouldn’t make it, but he was able to get it to the finish and secure a podium position, which was huge with his Championship rivals Russell Bobbitt and Nick Fahringer having off days. The crazy thing to me is that Charlie has over 14-hours on his practice bike with the same oil fill cap, included in those hours is an FTR race and the National Hare Scramble and he never experience the problem. Charlie texted me a photo today of his new fill cap with safety wire as a backup, so I don’t foresee them running into this issue again.

This should keep Mullins from running into the same issue he had at Sumter...

How about 8x National Enduro Champion Mike Lafferty putting his Husaberg 250 on the box at the opening round? I got the chance to talk to Jr. after the race for this quick interview, and he really seems pumped and rejuvenated for this season. We saw last year what could happen when he and fellow ‘Berg rider Nick Fahringer were allowed to get off of that monster 4-stroke and onto a more nimble bike. Mike said that getting back on the 2-stroke gave him some of his old mojo and I really think he could wind up being a title contender before this thing is said and done. There was some banter going on on Twitter with Jason Raines and Barry Hawk talking about how the old guys can still kick ass, but I had to remind them that it was still the kid who took the win. It is pretty crazy to think that Lafferty is old enough to be Stew Baylor’s father and still has that kind of speed, let alone the desire to still compete.

Speaking of the Baylor boys, I’ve got to give a shout out to young Grant Baylor who finished a very impressive 12th-overall and in the process took the win in the 250A class by over 4-minutes. The much quieter of the Baylor brothers, Grant seems determined to make a name for himself with very solid results–he won the 250A class GNCC championship in 2011, his first year on a big bike. It won’t be long and we’ll be seeing both Stew and Grant battling for overalls from the XC1 class…

If you read QuickFill you’ll see that Jen Kenyon mentioned the WMR/KTM team will be back for 2012 and will be on the main pro row again. Jen didn’t spill the beans on who they have riding for them that will get them on pro row, but, you have to have a rider inside the top-15 overall to get a spot there so if you take a look at last year’s overall results you just might be able to figure out who that rider is. If you really want to be a good detective, head on over to our forum and browse a little bit, there’s a pretty big clue in a recently posted thread that will lead you in the right direction.

And with that I’m going to call it quits for this week. I’m with my family, Krista, and her family checking out our wedding venue for the weekend, so if I don’t want a divorce before the wedding I better get off the computer. Have a good weekend! Here’s our “fluffer” Bolt-on. Wattsy, you can stop reading here…

Lafferty has set himself up nicely for a run at 9x after Sumter.

Thanks Hoop! I’m pretty pumped to see the off-season winding down. After spending the last two weekends in South Carolina for the openers of the National Hare Scramble and National Enduro Series, it officially feels like the off-season is over. While our first National events of the year have come and gone, they’ve managed to give us some teasers as to how some guys are riding so far in 2012. It’s interesting to see these things and watch things evolve into what could be another ep.. I mean, interesting, season (I spared you my use of that “e” word).

You’ve already gotten the scoop on how everything unfolded at Sumter last weekend. Personally I had a blast watching the race unfold. There’s something kind of unique about Sumter. I don’t know if it’s because it’s traditionally the first big event of the year or if it’s the sandy terrain or what but it tends to produce some pretty great racing. At the beginning of 2010, Charlie Mullins showed up to Sumter back on a Yamaha and went home with the win, which eventually led to his National Enduro title. At that time, nobody had really picked Charlie as the race winner. In 2011, the event wasn’t a National Enduro round but still drew a pretty good turnout. Kailub Russell took the win and while every was picking him to do well, not many were calling on him for the straight up race win. This year a lot of people knew that Steward Baylor would do well, but there wasn’t really anyone who picked him as the winner.

There was a serious amount of smoke coming from Mullins' bike!

Each of these riders went out and claimed the race win at Sumter even though they weren’t completely pegged as pre-race favorites. Could this be the fad with races at Sumter? Is Sumter that tough to call because it happens so early in the year? Regardless of what you think, there’s no doubt that Sumter is kind of like the Steele Creek of enduros, as in you can never really know exactly what’s going to happen. Even the weather is similar to Steele Creek. One year it may be 20 degrees and the next year you may be wearing short sleeves. These kind of events are everywhere, and they help to make things even more interesting in our little off-road world.

Sumter has come and gone. Now we’ve got a couple of weeks off before returning to National Enduro action down in Georgia for the Cherokee. I’ve actually never made it to Cherokee but between the stories, videos and just generally knowing what the eastern Georgia terrain is capable of, I can assure you that it should be another great race. The last time Cherokee appeared as part of the National Enduro series was in 2010 when Cory Buttrick ended up taking the overall win. After putting in some good section times last weekend but ultimately having to settle for fourth place, Cory will definitely be looking to get back up on the podium in Georgia.

I mentioned this in QuickFill yesterday but in case you missed it, Brian Melik posted this video of the 1996 Lisbon GNCC in Lisbon, Ohio. It’s pretty cool to see how much things have changed in 16 years. Take a look and see how many riders you can name. There’s 2 that should be pretty easy…

That’s going to do it for me this week. Until next time, Bolt-On out… Epic.

DeLong and Thomas have been in North Carolina doing motos and suspension testing with Genuine Dirt Rider.

The off-season is finally over! It’s been a busy week with the National Hare Scramble last weekend and the National Enduro this coming weekend. Things are definitely buzzing here in Hickory, NC with a ton of riders around getting in practice before Sumter and it’s really got me pumped to get back to racing!

I spent yesterday filming with Jason Thomas and Andrew Delong of the FAR Husqvarna team as they prepared for the first National Enduro this weekend down in Sumter. As you can see in the video, there’s no lack of sand at Chad Perry’s track in Morganton, NC and both of the boys were definitely flying. The wide open terrain isn’t much like an Enduro, so it’s hard to say how they’ll do come Sunday, but they look to be on pace for some solid finishes in the XC2 Pro Lites class once the GNCC season kicks off in March. If you pay attention closely in the video you’ll notice some changes in gear and equipment for the team. They’re still rocking Fly Racing Gear and Eks Brand Goggles for 2012, but have switched to Bell Helmets and to Alpinestars boots. On the machines, they’re running Easton handlebars this season which is pretty cool to see a new brand get involved with off-road.

While we were out shooting, Nate Kanney and Chris Bach were out pounding laps and making adjustments on their bikes. Both of these riders will be heading to Sumter this weekend as well and will be looking to improve on their results from the National Hare Scramble. Bach is obviously just coming off of knee surgery and Kanney hasn’t had as much seat time up in New York on his new Honda so look for both of these riders to make big improvements in speed and fitness over the next few weeks leading up to the GNCC opener.

Thomas and his new teammate seem to work very well together, riding motos together to push each other.

By now I’m sure you’ve seen the results from the Burnt Gin National Hare Scramble that took place this past weekend as well as the two videos we posted, but if you haven’t, stop what you’re doing right now and watch these!

-Hoop’s Video

-Bolton’s GoPro Video

The race had a stacked pro field of 29 riders with some serious heavy hitters like Charlie Mullins, Russell Bobbitt, Cory Buttrick, Jordan Ashburn, Jason Raines, Brad Bakken, Nate Kanney, and Chris Bach. It was Ashburn who jumped out to an early lead and was absolutely flying on his YZ 250 2-stroke. Charlie Mullins was working his way up from a not-so-great start on his Dungey Edition KTM 450 SX-F and struggled a bit getting used to the not-so-sandy sand/clay mix soil. Charlie admitted after the race that he had a few crashes on the first lap just getting used to riding in something other than the deep Florida sand he’s been pounding laps in for the past couple of months.

CoryB jumped out to an early lead at the National Hare Scramble but would run out of gas on the second lap.

Eventually Mullins would run down Ashburn and make a pass and pull out a small lead until on the last lap Ashburn was forced to pit after a tangle with a lapper resulted in a mangled front wheel. His pit stop allowed a hard-charging Steward Baylor to make a pass for 2nd but Ashburn would eventually get him back and that’s how they ended up finishing.

There were a few surprise rides in my mind, the first we’ve already talked about with Ashburn just killing it out front. He was riding really, really aggressively on that two-smoke and looked good. The 2nd has to be Jason Raines who finished the day in 5th-place overall, not too shabby for a “retired” team manager! There are a lot of full-time pro guys that should be glad Raines has decided on a new career path and isn’t consistently lining up in the pro class at national events.

Cory Buttrick had a rough day, running out of gas after running up front on only the second lap. We’re not sure what happened as he was running an oversized tank on his KTM 250 (or 300?) XC two-stroke. I’m guessing the floats were stuck or something; because there’s no reason he shouldn’t have made it that long.

Kanney made his Honda racing debut last weekend.

As I’ve mentioned a few times, Charlie Mullins is indeed on the new 2012 “Dungey Edition” KTM 450 SX-F which is a pretty much completely redesigned machine. At first glance you might not notice that it is in fact the new bike, as Mullins is still running older versions of plastic as there currently isn’t enough in the country for both Dungey and Mullins to run it. Charlie told me that on his 20-minute practice loop in Florida he is 40-seconds a lap faster than on his 2011 machine which isn’t a good thing for his competition.

The National Enduro pro field will be absolutely stacked this coming weekend, here’s a list of pro riders we know are racing:

FMF/KTM
Bobbitt, Mullins, Buttrick

Husaberg
Lafferty, Fahringer

AmPro Yamaha
Ashburn

Obermeyer / Raines / Offroadviking.com
Bakken, Haines

Beta
Bach

FAR Husqvarna
DeLong, Thomas

Honda
DuVall, Kanney

Other riders
Baylor, McRee, Hufford, Klamfoth, Williams

Who do you think will be the top-5 overall? Let us know on the forum: http://www.digitaloffroad.net/index.php/topic/22-sumter-enduro-race-picks/

One rider we haven’t mentioned much about lately is Shenandoah Honda’s Thad DuVall who will be making his Honda debut this coming weekend. After seeing Thad on a Yamaha for about a decade it will definitely take some getting used to seeing the 989 on a red bike. Thad has been doing a lot of Tweeting lately with updates on his program and he posted some photos of his new Troy Lee Designs Steve McQueen gear that he’ll be rocking and it’s some definitely sweet stuff! He’s also made the switch to Sidi boots and with a ton of new gear and new bike, Thad will be looking fresh at Sumter. DuVall is definitely a darkhorse rider coming into the event as he finished in the top-5 a few times and ended up with 2 podiums in last years National Enduro Series.

I’ll be doing my best to Live Tweet the National Enduro, so definitely check us out on Twitter all weekend to keep up to date.

That’s pretty much it for me this week. If you’re out at Sumter be sure to say hey!

Ashburn could be a podium threat this weekend at Sumter.

Thanks Hoop! Im actually going to keep it semi-short this week (mostly because I’m writing this via iPhone) so lets jump right in and get things going.

You’ve already heard all about last weekend’s National Hare Scramble. The race served as a pretty good preview of the 2012 season as most of the top GNCC guys showed up to battle it out. It was definitely a great race and the general consensus amongst everyone was that the track itself was pretty awesome. I know I was jonesing to race but even just watching the guys absolutely destroy it in the sand was a good time.

By the way, if you want to check out more race photos, check out the Burnt Gin gallery at www.constantphotos.com to see some photos shot by Katie Norton. She snagged some really awesome corner shots starting around page 12 of that gallery, then more towards the end. Katie is a former multi-time SETRA Women’s champion and while she’s taken the Bolt-On route of spending more time behind a camera lens or the keyboard writing SETRA race reports for Trail Rider Magazine, she still rolls.

LeeAnn Bange took the win in the Women's class.

This weekend the National Enduro Series kicks back off and it’s promising to be another stacked season. Charlie Mullins will be looking to regain his title while Russell Bobbitt will be defending his. They will have some competition though coming in the form of more than a few riders. You can’t forget how well Nick Fahringer was riding at the end of 2011, and although he spent the winter off the bike with a knee injury, I think he will be back strong. Mike Lafferty put in an excellent ride at the Broxton Bridge Enduro showing that he still has some definite speed, but Brad Bakken stayed pretty close to him. It should be a good race to watch unfold this weekend.

Well, I’m going to cut it short here and get ready for a great race this weekend at Sumter. I will leave you with this Rodney Tomblin Compilation video I threw together… Enjoy.

Until next time, Bolt-On out.