Round 1 of GNCC Racing in Palatka, Florida

The 2016 season is finally underway. For the first time in GNCC history the UTV’s and the single seaters attended round one in Palatka, Florida. GNCC Racing added a class for the single seat Polaris ACE last year. I was very pleased to see this class growing so quickly with eleven entries at the Wild Boar GNCC!

I was pretty nervous going into the opening round; not having any seat time in my Racer Tech Polaris ACE 900. We changed the throttle on the hand controls removing the twist throttle and adding a Motion Pro thumb throttle to the custom steering wheel. Racer Tech really brought out the big guns to make my hand controlled Polaris ACE GNCC ready!

I started mid-pack. In the third turn I hit the on/off switch on the steering wheel. I hit it again to turn the car back on and immediately hit the start button. I spent the entire first lap in a panic, not having the ability turn the car at all without a struggle. On the second lap, I stopped in the pits to be told to turn the car on and off to reset the power steering. I didn’t realize it wasn’t working. I thought, with it being a bigger car and round one being in the Florida sand, that it was just that difficult to turn. After the simple fix I put my head down and charged forward. I went from sixth to fifth place. I hit some lappers in the woods accidently bumping a few of them in my aggressive effort to gain some positions.

Even when I raced quads the first race of the season we always used to get a feel for the machine and new season. The uniqueness of a Florida race compared with the rest of the series is massive with opening race jitters and sandy track conditions. I can say with confidence my team and I are ready for UTV Round 2 at Big Buck. I am happy to roll away from the first round with a solid fifth place finish and some new knowledge on a possible easy fix for anything electric!

Be sure to check out atvriders.com for the full Polaris ACE Race Report!

I was also featured on the live show on Saturday from the afternoon UTV race on Racer TV. You’ll hear from me at about an hour into the show!