If you want to check the pulse of American off-road racing today, just take a walk through the staging area of any GNCC round. That’s what we did at Snowshoe Ski Resort in the mountains of West Virginia
WORDS: DAVEY COOMBS
PHOTOS: DAVEY COOMBS & KEN HILL
They line up on the pavement in rows of five, class by class, more than 118 rows deep—nearly 700 riders in all. It’s Sunday morning in late June at Snowshoe Ski Resort, a beautiful mountaintop village high up in the Appalachian Mountains. These are the amateur motorcycle riders, the rank and file of American off-road racing. They will race for two hours on a course that measures 13 miles on the dot, weaving in and out of the forest and across the ski slopes that make up Snowshoe. At times the course is open, fast, and fun; other times it’s a brutal slog across rocks and through mud. Just like the state’s motto—Wild, Wonderful West Virginia—suggests, they are in for quite a morning.
We are deeply rooted in Moto—We’ve been here all our lives. Back in 1998 when we turned an underground newspaper into a shiny color magazine, it immediately changed the game with its unprecedented depth of coverage, sense of humor, and access to the sport’s biggest names. Today, our readers know they can go to Racer X Online for all the news, race results, and event coverage they need, and then enjoy even more detail and perspective in the pages of Racer X Illustrated. The mag offers a chance to learn something new on every page and stay connected with the people and personalities that shape our sport—the competitors out on the racetrack, as well as the ones behind the scenes—through our exclusive deep-dive stories and columns.
Our trademark has always been insider knowledge from the experts who are at the races and around the sport. We have long prided ourselves on our unparalleled race reporting and detailed storytelling. We go deep with the riders and teams to provide comprehensive coverage you won’t find anywhere else—all with first-class photography and design. It’s a full education in motocross past, present, and future.
Davey Coombs
Editor-in-chief & Founder
Racer X Illustrated
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