Tuesday Toolbox: Glenn Kearney by: Rachel Fluharty Photos By: Matt Ware Thursday March 19th, 2009 Kearney said he's ready to take on the pack at Steele Creek this weekend. Husqvarna's Glenn Kearney had high hopes for a GNCC Championship this season, but he broke his leg just 19 days before the season started in Florida. Amazingly, he scored 10th in the XC1 Class at the opener, anyway, riding in pain. This weekend, this Australian transplant gets to race in his adopted home of North Carolina, and his leg is getting better. Can Glenn fight through the pain and get back to the front of the pack? How are you doing this morning? Excellent! Getting ready for the race this weekend. How's your leg feeling today? A lot better than what it was a few weeks ago, that's for sure! I got a scare at that last one. I thought I had broken it worse than I had originally. It turned out to be not too bad. I bet it was pretty hard to race in that condition. Florida was more difficult because of how rough it was with the big sand whoops and what not. It had only been 3 weeks when I raced Florida. I kind of expected to struggle a bit with that one but I think the sand helped a bit. I was able to stay standing a lot and not have to put my foot down. I was really happy to get through that. It hurt but it was bearable. I've ridden with broken bones before. I knew what I was in for. It's not really fun but I knew it was possible! Georgia I expected to be easier. But the ruts were so deep I was having trouble catching my feet. I'm sure everyone was. Sure enough I just caught the tail of my boot and it just twisted my foot. The instant pain was so bad, it was worse than when I broke it. When I broke it, I didn't think I had done any damage. I thought I had just sprained it and I was surprised it was a fracture. This time, it hurt so bad that I straightaway assumed the worst. I didn't put any weight on it because I didn't really know how bad it was. It turned out the fracture all stayed in place. I had done some ligament damage to start with. I'm sure that was a lot of that pain. I did a little bit more damage to the inside of my ankle. In two weeks it's come a long way. I got rid of the cast and I'm walking around with barely a limp. I think in two more weeks we should be back 100 percent. It was so disappointing to start. I was so excited to come over and do well. Right before to go and do that it was so devastating. Three months of work down the drain I thought. It looks like we might be able to salvage it. You've said you'll be ready for the next race, what are some of the things you're doing to get ready? Just rehab every day. That's the beauty of motorcycling as a job. If I had a 9-5 I wouldn't have time to spend on the injury like I have. I'm in the pool every day. Lots of physio and stretching. We all train pretty hard. Anything I can do to keep my cardio fitness up without further injury to the ankle, I'll do it, so that's swimming and on the bicycle a lot. We got an elliptical trainer in the gym and it's made a big difference, too. You said you live pretty close the race track. Is this race special to you because of that? I don't know why, I've always liked this race. This is my third year living there, but even before that this was my favorite race. I like the layout of track. There are a lot of hills and different terrain with the hill climbs, and grass tracks. The dirt here is pretty good. It's a red clay. It's looking like it's going to be good this weekend. It's good to be close to home. Better than going to New York and Florida and being in the car. Kearney has been working hard to get his leg back in shape for the rest of the series. At the Steele Creek GNCC in 2007, at the end of the race you started going into seizures and kind of had a rough year after that. What are your memories of that event? That always gets talked about. That was one I should have won but didn't. It was a hot weekend and dry. I had some sort of sickness for awhile. Doing some tests to see what had happened. I still don't know what happened. They thought I might have had Glandular fever. It's called Epstein Barr over here or something like that. It was never really diagnosed. That race was good until the last corner. I battled with Barry (Hawk) and it was a pretty exciting finish. At that point I was pretty well cooked. I've watched the video of it and I remember parts of it. I was about done and lost control in the last couple of turns. I crashed into the scoring lady and broke leg. I felt really bad about that. The next sort of hour or so after that was pretty scary. It might have been the scariest thing that's ever happened to me. It took a long time to get over it mentally. Then last year was a difficult year with the new team. This year we're on track for doing well. Wyatt Seals, the mechanic, has got the bike going really well. Working directly with Husqvarna North America and everyone involved there does a great job. Mark Brady, the President and Scott Hardin, the state national manager do everything and everyone's really into the racing. I really want to do well to repay those guys for helping me. This is my fifth year so I really want to do something. I've been here and moved my whole life from Australia out here and it takes a lot of effort. It's time to get back up front and show that I can ride. Why did you make the switch from the Husqvarna 450 four-stroke bike to the 300 two-stroke? I'm one of the smaller guys in stature. The 450 is a great bike and has a lot of power. It's great in general conditions but when the conditions got really technical or rocky, that's when I got off balance. The two-stroke is a bit lighter and feels so much more nimble. I've had a lot of success on the two-stroke in the past. Husqvarna came out with this new 300, it's got a great engine and the overall package is great. In general sort of conditions there isn't much difference. I can still do well in those races. It's the ones where I'm losing so many points in the championship is the technical races. We decided to focus on what would help me get further to the front and try to minimize the damage in the points. Kearney hopes his new bike helps him move up in the rankings. How do you feel about Steele Creek this weekend? Really good. It's been raining here for about a week. We rode close to the track yesterday and the conditions were just about perfect. It was the first time I've been back on the bike outside of those first two races. I was also able to change the bike back to the regular set up. I was having problems shifting, but I have flexibility back in the ankle so that makes a big difference. I got here and broke my leg so we never got to set the bike up properly. We made a lot of changes in a short period of time, which isn't the ideal situation, but I think we're definitely well ahead of where we were for Georgia. I'm going to go and try to score as many points as I can. I'm feeling lucky to be out there to race. So I have to ask, you have a pretty Irish name like myself, are you of Irish descent? I have Irish heritage back there somewhere. I've never really looked into my family tree or anything but I've got red hair, short temper, and I like beer. I guess that's all Irish traits. You can't not like beer! So did you celebrate St. Patrick's Day? No, I had my birthday a few days ago too and I didn't really celebrate that either. Nothing out of the ordinary- just training and rehab. Total focus at the moment. All I have time for right now is bikes! View full interview here: http://www.gnccracing.com/articles/1011_tuesday-toolbox-glenn-kearney BlipBlip/HuskyRips
For Immediate Release Contact: Rachel Fluharty rachelf@gnccracing.com Strang Makes Three Winners in First Three GNCC Rounds with FMF Steele Creek GNCC Victory Mullins, Whibley on Podium Morganton, N.C., March 22, 2009=97 The third winner of the season emerged at the third round of the 2009 Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series, the FMF Steele Creek GNCC, proving the chase for this year's GNCC Championship will be fierce. After a three-hour battle of wheel-to-wheel racing, FMF Makita Suzuki's Josh Strang sailed into the finish line first to grab his win of the 2009 season. His teammate Charlie Mullins and GEICO/JG Racing Monster Kawasaki's Paul Whibley took second and third at Steele Creek on Sunday. "After Whibley and Mullins and Kearney passed me by I realized I needed to click it up a gear," Strang said of the early battle. "It was a little easy, but not too easy." Strang's win was indeed not easy. Mullins nabbed the $250 MotorcycleUsa.com Holeshot Award off the start and led early. The race was tight until the final lap of the race, as Strang battled it out with Mullins, Whibley, Husqvarna's Glenn Kearney, and Am-Pro Yamaha's Barry Hawk and Thad DuVall on a track that ran through the steep hills, bridges and mud of North Carolina. The top six traded in and out of the top three spots until Hawk and Kearney were knocked out of the running in the fifth lap. Kearney's bike stalled through the infamous mud hole under Steele Creek concrete bridge and Hawk suffered his own problems in the mud. From there, Strang was able to pick up the pace and finished nearly a minute ahead of teammate Mullins. "I'm pretty happy with it," Mullins said. "I wish I'd won it but I'll take second today. I'll definitely be ready for the next race."Whibley, who came in first at the Maxxis General GNCC two weeks ago, had trouble with his suspension, making it hard to hold on for three hours. "I was a little uncomfortable out there," Whibley said. "Third is still good. I'm happy to be up on the podium. It's still a good day." In his first race back after breaking his wrist at the GNCC opener in Florida three weeks ago, XC1 Class rookie Thad Duvall came in fourth, followed by Shock Doctor KTM riders Nathan Kanney and Kurt Caselli. Yamaha's Jason Raines nabbed seventh and Hawk recovered from the mud hole to come in eighth. Kawasaki privateer Jesse Robinson and 2000 GNCC Champion Shane Watts rounded out the top 10. =20 In the XC2 Lites class, Shock Doctor KTM's Kailub Russell came into the race carrying a two-race win streak, but a first-turn crash allowed his teammate Cory Buttrick to get out front, along with Kawasaki privateer Andrew Matusek, who grabbed the $100 Cometic XC2 Holeshot Award. Russell recovered and was able to get into the lead on the second lap, but after he pitted, But trick was able to get back past him. The KTM teammates pressured each other for the rest of the race, with Buttrick coming out ahead to take his first win of the season. Russell took second with Matusek third. "I saw Russell come up behind me fast and I thought it was going to be a hard three hours," Buttrick said. "I'm tired, but it's worth it. It feels goo= d to get a win." The race drew 1591 different riders, an increase over last year's Steele Creek event. Kawasaki's Jordan Ashburn collected Top Amateur honors by taking 14th overall and winning the Open A class. In the two hour bike morning race, Women's Class Winner Amanda Mastin collected the $100 Coppersmith Suspension Amateur Holeshot Award.=20 The 2009 Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series continues with the Pirelli Big Buck GNCC in Union, South Carolina, on April 4th and 5th. For more information, visit www.gnccracing.com XC1 Pro 1. Josh Strang (SUZ) 2. Charles Mullins (SUZ) 3. Paul Whibley (KAW) 4. Thad DuVall (YAM) 5. Nathan Kanney (KTM) 6. Kurt Caselli (KTM) 7. Jason Raines ( YAM) 8. Barry Hawk (YAM) 9. Jesse Robinson (KAW) 10. Shane Watts (KTM) XC2 Pro-Lites 1. Cory Buttrick (KTM) 2. Kailub Russell (KTM) 3. Andrew Matusek ( KAW) 4. Jake Korn (KTM) 5. Scott Watkins (KAW) 6. Josh Weisenfels (YAM) 7. Brian Lawson ( YAM) 8. Eric Bailey (KTM) 9. Brett Zofchak (KAW) 10. Mat Herrington (KAW) Can-Am Grand National Cross Country XC1 Point Standings (After 3 of 13 rounds) 1. Paul Whibley (76/1 win); 2. Charlie Mullins (73/1 win); 3. Josh Strang (57/1 win); 4. Nathan Kanney (53); 5. Jimmy Jarrett (45); 6. Kurt Caselli (44); 7. Barry Hawk (33); 8. TIE: Jesse Robinson/Homero Diaz (24); 10. Ryan Gainey (23).=20 About GNCC Racing: The Can-Am Grand National Cross Country series is America's premier off-road racing series. Founded in 1973, the 13-round championship is produced exclusively by Racer Productions. Cross-country racing is one of the most physically demanding sports in the world. The grueling three-hour GNCC races lead as many as 1,800 riders through tracks ranging in length from eight to 12 miles. With varied terrain, including hills, woods, mud, dirt, rocks and motocross sections, GNCC events are tests of both survival and speed. Riders compete for more than $3 million in contingency and prize money, which draws talent from all over the U.S., Europe, Australia and New Zealand. GNCC Racing is televised and will air beginning April 4th on the Versus Network. For more information, please visit www.gnccracing.com. About Racer Productions: A West Virginia-based motorcycle and ATV event production company, Racer Productions has been a leader in the off-road racing industry for more than 30 years. It's repertoire of events includes the 13 round Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series, held since 1973; The Kawasaki/Monster Energy High Point National in Mount Morris, Pa., held since 1977; The ATV Dirt Days at Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tenn., held since 1985; The U.S. World Motocross Gran Prix at Steel City Raceway in Delmont, Pa. in 1987; The Monster Energy/Kawasaki Steel City National, held since 1988; The ATV Stampede National Motocross at High Point Raceway, held since 1994; The AMA Pro ATV Open at Steel City in 2007; as well as numerous other amateur motocross events. In addition, Racer Productions staffs the prestigious Air Nautiques/AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship Loretta Lynn's Ranch, held since 1982. For more information, please www.racerproductions.com.
