Round one of the 41st annual AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series presented by Maxxis, an AMA National Championship, took place just last weekend in sunny Florida. With only a handful of days to recover from last Saturday’s head-to-head battle with Adam McGill, N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha/Maxxis/Lonestar’s Walker Fowler heads into this Saturday’s Maxxis General GNCC with a big victory behind him and a slight upper hand in the National Championship standings.

While it was CST/Lonestar/DeRisi/Tire Blocks/Spider Graphics-backed Adam McGill who dominated most of the two-hour race, Fowler claimed the first win of the 2015 season. McGill’s tenacity and speed at round one proved his merit in contending the championship, while a tough panel of competitors like Fowler and six-time GNCC National Champion Chris Borich gun for the same reward. Borich began the season with a third place finish aboard his brand new Factory Yamaha/SSi/Maxxis Tires program, which marks the first time since 2009 that the reigning champion hasn’t won the GNCC opener in Florida. With Fowler, McGill and Borich neck-and-neck heading into the second round of racing, the 2015 National Championship chase is sure to be another exciting battle to the end.

Another rider who made the switch to Yamaha is Brycen Neal, who showed great speed in his sophomore season in the XC1 Pro class. The Maxxis/B. Neal Motorsports-backed rider finished just off the podium with a fourth, where he looks to land atop the box this Saturday in Georgia.

Bithell Racing/Maxxis/Precision-backed Chris Bithell heads into the weekend with a fifth place finish behind him but that’s no indication of how he rode at the season opener. Bithell ran with the front-runners for a majority of the race and will look to stick a podium finish this weekend as well.

N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha/Maxxis/Lonestar’s Cole Richardson claimed the first XC2 Pro Am victory of the season with a commanding win over Dillingers/Hygear’s Marty Christofferson and XC2 Pro Am rookie Cody Collier. The championship battle will continue this Saturday with round two.

Saturday’s race schedule is as follows: Youth ATV racing begins at 8 a.m., followed by amateurs, 4×4 Pro and Women at 10 a.m., and the top amateurs and pros begin at 1 p.m. Following Saturday’s afternoon race, Side-by-Side racing will take place at 4 p.m.

Adult (12+) gate admission is $20 for the full weekend and $10 for kids (6-11). Kids five and under are free. All admission includes pro pit access. Local racers are invited to compete at this event, as GNCC Racing offers classes for riders of all skill and experience levels. The amateur racer entry fee is $40 and riders can sign up at the track.

Tune into RacerTV.com on Saturday at 1 p.m. EST to catch LIVE coverage of the Pro ATV race at Round 2. For more information on GNCC Live coverage, visit www.racertv.com.

The 2015 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series heads to Washington, Georgia this Saturday for the second round of racing with the Maxxis General GNCC. For more information on the series, please visit www.gnccracing.com.