10-Hour GBC Heartland Challenge - Enduring

As racers charged to their machines, the Pro Armor/GBC team of pro GNCC racers Jeff Pickens and Jarrod McClure would grab the holeshot, with Pickens as the first rider out. Although first off the line, the Pro Armor/GBC team's lead did not last. A fierce battle for the number one spot began to brew as the Pro Armor/GBC team, the Dirt Works team and the HMF Engineering team all took turns swapping the lead several times over.

At the midway point, the Pro Armor/GBC team would suffer a setback when Pickens hit a tree, breaking a spindle in the process, which put the team down by several minutes and allowed the Dirt Works team, consisting of Duane Johnson, Mike Burrows and Kyle Martin, to take over the lead. "We figured it would be a pretty equal race in the pro class, so we were just planning on going out there and doing our best," said Johnson, whose team was running the new GBC Ground Buster II and Race Rex XC tires and would go on to take the overall and pro win.

Although down, the Pro Armor/GBC team, which was also running GBC's new XC tires, was definitely not out. In the final laps, the team was five minutes off the lead, and with five laps left to go McClure would be the rider to take it to the finish line. McClure was on a mission as he charged his way through the dark, closing the gap to just over two minutes as he reached the checkered flag. "I went out there and gave it everything I had," he said. "I used to do a lot of night riding with my Dad when I was kid, and I think that really helped me out a lot in those final laps."

In the Pro Utility class the podium was dominated by Can-Ams this year. The Polaris/Rath Racing team grabbed the holeshot and took an early lead, but their luck would not hold out, as a mechanical failure put an end to their race in the 29th lap.

The Can-Am/Talk.com team of Michael Swift, Clifton Beasley and Rick Cecco would end up dominating the Pro Utility division. Despite a five-minute penalty incurred when one of their riders forgot to stop at the scoring checkpoint, the team still finished two laps ahead of second-place SAFR Guys race team of Scott Kilby, Ken Robey and GBC's own Kevin Johnston. The SAFR team was running a new product, under the GBC label, called the SAFR System, which is a run-flat foam insert, similar to Tire Balls but at a much cheaper cost. Third place went to the Mike Penland Racing team of Mike Penland, Scott Wheeler and Ben Hedrick.

In the Pro-Am class it was the Locked N Loaded team that took the win with 37 laps, followed by Vadasy Racing and the Hornung Cycle team. 40+ class team Old Nutz proved that age is only a number, as they raced their way to win their class and take an impressive fifth place overall, while sporting GBC's new Race Rex tires. The SAFR Girls team took the win in the Women's class

In the Ironman class, Jason Gudde finished an incredible 30 laps for the win while Jason Noble finished in second and Chad Hutchinson earned the final spot on the Ironman podium. Jodi Stracham, the only female to enter the Ironman class, finished in an impressive fourth place on her Honda 300EX. Also in the Ironman class, Todd Macke, who was racing for ART, a group dedicated to riders with cerebral palsy, would succumb to mechanical issues that would end things early for him.

With GBC Motorsports and SAFR signing on as the title and presenting sponsors for another five years, the GBC Heartland Challenge just seems to keep getting better. With the assurance of new classes and new Challenge events added for next year, the future of this event looks to become brighter with each passing year.