Ranked fifth in 2017, second in 2016 and second in 2015; ATV racer, No. 521, Adam McGill knew his future was in racing after being named the youngest person to place in the top three of a GNCC race at 17 years old in 2005. He followed that with wins at the GNCC Pro Am Championship and winning the AMA ATVA Amateur Rider of the Year Award.
The West Virginia native’s professional career began in 2008, and he has captured the podium every year.
In 2018, McGill has been working hard on the GNCC Racing circuit since February, ranking in the top of his class in multiple rounds.
This month, McGill is focusing his attention on Round 9 in Snowshoe, WV, on June 23-24, at Snowshoe Mountain Resort. Set in a ski village, the track is known to be challenging, setting atop of the second highest point in the state.
Unlike other races in the GNCC circuit, riders at Snowshoe will line up on a paved road in groups of five and start their engines every 10 seconds. The track extends from the paved start onto ski slopes and into deep mud bogs with massive tree roots and hills covered in black, loamy dirt.
Looking to dominate the peaks of Snowshoe, McGill has his eye on the podium in his home state.
For more information on McGill, follow him on Facebook for race updates.
Beau Baron is a natural-born rider, a multi-time WORCS champion who has also conquered first place finishes in Side-by-Side. Everyone knows that if it’s got wheels and can be raced, Beau will take it all the way to the podium. Nowadays, he’s even riding Moto. But take away the championships and trophies and you’d still find Beau out riding every single day, just to get the rush he can only find from off-road. Baron has been tapped as one of CST Tires’ primary Brand Ambassadors. Not only does Baron race in multiple classes, but he is the only rider we know who races Moto, ATV and SxS. Whether it’s the Pulse for ATV, Dingo for SxS, or Legion MX-VI for Moto – Beau Baron rides CST Tires in all of them. This year he is chasing championships in the WORCS and Big 6 Series. And he also spends quite a bit of time helping CST Tires develop their products like the Dingo and others. “I run two different tires for WORCS, so the Dingo is more for a hardpack setting,” notes Baron. “The tire is really good and it’s got a nice round shape to it so it doesn’t catch really hard in the ruts but you can lay it in there and stay in the ruts. It also has pretty good traction on hardpack.” One of the things Baron says he likes the most about the Dingo is that it’s very predictable in a variety of conditions. “The predictability on my slides, the predictability in the ruts, you know, not popping out when I don’t want it to, but being able to have it loose enough to where I can throw it sideways and have a predictable slide. It’s just an all around great tire.” Baron says that he is currently testing new tires and compounds that will be introduced at a later date, but it shows that CST Tires is committed to the SxS market and continuing to invest in the brand to give riders what they want and need. On the racing side, Baron says that the SxSs are much more difficult to prepare than either the ATV or dirtbike. “It takes up a lot of my time,” he says. “The dirt bikes and the quads are a breeze compared to the two side-by-sides, which take about 20 to 40 hours before each race to prepare. But when you win in the thing, you know, you still get a rush.”
CST is going full-throttle with its first-ever contingency program, offering generous cash prizes for winners and podium finishers in AMSOIL GNCC Racing, WORCS, the ATV MX National Championships and the AMA District 37 Big6 Grand Prix Series.
Prizes ranging from $400 to $50 will be awarded for upcoming races, with amounts varying according to series, class, and first, second or third-place finish. The contingency place begins April 21-22 for AMSOIL GNCC; April 27-29 for WORCS; April 14-15 for ATV MX; and May 5-6 for Big 6. Races prior to the specified dates are not covered by the program, and no prizes will be awarded retroactively.
To be eligible, racers must ride CST tires and display decals in the number and size specified on the entry form throughout the event.
For more information about the contingency awards from CST, visit csttires.com/us/contingency.
Distributed in more than 150 countries, the CST brand covers a wide range of market segments. CST products include tires and tubes for bicycles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, autos, trucks, forklifts, agricultural and lawn and garden equipment.
Last week we went “behind the brand” to give you a bit of a history lesson on CST Tires. Starting this week, we’ll be introducing some of the people involved with CST Tires.
Chris Meyer is the Moto/ATV Marketing Coordinator for Maxxis/CST USA. While he has only been with CST since December, he says he’s been an active participant in the sport since he was nine years old. “I’m a lifelong participant in the sport, definitely,” says Meyer. “I was doing a lot of the same things I’m doing now the year before I took this job, I just wasn’t getting paid to do it.”
Meyer said that before CST he was working in the adult beverage industry and he sees a lot of parallels with what he’s doing now.
“I spent the early part of my professional career in the adult beverage industry,” says Meyers. “Mostly on the beer side of things working for distributors or suppliers. The alcohol industry is very similar to this one and is set up in three tiers with a manufacturer, a distributor and a retailer.
“There’s a lot of the same challenges you face in communication and tracking conversions, and you know, proving that your marketing dollars are well spent are very similar. Similar to CST where we have a completely different industry, at the end of the day product that needs to somehow engage with a consumer, they need to be able to connect with it.”
Meyer lets us in on the secret behind brand marketing, and that is to make the product or brand more than the sum of its parts. We used the analogy of the craft beer market and the quality of beers improving and multiplying almost daily, but consumers are lost in the value of these brands unless they know what it is or have tried it before.
“Corona is an example where the value of their beer was the retail price and the perceived value of the beer was way above what the quality of that beer,” says Meyer. “They did it from a marketing perspective. Ballast Point, on the other hand, did it from a price point perspective; they price their beer so high that you would convince yourself it’s good or else you’d feel stupid for spending that much on beer!”
He says CST is in a unique spot where it has to be marketed very carefully because it is very aggressively priced. “Whether we like it or not, a lower price just kind of dictates a certain level of quality when you look at different price points,” says Meyer. “The reason we made an investment in professional racing was to expand the number of guys we have that can perform at the top level. I mean, we have more CST wins in GNCC than Maxxis does right now.”
Currently, Meyer says he is focusing on some of their brand ambassadors and the racing events for CST. There will also be some upcoming tests with their pro riders like Beau Baron and Adam McGill. Be sure to stop and say hello to Chris when you see him at the track or an event. Besides knowing a lot about tires, he knows a thing or two about adult beverages and can make some good recommendations for tires or beer – or both.
The WORCS Pro Series is brutal in the UTV classes. The tracks are tough, the competition is even tougher and the tires not only need to hold up but they need to perform at the highest level to make it to the finish line.
CST Tires has just the tire for the brutal environment of UTV racing, and it goes by the name Dingo. This tire has been a staple for WORCS driver and CST brand ambassador Beau Baron. We caught up with Beau to get his take on the tires, and how they not only perform on the track but hold up for work and play as an all-round tire for any UTV.
“When it’s dusty, it’s hot and you’re worried about hitting the gas and the brake at the right time. You’re accelerating points, braking points, and so on. The last thing you want to worry about is your tires,” says Baron.
One of the things Baron says he likes the most about the Dingo is that it’s very predictable in a variety of conditions. “The predictability on my slides, the predictability in the ruts, you know, not popping out when I don’t want it to, but being able to have it loose enough to where I can throw it sideways and have a predictable slide. It’s just an all around great tire.”
The Dingo features an aggressive tread pattern for hard-hitting grip while accelerating in ruts. Its 8-ply-rated radial construction guarantees durability, ride comfort and confidence at high speeds on the trail. Designed for all types of terrain, the Dingo is the tire for the rider who loves to explore.
“I run two different tires for WORCS, so the Dingo is more for a hardpack setting,” notes Baron. “The tire is really good and it’s got a nice round shape to it so it doesn’t catch really hard in the ruts but you can lay it in there and stay in the ruts. It also has pretty good traction on hardpack.”