This year marks the 30th anniversary of the AAGP, which began as a standalone event prior to the creation of the JNCC series; much like the Blackwater 100 marked GNCC’s beginnings. To help celebrate the AAGP event’s anniversary three top competitors will participate including XC1 Open Pro racers Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki’s Steward Baylor and Phoenix Racing Honda’s Mike Witkowski, as well as 250 A class champion turned XC2 250 Pro racer Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Nick DeFeo. 

From the GNCC Racing staff, Race Operations Manager Jared Bolton and Trail Captain Colby Stiles will escort the GNCC riders to Japan. Both Bolton and Stiles will take part in the FUN-GP morning amateur race aboard a KTM 250EXC and a Husqvarna FC350 thanks to the JNCC Series and Japan’s top KTM Dealer, Basist Auto.

DeFeo and Witkowski follow GNCC racers such as Paul Whibley, Robbie Jenks (2006), Jason Raines, Charlie Mullins and Rodney Smith (2007), Nate Kanney and Thad Duvall (2008), Josh Strang and Kailub Russell (2009), Cory Buttrick (2010), Jesse Robinson and Jason Thomas (2011), Rory Mead, Josh Strang (2013), Jordan Ashburn (2014), Chris Bach (2015), Trevor Bollinger (2016), Ricky Russell (2017), Craig Delong (2018), Andrew Delong (2019); and most recently, Steward Baylor (2023) in being selected to represent GNCC Racing in Japan.

It is a tradition for JNCC President Masami Hoshino to invite GNCC riders to the season finale in exchange for Japanese riders that will compete in a single round of the GNCC series. Earlier this year, Keita Watanabe and Kazuhiro Yoshizaki traveled to West Virginia and raced at The Mountaineer GNCC in September. Watanabe would finish sixth in the FMF XC3 class, after grabbing the FMF XC3 holeshot award, and Yoshizaki would grab a win in America in the Sportsman B (40+) class.

A special thank you goes out to Yoshi Kawana for continuing to help the GNCC Racing Nation when they attend the JNCC race as he serves as their tour guide throughout the trip.