A last minute decision paid off in late October for Veedersburg’s Austin Abney when he clinched the GNCC XC2 Pro-Am National Championship with a second-place finish on his home track at Crawfordsville’s Ironman on Oct. 24.
In 2019 Abney ran at 38 Indiana local races, winning 36 of them, but the decision to join the national circuit in 2020 wasn’t an automatic one.
“It was literally two days before the first national race in 2020, I told Dad (Darrel Abney) ‘pack your stuff we are going,’” Abney said. “and he’s had the passion for this sport as long as I have and he said ‘alright we’ll go,’ and that’s what started the journey this year.”
Abney ended up placing second at the first race of the season at Big Buck in Union, South Carolina, and that lit the fire for the rest of the season. Second-place finisher Drew Landers captured titles at the first three tracks, including a win at the General in Washington, Georgia in mid-March, but when racing returned to Washington at The Bulldog following the COVID-19 hiatus in mid-May, Abney’s domination started.
The Veedersburg native picked up wins at The bulldog, and then won rounds six and seven at High Point in Mt. Morris, Pennslyvania and John Penton in Millfield, Ohio. He also won at The Mountaineer in Beckley, West Virginia and Burr Oak in Millfield in rounds nine and 10.
“Going into racing nationals you can be the top-dog at locals all you want, but you go into nationals knowing you’re not the top-dog anymore and you have to fight your way up there,” Abney said. “As the season went on my overalls got better and better and I was catching more of the XC1 guys and getting to ride with them and that’s a big confidence booster right there. I would say that’s the biggest thing is keeping your confidence level high.”
Abney, who started racing in 2014 and graduated from Fountain Central in 2017, will move up to XC1 Pro-Am class for the final race of the season at the Buckwheat 100 in Newburg, West Virginia this weekend. As a part of the XC2 Class, Abney starts in the second row of the pro race, but sits in 10th in the overall standings heading into this weekend.
While Abney’s climb to the pro-level has been a quick one since he moved to the XC2 class full-time in 2018, it was a slow process just starting out as a young teen six years ago.
“When we first started, Dad wasn’t about it at all,” he said. “He told me no multiple times, and it came down to the day of the first race and he was not excited about it, but immediately I came off the track that day and I don’t evem remember how I finished, but I could see his face light up and he was all about it. And ever since that day, anything I’ve wanted to accomplish or do in racing, he’s been 100% supportive. He’s helped me get to the races, helped me out financially and that’s how we’ve got to where we are now.”
Abney is the son of Darrel and Beth, and they have been his biggest supporters since day 1. Following graduation from Fountain Central, Abney attended Hobart Institute of Welding Technology in Troy, Ohio and has worked full-time at Delta Welding in Attica since 2018. Racing has now become a second full-time gig.
“You miss out on a lot with racing,” he said. “You’re gone all the time and it’s a full-time job just doing the mechanic work.”
Abney admitted he’s talked several times about walking away from the sport, but he keeps hanging on. It keeps fueling his fire.
And that fire is going to continue to burn for Abney right into 2021 in the XC1 Class.
The goal is to add sponsorships to his existing list that includes Action Offroad and see how things play out from there.
Abney has the desire, work ethic, and talent to make it to the top of the sport. And no matter how tempting having free time may be, his fire and passion for quad racing will always win out.
