Let's ramble on with Jedediah Haines
Jedediah Haines has been contesting the 2010 GNCC season in the XC1 class and has proved himself to be one of the top privateer riders in the series. As part of the newly formed Keystone Offroad Racing team, Jed is ready to race through the rest of the 2010 season and into 2011. I caught up with Jed to see how things were going, what is in store for the future and more.

Hey man, how’s everything going today?
I’m feeling a little tired today, raced the last round of the National East Harescramble series yesterday getting my first podium overall!

Awesome ride! Glad to hear about the good finish. So you had a tough ride at Unadilla, what happened?
Yeaaa Unadilla was a big let down. I had high hopes goin into it and was coming back from a bad first lap. I had a good start but fell going into the woods and clipped a tree later in the virgin trail. I still havent had the time to tear the motor down yet but with everything that it was doing I’m suspecting a bad head gasket. When I stopped for gas it was spitting coolant when it definately shouldnt have been, and a lap later the top end seized.

Wow, that’s definitely a tough break. Looking ahead to Tennessee, what are you looking to do to overcome the Unadilla race?
I’ve had the speed to run with the front guys off the start but I’ve been having problems staying off the ground the first lap. Once you loose site of the those guys its hard to know how hard they are going. I learned alot following the XC2 guys and Charlie Mullins and hoping to use that in Tennessee.

Now you’ve been nailing the starts this year, do you have a secret technique or just banzai it and hope for the best?
Oh man it took me forever to figure out how to start the 450 on a dead engine start. They’re consistently good now but I know i have alot of room for improvement to consistently get awsome starts!

Ha, it definitely seems to be working though! Especially at Mountain Ridge in Pennsylvania. Moving along here, how did the first half of the 2010 GNCC series go for you?
Everyone tells me that it has been an awsome year but I had a little bit higher goals for myself. Like you said my starts are good and I’ve had some top 10s and a few top 20 overalls, but the consistency hasnt been what I’m accustomed too.

That’s definitely a successful season though! What are you looking to accomplish in the final three rounds?
With the DNF at dilla I’m pretty far outta the top 10 in points so I’ve really got nothing to loose the last three rounds, so go for broke would be the best plan I could think of. Finishing the year with a boost of confidence running near the front would be really good to take into the off season too.

Do you have any plans for 2011 yet?
2011 is looking to be one heck of a year if things go decent. I’m planning on running the GNCC series again along with the National harescramble series. Since I’ll be 25 next year too, I’m goin to chase a life long dream of racing Loretta Lynn’s Mx Championship. Racing both disciplines should help one another. LeeAnn Bange, Ian Panebakker, Zack Smith, and myself also put together a team for next year, Keystone Offroad Racing Team, to get our names out there and to help advertise the sponsors that help us.

The Keystone Offroad Team seems like it’s going to be a really cool program, so everyone definitely stay tuned to Offroad Junkies for more info on that. So far in 2010, what has been the biggest moment for you?
I’m super happy with my ride yesterday at the National, it’s probably the first race all year that I’ve felt good on the bike for the whole race. Getting the holeshot at Summerset was definately a huge moment for me even though the race went down hill after the start, no pun intended.

What is a typical race weekend like for Jedediah Haines?
LOL Busy is the best word for it. I usually dont have the race bike ready until last minute, then driving to the track, setting up, double checking the bike, and trying to see some of the track makes time pretty tight. Got some good friends though that make sure everything gets done if I run out of time and help me with my pit stops.

Which Star Wars character do you feel that you’re most like and why?
Man thats a hard one to decide. My one buddy from motocross always called me JEDI and said ‘the force was with me’, even got some butt patches made saying JEDI. Thats not really a character though huh?

Close enough. Personally I would choose Han Solo, but that’s just because he was a straight g and had a Wookie for a sidekick. Downside is he wasn’t a Jedi… Alright before we wrap this up, is there anyone you want to thank?
Yeah i’d like to give a huge thanks to everyone that helps me out: Ridersville Cycle, Kawasaki, my mom, the Smith Family, ALL my regular riding buddies, ONE, Kenda, Tag, Sixsixone, Promotobillet, Scott, Sidewinder, Tubliss, TwinAir, Clarke, Oury, Athena, Hinson, Boyesen, and anyone I may have left out!

Awesome, thanks Jed!