Jordan Ashburn has always been super-consistent in the rough-and-tumble world of the Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series, and now that’s really paying off. Last year he finished third in the series’ standings, but consistency has become even more critical in a year when several top contenders have found themselves on the sidelines with injuries. Most recently, FMF KTM’s Ben Kelley started the year on a huge win streak but then suffered a broken leg at an AMA National Enduro. Ashburn was creeping in on the points lead, while also fighting for the first GNCC overall win of his career. The Magna 1 Motorsports Husqvarna rider endured a massive duel with Ricky Russell for the race win over the weekend at Snowshoe, emerged with the win, and with it the GNCC series’ leading heading into the summer break.
This is an underdog story in the making. Check it out.
Racer X: How are you feeling? All GNCC’s are gnarly three-hour races but is Snowshoe actually worse?
Jordan Ashburn: I would say this weekend definitely was [harder], with the terrain. The morning race it rained, and first lap after the rain was really good because all of the mud was off of the rocks and traction was pretty good. The longer the day got the worse it got, like all the asphalt sections were kind of like a brown streak of mud. I don’t think I have ever seen it like that actually.
So, one of the worst, or maybe the toughest Snowshoe ever, just the way the weather was?
Yeah, I have never seen so much mud carried all over the track, like it was insane.
Right, because you always have the mud sections like Howard’s Hole, but those power line roads are normally practically dusty right?
Oh yeah, and they were just like solid glass. You could be in fourth, fifth gear trying to lug the bike and it would still be trying to step sideways. All the way through.
I would think it would tiring mentally, too, because you can never relax.
Oh yeah. You’re constantly on your toes everywhere.
Okay well we will get to the series here in a minute, but we are already on the Snowshoe topic… First of all, I was surprised, I didn’t realize you have not won one of these, I feel like you have been on the podium like 900 times. And you have done a good job of doing that this year also. So was it getting annoying? Like, “I just gotta win one.”
I mean I think other people, I hear it more from the outside than what I felt. Yeah, I want to win bad, but at the end of the day I want to be at the next race as well. So, I’m competing every year for a championship, and it’s been good this year, it’s kind of paid off consistency wise. So, we are just going to keep on… This weekend just kind of came to me and we’ve got an opportunity.
So, was it a battle the whole time? I know [Trevor] Bollinger was there early a little bit and then you and Ricky Russell went at it.
It was definitely a battle. Ricky started the row behind me, and I knew leading it was going to be tough, he was going to catch me. About halfway point of the first lap, he was already on me. Towards the end of the first lap, I went down, actually got into the rear end of his bike and I crashed. It just kind of messed me up, threw me out of rhythm and my bike was all jacked up. Got through the pits, got some things straightened out, and I was down a little bit. So, I was just trying to fight back from there, I think I was down to like fifth overall at one point. Just trying to catch up after that was tough. I think I got to within 20 seconds of Ricky, and just about yo-yoed there all day, 20, 30, 40 seconds.
So you weren’t just like “I’ve got to get through these rocks, I’ve got to get through this mud” you were trying to keep some sort of tabs on him. So, you didn’t just have to pass him you had to pull away because you started ahead, and he had the 10 second time adjustment on his side.
Yeah, for sure I had that in my mind all day. Going into that last lap I was making up a little time, little time, little time. But I still knew I had to physically pass him and beat him by 10 seconds or more. So, I was like “I don’t know, it’s going to be tough, but we’ll give it a go.”
How did you make the move to get around him physically?
It was down what they call the west side, the rocky, long side. I saw him once and then I went down and got back up real quick and caught back up to him. Our lines kind of got together. We were going up this really rutty, rocky hill and I went off to the right, he went off to the left and I was coming up first and went for the pass and we actually got hung together! Our bikes were hung together, on the last lap. Like four miles to go! And we are both trying to get our bikes apart and stuff, and I was lucky to get back going first, and I knew from that point it was going to be an all-out drag race, just both of us. Because he was just trying to get in that 10-second gap, and I was trying to get away from him.
So, you were full send all the way to the checkers?
Yeah for sure. I guess you could call that one checkers or wreckers. [Laughs]
That’s it, sometimes you’ve got to do it. So, did you know you won immediately or did you need him to come across and then someone to count the time? How did that all work?
I stopped right there at the tent actually and was looking for him, looking for him, then I saw him coming and I knew it was going to be ridiculously close. We sat just looking at the tent, waiting for a thumbs up or a thumbs down, which way it was going to go.
What was the feeling like when you finally knew you had it for the first time?
I don’t know! I didn’t even really believe it, I was like, “Really? No way!”
They always it’s hard for it to sink in. By the time you got to the podium or anything did it feel real at that point?
Yeah anything other race you come across the line first and you won. But this race is the one race that’s not like that. I mean we was worried about Stu [Baylor] all day because we didn’t know exactly where he was at. Really until he came over the line, him and Johnny Girroir, we didn’t know where the overall was going to be.
Like at any point during the race did your team tell you where Stu and Girrior were or were you just focused on Ricky?
They tried to keep me updated but it was tough because everybody was confused. And you couldn’t even see and hardly tell who anybody was, it was so muddy. It was really really tough.
Do you consider this track, especially the conditions this track was in, is it a strength for you?
I think so, I’ve gotten a little better over the years in the dryer, faster conditions, but I’ve always leaned more towards the rocks and the ruts and muddy nasty stuff. I just grew up riding more of that kind of terrain. I enjoy doing hard enduros as well, so I guess it’s kind of my stronger suit.
So let’s talk about the series so far and the consistency has really paid off. Can you even believe that? Ben Kelley had won all these races, then he gets hurt. Did you even let your mind wander when you heard that he was injured?
Absolutely, when we heard he was hurt it was like “Okay we have three more races until the break.” I knew exactly where I needed to finish each race to try to come out with the points lead in the end. I knew we needed to win one of the last three to try to do that and to be able to do it at the last one, at Snowshoe, that was icing on the cake.
Are you thinking you needed the points lead before break because he could be back after the break? We don’t know.
I expect him to be back, I think everybody does. We don’t know where he’ll be, but I am sure he will be as close to 100 percent as he can. I just wanted to get back into contention because he was really killing it at the beginning of the year and had a big lead so to kind of inch back at it race by race was our goal and it was tough to do.
The consistency that you have every year, that’s why you have the number three plate, this can’t be a coincidence right? Do you think there’s something that you do, your approach, even the way you do the racing itself, where you focus on consistency?
You know, I try to take the bad races and make them as good as I can. I’ve had some races this year we’ve have some issues that could have cost us the race and we were able to get the bike through. I’ve had a couple of races I’ve been sick this year where it’s been a real struggle to even finish the last couple of laps. To try to push through those races and push towards the end goal is what I do. You’ve got to be able to have a lot of grit to be able to run GNCC and to be able to do that, I think that’s what kind of keeps me where I am.
Ah so on the outside it looks like you had a good day and had a third, but that could have been a sixth or a seventh when you get that third?
Absolutely. We had two rounds earlier on where we missed the podium and I feel like we could have been there, but just little things happen throughout the day. There are a million scenarios in a day that could end your day. Everything has to go right every race to be on that box. It’s a lot of things happening that you’ve got to manage and do.
We’ve seen on the other end of that coin when Thad [Duvall] and Kailub [Russell] were pushing the pace, and last year Stu was going so darn fast to try to make up points. It gets scary fast to watch sometimes and then we have seen how many guys have gotten busted up this year. Do you do that also or do you try to think and not put yourself in those situations?
I mean I could say I most generally don’t send it. When it comes to that point, I am a little more conservative at times and that’s probably what’s kept me from winning races in the past, honestly. It’s just that little bit extra over the edge, I still want to come home after race and be healthy and be at the next race. The end goal is to be there at every race all year long.
As far as your career goes you’ve had a couple of shots on pretty good teams and then this team, is this the second or third year?
Second year.
You were with Kawasaki a few years back. Were you ever worried at one point that the dream was over? And now look at you, you could win the title, it’s amazing.
There’s definitely been years where I am over it, I don’t know if I can do this anymore. Just tired, you know? I mean I know almost all of us have probable had those thoughts in our head. Its tough, the guys are so good and there’s always somebody there that wants your spot. You’ve got to keep putting out good results to get those and we’ve had years where we’ve not had good results and thankfully, we’ve been able to get with a team to keep things rolling. To get back to where we are now, it’s great. Last year when Chris Landers the owner of the team came to me and said, “Let’s make a run with it and see what we can do” I was like “I don’t know.” But we worked it out and it’s really been phenomenal. We really built the team around the program, and it’s been awesome.
So when this team first approached you, you were even a little on the fence yourself about how well this would go?
For sure you never know how it’s going to go. I feel like I have swapped teams more than anybody I am racing with. I have rode everything but a Suzuki and a Honda. I have rode Yamaha’s for years and Kawasaki, Beta, KTM, and now Husky. So, every time I would get comfortable and start getting dialed it’s time to go somewhere else. So, it was nice to get a good start last year with the Huskys and get everything dialed and going into this year we knew we had the bike 100 percent where we wanted it and that’s just good confidence so.
Does Husky help you out in any way?
Yes, they do.
That’s cool, so that’s good to get that kind of respect. But still this is an underdog story, you didn’t even know where you were going to be a year and a half ago, if you were going to keep racing. And now who knows, you could win the title!
Going into last year, I was still planning on racing, but going into the 2021 season there was all kinds of rumors like “Jordan’s not even racing.” That was all over the industry. And I was like, “I don’t know where they are getting this from because I am not ready to hang the boots up yet.” So, from that to where we are now its pretty awesome.
Well unfortunately you might be dealing with another part of racing, you might be dealing with championship pressure at the last couple of rounds so that’s another thing to deal with, right?
[Laughs] That’s always a good thing though, if you can be in that situation then might as well.
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As far as the win, for you, your team, your family and all that, have you had a point where it really dawned on you and you got to soak it in?
It’s still pretty fresh I would say, being at Snowshoe my family wasn’t able to be there, wife and kids weren’t. Just a hard venue to get to… But really a lot of my success this year is really because of my wife and all she has to put up with. Taking care of twins is no easy task for two people much less when she has to do it alone sometimes. And trying to help other family and stuff. It takes a lot of dedication and a lot of time.
So, the last thing is that the GNCC has a break now so how do you approach that?
Oh we’ll take a little time off and then get back at it. It’s nice to get a little breath of fresh air and enjoy the family, and that’s what we’re doing. So, we’ll get back going and get ready for the end of the season this summer and start going after it.
So, you can’t just hammer for two straight months?
No, I don’t think that’s the right call. There’s just so much time left, and we aren’t racing for a couple of months. I am all about time off, I think it’s very important, for the mind and the body especially I am one of the older guys in the sport. It just gets kinda rough on you, so you gotta take some time and let your body recover.
I’d like to thank everyone who has helped us. Magna 1 products, Husqvarna, Michelin Tires, they came on board this year, Moose, Parts Unlimited, REP suspension, MotoSport, Scott Goggles, FMF, E-Line, Mobius, IMS, XC Gear, Guts Racing, HBD Graphics, Super B batteries, Dirt Trix and thanks to everyone cheering us for all the support!
