Steward Baylor Jr. Wins Buckwheat 100 GNCC Overall

However, after a mistake Ashburn would find himself back in fourth as AmPro Yamaha’s Steward Baylor was busy making his way through the pack from a sixth place start to the race. Baylor had made his way to second by lap four and was working on passing Coastal GASGAS Factory Racing’s Ricky Russell who had moved into the lead. After Russell lost his momentum up the hill climb, Baylor would be able to make the pass stick for the lead. Baylor would hold the lead until the checkered flag flew, earning his second win of the season as he missed rounds 2-8 due to injury.

"I’m still not the caliber of rider that I was at this time last year, but we're still riding well and we're able to get a win, so I'm thankful for that," said Baylor.

"Yeah it was a good day," Baylor explained. "I was really getting frustrated, I was trying to make moves….I’m sure it was awesome for the spectators. We’ve had some good turnouts but maybe people are afraid of the gas prices. Fans, this is where you need to be. The last few tracks, the track crew has been doing a bad job for me but a good job for the fans. The racing has been extremely good, you can throw a blanket over us for the last few rounds, and from what I saw today second and third were wheel-to-wheel. Really good racing but it was tough to make moves. I was frustrated. I thought we were going to make an early pit strategy to get through those guys, but after cussing out my pit crew—I owe them an apology—I think that fired me up. I started pushing and when I see red I start going fast. I saw Ricky [Russell] had that problem on that hill. I kinda hesitated, found the line. From there it was just trying not to make mistakes. I wasn’t really pushing, wasn’t really breathing hard. It was one of those tracks where as soon as you got ahead of yourself you were going down. It was a fun track and a lot of fun racing out there." 

Ashburn would manage to work his way back up to second to finish out the race, while Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Craig Delong also managed to battle his way back into a podium finish as he moved into third with two laps remaining in the race. His teammate, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thad Duvall would come through fourth on the day after holding the lead on the third lap of the race. Ashburn, DeLong and Duvall would all come through the finish just seconds separating them.

“I tried to come out and get another win before the series is over this year and I ended up getting T-boned in the first corner and kind of busted my hand up,” Ashburn said. “It took me a while to figure out how to hold on and keep going but I just put my head down today. The track was really sketchy and everybody was racing really tight. I just tried to be smooth and keep it off the ground today and I'm happy to get out of here with a second.”

“With two laps to go, I knew I had to go,” DeLong said in a Husqvarna release. “I just put my head down and started picking some guys off but I was fighting some stomach issues out there. I got up to Jordan [Asburn] on the last lap and actually got around him. He stalled it, and I got around him. I was really struggling out there and just trying to get through it, and then Thad [DuVall] caught me and I knew I couldn’t give up. So, it was a good fight to the end. I'm happy to get another podium and try to keep this ball rolling.”

“It was a tight race all day - I got to lead some laps, which is something I haven’t done yet this year being hurt and all,” DuVall said. “It was weird being out front, but I enjoyed it. I had a little issue halfway through the race and kind of lost those guys. Last lap, I was able to put the hammer down and get to the rear wheel of Craig [DeLong] and Jordan [Asburn], but just couldn’t make that happen.”

FMF/KTM Factory Racing’s Joshua Toth would finish the day out fifth in the XC1 class as he had to make a pit stop for a new shifter after snapping his off at the top of the hill climb. After his hill climb incident, Coastal GASGAS Factory Racing’s Ricky Russell would also have his shifter sheared off by a stump, costing him more time in the race. Russell would finish sixth in the XC1 class. Coming from Finland and riding under the Factory Husqvarna tent was the number 147 of Miro Sihvonen. He would finish seventh in the XC1 Open Pro class.

“I got off to a good start – third place – and was fighting for the lead right off the bat," said Toth in a post-race team press release. "It was probably six of us going back and forth for three or four laps. I was just kind of maintaining and pacing myself for the end of the race. The two-lap board came out, and I passed into third place. I hit a pretty tricky hillclimb. At the top, I came down in a rut, hit something and just snapped my shifter right off. So, I was kind of stuck in second gear for, I don't know, a few miles until I was able to get back to the pit. We had a super quick swap, but the track was so fast so there was nothing really to separate us at the end.”

In his first XC2 250 Pro race it was Tely Energy KTM’s Nathaniel Tasha grabbing the $250 STACYC XC2 Holeshot Award. However, it didn’t take long for Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy/Kawasaki Team Green’s Lyndon Snodgrass to make the pass for the lead. Snodgrass would try to put his head down and push, but Coastal GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jonathan Girroir would apply the pressure and make the pass for the lead on the second lap.

Girroir and Snodgrass would swap the lead position multiple times throughout the race. After a mistake late in the race, Snodgrass would make his way back around Girroir to take the win. As Snodgrass earned the win at round 12, it would be enough for him to earn the 2022 XC2 250 Pro National Championship.

Tely Energy KTM’s Liam Draper would remain third in the class for the duration of the race, earning his second-straight podium finish and his fourth podium appearance of the season. Coastal GASGAS Factory Racing’s Ryder Lafferty would battle back to finish fourth on the day, while Phoenix Honda’s Cody Barnes finished fifth in the class.

In the FMF XC3 1250 Pro-Am class a new winner emerged as Lanes Yamaha/Fly Racing/IMS/Dunlop Tires’ Toby Cleveland would grab the early lead after Solid Performance/GASGAS/Fly Racing’s Max Fernandez jumped out to grab the $100 Lojak Cycle Sales XC3 Holeshot Award. Cleveland would make his way into the lead and hold onto that position for the duration of the race. AES Racing/FXR Moto/KTM’s Dakoda Devore made his way into second on the last lap as he would battle his way up from a fifth place start to the day. Fernandez would round out the top three finishers in the XC3 class.

Magna1 Motorsports/Husqvarna’s Brody Johnson, who earned eight wins this season, wrapped up the FMF XC3 National Championship after running second for the first couple of laps at round 12. Johnson would complete two laps, earning seventh in the class, which would be enough for him to earn the number one plate.

Earning the top spot on the Top Amateur podium was 250 A class winner Grant Davis as he finished 16th overall on the day. Joseph Cunningham would finish second in 250 A and second atop the Top Amateur podium with an 18th overall finishing position. Rounding out the Top Amateur podium as well as the 250 A class was Michael Delosa as he battled back to come through 19th overall on the day.

As the WXC Pro class took off in the 10 a.m. race it was Moose Racing/Ryno Power/Team Green Kawasaki’s Jocelyn Barnes grabbing the $100 Trail Jesters WXC holeshot award just ahead of Trail Jesters KTM Racing’s Korie Steede. However, as they headed into the woods it would be Rockstar Husqvarna/Surge Off-Road Coaching Team’s Tayla Jones making her way into the lead. Jones was on a mission to keep the Championship hopes of her and Steede alive, as AmPro Yamaha’s Rachael Archer was right on her rear tire for the majority of the race.

Jones would continue to push for the duration and would build a small cushion as she made her way into the finish line to earn her fifth win of the season. Archer would come through second, just 10 seconds off of Jones. She continues to lead the points, but the championship will come down to Ironman in two weeks. Steede would run in third for the entire two-hour race and sits third in the points standings with one round remaining.

In the youth ranks it was Ryan Amancio coming from the YXC2 Super Mini Jr. class to take the overall and his class win at round 12. Sawyer Carratura of the YXC1 Super Mini Sr. class would come through to earn the class win, and second overall, while Rivers Morris would finish second in YXC1 and third overall in the youth race.

Rounding out the top three in YXC1 was Lennox Reily, while Jiggs Fustini and Cade Staats battled through to round out the top three finishers in the YXC2 class. In the 85 (12-13) class it was Levi Wilkins earning the win, while in the 85 Big Wheel (12-15) class it was Ryder Sigety battling back to earn the class win in West Virginia. The 85 (7-11) class was won by Colton McQuarrie, then in the 65 (10-11) class it was Cooper Johnson.

In the 65 (7-8) class it was Hunter Jones bringing home the class win, while Carter Gray earned the 65 (9) class win. In the Girls Sr. (12-15) it was Addison Harris earing her eighth win of the season, while Sahara Robinson earned the Girls Jr. (8-11) class win. Then in the Trail rider class it was Chad Rager coming through to take the win in the class.

The season finale will take place in two weeks with the Yamaha Racing Ironman GNCC event on October 22-23. Don’t forgot to wear your pink as Ironman is GNCC’s Breast Cancer Awareness race. Country music singer, Tyler Farr will be performing on Saturday night at 9 PM as part of the GNCC Monster Energy Concert Series. Trick-Or-Treating, a costume contest and ePeeWee Racing will also be taking place throughout the weekend. To keep up to date on the event information click HERE.

For more information on the GNCC series, visit the official website at gnccracing.com or call (304) 284-0084. Join the conversation on the series Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and be sure to always hashtag #GNCC.

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AMSOIL Buckwheat 100 Results and Points Standings

Newburg, West Virginia
Round 12 of 13
Sunday, October 9, 2022

XC1

XC2

XC3

WXC

Championship Standings

XC1

XC2

XC3

WXC