450 Words: Four Winners in Four Rounds

A battle raged behind him all day, but ultimately Steward Baylor was able to persevere even on not his best day, taking a key second place finish, allowing him to retake the GNCC points lead.

“It was good, man it was rough out there and I had a tough time,” said Baylor, who races for Rocky Mountain ATV/MC on a KTM. “We made some major changes since the first race here, we were struggling in that first race. I was still searching for something, but I think I went too far the other way. Nonetheless, once we’d get going, I knew I was going pretty good, and I could see the lead [gap] dwindling away. Then before you know it, I was on my head again. I spent more time on my head than riding…but we salvaged points and got that white plate [points lead] back.”

Baylor dueled with defending champ Ashburn (Magna1 Motorsports Husqvarna) all day, and it came down to the final moments. While Ashburn ended up third, it did mark his first podium this season after 4-5-7 finishes to start 2023. Ashburn has mentioned making adjustments weekly to the new-generation Husqvarna machine.

“Man, it was heated, we were all pretty much matching each other’s times,” said Ashburn of the close racing. “Stu was all over me, he was pressuring me and pressuring me. I just made a slight mistake there a mile before the finish, I washed the front end and went down. I thought Craig [DeLong] was gonna get me too but, man, I just jumped back up and got to the finish. A good day though, back to be on the podium and back where we belong. We’ve got the bike really good, we’ve made some big progress the last couple of rounds, and it shows. I think we’re gonna be up here for the rest of the year.”

DeLong, who took his first-ever GNCC overall win at the previous mudder, took fourth on his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna. He was pretty far back at one point and made a solid charge to nearly snag the podium.

"I got a decent start and made a couple of passes early on to get into around fifth or so," commented DeLong. "And then I had a crash, went all the way to the back, and had to claw myself back up. In two laps I came from last to fourth, then just went back and forth between third and fourth through the rest of the race. Fourth was a good result in the end and the consistency is getting there, so we will keep pushing in these coming rounds."

Former champion Kelley is still fighting through the pain of his badly-injured leg from last year. He worked to eighth at the conclusion of the opening lap and then he dropped to P10 on lap two, but was able to recover and move forward from there. The 26-year-old made his way into fifth by the second half of the race and that's where he would go on to finish. That result sees him maintain P2 in the series.

"Tiger Run wasn't the best race for me, I just didn't execute and felt a little off all day,” Kelley said. “I gave it my best and got into a good position there on the first lap in fourth. I could see the leaders but made a mistake—a bad judgment call—and got caught up with another rider. I dropped way back in the pack, then worked my way back up to a decent position again until another crash set me back a few positions, about halfway through the race. At that point everyone had figured the track out and was going pretty fast—it was tough to make up time and make passes, so I ended up fifth."

Strang, the veteran of Australia on the Kawasaki, took seventh. Girroir, the XC1 rookie, completed the opening lap in a lowly 12th position, before climbing his way up the order to eighth by halfway and then into his final finishing position of seventh by race's end. He has now moved up to eighth in the XC1 Open Pro standings.

“Today started off pretty good and then I had a big cartwheel, which set me back,” said Girroir. “I picked myself up and was working my way through the pack, but had another big crash, unfortunately. I fell back a little bit more, was around eighth, and then was able to get going the last two laps. The guys in front of us were a little bit out of sight, but I felt good and am improving with each race. I'm feeling stronger and stronger every week, so I'm excited to keep building and to keep moving forward.”

Unfortunately, talents like Trevor Bollinger and Thad Duvall continued to be luckless. DuVall, on the Coastal Racing GasGas started up front early and ran into problems on the first lap. He would finish ninth. Bollinger crashed and dinged his shoulder, and that ended his day.

As the XC2 250 Pro class took off it was Trail Jesters KTM Racing’s Mason Semmens grabbing the $250 Steel City Men’s Clinic Holeshot Award, however the racing action behind him was heating up as the racers made their way through the woods on the opening lap. AmPro Yamaha’s Liam Draper would hold the early lead, but he would soon have Phoenix Racing Honda’s Ruy Barbosa right behind him ready to make a pass for the lead.

Barbosa would make a pass for the lead, but he would find himself engaged in a heated battle with Draper for majority of the race as the two swapped the lead position back-and-forth. Barbosa’s teammate, Phoenix Racing Honda’s Cody Barnes would enter the mix upfront and make a pass for the lead later in the race. Barnes would hold the lead for two laps, but a mistake on the last lap would let Barbosa make the pass stick for the first-place position. As they emerged from the woods it would be Barbosa coming through to earn his first-ever XC2 class win. Barnes would finish second, with Draper coming through to round out the XC2 top three.

Current points leader FMF RPM KTM Racing’s Angus Riordan would finish fifth on the day, as the defending champion Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy/Kawasaki Team Green’s Lyndon Snodgrass had a rough day coming through seventh in class. The Coastal GASGAS Factory Racing’s Ryder Lafferty, XC2 class front-runner earlier this season, would suffer from mechanical issues through the day.

In the FMF XC3 125 Pro-Am class it would be Beaver Creek Cycles/Bells Electric/Wossner Pistons’ Toby Cleveland battling his way up through the pack to take home his third win of the season and extend his points lead in the class. Hall’s Cycles/Enduro Engineering/Moose Racing’s Jhak Walker would make his way onto the podium once again as he came through second in the class. Carolina XC/Moose Racing/KTM’s Zack Hayes would round out the top three in the FMF XC3 class on the day. FXR/X Brand Goggles/6D Helmet’s Dakoda Devore would earn the $100 Lojak Cycle Sales XC3 Holeshot Award to start the race.

Earning the Tiger Run Top Amateur honor was Michael Delosa who came through 18th overall, and first in the 250 A class. Coming through second on the Top Amateur podium was second place 250 A finisher, Jason Tino who came through 20th overall, while Joseph Cunningham rounded out the Top Amateur podium and 250 A top three finishers on the day. Cunningham would come through 24th overall.

When the WXC class took off for the morning race it was GASGAS/Over and Out/RG Factory Racing’s Rachel Gutish jumping off the line to grab the $100 Trail Jesters WXC Holeshot Award. However, when the pack of racers came through timing and scoring on the opening lap it was Trail Jesters KTM Racing’s Korie Steede leading the way.