The 2025 season marks a historical milestone for the Grand National Cross Country Series as the series enters its 50th year of competition. Coming from humble beginnings as the standalone Blackwater 100 event in 1975, the series has progressed to the world’s premier off-road racing series, a moniker earned thanks due in part to the top talent at the front of the field each week. The 2024 GNCC Racing season was already full of historical moments, and 2025 is shaping up to produce even more. It starts this weekend at the Big Buck in South Carolina.
In order of last year’s final standings, let's see how things are shaping up leading into 2025.
THE CHAMP | Johnny Girroir
Johnny Girroir claimed the 2024 GNCC National Championship and enters the 2025 season donning the number one plate on his Factory KTM. Girroir’s rise to GNCC stardom was definitely a non-traditional route as the New Englander never raced the series until he was into the professional ranks, and even then, dabbled with select events for several years.
Girroir hails from Southwick, MA and cut his teeth in New England’s JDay Offroad Series. The JDay events are fast, GP style events utilizing two 30-minute motos. This can be a tough transition to the long and grueling three-hour GNCC events which is a little bit evident in Girroir’s early GNCC performances. Johnny’s first XC2 start came back in 2012 at Unadilla where he ran in fifth place at one point in the race but ultimately ended the day 26th in the XC2 class. The next year Girroir would make a huge splash contesting the XC1 class and running at the front of the pack in the early stages of the race, eventually ending the day sixth place in XC1.
From there, it took a few years for Girroir to transition to full-time GNCC competition but eventually landed some XC2 podium finishes in 2018 and 2019, then came out strong in 2020 with five XC2 race wins. After taking the XC2 title in 2021, Girroir suffered an injury at the opening round of the 2022 season and ended his title defense early but would seemingly return even better and move into the XC1 ranks full-time for 2023. He would log his first ever overall win at the Hoosier in 2023, then follow that up with four more overall wins in 2024 on his way to the GNCC National Championship.
Girroir comes into 2025 as the favorite and looks to become the first repeat champion since 2020. However, there is an old belief that it’s a lot easier to win a title than it is to defend one, and Girroir will have a number of challengers to contend with in 2025.
It's also worth noting that with Kailub Russell's departure from KTM to make a racing comeback (Russell was the team trainer for the KTM riders) Girroir and his teammates have now moved to ClubMX in South Carolina, and are working with Cole Martinez. Will the change in trainers and facilities have an impact?
THE FINE WINE | Jordan Ashburn
We’re looking to stick a new nickname to Jordan Ashburn and call him “Fine Wine” because this guy just gets better with age. This year will mark Jordan’s 14th full-time season in the XC1 class, and the last few years have actually been some of his best. After claiming the 2022 GNCC National Championship, he’s continued to log race wins and consistent top five finishes.
For 2025 Jordan has a slight team change as the Coastal Racing GasGas squad that Jordan rode for in 2024 has closed up shop and the GasGas effort has moved over to the new Flatrock Motorclub GasGas team, taking Jordan along the way. What’s interesting here is that this new GasGas effort is backed by the same folks as the old Magna1 Motorsports squad that Ashburn claimed his 2022 title with.
So, this is really familiar territory for Jordan. Expect him to be up front all year. Jordan excels in the tougher, more technical races as well as the muddy ones because it’s no secret that Jordan likes the mud.
XC2 PHENOM | Grant Davis
Coming into 2025 many eyes will be on the defending XC2 class champion, Grant Davis. This guy somewhat flew under the radar coming into the 2024 season, but he went to another level and started dominating his class. Grant clicked off his first-ever XC2 class win at round two, then another at the fifth round, and then went on an absolute tear winning six straight races!
However, it gets even more impressive. Two of those wins also included overall wins! Yup, he beat the 450s on his 250. The XC2 class was added to the series in 2007 and no racer had ever claimed an overall win until 2024 and it happened a total of three times. Josh Toth actually beat Davis to the punch on this one, but Davis stepped it up to become the first ever two-time overall winner from the XC2 class and was even within two seconds of physically claiming the overall win at The John Penton (Note: the XC2 class starts around a minute behind the XC1 class and times are adjusted for the overall. Therefore, an XC2 rider does not physically have to be in the lead to win the overall.)
Grant ended the year third place overall in points, the highest overall year end finish of any XC2 racer, ever. Grant is back with the Landers KTM squad for 2025, so he's considered the man to beat in the XC2 class once again in 2025. The last time an XC2 racer successfully defended their title came back in 2019 with Ben Kelley. Can Grant break the single title streak? Can he win the GNCC Overall Championship while starting the races in row two?
THE FAN FAVORITE | Steward Baylor
I almost wanted to leave Steward Baylor off this list because we inadvertently missed Stu on a previous season preview and he came out and won the first race of the year! Stu is another long-time XC1 competitor who is still chugging along just as fast as he ever. Stu had suffered through some injuries a little over a decade ago that hinder him in title hunts, but he is always one to keep an eye on.
Stu managed to claim two wins in 2024 and contended for many more, but also suffered through a few freak mechanical issues that ultimately kept him out of closer championship contention. On top of this, Stu had also been managing his own team for the last couple of seasons and while he’s back aboard his own Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Redbear Racing squad, this year he has a little extra help. Kawasaki has now made Stu's squad the official factory team for GNCC, and Stu brought Ryan Sipes on board to serve as Team Manager, which will ultimately take a load off Stu’s plate and allow him to focus a little extra time on racing.
At the same time, there’s not many top off-road racers that have their hands in as many different things as Stu. In addition to the race team, he also has The Shoals MX which not only serves as a training facility but is also hosting a Loretta Lynn’s Qualifier in 2025. He’s also dabbling in some other motorcycle-related business aspects all while still devoting the time to racing. With some of the daily Team Manager tasks off his plate, however, this could be the little extra boost he needs to finally get that GNCC Overall Championship.
THE 2023 CHAMP | Craig Delong
After claiming the 2023 GNCC National Championship, the beginning of the 2024 season definitely didn’t go how Craig Delong wanted. He had several odd issues early that put him way behind from the get-go of the 2024 season. However, he still rebounded to claim a mid-season win in Ohio, and the season finale win at the Ironman.
Up until 2024, Craig had long been one of, if not THE most consistent racer in the GNCC series. This guy rarely finished outside the top five, almost never outside the top ten, and very rarely had any real issues that left him sidelined. This consistency paid off for a long time, and even though 2024 may not have gone to plan for Delong he very well could be right back in championship contention for 2025. He’s back aboard a factory Husqvarna once again, so with the same backing that won him the 2023 title, Delong will be hungry for another in 2025.
THE LATE SEASON SUCCESS | Liam Draper
After claiming the 2023 XC2 championship, Liam Draper had some tough breaks early in his XC2 title defense in 2024. He rebounded to get some XC2 podiums mid-season, but then a minor injury sidelined him just before the summer break. When the series made its return from summer break, Liam moved to the XC1 class, and this would prove to be a great fit for the New Zealander.
Draper raced XC1 in the final four races and took four-straight second place finishes! He’s back aboard an AmPro Yamaha for 2025, and even with a lot of serious XC1 contenders looking to step things back up, a motivated Draper could make the 2025 season his best yet.
XC2 RUNNER UP | Angus Riordan
Australian star Angus Riordan has become a serious contender in the XC2 class over the last few seasons, challenging the last two XC2 champions (Davis and Draper) all the way down to the later stages of the season. This young racer is extremely fast and claimed a total of three XC2 wins in 2024, and only finished off the XC2 podium four times. He could prove to be the toughest competition during Grant Davis’ hunt for a second XC2 title.
Riordan returns to the Landers KTM squad once again in 2025. This was a new team for 2024 and proved to be a major force in the XC2 class with the top two racers (Davis and Riordan) riding for the Tennessee-based team.
NOT DALE JR | MIKE WITKOWSKI
After ending the 2024 season in the eighth-place overall spot, Phoenix Racing Honda’s Mike Witkowski has opted to run his earned number eight in 2025 instead of his traditional number 282. After contesting the XC2 class for a number of years and claiming several XC2 wins along the way, Witkowski stepped up to the XC1 class full time in 2024.
Witkowski landed several top five finishes along the way and challenged Steward Baylor for the overall win at the JNCC season finale event in Japan. He’s back with the Phoenix Racing folks for 2025 and will ultimately be looking to change those consistent top five finishes into consistent podium finishes and hope to challenge for race wins.
THE GOAT | Kailub Russell
Yes, if you haven’t heard, there could be a serious spoiler to all of these aforementioned racers. Kailub Russell is returning to full-time GNCC competition but is now aboard an AmPro Yamaha. It seems like a lot of folks were looking to hear some dirt and drama between Russell and KTM, but the truth is it just boils down to numbers and business. KTM was great to KR for many years but when KR decided he wanted to go back to racing, they just couldn’t come to a mutual agreement to make things work perfectly. The team was already full, simple as that.
The thing about Russell is that if he wasn’t confident in his abilities to still be a contender, he wouldn’t be doing this. While there’s not much to base Russell’s current speed on, he ended his full-time career just as fast as he ever was and has stayed active this entire time.
The Other Champ | Ben Kelley
When Russell retired, the door opened for a new GNCC Champion, and it was Ben Kelley and Stu Baylor battling down to the wire in that first season. Kelley won the title in a wild, super-muddy Ironman final round, then started the next season absolutely dominating. Then he broke his leg. Then last year a hip injury kept him away from most of the races. He's still with factory FMF KTM and looked decent with a podium at the National Enduro opener last weekend. Can he get back to his old level?
OTHER CONTENDERS (with 2024 points ranking)
9 | Evan Smith: Georgia native Evan Smith put together some solid top five rides in 2024 on a full-blown privateer effort. This landed him a ride with the AmPro Yamaha squad where he’ll primarily focus on the National Enduro series with select GNCC events.
10 | Grant Baylor: A knee injury really kept Grant Baylor out of the limelight in 2024 but the Kawasaki rider was still on several podiums. He’s back aboard a green machine in 2025 but this time as part of big brother Stu’s team.
11 | Lyndon Snodgrass: The 2022 XC2 champ had some serious speed in 2024 but just couldn’t seem to have it all come together for a full event. The Babbitt’s Kawasaki team that Snodgrass rode for is out, but Snodgrass will be back aboard a privateer Husqvarna program and looking to make big things happen.
12 | Josh Strang: The 2010 GNCC Champ is now the savvy veteran of the class. He still has serious speed and has stepped into a new role with Beta as their East Coast Team Manager. Strang will give it another go in 2025 and aim to put the Beta on the box.
13 | Cody Barnes: Another XC2 contender as part of the Phoenix Racing Honda squad, Barnes didn’t quite have the same kind of season he’s had in the past, but will undoubtedly be looking to change that in 2025.
14 | Nick DeFeo: The 2024 250 A class champion put in some of the best overall finishes an A class racer has in many years. He’ll be stepping up to the XC2 class full-time in 2025 with the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Redbear Kawasaki squad.
15 | Trevor Bollinger: This guy has been pretty quiet but it is known he’s not back with the Factory Husqvarna squad in 2025. He was spotted at a local race in North Carolina aboard a Kawasaki, which is a smart move for a privateer as Kawasaki is putting up big contingency money in 2025.
16 | Dante Oliveira: The west coast star was a fill-in for the injured Ben Kelley at several rounds in 2024 and even claimed a win at the Camp Coker event. Dante will be back west again in 2025, but if a slot opens up very well could make a return to GNCC competition.
17 | Ricky Russell: Ricky has a few GNCC race wins to his credit but 2024 will be a season he just wants to put in the rear view. Between injuries and freak mechanical issues, 2024 wasn’t great for slick Rick. However, he has a new ride for 2025 and will be competing aboard a Triumph backed by Enduro Engineering. It will be exciting to see the Triumph make its GNCC XC1 debut!
18 | Josh Toth: Josh made history in 2024 by becoming the first-ever XC2 racer to take a GNCC overall win. Toth was only making select events as he was primarily focused on the National Enduro title, which he won. He’ll be back in full-time GNCC competition in 2025 as part of the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Redbear Kawasaki squad.
19 | Jason Tino: The 250 A class runner up had some stellar overall finishes in 2024. This was good enough to secure him a spot on the Flatrock Motorclub GasGas squad for 2025 where he’ll make his XC2 class debut.
20 | Thad Duvall: Another savvy veteran, the 2008 XC2 champ is going to give it another go in the XC1 class in 2025 with a basically privateer effort aboard a KTM. Thad was really good last time he was faced with a similar situation and even won some races aboard a Honda back in those days, so don’t count him out just yet.
It’s tough to say exactly how things will unfold when the GNCC Racing season begins, but there’s no doubt that the 50-year celebration of GNCC Racing could be one of the best yet.
