Shan Moore | September 12, 2022
Steward Baylor starts off final stretch of the GNCC season with Mountaineer win.
Steward Baylor returned to form with a come-from-behind win.
Photography by Ken Hill
The Grand National-Cross Country Series returned from its annual summer break for this weekend’s Mountaineer GNCC at Summit Bechtel Reserve in Beckley, West Virginia, where Steward Baylor grabbed a come-from-behind victory in just his second race back from a neck injury he sustained at the first race of the season. The AmPro Yamaha rider fought through the pack after getting off to a poor start and ran down early leader Coastal Racing GasGas’ Ricky Russell to take the lead at the halfway mark. From there, Baylor pulled away on the slippery and deeply rutted Summit Bechtel Reserve course to top series points leader Jordan Ashburn (Magna1 Motorsports/Husqvarna) by 19 seconds at the finish.
“We had a really rough first lap,” said Baylor. “We made a tire choice that I was really concerned about after the first two laps. We had some fresh trail out there, and it just wasn’t down to that hard base yet. I swear, I couldn’t keep it on two wheels, and I crashed four or five times. Finally, the track polished off and the tire became the right call. It’s the same tire we won on the last three years here. Once we found our groove, I got some clear air and got moving forward. Then, I got a pit board saying minus 20, minus 15, and then I was on Ricky [Russell] at the rock garden. It looked like he was getting tired.”
Jordan Ashburn took second and now enjoys a comfortable lead in the championship.
Steward’s neck injury at the start of the season nearly ended his career. “To come back from what I came back from this year, that’s a feat in itself,” Baylor said. There was a point in time where I was about over it. I was about done. When you lose feeling in your hands and feet, it’s scary.”
Since Baylor is out of the championship chase having missed the first nine rounds, and with former points leader FMF/KTM’s Ben Kelley announcing on social media that he was done for the rest of the season with his leg and shoulder injuries, Ashburn, who was fresh off his first-ever XC1 win at the previous round at Snowshoe, did just what he needed to do to extend his lead in the title race to 32 points over Kelley and 56 points over Craig DeLong with his runner-up finish.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Craig DeLong was sniffing for a podium before falling
“I got a good start and just kind of followed Ricky,” said Ashburn. “I was just trying to put together solid laps, which was tough on this track. There towards the end, Stew and Thad [Duvall] caught up, and it was like we had a train at the end of that third lap and into the fourth lap. Then I think it hit all of us like a wall. It was really intense. I think I just stayed 10 to 20 seconds behind Stew that last lap. I’d make a little up and could see him, and then he’d pull back out. I was just gassed. I just kept thinking, keep it off the ground out here.”
Thad Duvall was happy to be racing again and getting back on the podium after suffering a hip injury in round one.
Returning for his first GNCC since injuring his hip at round one, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Duvall took a popular third-place finish in his home state. Like Baylor, Duvall was uncertain about his future after his injury.
“I’m stoked just to be third,” said Duvall. “Like six months ago, I didn’t even know if I wanted to still race. So, to be up on the podium is pretty badass. I know now that I still have the speed, so I just got to put it all together. I rode really good today until the last lap and just made a bonehead mistake and let those guys get away. To be third after everything I’ve been through, this feels good.”
FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Josh Tosh showed up with a new 2023 350 XC and placed seventh in the XC1 class.
Coastal Racing GasGas’ Johnny Girroir turned in a steady ride to take fourth overall and win the XC2 250 Pro class, the defending class champ having pretty much an event-free day en route to the finish.
Ricky Russell led the race after grabbing a thundering holeshot, leading the first three laps. The Coastal Racing GasGas rider took a hard fall midway into lap three that took the wind out of his sails but still managed to remount with the lead. His third-lap pit stop, however, was a disaster as the dump can failed to fully open and he was forced to stop again on lap four after babying the bike for the rest of the lap to keep from running out of fuel. Russell still managed fourth in the XC1 division and fifth overall.
Jonathan Girroir was fourth overall and the top XC2 rider.
Craig DeLong ran third on the opening lap behind Russell and Ashburn, but a crash with another rider at the top of a hill sent the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider back to the pits in search of fresh gloves and goggles. In the end he settled for sixth overall.
On lap two, Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy/Team Green Kawasaki’s Lyndon Snodgrass passed Tely Racing KTM’s Liam Draper to take over second in the XC2 250 Pro class behind Girroir and then held off Phoenix Honda Racing teammates Ruy Barbosa and Cody Barnes, and AmPro Yamaha’s Mike Witkowski to claim second in class and seventh overall. Barbosa ended up third in class and eighth overall, while Barnes finished ninth overall and fourth in class. Witkowski was 11th overall and fifth in the XC2 250 Pro class.
Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy/Team Green Kawasaki’s Grant Davis turned in an impressive ride to finish 10th overall and first in the A division starting from the fourth row. Despite nailing a tree near the end of the race, Davis passed several of the XC2 250 Pro riders late in the race to claim the always sought-after top-10 finish.
Ricky Russell rounded out the top five.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Trevor Bollinger, who had been sitting third in the overall points standings, missed the race due to a hand injury.
AmPro Yamaha’s Rachael Archer passed Rockstar Energy Husqvarna/Surge Off-Road Coaching Team’s Tayla Jones at the seven-mile marker of the opening lap and never looked back on her way to the win in the WXC class.
Rachael Archer (center) ran off with the Women’s-class victory. Korie Steede (left) was second and Jocelyn Barnes third.
Trail Jesters Racing KTM’s Korie Steede finished second, some 11 minutes behind Archer, with Kawasaki-mounted Jocelyn Barnes in third.
Raines Racing Yamaha’s Prestin Raines and Taylor Johnston (Yamaha) rounded out the top five.
Jones, who led the point standings coming into the Mountaineer ahead of Steede and Archer, DNF’ed. With three races remaining, Steede now sits atop the standings, two points ahead of Archer.
Magna1 Motorsports/Husqvarna’s Brody Johnson claimed his sixth win of the season in the FMF XC3 125 Pro-Am class ahead of Beta’s Jason Lipscomb and XC/Moose Racing/XC Gear’s Zack Hayes. CN
OVERALL
- Steward Baylor (Yam)
- Jordan Ashburn (Hus)
- Thad Duvall (Hus)
- Johnny Girroir (GG)
- Ricky Russell (GG)
- Craig DeLong (Hus)
- Lyndon Snodgrass (Kaw)
- Ruy Barbosa (Hon)
- Cody Barnes (Hon)
- Grant Davis (Kaw)
