2023 The General GNCC Results

Shan Moore | March 15, 2023

The 2023 Grand National Cross Country Series saw its third winner of the first three rounds when Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Craig DeLong claimed his first-ever XC-1 win on March 12 at The General GNCC at Aonia Pass in Washington, Georgia. Just one week after racing the Wild Boar GNCC in Florida, the GNCC regulars lined up again for an extremely muddy round three of the series in the slippery red clay of Georgia.

Craig DeLong at 2023 The General GNCC — **Craig DeLong captured his first career GNCC win at a soggy one in Georgia. Photos: Ken Hill**

Photos by Ken Hill

DeLong has been steadily improving throughout the year, finishing fifth at the opener at Big Buck, and then third last weekend at the Wild Boar. In Georgia, DeLong finally broke through for the win in difficult conditions, which was one of the wettest GNCCs in recent history.

DeLong grabbed the holeshot to lead the race early but was passed midlap by Tely Racing Rocky Mountain MC KTM’s Steward Baylor, with FMF/KTM teammates Ben Kelley and Johnny Girroir running third and fourth, respectively.

After passing DeLong and leading half a lap, Baylor buried his bike in a mudhole, handing the lead back to DeLong. This would be the story of the day for all the riders, as each would gain ground, only to lose valuable seconds getting stuck in a mudhole.

At the end of lap one, a trio of XC-2 250 Pro riders—Evan Smith, Jonathan Johnson, both factory Beta riders, and Trail Jesters KTM’s Grant Davis—held the top three positions on adjusted time, taking advantage of the XC-1 riders blazing the trail, while DeLong held the physical lead.

2023 The General GNCC race start — **Evan Smith (347) gets off to a fast start in the XC-2 Pro class, but Angus Riordan emerged with the win, just ahead of Smith.**

Pretty much everyone hit the ground or got stuck in the mud at one point or another, which made for an ever-changing top 10 throughout the day, but at the end of three hours, DeLong crossed the finish line first to grab his maiden XC-1 victory.

According to DeLong, he didn’t set the world on fire, but just kind of hit his marks and didn’t fall. “I worked my ass off this winter and it’s paid off,” said DeLong. “It’s pretty awesome, actually. It’s kind of a blur right now. There’s a lot that happened. I got the holeshot, and I didn’t really want to lead, to be honest with you. I got the jump and I guess I got to go through all the mudholes first. Once we got out there, Stew [Baylor] was kind of wanting to go. I kind of let him have it and then we just played follow the leader. I just kind of stayed steady.”

DeLong said he crashed around five times on the final lap, but still managed to finish 57 seconds ahead of second place.

“I guess I was trying to throw it away,” said DeLong. “Got my gloves all muddy and stuff. But we brought it home. We pitted a lap early and then I knew I had to put a little bit of a gap down and I did. First one for sure, that’s awesome.”

Babbitt’s Online Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Josh Strang was sixth at the halfway point, but smart riding allowed him to work his way into second at the finish. Strang has typically done well in mud races.

Josh Strang at 2023 The General GNCC — **Babbitt’s Online Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Josh Strang worked his way to a second-place finish.**

“I don’t like to think of myself as just a mud specialist, but the last three or four mud races have been good,” said Strang. “It was a crazy day. It was probably worse than 2014. There were tree roots and everything, so the soft dirt just cupped out all the roots. It was definitely a difficult day. I knew Craig was in front, and I kind of buried it there on the last lap. Congrats to him; first win always is pretty special.”

Baylor held third behind AmPro Yamaha’s Ricky Russell and ahead of Strang on lap four, however, Strang passed Baylor for second heading into the fifth and final lap. Unfortunately for Russell, he got hopelessly stuck in the deepest of the mudholes on the final lap, and he was ultimately forced to drop out of the race.

Baylor battled with Strang for second on the final lap, however, his bike sputtered a few times and then fell in a mudhole and lost ground to the Kawasaki rider.

“There were a lot of mistakes to be made, and I kept making them,” said Baylor. “I was finding the deep holes for everybody. The last two laps, the bike just started shutting off and I was losing positions constantly. Then right toward the end of the last lap, I had a few fans point me an early line out of a ditch. I took it and I fell and Strang got me.”

FMF/KTM’s Ben Kelley, who was tied with Baylor atop the point standings going into the race, led at one point during the day, but after getting stuck a few times, settled for fourth.

Fifth went to Johnny Girroir, just six seconds behind his FMF/KTM teammate Kelley. Meanwhile, Grant Baylor brought his Babbitt’s Online Monster Energy Kawasaki home in sixth.

RPM Racing KTM’s Angus Riordan was the top-finishing XC-2 250 Pro division rider in seventh overall, his first time to claim an XC-2 250 Pro win.

Angus Riordan at 2023 The General GNCC — **Angus Riordan was the top-finishing XC-2 250 Pro division rider.**

“The last time we raced in the mud, I sucked, so this is a good confidence booster for me,” said Riordan. “I didn’t know what position I was going into last lap. I knew I was maybe in a podium position, but I just tried not to rush anything. Just take the long way around some of those mudholes and just get through it.”

Eighth and second in the XC-2 250 Pro class went to Smith, with Phoenix Honda Racing’s Cody Barnes in ninth.

Magna1 Motorsports Husqvarna’s Jordan Ashburn rounded out the top 10.

Coastal Racing GasGas’ Ryder Lafferty, who won the first two rounds in the XC-2 250 Pro class, finished the race in seventh in class.

Rachael Archer at 2023 The General GNCC — **Rachael Archer won the Women’s race.**

Jason Lipscomb at 2023 The General GNCC — **Jason Lipscomb took the win in the FMF XC-3 125 Pro-Am class**

With the win, DeLong moves up to third in overall standings, while Baylor takes the outright lead after coming into the race tied for the lead with Ben Kelley. Baylor now has 76 points, while Kelley has 73. DeLong is third with 67.

Jason Lipscomb took the win in the FMF XC-3 125 Pro-Am class, with Jhak Walker (GasGas) in second and Dakota Devore (KTM) in third.

AmPro Yamaha’s Rachael Archer topped GasGas’ Rachel Gutish and Trail Jesters Racing KTM’s Kori Steede to win the three-lap WXC race in the morning.