Shan Moore | December 29, 2023
Since 2012, Craig DeLong has been chasing the GNCC number-one plate in the premier XC1 class. Eleven years and an XC2 title later, he finally caught it. DeLong talks about how he won one of off-road racing’s most prestigious titles.
Craig DeLong is the third first-time GNCC Champion in as many years.
By Shan Moore | Photography by Ken Hill
The 2023 Grand National Cross-Country Series started as a three-man battle involving Steward Baylor, Ben Kelley, and Craig DeLong, who were the winners of the first three rounds. The championship wound up being one of the most competitive on record, producing eight different winners in the 12-round championship. The rider with the most consistency would prevail. And that rider was Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Craig DeLong.
It wasn’t until this year that he claimed his first career XC1 win, which came at round three in Georgia. Little did he know what that win would lead to—his first GNCC XC1 Championship. And it came in dramatic style, with the championship being decided at the final race between Rocky Mountain/Tely Energy KTM’s Steward Baylor and DeLong.
You might recognize the name. Craig DeLong is the younger brother of long-time GNCC racer and former National Enduro Champion Andrew DeLong.
In 2023, Mother Nature threw everything it could at the Grand National Cross-Country Series, including mud, dust, sand, and exhausting trails. DeLong finally broke out of his shell, winning that first XC1 race in Georgia in just his second full season in the class. He’d go on to win two more throughout the season; those three wins were the most by anyone.
At 26 years of age, when most riders are reaching the end of their careers, the likable, soft-spoken, and sometimes quiet off-roader from Morgantown, Pennsylvania, turned heads with this year’s title run. After all, DeLong was still looking for his first overall win in the highest class and wasn’t a pre-season favorite to win the championship like were defending champ Jordan Ashburn, former champ Ben Kelley, and the always-fast Steward Baylor. However, those closest to him weren’t surprised at all. DeLong had spent the winter in Florida “working his butt off,” getting ready for the upcoming season and was as prepared as anyone. If not more.
“Going into the year, I guess my biggest goal was to get my first win,” said DeLong. “Last year, towards the end of the season, I got into the lead in a couple of the races and leading part of the race and was finding my spot and getting into the battle. My main goal this year was to win some races and just be there in the championship hunt.
“I knew I wasn’t going to do anything crazy or stupid and wind up taking myself out of the hunt. But this year, I knew I was going to be in the hunt in the end. So, I just knew I needed to get a win, at least get the first one under my belt, or get a couple in the season. My main goal was, first, to get that first win and then go from there. It happened early in the year, so I was able to do that and move on.”
At a ripe 26 years of age, DeLong captured the first XC1 GNCC win of his career three races into this year’s championship. He went on to win two more times, the most of anyone this season.
DeLong learned much from his mentorship with eight-time GNCC champ Kailub Russell, which showed in Georgia.
“That was something that I knew going into the race, regardless of whether it was raining or not, I knew I had to win. On Friday, Kailub and I were standing around talking, and he was like, ‘You know what you got to do on Sunday.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I do.’ He said, ‘You got to win.’ I think it was nine points or something that I was behind, maybe more than that. I had to win to put myself back into the battle. That was the only thing on my mind. That was probably a good thing, honestly. It was kind of one of those things where, not that I didn’t think about it all day, but it kind of just happened. I wasn’t thinking of my lines and with how muddy and wet it was, I had to be smart, but other than that I didn’t really think about anything else. That was a big help.”
DeLong had plenty of moral support along the way.
That first win came in a mud race.
“I grew up in Pennsylvania, so I’m used to riding the rocks,” said DeLong. “I don’t know if I would consider riding in the rocks a strong suit of mine, but I did grow up in the north, and it’s rocky there, so I did ride rocks growing up. We rode in the mud quite a bit, too, growing up, my brother [Andrew] and I. It’s one of those things where it’s something that you need to learn. That’s just something we did. We raced a lot when we were younger. A lot of the local races we did ended up being muddy, even riding at home. When I was younger, I rode a lot. I really enjoyed riding. No matter the conditions, I would ride in it all.”
“My main goal this year was to be able to win some races and just kind of be there in the championship hunt.”
Even though his hobby has become a job, DeLong still enjoys riding as much as ever. But there are those times.
“I enjoy it, but there are days when I don’t,” said DeLong. “In the middle of the summer in North Carolina, and it’s hot—those are the days when I don’t necessarily enjoy it. I enjoy riding my dirt bike. Don’t get me wrong. But certain days are better than others.
“This past weekend, I rode the Hammer Run dual sport down in South Jersey, and that’s fun. It was 80 miles of single track. I got to ride with my dad, my brother, and the friends I grew up riding with. So that was probably the most fun I’ve had all year riding my dirt bike. During the season, it’s not really fun. There are little things that are enjoyable that you’re like, ‘that was fun,’ but for the most part, it’s business. We’re there for a reason, and that’s to go fast and push yourself.”
Once he gets out in front, DeLong (342) proves challenging to pass.
DeLong is one of those people who is never satisfied with how he rode. Even when he lands on the podium, DeLong talks up the negatives and everything he feels he did wrong.
“Yeah, I feel like that’s a negative, but I know after the race, until I’m driving home, I really think back and can actually comprehend and kind of go through the race. Until I get out of there and load up and get on the road, everything kind of happens quickly. That’s probably not a negative, but it’s probably more bad timing, I would say. Not even that it’s bad timing. It’s just kind of early, so it’s probably just bad timing,” said DeLong. “I’ve got to get home to get my girlfriend to work on Monday. That’s just kind of how I am. On the inside, I guess I don’t show a lot of emotion. It’s more like you can always be better. That’s something that my dad has always kind of instilled in me and also my brother. It was always you might have won today, but you could always be better. You could always be in better shape. That’s probably a good thing, but it also can be a bad thing. Like at Ironman, where I won the championship, I finished eighth, and I was emotional at first, but honestly, I wasn’t really emotional later. I expected to be kind of crying and really happy. I could have been numb to it, maybe because I didn’t really expect it at the beginning of the season, but I expected more, if that makes sense, just from myself.”
A fast start to the season was a confidence-builder for DeLong.
“It was already the third round that I got my first win. I got fifth at the first one and then I got third at the second one. Stew [Steward Baylor] and Ben [Kelley] were kind of the first and second. They were already distancing themselves a little bit, with a little bit of a points gap. I knew it was going to be tough, but it was one of those things where I had to make it happen. To put myself back in that battle, I had to win or be done.”
DeLong held a 23-point gap over runner-up Steward Baylor in the series finale. If Baylor won the race, all DeLong needed to do was finish in the top 10. No pressure, right? Even a 23-point lead would have some pressure attached for most racers, but DeLong handled the situation well.
“Obviously, it’s pressure,” said DeLong. “You have to go out and do it. But at the same time, that’s what I was in Florida for, for the last three months at that point, working my butt off to the point where it’s like, you don’t go through all that work for nothing, but you’re down there so you can win races and put that hard work to use.”
The 2023 season was among the most competitive of all time, with eight different winners during the 12-round series.
“It’s pretty crazy, actually,” said DeLong. “I sit back, and I watch the videos and look at the different people that have won this year. It’s crazy, actually, to think about it. Even if you compare it to a supercross or anything like that, with maybe three or four people that win. We had seven in the first seven races. That was unheard of. It was one of those things where I got that first one, and I almost went backward. I just needed to find myself in front again. Kind of went through a lull there in the middle of the season, but to be able to be the first one to get a second win that was a huge confidence booster for me. And just how I did it. I got the start and was up front all day. It was dusty, but I had to put myself in that position to do that. It’s pretty crazy, honestly, to be able to just, for one, get my first win in one season but also be able to be the one that has the most wins the whole year. Then, the championship as well. So, everything kind of happened fast. Definitely a lot of emotions.”
The Pennsylvanian is no stranger to mud but also knows how to ride well in rocks, dust, and just about anything.
DeLong won in varying conditions, from mud to dust, proving he is a solid all-around off-road racer.
“Yeah. That’s something we strive for,” he says.
Even while winning, DeLong tried to put the championship race out of his mind, which many racers often do, but outsiders don’t believe.
“Honestly, up until when I had the points lead—even when I had the points lead—I know people will probably call bullshit or something like that, but I honestly didn’t let it get to me a whole lot, which is surprising. I’m not sure if it was just one of those things where I didn’t see myself there. So, it was kind of like it wasn’t happening. But honestly, I was calm the whole season. Even when Stew and I were tied at the Mountaineer, that was a pretty good race between us. We were tied in points and battling back and forth. Going into that race, I don’t think I was nervous or anything.
“One thing I can tell if I’m nervous or not is by how much I can eat in the morning. Honestly, I had no issue all year with being able to eat my breakfast or stick to the routine, which is a good sign that I wasn’t nervous. I think also that comes back to the preparation I had in the beginning of the season but also over summer break. I was ready to go out and win. I think that was something that I realized and was ready to do.”
Baylor is known for coming on strong at the end of the race, but when DeLong had the lead, he could stay focused and not worry about anyone, even Baylor, slipping by to steal the win.
“Yeah, at certain races, I felt that. In Georgia, I was battling with Stew in the mud. It was me, Stew, and Ricky Russell. There were a couple of us together. All of a sudden, I was there by myself. I was looking around because I didn’t know what happened. Then it was like I snapped my fingers, and I had 30, 40 seconds on them. Five miles before, we were within five seconds of each other. So, it was one of those things where I had the team tell me what I had, obviously, with the gap.”
There were two other races where Baylor had issues. If Baylor won in the final race of the year, then DeLong only needed 13th overall to win the championship, but the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider went out and won.
“He had a problem at the Mason-Dixon,” said DeLong. “He was back in the pack and wasn’t really up front, and it was dry and dusty. I wasn’t too concerned about him making a huge push there to catch me because there wasn’t really a lot of time to be made up out on the track. Then, the last one was at the Buckwheat, I think if he didn’t have that issue, he would have pushed his way up to where I was at in the front. I think it would have been a battle just because of what we both had on the line. I think it would have turned into a three-way or four-way battle between Stew and the other guys. But he had his issue. I was aware of that soon after it happened. I think it was that same lap, probably a couple of miles later, that I got a pit board that he was in the pits. I knew he was coming. I could see him coming, so I was kind of getting ready for him, calming down a little bit and getting ready. I knew once he got to us, he was going to put heavy pressure on. So, I was kind of preparing myself for that.”
DeLong gave his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Team its first GNCC Championship.
DeLong was still working on his confidence even after that first win, and coming out of the summer break, he still wasn’t sure if he could pull it off.
“Honestly, coming out of summer break, I wasn’t sure. It was me, Ben Kelley, and Stew, and we were all within five points of each other. We were close. So, I didn’t really know. I rode with Ben all summer at Kailub’s, but practice is one thing and racing is another. So, I didn’t really know how Ben was going to show up, and I didn’t know how Stew was going to show up. Stew was winning the National Enduros. It was kind of getting hot up there a little bit. He won the Pennsylvania race, and then he won the next one in Ohio. He was starting to kick it up. I didn’t really know what to expect. I just knew that I was ready, and I was going to ride as good as I could to put myself in the position to win. That’s what I did all year and what I needed to do the last couple of races. That’s what I did. It’s easy to say, but to do it is another thing.”
DeLong talked about the day he wrapped up the title.
“It was weird, but I was both nervous and excited. I wasn’t too nervous. The morning of the race, I was a little bit nervous. I didn’t sleep the best. I can deal with that. I still got sleep; I just didn’t get my normal eight hours. My goal was to win again. That was one of those things where if that’s your goal, then that’s the only thing you’ve got to worry about. I wanted to be out front, and I can decide from there. It’s better to go from the front and decide what you want to do rather than from the back.
“At the Ironman [finale], I got the holeshot and led for probably half a lap. It was one of those things where I knew what I needed to do, and I knew where I needed to be. The track was fast. There was no way to separate us. It was one of those things where everybody was racing hard, and I didn’t really want to be caught up in the battle of somebody going for their second win [of the season]. I didn’t want to be involved in that. I kind of held my own for a little bit, but then I ended up drifting back. I could still see the leaders until going into the last lap. At that point, I knew that I just had to stay where I was at. Sure, I wasn’t up front in the battle, but I didn’t need to be. I was content with where I was at. I just spurted in. Sure, it wasn’t the storybook ending of winning at the last race, but it’s fine. Maybe another year.”
“I knew he was coming. I could see him coming, so I was kind of getting ready for him, calming down a little bit and getting ready.”
Regarding race strategy, DeLong says there are three stages between the green and checkered flags. “I would say in the beginning, I’m pretty much riding as hard as I can. From the start, I’m pushing hard, but it’s one of those things where I’m still kind of tight and don’t know the track as well. I’m not flowing with the track. There’s a difference between the beginning part of the race pushing and then the middle part and the end part of the race pushing. But we’re still pushing the whole race. In the middle, you know the track, where you can sprint about 90 percent. You’re in the zone, if that makes sense. Then, at the end of the race, it’s full-out. It’s like a full sprint, aggression. You’re pushing the track where, in the middle of the race, you’re one with the track. There’s no thinking involved. That’s different than in the middle part of the race. You’re still fresh. It’s different—different levels of pushing. You’re still pushing as hard as you can, but it’s different. It’s hard to explain. But we still average a very high heart rate throughout the whole race. I average probably 185 for three hours, so it’s still a high level.”
Now, the hard part. Defending the number-one plate.
Craig is not the only champion in the family. His brother, Andrew, won the AMA National Enduro Championship in 2014.
“It’s cool; it really is,” said DeLong. “The Baylor brothers have each won the National Enduro title, but I don’t think any brothers have won a GNCC, and the other has won a National Enduro [title]. I think we’re the first ones to do that. It’s cool. I’m glad he was there a couple of times this year to help and be a part of it. He’s a huge part of my success this year, but also just in general. It’s cool I can call him up on a Monday or a Sunday night driving home. He’s older now, so he gives me a good outlook on what he thinks. He can look at stuff. He’s been there.”
And so now has Craig.CN
