BAYLOR, GRANT TAKES MARQUETTE ‘LOOSE MOOSE’ NATIONAL ENDURO

GRANT BAYLOR INCREASES NATIONAL ENDURO LEAD

Story and photos by Shan Moore

Grant Baylor: “The trail itself was pretty narrow, it was like you were riding in a trough the whole time, basically, and your front tire is catching the edge of that trough. You come out of a corner and there might be a root hanging out of the rut or something, and it just catches you. So, it was a little sketchy.”

REV Motorsports GasGas’ Grant Baylor claimed his second win in a row and third of the season at this weekend’s Loose Moose National Enduro, round seven of the Kenda AMA National Enduro Series in Marquette, Michigan, topping his brother, Am Pro Yamaha’s Steward Baylor, by just eight seconds for the victory.

As he usually does, Steward Baylor came on strong at the finish, winning the final two tests to secure second overall.

With the win, Grant extended his lead in the championship to 22 points ahead of Coastal Racing GasGas’ Ryder Lafferty with three rounds remaining on the schedule.

Ricky Russell: “Unfortunately, Stew got me by seven seconds, so I ended up third. I just ended up on the ground too many times. I felt like I had the speed all day, just on the ground too much.”

Ricky Russell continues to come on strong in the enduro series and grabbed his second podium of the season with a third. The Coastal Racing GasGas rider went into the final test tied for second, just 15 seconds off of Grant, but a couple of mistakes in the final test forced him to settle for third. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Craig Delong was in the hunt early, sitting second after the first few tests.

Craig DeLong, fourth overall: “I made a change to the bike this week, just trying something that I’ve been wanting to try and I feel like it paid off. I was in the mix up until the fifth test, but then I struggled and just missed my marks and I got beat straight up.”

Josh Toth rounded out the top five. The FMF/KTM rider won the opening test of the day, and backed it up with a third in test two, but caught his foot on a stump buried in the narrow trail, which caused him to slow his pace in the final few sections.

Josh Toth, fifth overall: “The trails were fun. A little sketchy at times with the brush and stuff, but I didn’t ride bad. Just a little cautious on cutting the corners and straight-lining some of the stuff with all the stumps.”

Beta USA’s Jonathon Johnson rode a steady, mistake-free race to top the NE Pro2 division with a seventh overall. Steel City Honda-rider Ben Nelko was eighth overall and second in the NE Pro 2 division, despite riding with an injured leg. Beta USA’s Evan Smith scored consistently inside the top 10 to finished ninth overall and seventh NE Pro 1 rider. Magna1 Husqvarna’s Brody Johnson rounded out the top 10 overall and was third in the NE Pro2 class.

OVERALL RESULTS

1. Grant Baylor (GG)

2. Steward Baylor (Yam)

3. Ricky Russell (GG)

4. Craig DeLong (Hsq)

5. Josh Toth (KTM)

6. Ryder Lafferty (GG)

7. Jonathon Johnson (Bet)

8. Ben Nelko (Hon)

9. Evan Smith (Bet)

10. Brody Johnson (Hsq)