STEW BAYLOR IS BACK AND WINS RATTLESNAKE NATIONAL ENDURO

Stew Baylor: “We were all really close all day, but that fifth test always stands out for me here. It’s just one of those tests and it kind of played into my favor. I knew that test was coming and I just made sure I rode really good. I actually pushed the front end and lost ten or twelve seconds, and still I think I put more than thirty seconds on the rest of the guys in that one. That was just the advantage we needed.”

Steward Baylor got back on the winning track at this weekend’s Rattlesnake National Enduro, round five of the Kenda AMA National Enduro Series in Cross Fork, Pennsylvania. It was the AmPro Yamaha rider’s first win since opening the 2022 series with a victory at round one in Sumter, South Carolina. Steward topped series point leader Coastal Racing GasGas’ Ryder Lafferty by 7 seconds to take today’s win. The South Carolina rider only won two of the six tests, but his performance in the rocky fifth test made the difference and allowed him to surpass Lafferty with one test remaining in the race.

Ryder Lafferty rode a solid and consistent race all day, except for the fifth test, where he actually went down and lost several seconds. Lafferty had three wins on the day and he still had a chance to move back into the lead with a good ride in the sixth and final test, which he won by five seconds over Steward, but it was not enough.

Lafferty’s Coastal Racing GasGas teammate Ricky Russell turned in his best performance of the series with a third. “I felt like I made so many mistakes in the first test, but when I came in I saw that I finished second and I was one second from winning it, so I was like, ‘oh, everyone is struggling too’,” said Russell. “After that, I just kept my head down. In the third test, I think I was fourth, and then I just got consistent thirds the rest of the day.”

Rickey Russell finished third overall for his best National Enduro performance of the year.

REV Motorsports GasGas’ Grant Baylor finished fourth overall despite two big crashes. “It was kind of dry and dusty today, so it made it real slippery with the powder on the course and the rocks underneath,” said Grant. “So, it was kind of a treacherous track, to say the least. The second test I went down and I thought I broke my hand. It started to swell up and it was throbbing and had some sharp pains. It felt like it was broken. But then the next test I got going and it got loosened back up. I think I just bruised it real bad or something. Then another big wreck in the fourth test. I just need to keep it on two wheels and I think we could have had a better result.”

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Craig Delong, who won the first test, a grass track, finished seven seconds behind Grant to take fifth. “I won the first test, but in the second test, I had a tip-over and had to pull my bike out from behind a tree, so I lost a couple seconds there,” said DeLong. “I feel like I would have been ten seconds faster, which would have put me in third. I was just kind of a little bit off, but I was a little bit hesitant, just with the rocks. When it’s dry like this, you can carry a lot of speed and the rocks all blend in when it’s like this. So, it was kind of hard to see what was a rock and what was a smooth rock as opposed to a jagged one.”

FMF/KTM’s Josh Toth was still recovering from a bought of Covid and didn’t have the energy to finish higher than sixth.

Magna1 Motorsports Husqvarna’s Brody Johnson won the NE Pro 2 class with an eighth overall finish. The win was Johnson’s second in a row.

Enduro Engineering/Fly Racing KTM’s Mackenzie Tricker topped AmPro Yamaha’s Rachel Archer to win the Women’s Elite class. The two riders went back and first for most the first race.

Mackenzie Tricker: “In test four, I went down twice, but only lost the test by four seconds,” said Tricker. “Then we went into the last test up five seconds on Rachel, so I knew it was going to be close. It was super rocky and we went into that first rock garden and there were some lappers stuck in there already from the row ahead. It was a super demanding test, honestly. I didn’t crash or anything, but I was smoked by the end of it. I don’t normally do great in rocks, so really to be honest, this is a great day for me. So, I’m stoked.”

The Kenda AMA National Enduro Series resumes on August 21^st for the Grassman National Enduro, round six of the series in Chandlersville, Ohio. For more information go to www.nationalenduro.com

OVERALL RESULTS
1. Steward Baylor (Yam)
2. Ryder Lafferty (GG)
3. Ricky Russell (GG)
4. Grant Baylor (GG)
5. Craig DeLong (Hsq)
6. Josh Toth (KTM)
7. Evan Smith (Bet)
8. Brody Johnson (Hsq)
9. Jonathan Johnson (Bet)
10. Ryder LeBlond (Hsq)