STEW BAYLOR WINS RATTLESNAKE NATIONAL ENDURO

Steward Baylor Jr Grabs First National Enduro Win of the Season.

Story by Logan Densmore Photos by Mack Faint

Steward Baylor: “we did a lot of tire testing all week and ended up with a trials tires like we always run here. I think the last 7 winners here used a trials tire so that’s what we did.” Tests 2 and 3 seemed to be rockier than most years and Steward attributed the trials tire for test wins today.

Racers that came to the rocky fern infested forest of central Pennsylvania for the Rattlesnake National Enduro were meet with near perfect conditions. The event had perfect race weather with sunny skies and upper 70s temperature. The Rattlesnake National Enduro is Round 6 of 9 for the 2023 Magna 1 AMA National Enduro Series Presented by Moose Racing. Steward Baylor Jr was able to take advantage of the conditions and grab his first National Enduro win of the season.

Starting on the traditional grass track held on the Quiet Oaks Campground property where staging is, PA native Craig Delong took an early lead. Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Tely Energy Racing KTM rider Steward Baylor Jr then went on an impressive run winning tests 2 through 5 to win his 4^th time at the Rattlesnake. Steward: “I have not gone this long in National Enduros without a win since I started these things, as long as I had my leg over a bike anyway. A win sure does feel nice.”

Grant Baylor maintained his points lead in the championship with a strong second place finish.

Grabbing a second place overall finish was younger Baylor brother and Babbitts/Monster Energy Kawasaki Rider Grant Baylor. Grant Baylor was hovering between 2^nd and 4^th place all day before finally throwing down the fastest time in the 6^th and final test which was the longest of the day at 9 miles. “I just tried to have a smooth day here. I know the rocks can jump out and get you as they have to me several times here in the past.” Said Grant. Going into the last test Grant Baylor and Josh Toth were separated by 0.5 seconds. Grant said “Josh and I had a good battle going all day. I knew we were within a couple seconds going into the last test so I let it all hang out there in the last test and was able to come away with a second place and extended the points lead, so all in all it was a good day.”

Josh Toth: “It seems like there is no dirt out there, just rocks, there are no breaks out there.” Toth sits in second overall in the Championship points after finishing 3rd at the Rattlesnake National Enduro.

Third place overall was Enduro Engineering GasGas rider Josh Toth. Josh has been grabbing all kinds of podium finishes on 2 wheels. Winning Downhill Mountain Bike races leading up to podiums in the National Enduro Series. Josh is typically a threat when it comes to more technical terrain like the Rattlesnake is, so a podium here is no surprise. “It was a tough day with the course being relentless. They were saying it was a little rockier than years past and I think it might be.” Said Toth. “It seems like there is no dirt out there, just rocks, there is no breaks out there.” Josh Toth will continue to sit in Second Overall in the Championship points after finishing 3^rd at the Rattlesnake National Enduro. Fourth overall on the day was Factory Husqvarna rider Craig Delong. Rounding out the top 5 overall was Coastal Racing Factory GasGas rider Ryder Lafferty. Sixth overall went to Am Pro Yamaha rider Ricky Russell.

Thorn Devlin: “I was about a half mile in and I came around a corner and I was on the ground before I knew it. I looked down and saw the rear tire spit off the rim. I rode 3 miles of the test with no rear tire and it was sketchy at times. I knew I had to salvage the time I could and then throw it down in the rocks.” Thorn was able to throw it down in the rocks and win 3 of the remaining 5 tests including the final and 6th test to finally come away as the NE PRO2 winner.

Seventh overall and 1^st NE PRO2 rider at the Rattlesnake was Bonecutter Offroad GasGas rider Thorn Devlin. Thorns day was almost derailed a half mile into the first test. Shortly into the grass track portion of the first test Thorn’s rear tire came off of the rim completely. Riding the section on the rim with the tire wrapped up in the swingarm, Thorn was nearly outside the top 100 overall going into the second test. Thorn was able to mount a new wheel after the first test to then go on and start chipping away the time behind the leaders in the NE PRO2 class.

Taking top honors in the Womens Elite Class was Rachel Gutish on her OverandOut GasGas. Rachel is always tough to beat of rocky technical terrain and she proved that again today winning by over 3 and a half minutes. “I thought there was top soil here and I thought wrong.” Said Gutish. “I really like the technical stuff so the course suited me well here. I didn’t feel like I set the world on fire today, but I was just smooth.”

Top 10 Overall

Steward Baylor Jr- KTM
Grant Baylor- Kawasaki
Josh Toth- GasGas
Craig Delong- Husqvarna
Ryder Lafferty- GasGas
Ricky Russell- Yamaha
Thorn Devlin- GasGas
Evan Smith- Beta
Hunter Bush- GasGas
Jonathan Johnson- Beta

The Pro 2 podium: Thorn Devlin (middle)- winner, Hunter Bush (left)-second, Jonathan Johnson- third place in Pro 2