Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki’s Steward Baylor is making a surge in the Progressive Grand National Cross Country GNCC (GNCC) Racing series, with two wins in a row to close the gap on Johnny Girroir in the standings. Baylor had to mount a heck of a charge through the pack to win the Amsoil Hoosier GNCC on Sunday, run on the same property as the Ironman GNCC. He worked so hard he barely had the energy to speak after the race, which meant we didn’t get to hear the normal unfiltered Baylor on the mic. He did shotgun a can of Monster Energy, though.
“Man I’m beat! That was rough,” said Baylor. “But I had a great team and a good pit strategy. But I gotta go sit down!”
Girroir looked to take second but was penalized a position for pitting outside of his FMF KTM Factory Racing pit area. That pushed him to third, and moved defending GNCC Champion Craig Delong to second.
“My race today was good, I had a good start,” said Delong. “I was decent going into the woods but I had a bad line and got shuffled back. After about two laps I was ready to go, I got loose and felt good, and my guys in the pit did a great job and I was able to make some passes. I was, I think, second or third. Me and Stew hooked up and sprinted pretty hard for two or three laps. Kind of opened up a gap. I was with him with two laps to go but I had nothing for him. I had to put it in cruise mode, it was a tough track with the soft dirt, it was sneaky hot, it was a physical tack.”
When the XC1 Open Pro class saw the green flag waving, it was Girroir jumping off the line first to earn the $250 Steel City Medical Center Holeshot Award. Girroir would head into the woods first and hold the lead position for the first five laps of the race. While Girroir was out front, Baylor was making his way through the pack. Baylor would make the pass right as the white flag came out.
Baylor would lead over Girroir by just 2.9 seconds as they came through and headed out for their last lap. Baylor put his head down and pushed, coming through to cross the finish line in first, and earning his second-straight win of the season. Girroir was third after the penalty.
Coming through to earn fourth overall on the day was Coastal GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jordan Ashburn. After mixing it up at the front of the pack for the first couple of laps, Ashburn would fall back to fifth, but eventually make the pass for fourth to conclude his day in Indiana.
Phoenix Racing Honda’s Mike Witkowski would have another great ride in his home state of Indiana as he came through to round out the top five overall finishers. Witkowski would start his day running in third, but he would be unable to hold off some hard chargers for the three-hour duration.
Coming through sixth in XC1 and ninth overall was Rockstar Energy Factory Husqvarna Racing’s Trevor Bollinger as he had a back-and-forth day coming back from eighth place at the halfway point of the race. Active Air/Max Motorsports/FXR/Husqvarna’s Evan Smith put in a good ride battling for the entire length of the race. Smith would finish seventh in the XC2 class, and 10th overall on the day.
Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy/Kawasaki Team Green’s Grant Baylor battled back from a 12th place start to finish eighth at Ironman Raceway, while Coastal GASGAS Factory Racing’s Ryder Lafferty crossed the line ninth in class and 14th overall. JS Sherco Racing’s Josh Strang rounded out the top 10 finishers in the XC1 class after a hard-fought day of racing.
As the XC2 250 Pro class took off it was Phoenix Racing Honda’s Cody Barnes grabbing the $250 Steel City Medical Center Holeshot Award and headed into the woods first. As the XC2 class raced towards the scoring area, the first four riders were separated by just one second each. The FMF KTM Factory Racing Lander’s duo of Angus Riordan and Grant Davis would swap the lead position throughout the duration of the race, along with AmPro Yamaha’s Liam Draper battling between the two.
Riordan would continue to hold the lead the second half of the race, but Davis and Draper would continue to hold on and push for the remaining laps as well. Riordan would cross the line first earning the win in Indiana. Davis and Draper would round out the top three in the XC2 class at round six.
In the FMF XC3 125 Pro-Am class it was Destructo Racing/Dixie Fuel/Total Control Suspension’s Dustin Simpson grabbing himself the $100 Lojak Cycle Sales XC3 Holeshot Award to start off the day. But soon enough Liqui Moly Factory Beta Racing’s Jhak Walker would emerge through the trees and into the timing and scoring holding the lead position on the opening lap. As the race wore on, Devore/KTMFXR/SRS Suspension’s Dakoda Devore would make the pass of Walker and begin to push forward.
Devore would continue to hold the lead until the checkered flag flew, earning his third FMF XC3 class win of the season. After earning the holeshot Simpson would continue to push at the front of the pack and would ultimately cross the line in second. After suffering a crash during the race Walker would be forced to make a pit stop to work on the bike. Walker would still be able to get back on track and round out the top three FMF XC3 finishers.
Taking the AMSOIL Hoosier Top Amateur honors was Husqvarna-backed Jason Tino as he came through to finish 8th overall on the day and earning the 250 A class win. Kawasaki Team Green’s Nicholas Defeo would be second atop the Top Amateur podium as he came through 16th overall and second in 250 A. KTM-backed Cooper Jones rounded out the Top Amateur podium as he finished 17th overall and third in the 250 A class.
The WXC race saw some intense battles throughout the morning, as Enduro Engineering/GASGAS/FXR’s Shelby Turner got the jump off the line and grabbed herself the $100 Kanati Tires WXC Holeshot Award. However, Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki’s Rachael Archer was ready to battle and made the pass for the lead early on. Archer would continue to lead unbothered for the first two laps, but by the time the white flag flew Rockstar Energy Factory Husqvarna Racing’s Korie Steede was just five seconds behind her. Unfortunately for Steede that momentum was short lived as she Archer emerged from the woods first into timing and scoring to earn her third win of the season.
Enduro Engineering/GASGAS/FXR’s Shelby Turner would also make a couple of last lap passes to overtake second place in the WXC class, and Sherco USA/Moose/Rachel Gutish Racing’s Rachel Gutish would battle at the front of the pack throughout the race to round out the top three WXC class finishers in Indiana. Steede would cross the line fourth on the day.
Charlie Mullins threw his leg over a motorcycle once again and went GNCC Racing as he competed in the Sportsman A class. Mullins would win the overall as he came through five minutes ahead of Archer who finished second overall. Sportsman A competitor, Cody Groves would come through to earn third overall in the morning race.
On Sunday morning in the Youth Bike race, it would be Caleb Wood battling through to take over the lead from Brody Amos after the opening lap. Wood made his way into the lead and would not look back as he continued to push for the remainder of the race. Wood came through to earn his fourth youth overall and YXC1 Super Mini Sr. class win of the season. Amos would hold onto the second overall finishing position as well as second in the YXC1 class. Brayden Baisley battled his way up to third and would try to push for the lead, but ultimately crossed the line third overall and in the YXC1 class.
Travis Lentz remains undefeated in the YXC2 Super Mini Jr. class as he earned his sixth straight win of the season in Indiana. Colby Goodman would work his way up to second in the class after starting back in the fifth place position, and Phillip Arnold would round out the top three in the YXC2 class at round six.
Colton McQuarrie would earn the 85 Big Wheel (11-15) class win, while Hunter Hawkinberry took home the 85 (12-13) class win. Deegan Caplinger earned the 85 (11) class win and Ryder White won the 85 (7-10) class in Indiana. Trason Landrum would come through first in the 65 (10-11) class, Tripp Lewis would earn the 65 (9) class win and Daxton Mullins took home the 65 (7-8) class win at round six. Madison Kazmir earned herself the Girls Super Mini (12-16) class win, Sahara Robinson took home another Girls 85 (7-13) class win and Vaida Lavergne won the Girls 65 (7-11) class. Hudson Charles would come through first in the Trail Rider (7-15) class at the conclusion of the youth bike race.
On Saturday the Micro Bike overall win went to Tripp Lewis, he would also earn the MXC1 class win in Indiana. Ellis Austin would have a consistent day as he ran second for the duration of the race, crossing the line second overall and in MXC1. Daxton Mullins would battle back to finish third overall and round out the top three in the MXC1 class. In the MXC2 class it would be Kane Morrison earning the win, while finishing fourth overall on the day. Maura Tsakanikas would battle her way back up to second after starting back in fifth on the opening lap, and Weston Ford rounded out the top three MXC2 class finishers at round six.
Other Micro Bike winners included Peyton Austin in the 50 Sr. 1 (7) class, Carson Zink in the 50 Sr. 2 (6), while Hunter Siegel earned the 50 Jr. 1 (6-7) class win and Jacobi Duvall took home the 50 Jr. 2 (4-5) class win. Jayce Young earned the Micro-E (4-7) class win, Carson Propst came through to take the Micro Shaft Drive (4-6) class win and Easton Weaver would win the Trail Rider (7-9) class.
Catch GNCC Pro ATV and Motorcycle Racing free via RacerTV.com all season long. Pro ATV Racing starts Saturday’s at 2pm ET, with the exception of Big Buck, Snowshoe and Ironman events where they will start at 1pm ET. GNCC Pro Motorcycle Racing will begin at 1pm ET on Sunday’s.
