| May 3, 2021
2021 Hoosier GNCC Round 6 Results. After basically giving up two rounds to the competition at the start of the season, Steward Baylor took a giant step this weekend towards claiming the 2021 GNCC title by claiming his fourth-straight win of the series, his latest coming at the inaugural Hoosier GNCC at Ironman Raceway in Crawfordsville, Indiana, May 2.
Steward Baylor Wins Again At Hoosier GNCC
Ben Kelley (FMF/KTM) stands in Steward’s way, holding steadfastly to the series point lead after taking a solid runner-up finish. After six rounds, Kelley leads Steward by five points, 132-127.
Steward passed AmPro Yamaha teammate Layne Michael to take the early lead in the three-hour afternoon race, while Magna1 Motorsports/Husqvarna’s Jordan Ashburn, who grabbed the holeshot but crashed out of the lead near the end of lap one, ran third.
Michael pushed Steward during the early going, and managed to take the lead midway into the race when Steward went down.
“I had a couple really rough laps there in the middle,” said Steward. “On our pit lap, lap four, I went down really hard in front of Layne. At that point, that was kind of the change of the pace. Layne got up front, but he was mixing it up with some lappers, and I was able to get back in with him. Then by the time we got back together, the lappers had just become a major factor in the race. He and I both got stuck in a little rut. Then right after that I think he got hung up again and I passed him. We were both kind of in survival mode.”
On lap five, Steward managed to pull out nearly 45 seconds on Michael and Kelley, who was rapidly reeling in Michael, but, once again, Steward went down, and then again.
“When that two-lap card came out, the lappers just got senseless,” said Steward. “It was one thing after another. I had a lot of really close calls and a couple of fall-overs with some lappers and then a couple of mistakes myself.”
With the mistakes, Kelley, who passed Michael at the two-lap board, was able to close to within seven seconds of Steward.
However, Steward put together a solid final lap and took the win with 35 seconds to spare.
“I hit four lappers in three miles and somewhere in the middle with two laps to go Ben and Layne gained 35 seconds on me. So, I really struggled there on that lap, but the last lap I was just able to put my head down and nail my marks.”
Remarkably, Steward, who looked totally out of the championship picture after the first two rounds, is just five points behind Kelley in the standings and looking unstoppable.
“We made up some really good ground,” said Steward. “Moving forward, it’s no longer do or die to win. I got out there with two to go and I started making mistakes. I was like, if I’ve got to back it down if we keep making these mistakes, it’s okay to get second today. We can get second and still rebound. So, it’s definitely not do-or-die anymore. I’m just looking forward to being able to ride my own races without all that pressure.”
Moving forward, Kelley needs to stop the bleeding.
“I finally got into third and was about 45 seconds back from those guys so I dug deep, caught Layne and I was gaining on Stew—gaining on him, gaining on him,” said Kelley. “I had to charge so hard there in the middle that I was smoked there with three laps to go. I was staying with him, but that last lap, he definitely had more in the tank for me.”
After missing rounds three and four due to injuries, Michael is starting to find his form and grabbed his best finish of the year with a third.
In his first complete race since finishing second at the series opener, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Thad Duvall looked solid en route to fourth. Duvall ran in the top five early in the race and passed Ashburn midway into the race to take over fourth, where he stayed to the finish.
Ashburn ended up fifth.
Girroir Tops XC2 Pro Class
Coastal Racing GasGas’ Johnny Girroir came out on top of a good battle with AmPro Yamaha’s Mike Witkowski to take top honors in the XC2 250 Pro class, edging Witkowski by just under one second at the finish. Girroir was ninth overall with Witkowski finishing 10th overall and second in the XC2 250 Pro class.
Magna1 Motorsports/Husqvarna’s Jonathan Johnson got considerable pressure from Lojak Cycle Sales/Yamaha’s Chase Colville but eventually won the FMF XC3 125cc Pro-Am class by 11 seconds ahead of Colville.
Babs Racing Yamaha/Fly/Maxxis/Pro Circuit’s Becca Sheets grabbed her third win in a row in the WXC Women’s Pro class, beating AmPro Yamaha’s Rachael Archer by just over a minute.
Travis Pastrana and Ryan Sipes competed in the morning race, after driving all night from Atlanta where to two competed in the Yamaha Atlanta Super TT race.
Sipes won the Sportsman A class but finished second on elapsed time to Becca Sheets in the overall standings.
By Shan Moore
2021 GNCC Championship
Round 6
Hoosier GNCC
Ironman Raceway
Crawfordsville, Indiana
RESULTS (May 2, 2021)
OVERALL (Top 10)
1. |
Steward Baylor |
(Yam) |
2. |
Ben Kelley |
(KTM) |
3. |
Layne Michael |
(Yam) |
4. |
Thad Duvall |
(Hsus |
5. |
Jordan Ashburn |
(Hus) |
6. |
Grant Baylor |
(GG) |
7. |
Trevor Bollinger |
(Hus) |
8. |
Ricky Russell |
(GG) |
9. |
Johnny Girroir |
(GG) |
10. |
Mike Witkowski |
(Yam) |