Shan Moore | February 21, 2022
An off season of anticipation and hype spilled out onto Big Buck Farm as last year’s fierce battle between FMF/KTM Factory Racing’s Ben Kelley and AmPro Yamaha’s Steward Baylor threatened to collide head-long into a European invasion of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Josep Garcia of Spain and Beta Factory rider Steve Holcombe of the UK at the opening round of the Grand National Cross-Country Series in Union, South Carolina.
2022 GNCC Big Buck Opener
Despite the stellar credentials that Garcia and Holcombe brought to the event (Garcia was last year’s ISDE individual champion, and Holcombe is a seven-time World Enduro Champion), Big Buck turned out to be a race between last year’s front-runners, as the foreign visitors spent most of the race adjusting to the format, which is quite different from World Enduro.
In the end, it was Kelley’s race all the way. The defending GNCC Champion dominated the three-hour event, leading from midway into the opening lap all the way to the checkered flag, finishing some 40 seconds clear of Babbitts Online/Monster Energy/Kawasaki Team Green’s Josh Strang in second.
Kelley wanted to get off to a strong start to his title defense in hopes of avoiding last year’s drama which saw the title chase between himself and Steward Baylor come down to the final race.
“I was excited coming into this race, I had a solid off-season,” said Kelley. “I was confident because I rode really good here last year.”
Kelley was in position to win Big Buck last year, but let it get away.
“I think I let it slip through my fingers last year by getting stuck and a bunch of crashes,” said Kelley. “I knew if I just played it smart and stayed off the ground, I’d be good. I had one pretty hard crash getting caught up in a tree, but other than that, smooth race.”
Strang turned in an impressive race to claim the runner-up slot, working up from mid-pack on the opening lap, into a battle with Magna1 Motorsports/Husqvarna’s Jordan Ashburn for third on lap four.
On the final lap, Strang dropped Ashburn to take over third before setting his sights on Toth.
“I kept getting passed at the start of the race but I just kept doing my own thing,” said Strang. “I got behind Stew and we caught up to the front group. I made some passes and then caught up to Toth there with a lap and a half to go. I got into second and I could hear bikes and I was like, ‘there’s some people still behind me.’ I got a pit board saying Stew was there and Jordan. I’m like, ‘I need to start pinning it.’ So, the last lap was pretty fast. Jordan kept right on me and almost passed me. I made a mistake in the Monster Mile, just right near the end and nearly crashed. Luckily, I almost crashed, and Jordan hit me, so it straightened me back up, and that was it.”
After running near the bottom of the top 10 on the first lap, and mid-pack on lap four, Steward appeared to be on his way to another one of his last-lap heroics. The South Carolina rider put on a strong push on the final lap and pulled within striking distance of Ashburn and Strang. Just a few miles from the finish, however, the South Carolina rider switched up his line in a wooded section and hit a stump, which sent him cartwheeling. A lot of riders would not have been able to continue, but Steward managed to salvage 11th overall at the finish. Unfortunately, Steward will be starting his 2022 GNCC campaign in much the same way as he did last year. In 2021, Steward missed the Big Buck round due to an injury, but still managed to fight his way back into contention for the title.
Ashburn, who was a consistent podium finisher last year, claimed the final step of the podium in third, despite a small mishap with Strang.
“I was about seventh or eighth off the start and just kind of had to work my way up,” said Ashburn. “I knew Toth and Kelley and all the guys who were up front were just going to be shredding, so I just tried to make a push to catch up. It was like a freight train. Everybody was just hauling the mail. Towards the end, I caught up to Josh [Strang] right on the last lap and we had a battle. We swapped plastic one time, but all in good nature.”
Toth led at one point and was a strong second for most of the race but settled for fourth in the end.
“Overall, it was a really good day,” said Toth. “I got a great start, and it was me and Ben leading the race and I just took a wide line—I was getting pumped up at that point—and I kind of paced off of him and rode with him for a while. The last lap and a half, a couple riders put on a charge and ran me down, but I was able to salvage a fourth and just ride my own race and stay safe, so I’m happy with it.”
Bollinger ran as high as third at one point, but ultimately settled into a battle with Craig DeLong, as the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing teammates finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
After struggling with injuries most of last year, Mike Witkowski finally looks healthy and came away with seventh overall, less than four seconds behind DeLong. The AmPro Yamaha rider was also top finishing XC-2 250 Pro rider.
“It’s been a long road,” said Witkowski. “Last year was really rough on me. I worked my butt off this winter. Today was just my day. I just want to be smart this year and just keep the momentum going and see where it takes me. I think I have it this year.”
Coastal Racing GasGas’ Johnny Girroir led the XC-2 250 Pro class on the opening lap, but crashed on lap two and dropped out of the race with an injury. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thad DuVall suffered the same fate, taking a DNF due to injury.
Rev Motorsports/GasGas Racing’s Grant Baylor raced to eighth overall.
Garcia, who is competing in the first three rounds of this year’s GNCC series in preparation for the 2022 World Enduro Championships, finished ninth overall, five seconds behind Grant.
“My first GNCC was a cool experience,” said Garcia. “The start went pretty good, but I had a big crash in the beginning of the race, and I was dead last. I tried to come back to the front group, and I catch them, but I had another crash. I pushed hard again in the second lap to find a groove, but the first three laps were horrible about crashing and then I lost them for all the race. I figured out how to just find a good pace and in the last two laps I felt really good so, it’s a new thing for me. I have to learn many things, but the most important thing is that I enjoy it.”
Babbitts Online/Monster Energy/Kawasaki Team Green’s Lyndon Snodgrass was 10th overall and second in the XC-2 250 Pro class. Coastal Racing GasGas’ Ryder Lafferty was third in the XC-2 250 Pro division with a 12th overall.
Phoenix Honda’s Ruy Barbosa was 13th overall and fourth XC-2 250 Pro rider.
Holcombe put his factory Beta into 14th overall, while Magna1 Motorsports/Husqvarna’s Jack Edmondson of the UK, the son of off-road great Paul Edmondson, was 15th overall and fifth in the XC-2 250 Pro division.
The top three riders in the FMF XC-3 125 Pro-Am class finished the race within 30 seconds of each other, with Brody Johnson taking the win ahead of (Husqvarna) ahead of Zach Hayes and Hunter Neuwirth, both on KTMs.
AmPro Yamaha’s Rachel Archer finish just over a minute ahead of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Tayla Jones to win the Women’s Pro class. Jones, who missed the last half of last year’s series due to injury, led part of the race before giving way to Archer.
Trail Jesters Racing KTM’s Kori Steede turned in an impressive rider to finish third ahead of FXR Racing KTM’s Shelby Turner in fourth and Raines Racing AmPro Yamaha’s Prestin Raines. CN
2022 Grand National Cross-Country Series
Round 1 / February 19-20, 2022
Big Buck Farm / Union, South Carolina
RESULTS (overall top 10)
1. |
Ben Kelley |
(KTM) |
2. |
Josh Strang |
(Kaw) |
3. |
Jordan Ashburn |
(Hus) |
4. |
Josh Toth |
(KTM) |
5. |
Trevor Bollinger |
(Hus) |
6. |
Craig DeLong |
(Hus) |
7. |
Mike Witkowski |
(Yam) |
8. |
Grant Baylor |
(GG) |
9. |
Josep Garcia |
(KTM) |
10. |
Lyndon Snodgrass |
(Kaw) |