Shan Moore | May 9, 2022
Ben Kelley continues to roll through the Grand National Cross-Country Series as the FMF/KTM rider stormed his way to a sixth-straight win at this weekend’s Hoosier GNCC held at Ironman Raceway in Crawfordsville, Indiana, tying the record for most consecutive victories with two-time GNCC champ and 10-time World Enduro Champion Juha Salminen. GNCC great Kailub Russell never had more than five consecutive wins.
Ricky Russell (212) leads the way at the start of the XC1 Pro race.
Photography by Ken Hill
Kelley’s lead was nearly four minutes over second place at the end of three hours of racing, which puts him 65 points ahead of his nearest rival in the chase for the 2022 title.
Kelley followed his FMF/KTM teammate Josh Toth through the first half of the opening lap, before Toth decided he would rather follow than lead and took a wide line to allow his teammate to pass. From that point on, it was all Kelley.
“I had a good start, and it was nice having Josh ahead of me, but I think he was thinking the same thing, so he took an outside line and let me by,” said Kelley. “So, I led from there. The guys were on me for a while, but I pulled a little bit of a gap so they couldn’t see me. They stayed relatively close the first half, but I just kept doing what I was doing and having fun.
“It’s pretty cool to have more consecutive wins than KR. I’m sure that eats him up inside a little bit. He’s the one that’s helping me get here this year, and Jacob. We’ve been working hard and everything is coming together.”
Ben Kelley now has six consecutive wins and a comfortable points lead.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Trevor Bollinger earned his third podium in a row with a come-from-behind runner-up finish, his second runner-up finish in a row, after getting a last-place start and working through the pack, passing Toth midway into the final lap to secure second.
“I just can’t seem to get a start,” said Bollinger. “I don’t know what it is. I know these bikes are capable, I just need to figure it out. I was pretty much dead last. After the first lap, I started feeling it. I was like, today could be the day. It just sucks I was that far back, but I was able to make my way through those guys. Then I took a wrong run around that ravine and Craig and Jordan got around me. I had to fight to get back around them. Luckily, I was able to make it up there to second at the end.”
Trevor Bollinger made up for a bad start to finish second.
Toth appeared to be heading to his best finish of the season as he ran second well into the final lap, however, a hard crash and then an incident near the end of the race where he stuck his bike in a hole dropped him to third overall.
“I got off to a great jump, pulled the holeshot and started riding really good,” said Toth. “There’s so many options and lines out there, it’s such a wide track. Ben was hounding me, and I knew he had some good lines, so I just pulled over and followed him for a while. I hung in there as long as I could, but then once I lost sight of him it was a little tricky. I was kind of riding my own race. Late in that race, I took kind of a hard hit and that knocked the wind out of my sails. I was able to get going, and I felt like I had what it took to hold second to the finish but just took a bad line which I had been taking all the race. I just buried the bike and Trevor was able to get around.”
Despite not feeling up to par, Magna1 Motorsports/Husqvarna’s Jordan Ashburn managed a fourth overall finish, just missing the podium by 10 seconds. It was only the third time he’s been outside the top three in six races. Ashburn has been the most consistent of everyone not named Kelley and remains in second place in the series standings.
Josh Toth had a tough last lap but still got on the podium for third,
“I got a terrible start today, kind of battling sickness,” said Ashburn. “I’ve had the stomach bug the middle of this week. The whole family has had it. I was nervous to see how my body was going to react today. Kind of got back a little ways and had to put in a hard charge there at the end. I was able to close the gap on DeLong the last lap and get into fourth. I feel like I rode pretty good for how I felt.”
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Craig DeLong pushed Ashburn during the race and finished two seconds behind the fellow Husqvarna rider for fifth. DeLong sits in fourth overall in the standings, 12 points behind Bollinger.
Babbitts Online/Monster Energy/Kawasaki Team Green teammates Josh Strang and Lyndon Snodgrass finished sixth and seventh, respectively, with Snodgrass claiming the XC2 250 Pro division with his seventh overall finish. Strang’s sixth overall was remarkable considering he’s just nine weeks out from breaking his arm, and the Hoosier was his first race back.
“I had a decent race, but since I’ve been off for so long, I struggled with strength in my good arm as well,” said Strang. “Halfway into the race I hooked up with Lyndon and Angus Riordan, so it was three Aussies riding together and that was fun.”
Lyndon Snodgrass topped the XC2 class in seventh overall.
Snodgrass ended up with the Pro 2 win (his second of the year) with the seventh overall finish.
“Man, it was brutal out there,” said Snodgrass. “The track was super rough. The bumps were so soft, ruts everywhere. I was consistent, just tried to keep a flow and managed to hold onto it.”
AmPro Yamaha’s Layne Michael ran in third place through lap four, but a crash on lap five took the wind out of his sails and he eventually finished eighth.
The race started out well for me, I was right around fourth and I was able to pass into third and just rode there as long as I could,” said Michael. “It’s been a while since I’ve raced a three-hour race. That’s ultimately kind of what got me. I just got tired. Kind of tossed the anchor out there and was just in survival mode those last few laps.”
RPM Racing KTM’s Angus Riordan was second in the XC2 250 Pro division and ninth overall, his best finish to date. Meanwhile, Tely Energy Racing’s Liam Draper also posted his best finish of the season with third in the XC2 250 Pro class and 10th overall.
Trail Jesters Racing KTM Korie Steede was fourth during the early laps of the WXC race but worked her way to the front to take the lead as well as top Amateur honors for the morning classes.
“It was pretty tough out there today mentally, just getting comfortable on the bike,” she said. “The track was so gnarly. I was sitting in fourth place, and I could kind of see third and second. They were making so many mistakes. So, I kind of sat back and let it happen and it happened.”
Korie Steede won the Women’s class and was the top amateur rider in the morning race.
With her win, Steede took over the class points lead and now holds a seven-point lead over Rockstar Energy Husqvarna/Surge Off-Road Coaching Team’s Tayla Jones in the championship.
KTM’s Brandy Richards was second, with AmPro Yamaha’s Rachael Archer rounding out the podium.
Jones and FXR/KTM’s Shelby Turner were fourth and fifth, respectively.
FLY Racing/Husqvarna’s Jake Froman took his first win of the year in the FMF XC3 125 Pro-Am class, topping Enthusiast Inc/Moose Racing/MX Tech’s Hunter Neuwirth and XC/Moose Racing/XC Gear’s Zack Hayes. CN
- Ben Kelley (KTM)
- Trevor Bollinger (Hus)
- Josh Toth (KTM)
- Jordan Ashburn (Hus)
- Craig DeLong (Hus)
- Josh Strang (Kaw)
- Lyndon Snodgrass (Kaw) XC2 250
- Layne Michael (Yam)
- Angus Riordan (KTM) XC2 250
- Liam Draper (KTM) XC2 250
