Shan Moore | June 13, 2022
The Baylor boys are at it again. Grant (REV Motorsports GasGas) and Steward (AmPro Yamaha) finished first and second, respectively, at the Cherokee National Enduro in Greensboro, Georgia, June 12, separated by just 18 seconds after six tests and 75 miles of racing.
Photos by Shan Moore
Both riders had to overcome setbacks on their way to locking out the top two spots. Grant entered the second test 30 seconds late, while Steward came into the race still on the mend from a broken eye socket that he suffered just a month before at the Lead Belt Enduro and was still in the healing process.
The win was Grant’s first of the season, in all he won three of the six tests, while Steward, FMF/KTM’s Josh Toth and Coastal Racing GasGas’ Ryder Lafferty, winner of the previous round in Missouri, split the remaining three test wins among themselves.
With the win, Grant moved to within one point of series points leader Lafferty (94-93) with six rounds remaining in the series. Toth is third with 75 points.
High temperatures and humidity made for a tough day as over 660 riders took to the dry and root-strewn course. Grant set the tone by winning the opening test of the day, but his mental lapse in test two was a major unforced error that cost him 30 seconds right off the bat.
“Going into the second test, I made a really dumb mistake on my part,” said Grant. “I just wasn’t really paying attention to time and mileage. I still had a really good run in the test, and I only lost the test, I think, by 15 seconds or so.”
Despite the mistake, Grant closed out the remaining four tests with two wins and two seconds to take the win.
“In the later tests I was able to make up a little bit of time that I lost in the second test,” added Grant. “After that, I knew I needed to just have a consistent day and ride it out; as long as I kept it on two wheels, I knew I could come out of here with a good result.”
Steward was unsure how he would hold up in the Georgia heat. “I came in kind of struggling,” he said. “I felt pretty rough this week and was trying to get back into the swing of things, but with the summer heat, it was pretty brutal trying to get back into it, and I wasn’t able to ride as aggressively as I would like to have been.”
Toth was nursing a recent injury, as well, having suffered a groin injury the previous week at a GNCC. Toth won test four and was pleased to land on the podium in third.
“The first test I was riding okay, but too timid,” said Toth. “I struggled gripping the bike; I was just sitting down and using all arms. I just couldn’t squeeze the bike like I should be able to.”
Lafferty was not nearly as happy with fourth, since he came into the Cherokee with a lot of momentum after winning the Lead Belt a month earlier. Like Grant, Lafferty also entered a test late and suffered the consequences.
“Just a tough day,” said Lafferty. “I was late to a bunch of check-ins, and it cost me a bunch of time. Other than that, I rode good, but just kind of bummed. I wasn’t the only one. A lot of people were doing it, but it bit me.”
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Craig DeLong rode a consistent race to finish fifth overall, scoring two fourth’s and four fifth-place finishes in the six tests.
“It was good, but mediocre,” said DeLong. “I was kind of in the mix there the first two tests, but I really struggled in the third test with some lappers and dust.”
Sixth was Beta USA’s Evan Smith, who was racing a two-stroke for the first time. “I had a good day kind of learning some of the groove of the two-stroke,” said Smith. “I kept it off the ground and away from the trees for most of it until the last test and I had a fall there, but all in all, it was a good day.”
Five-time National Enduro Champion Russell Bobbitt, who lives just an hour away from the Cherokee course, came out of retirement to finish seventh.
Magna1 Motorsports Husqvarna’s Brody Johnson put an end to Ben Nelko’s three-race win streak, beating the Steel City Men’s Clinic Honda rider by nine seconds for eighth overall and claimed his first win in the NE Pro 2 division.
Meanwhile, Nelko came into the event a bit under the weather, having been diagnosed with Epstein-Barr, but still managed ninth overall and second NE Pro 2 rider.
Beta USA’s Jonathan Johnson rounded out the top 10 overall and was third in the NE Pro 2 class.
Enduro Engineering/Fly Racing KTM’s Mackenzie Tricker won all five tests in the Women’s Elite class. She won by over two minutes ahead of Rachel Gutish (GG).
“I started off a bit slow but came away with the win and made up some championship points,” said Tricker.
Brooke Cosner finished third on a GasGas. CN
OVERALL
- Grant Baylor (GG)
- Steward Baylor (Yam)
- Josh Toth (KTM)
- Ryder Lafferty (GG)
- Craig DeLong (Hus)
- Evan Smith (Bet)
- Russell Bobbitt (KTM)
- Brody Johnson (Hus)
- Ben Nelko (Hon)
- Jonathan Johnson (Bet)