Shan Moore | September 26, 2022
Jordan Ashburn has been the epitome of consistency all year while positioning himself at the top of the Grand National Championship series point standings, missing only two podiums in the last 11 races. However, at Burr Oak GNCC in Millfield, Ohio, September 25, the Magna1 Motorsports/Husqvarna rider showed a bit of aggression on his way to his second win of the season, passing Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Craig DeLong in the “John Penton” section on the final lap of the Burr Oak course to take the lead, and two miles later, the win. With the victory, Ashburn also wrapped up the 2022 GNCC Overall National title with two races remaining on the schedule.
DeLong turned in his best performance since moving to the XC1 division last year, and led for most of the final lap before “hitting a wall” in the Penton section and settling for second. Not counting FMF/KTM’s Ben Kelley, who had already announced he was done for the year due to a leg injury; DeLong was the only rider with a mathematical chance of locking Ashburn out of the title, or at least prolonging it until the next race. However, inspired by the thought of wrapping the championship up early, Ashburn was not to be denied.
“What a day,” said Ashburn. “I put myself in a good position early on by getting the holeshot. We got passed there at the second pit, but I just tried to stay on Craig; he was riding so good. He’s the guy I had to beat today, and I really had to push hard to get it, and I just wanted to get it done today.”
Ashburn’s championship was the culmination of 10 years and 122 starts.
“Yeah, it’s been a long go, but it’s been worth it,” said Ashburn. “Here we are in the end, and we’ve got a national championship. These past two years, it’s just been consistency. That’s what I try to build our whole program off of. Line up every single race and get points. I always knew I could be as fast as everybody else. We put the whole thing together this year, just being on that box every race, but two so far this year, it’s unbelievable. To have this team around me and the support, it’s just amazing.”
DeLong tried to mix things up near the end of the race by going an extra lap than Ashburn and Steward Baylor before pitting for fuel, which gave him the lead on the final lap, although he did have to do a splash-and-go on the final circuit. The Millfield track is where DeLong got his first win in the XC2 class.
“It came across my mind a couple times that I was leading, and I had to calm myself back down,” said DeLong. “But it was good; it kept me going. That’s one of my goals was to lead a race this year, so I can check that box. It was a lot of… not pressure, but I knew I had to try to get away. I went all out with two laps to go, and I just needed a little bit more at the end.”
DeLong’s Rockstar Energy Husqvarna teammate Thad Duvall made it an all Husqvarna podium and his second podium in a row since returning to action from injury, however, the West Virginia rider was not pleased with third.
“I just didn’t feel comfortable all day and I’m pretty disappointed,” said DeLong. “I switched the tire before the race and should have just stuck with what I know. I don’t think I was the fastest out of the group that we were in. I just kind of outlasted the guys; I felt like I could have gone another lap. I’m on the podium, but at the end of the day, I want to win bad.”
Coastal Racing GasGas’ Ricky Russell was in the mix all day and ran as high as second behind Ashburn at one point, but fell on a hillclimb and got stuck, losing considerable time.
“After I fell, I recovered and was behind Stew so I thought I was in good shape,” said Russell. “On two lap I caught up to Craig, but at the nine-mile mark I pulled a tear off and I ended up pulling my goggle lens completely out and it was on the dustiest part of track. I stopped and got new goggles but I had film of dirt in eyes and the top three guys just got away. Me and Toth battled from there and I ended up fourth.”
FMF/KTM’s Josh Toth, who has been shaking down the ’23 model at the last two races, was also in the lead group and taking turns in the runner-up slot. In the end, Toth ended up fifth.
REV Motorsports GasGas’ Grant Baylor was battling Ashburn for the lead on the opening lap but had to pit to replace a front brake caliper, which cost the South Carolinian enough time that it dropped him outside the top 10, however he eventually battled his way back to sixth overall for the day.
Coastal Racing GasGas’ Johnny Girroir was top XC2 250 Pro class rider in seventh overall, despite taking a huge digger during the first lap.
“I had a huge cartwheel like two miles into the race,” said Girroir. “I flew over head-first, 30, 40 feet off my bike. That kind of took the wind out of my sail a little bit. I was a little timid at first and got going.”
AmPro Yamaha’s Mike Witkowski had been riding good and was pushing Girroir until he had mechanical issues and called it a day.
Tely Racing KTM’s Liam Draper rode steady to finish eighth overall and second in the XC2 250 Pro class, while Beta USA’s Jonathon Johnson was ninth overall and third in the XC2 250 Pro division.
Phoenix Honda Racing’s Ruy Barbosa rounded out the top 10 overall and fourth XC2 250 Pro rider.
AmPro Yamaha’s Rachael Archer claimed her third win in a row, taking over the points lead in the WXC class, holding a seven-point lead over Trail Jesters Racing KTM’s Korie Steede. Archer grabbed the holeshot and led from start to finish, while Steede ran second for two laps before crashing. At that point, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna/Surge Off-Road Coaching Team’s Tayla Jones took over second and pulled to within six seconds of Archer, but Archer was able to pick up the pace and was 34 seconds clear of Jones at the finish.
Steede bounced back for third, with Raines Racing Yamaha’s Prestin Raines and Kawasaki-mounted Jocelyn Barnes rounding out the top five.
Magna1 Motorsports/Husqvarna’s Brody Johnson made it seven wins in a row in the FMF XC3 125 Pro-Am class with a 29-second margin of victory over Beta’s Jason Lipscomb. Max Fernandez (GasGas) was third.
OVERALL
- Jordans Ashburn (Hus)
- Craig DeLong (Hus)
- Thad DuVall (Hus
- Ricky Russell (GG)
- Josh Toth (KTM)
- Grant Baylor (GG)
- Johnny Girroir (GG)
- Liam Draper (KTM)
- Jonathon Johnson (Hus)
- Ruy Barbosa (Hon)