Shan Moore | October 29, 2024
When newly crowned 2024 Grand National Cross Country Series champion FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Johnny Girroir elected to sit out the Ironman GNCC to stay with his wife, who is expecting the couple’s second child at any moment, the remainder of the field was hopeful of gaining some momentum heading into next year’s championship by closing out the season with a win.
Craig DeLong (1) leads the start of the XC1 class at the Ironman GNCC.
Photos By Ken Hill
After a rough first half of the season, Rockstar Energy Factory Racing’s Craig DeLong, the 2023 GNCC champion, could’ve used some of that momentum. He got just that when he fought through the dust to work past early leader Babbitt’s Online/Team Green/Kawasaki’s Lyndon Snodgrass to take a well-deserved victory, his second in three races.
DeLong grabbed the holeshot at the start of the race, closely followed by Phoenix Honda Racing’s Mike Witkowski.
By the 10-mile mark, Snodgrass had overtaken DeLong for the lead, then took advantage of the dust to pull a slight lead over the Husqvarna rider, who missed the previous round due to an injury he suffered in September. AmPro Yamaha’s Liam Draper made it a three-way race for the lead by reeling in DeLong near the end of the lap.
DeLong hung on to take the win but still had to hand over the number-one plate to the new champ, Johnny Girroir, who had already clinched the title but did not compete in the final.
Running fourth was Witkowski, although the Honda rider went down, allowing FXR Husqvarna’s Evan Smith to take over the spot. On the same lap, Red Bear Rocky Mountain Kawasaki’s Steward Baylor was seen pushing his bike back to the pits with mechanical issues.
“The last few races have obviously been terrible,” said Baylor. “Since the championship was out of our reach, we just played around with some different things to try to get the bike firing a little bit sooner off the line and ended up making some mistakes. But it was a good time to do live testing. It’s hard to replicate race conditions during training.”
Liam Draper kept DeLong on his toes all day. Draper finished in second a little less than a minute behind DeLong.
Another midrace DNF came when FMF KTM Factory Racing Team Landers’ Grant Davis, the winner of the John Penton GNCC from the XC2 250 Pro class, sustained an injury and was helped back to the pits.
On lap four, DeLong drew close enough to pass Snodgrass for the lead just before the infamous Ironman Hill. Draper got around Snodgrass as well, at the top.
Due to the dust, the riders spread out along the trail, mostly riding solo through the woods.
Australia’s Lyndon Snodgrass finished out the season on the podium.
DeLong was starting to encounter lappers, which meant he no longer had a clear track, and Draper began to close. But DeLong was able to keep a safe distance over the New Zealander to claim his second win of the season, banking a bit of momentum for the 2025 season. Draper was second overall, and Snodgrass claimed his first podium of the year with a third.
“Obviously coming back from an injury, I didn’t know where I stood,” said DeLong. “Since I broke my hand, the most I rode was about 30 minutes, so I had no idea how I was going to do. I was just hanging on as best as I could. I’ve only ridden a couple of races that were that dusty, and that was pretty bad, just trying to get as close as I could to Lyndon, and when I got the chance, I made the pass stick. After that, I blew up as much dust as I could; I didn’t want nobody getting close to me. So, I’m happy to end on top.”
Draper finished up the season on a roll, achieving four podiums in a row in his first year in the XC1 Pro class. At the Ironman, Draper overcame several crashes to finish in the runner-up slot.
“I got off to a pretty decent start. I think I was fifth, and then I passed Witkowski to get into fourth,” said Draper. “I knew Craig was going to be good here and that he was out front. I knew I had to get by Lyndon before Craig checked out. I made some quick passes and found myself up with Lyndon and Craig, but I had a crash, and then I crashed again. I was like, ‘Man, that’s going be tough to catch up.’ So I just rode smart, because the silt was way worse than I thought it was going to be. I’m just happy to finish the year with another podium and go into 2025 on a roll.”
FXR/Husqvarna’s Evan Smith earned a career-best fourth-overall finish with a superb ride in the dusty conditions.
“I was maybe fourth or fifth into the woods and ran with those guys for a couple miles, but it was so dusty that I had a couple of big moments and decided that I wasn’t going to risk it anymore,” said Smith. “I rode consistent until I got some clean air, and then I turned it up. I got challenged from three or four different riders and kind of bounced around from third to seventh. Then I had a fall on the fifth lap and got behind Josh Strang [Sherco], but then he had a bike issue. I laid down a heater on that last lap, and I was getting close to third but didn’t quite make it.”
Ricky Russell negotiates his way through the dust at the GNCC finale at Ironman Raceway in Indiana. Russell was hoping for a win but would have to settle for fifth overall.
AmPro Yamaha’s Ricky Russell rode an error-free ride for fifth overall. Meanwhile, Toby Cleveland (Husqvarna) had the ride of a lifetime with a sixth overall finish and first in the XC2 250 Pro class.
“I didn’t expect to win today,” said Cleveland. “I came into that second turn on the XC2 start and got pushed out wide, and then I was second into the woods. I was like, ‘Today’s my day.’ I put the hammer down and got in the lead. I caught the XC1 riders quickly. I just got right behind them. I got around a few of them and just charged all the way to the end.”
Phoenix Honda Racing’s Cody Barnes finished seventh overall, ahead of FMF KTM Factory Racing Team Landers’ Angus Riordan, who also finished second in the XC2 250 Pro class.
New York’s Toby Cleveland (213) topped the XC2 class in sixth overall.
Coastal Racing GasGas Racing’s Jordan Ashburn and Phoenix Honda Racing’s Ruy Barbosa finished out the top 10.
Dakoda Devore (KTM) claimed a big victory in the FMF XC3 125 Pro-Am class, beating Raley Messer (Yamaha) and Jayson Crawford (Yamaha) for the gold.
Dakoda Devore kept his KTM 125cc pinned to win the FMF XC3 Pro-Am division.
Having clinched the WXC division championship at the previous round, Red Bear Rocky Mountain Kawasaki’s Rachael Archer pressure-free to take second place behind KTM’s Brandy Richards in the Women’s WMX class. Honda-mounted Tayla Jones rounded out the podium. CN
Brandy Richards won the WXC class.
OVERALL (Top 10)
- Craig DeLong (Hus)
- Liam Draper (Yam)
- Lyndon Snodgrass (Kaw)
- Evan Smith (Hus)
- Ricky Russell (Yam)
- Toby Cleveland (Hus)
- Cody Barnes (Hon)
- Angus Riordan (KTM)
- Jordan Ashburn (GG)
- Ruy Barbosa (Hon)
