Having overcome numerous injuries over the past few years and persevered through his share of ups and downs, Ben Kelley secured the overall GNCC title, his second in four years, with a 10th-place finish at the 13th and final round of the 2025 Grand National Championship Series at this weekend’s Ironman GNCC in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
Photography by Mack Faint
Phoenix Honda riders Mike Witkowski and Cody Barnes finished first and second overall for the day. Barnes also won the XC2 division.
A meager seven points separated Grant Davis and Kelley, his FMF KTM Factory Racing teammate, in the battle for the overall title coming into the Ironman, with Davis holding the advantage with 247 points versus Kelley’s 240.
Davis wrapped up the XC2 250 Pro title at the previous round in Ohio, so for the Ironman he moved up to the XC1 class—making this his XC1 debut—so he could start on the first row with Kelley for a heads-up battle for the title. However, since Davis was still technically an XC2 rider, according to the rules, he would be held at the finish line for 15 seconds.
Meanwhile, Kelley had wrapped up the XC1 Pro title a few races ago at the Mountaineer GNCC in West Virginia, on September 21. If Davis, who elected to stay on his more familiar 250 rather than switch to a 350, were to hold onto his points advantage, he would be the first rider in the 50-year history of the series to claim the overall title from the XC2 class. On the other hand, if Kelley won the race and Davis finished third, Kelley would claim his second overall championship in four years.
There was a record-setting 2881 entries for this year’s event as Flatrock Motorclub GasGas Factory Racing’s Jordan Ashburn grabbed the holeshot and led Witkowski through turn one. By the eight-mile marker, it was Ashburn with the lead, followed by Witkowski, FMF KTM Racing’s Johnny Girroir and Kelley, with Davis moving up into fifth, right on Kelley’s six.
By the time the front-runners reached the pits for the first time, Girroir, the defending series champ, ran second behind Ashburn, with Kelley in third. Davis slid out before reaching the pits and dropped back two places.
On lap two, Witkowski passed Ashburn to take the lead, with AmPro Yamaha’s Liam Draper passing Kelley to drop the KTM rider to fourth. Davis was in 10th, physically.
Draper, still on the move, passed Ashburn for second before the end of lap two. In the overall standings, Barnes led the overall running, with Witkowski second, Draper in third, FMF KTM Factory Racing Team Landers’ Gus Riordan in fourth and Kelley sixth overall. Davis was 13th overall.
On lap four, disaster struck Davis, the KTM rider pulling into the pits and taking a chair, reportedly still having problems from the effects of a concussion. Meanwhile, Steward Baylor Jr dropped out on lap four with back pain.
Witkowski was precise, looking comfortable with a sizable lead on lap five ahead of Draper. Witkowski’s win was his first overall GNCC victory, with Barnes in second overall and first in the XC2 class.
Witkowski was pleased to end the year with the win in front of his home-state crowd. “Last night I was like, ‘Man, I can do this,’ and I just told myself I can win,” he said. “Today I just felt so good. The bike felt awesome, and I think that was the key factor. I got a good start, and it just felt effortless. They always say when you can win, it feels easy, but that was truly an awesome day, and I’m just so blessed that the day went that smoothly. I’ve never actually done this, so it’ll make the off-season and all those long hours well worth it.
Knowing all he needed to do was finish the race in at least 13th, Kelley played it safe to the finish, taking a 10th to claim the overall championship in a very dramatic race, making Kelley the first repeat GNCC champion since Kailub Russell did it in 2021.
Kelley was happy to get the stressful last two races under his belt. “We worked hard for it, but the XC1 title wasn’t my sole focus,” said Kelley. “I wanted that overall title. I’m stoked, but I wish I had had a better race to cap off the season with a win. I put myself in a good position and felt like I had the speed those first few laps, and I was kind of just going to try to save some energy till the end, but once I was behind Jordan, my bike just sucked a little too much dust and she started to bog down. I had to kind of nurse it to the finish. I don’t know what lap that was, three or four, and then yeah, we did an air filter swap. I dropped quite a few places back to ninth or something, and at that point, I knew Grant was out, and then I was just fighting the track. It was all I could do to get it to the finish. We just kept the momentum going..and I knew I got this; just take it home to the finish.”
“It’s been a long road with a lot of injuries between now and my first championship, and not many people are able to do it twice. It was an honor to battle with Grant all year. He and I were so close all season, and it took me to ride at my absolute best to beat him. We had some inconsistencies, but in the end, I was the most consistent and put myself in a good position off the start today. I wanted the win, but I prioritized bringing it home safely with the big picture in mind.”
Second overall and first in the XC2 division went to Barnes, his second consecutive runner-up overall finish.
“I got off to a third-place start and made a couple of passes,” said Barnes. “Pretty soon, I was in the back of the XC1 guys, and it was hard to pass with the dust in the fields. No one wanted to let each other pass, and I get it, but I just put my head down and charged as hard as I could. Second overall on the day is good, and for Phoenix Honda to go one and two overall, that’s cool for the team. It shows the progression we’ve made, so overall it was a good day.”
As he did at the previous round, the John Penton GNCC, Draper led part of the race and was in the mix for the overall. In the end, the Kiwi finished third overall.
“I got a pretty average start,” said Draper. “I don’t know where I was, but I wasn’t at the front going to the woods, so I put my head down and made some quick moves, and I felt good and was able to take the lead at one point. After that, I had three good crashes back-to-back on the same lap and lost touch with Mike. I put myself in a hole, and from there it was tough to get going again, but I found my flow. I’m bummed to not get that win.”
Defending champ Girroir looked more like his old self and brought home a fourth overall finish on his FMF KTM Factory ride, but it wasn’t easy.
“It was a brutal round here in Ironman,” Girroir said. “After the first two laps, I thought I was in for a long day, although from lap three, I flipped the switch and started to get going—felt more like the old Johnny! I haven’t had a lot of bike time this year through injury, and it has been a bit of a rollercoaster for me, but overall, I am happy.”
Rocky Mountain Red Bear Racing Team Green Kawasaki’s Grant Baylor had his best ride in a few races with a fifth overall.
Sixth overall went to Honda rider Brody Johnson, also second in the XC2 class. Ashburn held on for seventh, with AmPro Yamaha’s Kailub Russell and Liqui Moly Beta’s Josh Strang finishing eighth and ninth, respectively.
New Jersey’s Ryder Sigety won the XC3 125 Pro-Am class, topping fellow Yamaha riders Jayson Crawford and Isaiah Brown. Husqvarna-mounted James Jenkins wrapped up the XC3 title at the previous round and didn’t race the Ironman.
The WXC Women’s Pro division was a battle between Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Korie Steede, Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki Team Green’s Rachael Archer and FMF KTM Factory Racing Team Landers’ Brandy Richards. But the title came down to Steede and Archer, with the winner claiming the WXC Championship title.
After two hours of rigorous battle among the three riders, Steede emerged as the winner, followed by Richards and Archer, with Steede edging out Archer by just two points in the championship, 290-288. Third in the championship was GasGas rider Shelby Turner.
“It’s indescribable to win the title. Awesome!” said Steede. “I’m speechless. It hasn’t sunk in yet. It’s been a long time coming. The race was gnarly right from the get-go. I think for the first eight miles, I was leading with Rachael behind me, and Brandy was behind her. And we were flying that first lap, and I think they were kind of going back and forth behind me. Brandy was going strong. It was a fast track, and it definitely favored her style, so I knew I was going to have to really twist the throttle today. We went back and forth towards the middle of the race, and she had the lead for a little bit. We were just going back and forth, fighting the lappers. It was definitely stressful, but then when I saw that we had built up a two-minute gap on Rachael, I was just trying to ride smooth and smart and not make too many mistakes, but it was stressful for a couple laps.”
“Today was good,” Richards said. “I didn’t get the greatest start—maybe I was fourth or fifth—and I was just patient from there in getting to the front. I didn’t rush anything while making some passes, and then both Korie and I had a huge battle pretty much all race. Congrats to her on the title; she absolutely earned it.”
In the overall 2025 GNCC Championship, Kelley finished out the year with 251 points, followed by Davis with 247 points, Barnes with 207, Draper with 196, and Angus Riordan with 190. Kelley won the XC1 class by more than 50 points over Draper and Witkowski.
Davis edged out Barnes by six points, 309 to 303, to take the XC2 title. Riordan was a close third, with 291 points, in the championship. CN
2025 GNCC Round 13 Results
OVERALL (Top 10)
- Mike Witkowski (Hon, XC1) 02:44:42.000
- Cody Barnes (Hon, XC2) 02:44:55.189
- Liam Draper (Yam, XC1) 02:45:18.699
- Johnny Girroir (KTM, XC1) 02:45:26.185
- Grant Baylor (Kaw, XC1) 02:45:26.632
- Brody Johnson (Hon, XC2) 02:46:11.311
- Jordan Ashburn (GG, XC1) 02:46:21.037
- Kailub Russell (Yam, XC1) 02:46:21.650
- Josh Strang (Bet, XC1) 02:46:33.010
- Ben Kelley (KTM, XC1) 02:46:35.299
Click here for all the latest GNCC racing news.
