OFF-ROAD
AMSOIL GRAND NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY SERIES
P76
BY SHAN MOORE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEN HILL
A
fter severe weather in South Carolina
forced the postponement of round
one, February 24, the 45th Annual
Amsoil Grand National Cross Country (GNCC)
Series presented by Specialized, an AMA
National Championship (GNCC), finally got
underway with the Moose Racing Wild Boar
GNCC in Palatka, Florida, on March 10,
where Kailub Russell began his campaign for
a seventh XC1 Pro GNCC title. Contrary to the
conditions that forced the cancellation of the
South Carolina round, the conditions for the
Wild Boar were clear and 86 degrees.
Over 700 riders entered the Wild Boar
GNCC, and after five laps and two hours and
44 minutes of racing on the brutally rough,
13.2-mile course, it was Steward Baylor, not
Kailub Russell, who came away with an im-
pressive win—a dominating win. Most GNCC
insiders agree that the Tely Energy Racing
KTM-backed Baylor has the potential to win,
but no one anticipated how he would win
the race, by finishing with a near two-minute
advantage at the checkered flag.
With the win, Baylor topped the initial XC1
Open Pro standings and proved that he is the
real deal in 2019. Baylor had several motivat-
ing reasons to step up his game in Florida;
the biggest of those was an online post sug-
gesting that there were "Five Things to Look
Out For In 2019 In The GNCC Series," and
there was no mention of Baylor. That fired up
the South Carolina rider.
ROUND 1 / MARCH 10, 2019
RODMAN PLANTATION / PALATKA, FLORIDA
STEWARD BAYLOR SURPRISES AT THE WILD BOAR
BAYLOR
STRIKES FIRST
