OFF-ROAD
AMSOIL GRAND NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY SERIES
ROUND 1 / MARCH 10, 2019
RODMAN PLANTATION / PALATKA, FLORIDA
P82
XC1 Open Pro debut, was sixth
overall. Toth was the XC2 250
Pro class championship and
runner-up in the class standings
last season.
Babbitt's Monster Energy
Kawasaki's Josh Strang finished
seventh, ahead of Massachu-
setts's Jonathon Girroir (KTM) in
eighth. Girroir also was second
behind Kelley in the XC2 class.
Beta USA's Mike Witkowski
took advantage of a holeshot to
start the XC2 class, finished ninth
overall and third in the XC2 class.
Andrew Delong was 10th,
despite only getting his Phoenix
Honda Racing bike two days
before the race.
In the XC3 class, KTM's Jesse
Ansley claimed the win with a
13th overall finish.
"I crashed last weekend and
ended up getting a pretty severe
sprain to my AC joint, so for me
to even be out here is incred-
ible," said Ansley. "Dr. Eddy got
me all fixed up. It was sore, but I
could keep pushing through it. It
sucked not being able to ride this
week, but this is my backyard. It's
another win in the books." CN
OVERALL
1. Steward Baylor (KTM)
2. Kailub Russell (KTM)
3. Thad Duvall (Hus)
4. Ben Kelley (KTM) XC2
5. Trevor Bollinger (Hus)
6. Josh Toth (KTM)
7. Josh Strang (Hus)
8. Jonathon Girroir (KTM) XC2
9. Mike Witkowski (Bet) XC2
10. Andrew DeLong (Hon)
really killer first lap. The second
lap I got into some of the XC1 guys
and kind of was a little spastic and
made some stupid mistakes and
had two hard crashes. But I tried
to regroup after that because then
I was just kind of exhausted. But I
was able to push through."
Trevor Bollinger, who switched
from the JCR Honda team to
the Rockstar Energy/Factory
Husqvarna Racing team for 2019,
took home a well-deserved fifth
overall finish. The North Carolina
rider settled into fifth early in the
race and maintained that position
to the finish.
FMF/KTM Factory Racing's
Josh Toth, who was making his
bit and just struggled from there
on out. A podium is a podium.
It's a short week to recover, so I
felt like I tried to save a little bit at
the end and kind of settled a little
bit."
Trail Jesters Racing KTM's Ben
Kelly, who is hoping to defend his
2018 XC2 250 Pro title, finished
fourth overall and first in the XC2
division.
"I got off to a decent jump and
then kind of bobbled a little the
next few corners," said Kelley.
"I just put my head down, made
some quick moves, got to the
front and just kept charging. I
wanted to try to push up into the
overall as best I could. I had a
Now riding for
Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna, Trevor
Bollinger was fifth
overall.
