OFF-ROAD
KENDA AMA NATIONAL ENDURO SERIES
ROUND 3 / JULY 26, 2020
CROSS FORK, PENNSYLVANIA
P60
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY SHAN MOORE
F
or the second race in a row, Josh
Toth saw a potential win slip through
his fingers. Earlier this month, Toth
was leading the High Voltage GNCC in
West Virginia when defending champ
Kailub Russell nipped him in the closing
stages. This time, it was Grant Baylor who
snatched away another would-be win after
rallying from a slow start at the Rattle-
snake National Enduro in Pennsylvania.
When all was said and done, Baylor, on
the FactoryONE Sherco, edged out Toth
by five seconds to take the win.
Toth led the six-test enduro at the
midway point but started to see his lead
shrink as Baylor started putting on a
charge. Baylor eventually caught Toth and
they were essentially tied going into the
final test, where the overall winner would
be decided, making for an exciting finish.
Baylor let it rip in the final, as did Toth,
but a small crash by the FMF/KTM Team
rider ended any chance he had of win-
ning. Baylor ended up capturing the
overall victory with five seconds to spare
over Toth.
"I didn't start out the best," said Baylor.
"But I wasn't too far off. In the first test, I
think I was five seconds off the pace, and
it was mostly grass track. I just had arm
pump a little bit and wasn't riding myself.
After that, I went onto test two and three
and just was off the pace a little bit. I made
a couple little changes to the bike, made
some suspension changes then swapped
the tire, put a different compound tire on
the back tire. I think my tests picked up
about 30 seconds per test. So, I went
from losing by about 15 seconds to win-
ning by 15 seconds. It was just enough to
edge Josh out there at the end. I edged
him out by about five and a half seconds
for the overall, which is awesome and
moves me into the points lead for the
championship, which is a first for me."
Baylor was obviously happy with the
win. "In test five I had a really good run,"
added Baylor. "Toth had me by 26 sec-
Grant Baylor makes late-race surge to win
Rattlesnake National Enduro
GRANT BAYLOR
BOUNCES BACK