Burr Oak GNCC: Steward Wins Again
S
teward Baylor, once again,
let his riding do the talking at
this weekend's Burr Oak GNCC
at Sunday Creek Raceway in Mill-
field, Ohio, September 27. After
three hours of racing, Steward
came away with his second win in
a row, both coming on an AmPro
Yamaha.
GNCC returned to Sunday
Creek Raceway for the second
time in 2020 for the Burr Oak
race (the first trip there was for
the John Penton GNCC in June),
when land restrictions due to
coronavirus pandemic forced the
cancellation at another venue.
FMF/KTM's Ben Kelley
grabbed the holeshot to start the
afternoon race, but overshot the
next turn, giving way to Babbitt's
Online/Monster Energy/Team
Green Kawasaki's Jordan Ash-
burn.
Baylor took over the lead when
Ashburn made a mistake in the
"John Penton" section. Kelley
followed in second, while FMF/
KTM's Kailub Russell pursued in
third.
Russell actually came into the
Burr Oak with a mathematical
chance of wrapping up his eighth
XC1 title but took a spectacular
crash on the opening lap in the
John Penton section. The crash
destroyed Russell's bike and sent
him to the pits with a sore knee.
"It's pretty disappointing," said
Russell. "I just got confused
on my line choice in the John
Penton section... knocked the
wind out of myself [and] having
a hard time bending my knee,
it feels like it's locking up pretty
good and I can feel some fluid in
there."
In a twisted bit of irony, Bab-
bitt's Online/Monster Energy/
Team Green Kawasaki's Josh
Strang, the rider second to Rus-
IN
THE
WIND
P44
Steward Baylor gave
the AmPro Yamaha
squad another victory
as a "guest" rider at
the Burr Oak GNCC in
Ohio. PHOTOS: KEN HILL