supported Baylor. "He's been
riding well. While I was leading,
I felt like I could control the pace
and relax and chill out. Then we
stopped. He made a pass in the
fields. We stopped for gas and
then just a rough next-to-last lap
with lappers. I ended up giving up
about 28 seconds at one point.
On the last lap, I reeled him back
in and was able to make the pass
when he made a mistake. It came
down right to the finish again, one
second apart. He actually had
the upper hand. It's tough. We've
talked about it a lot. I've talked
about it a lot. It's very difficult to
police these lines. It's definitely
not Ben's fault, but it's a tough call
for GNCC, for everybody. I defi-
nitely don't enjoy winning like this.
Ben definitely out-rode me all day
long. I want everybody to know
that we're going to have to watch
for these lines and mark them off
or do a better job with the track,
because it makes it tough for us.
None of us want to be known as
cheaters. I can promise Ben is
not a cheater. He's one of the
most honest racers out there. So,
hats off to him. I got out-ridden
and just shit happens."
Kelley has been oh so close
to getting his first win, and, at
least for a moment, it looked as
though he had done it.
"I'm super bummed," Kelley
said. "Just mad at myself. I got
up to the lead and was doing
good and it just so happens
VOLUME 57 ISSUE 45 NOVEMBER 10, 2020 P41
I didn't see that line walking
the track. I was staying on the
course the first lap, but people
ahead of me I saw took it. So, I
figured, maybe it's a better line.
I went to try it and the second
I got into it I knew it was too far
off the trail, but it was going up a
hill. I guess I should have turned
around and went backwards and
fixed it, but in the heat of the mo-
ment I didn't really know.
"The track was pretty one-
lined," Kelley said. "It was rough
and technical and Stew is really
good in that stuff. So, I'd show
a wheel here and there, but
couldn't make it stick. Just got
up onto him on those fields in
the second-to-last lap and was
just squaring him up. I was able
to charge by him and pulled a
good lead on that second-to-last
lap. Then my arms were getting
pumped up and I was just not rid-
ing the bike good with the clutch
and was just having wheel spin
everywhere. I made a mistake
on an uphill and he passed me.
It was four miles from the finish,
if that. So, I just put my head
down, charged, and caught up
to him in those fields again and
went for it. I was able to pass
him in the same spot again, just
squared him up and just held
the gas on through some muddy
ruts. Just leaned back and
Ben Kelley crossed the finish line
first but was docked a position.
