third and we did it."
Grant Baylor, who won the
series opener and came into
Florida with the points lead, was
back in the pack on lap one—a
predicament he is quite used to.
The South Carolina rider often
has arm-pump early in a race
and the Wild Boar course would
definitely not help. After hovering
around sixth for most of the race,
Grant was able to pass Russell
and his Coastal Racing GasGas
teammate Johnny Girroir to take
fourth overall at the finish.
FMF/KTM's Josh Toth turned
na's Jordan Ashburn and Coastal
Racing GasGas' Ricky Russell led
the race early. Ashburn grabbed
the holeshot and then Russell
went by halfway into the lap.
"I was pretty content with follow-
ing and just kind of seeing what
pace everybody wanted to run,"
said Ashburn. "The track deterio-
rated really bad. I was dead at the
end and all the other boys were,
too. I ended up making a mis-
take. I ran out of tear-offs the last
lap and my goggles got kind of
trashed. I just didn't see a root and
went down and Strang got around
me. I had to really just kind of
regather myself that last lap. Just
tried to put it together and keep it
fore, Strang wheelied off the line
and was dead last going into the
first turn. However, like Kelley,
Strang knows better than most
what it takes to finish strong at
the Wild Boar.
"It doesn't matter what kind of
shape you're in, you just have
to pace yourself at this race
because the last two laps it's al-
ways difficult," said Strang. "If all
the races go like this early in the
race, it's going to be a long, ex-
citing season. Everyone is going
fast. There are a few guys that
can go to the end and they're the
guys that will be tough all year.
It's good. It's exciting."
Magna1 Motorsports Husqvar-
OFF-ROAD
GRAND NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY SERIES PRESENTED BY SPECIALIZED
ROUND 2 / MARCH 7, 2021
HOG WALLER / PAL ATKA, FLORIDA
P82
Jonathan Girrior claimed the XC2-
class win in seventh overall.
