IN
THE
WIND
P36
Steward Baylor is
clawing and scratching
his way closer to the
championship lead with
his third consecutive
GNCC victory, his latest
at the Tiger Run in Union,
South Carolina.
PHOTOS: SHAN MOORE
Baylor Wins Tiger Run GNCC
A
mPro Yamaha's Steward
Baylor clawed his way back
into the championship conversa-
tion with an impressive victory at
the Tiger Run GNCC at Big Buck
Farm near Union, South Carolina,
April 17-18. It served as round five
of the championship.
Having missed the series
opener due to injury, followed
up by a disappointing 14th-place
finish at round two of the series,
Steward has since been on a
rampage, amassing three-straight
victories, which has drawn the
South Carolina rider to within 10
points of championship leader
Ben Kelley in the standings.
Racing at Big Buck Farm for
the second time this year, Stew-
ard made it look all too easy,
considering the dusty conditions,
with an uncharacteristic solid and
measured approach.
"This was one of those tracks
where it's easy to throw it away,
and in a big way," said Steward.
"It has been really dry here in
South Carolina, so I put myself
close to the leader, and the plan
was to sprint as soon as I got in
the lead. Once in the lead, I knew
I could control the pace and
that's what we did all day. Just
trying to know my marks and not
mess up any."
Steward got off the line within
the top five, but after pacing
early leader Ricky Russell for a
lap, Steward made the pass for
the lead and, just as planned,
sprinted away.
"It was tough for me to get
up on Ricky and put myself in a
position to make a pass because
of the dust, but after the first lap,
kind of keying off him, I knew
where I needed to be and how
close I needed to be to make
a pass. I knew of a line that he
missed the first time around. And
I knew it was in a place where
there wasn't much dust and we
could put ourselves in a solid
position and hopefully make that
pass, and that's what we did."
Once in the lead, Steward was
