rear brake, but it's something I
practice at home, riding with no
rear brake," said Steward. "This
is just the first time I've ever had
to use it."
The Mason-Dixon race
marked the third race in a row
that Kelley has come up just
short of the win, although the
Connecticut native still holds the
championship lead by four points
over Steward, 182 to 178.
"I got into the lead there at the
end of the first lap and led all the
way to the sixth lap," said Kelley.
"Stew was right there all day, but
I was holding strong, and he had
a sneaky little line and got by
me. I missed it; I wasn't able to
see it and that was all she wrote.
VOLUME 58 ISSUE 23 JUNE 8, 2021 P33
Team Green Kawasaki's Josh
Strang, battled for the lead early
in the race, and spent much of
the going in third, but faded near
the end and settled for fourth.
"I was up front all day, but I
just struggled," said Strang. "I
think I missed the bike setup a
little. I was fighting it a little trying
to stay up and then honestly I
just ran out of steam."
FMF/KTM's Josh Toth moved
into fifth on lap three and made
the pass for fourth with two
laps to go. Toth made a charge
towards the podium battle late
in the race but finished fifth for
the day, despite a tough day of
battling.
"The racing was super tight
I was tired at the end, and the
track was tight, rough and super
rutted, so it was tough to make
passes after that, but I held
strong for second."
Magna1 Motorsports/Husqvar-
na's Jordan Ashburn rounded
out the podium with a solid,
mistake-free ride. Ashburn was
fifth on the first lap but slowly
worked his way into third by the
end of the race.
"The first part of the track
was kind of dusty, so I had to
lay back a little, but when we
got into the woods it was pretty
gnarly and I felt pretty good at
that point," said Ashburn.
Previous round winner, On-
line/Monster Energy/Kawasaki
Lyndon Snodgrass captured his first
career win in the XC2 Pro class.
