Kelley Back On Top At Snowshoe GNCC
B
en Kelley (FMF/KTM) put an
end to Steward Baylor's run
of GNCC wins and by doing so
momentarily stopped the bleed-
ing that had seen his points lead
go from comfortable to severely
under threat heading into this
weekend's Snowshoe GNCC at
Snowshoe Mountain Resort in
Snowshoe, West Virginia.
After missing the opening
round of the series due to an
injury, Steward (AmPro Yamaha)
went on a rampage, winning five
of the last six rounds and pull-
ing to within four points of Kel-
ley in the series standings after
Steward's most recent win at the
Mason-Dixon GNCC. One more
would have put him dead even
with Kelley or better, depending
on Kelley's finish.
Despite sliding down on the
asphalt on Snowshoe's unique
first turn, which is situated in
the resort's main village, Stew-
ard looked well on his way to a
sixth win when he moved into
the lead on the opening lap in
Snowshoe's infamous "Howard's
Hole," passing early leaders
Jordan Ashburn (Magna1 Motor-
sports/Husqvarna) and Babbitt's
Online/Monster Energy/Team
Green Kawasaki's Josh Strang to
do so. However, a tangle with a
lapper on lap four cost Steward
considerable time, allowing Kel-
ley to take the lead.
"Stew and Jordan were riding
really good in the beginning, and
they kind of pulled away from me
quite a bit," said Kelley. "I was
surprised. I felt like I was riding
really good, but they were just a
click faster. But once I got in the
lead, I got a good gap. Then I hit
some logs and crashed. It's so
slick out there if you're not pre-
pared. I went down and I knew
Stew was catching me. He was
IN
THE
WIND
P40
Ben Kelley captured
his first GNCC win
since round two.
PHOTOS: KEN HILL
