Stew had a problem so it kind of
brought me back into it. It was
kind of a little bit of a yo-yo. It
was super slick, so it was easy
to make mistakes and easy to
make that little bobble that cost
you a bit. But Josh obviously
must have been riding a differ-
ent track or something. He was
putting it to us every test. Good
job to him."
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's
Trevor Bollinger is another rider
making big strides in the Nation-
al Enduro Series. Bollinger was
just 11 seconds off his teammate
DeLong for fifth.
Despite losing his rear brakes
in the sixth test, Coastal Racing
GasGas' Ricky Russell turned in
a solid sixth overall finish.
"The first few tests I was kind
of over-hesitant," said Russell.
"Where there was traction, I
wasn't pushing hard enough.
Then where there wasn't trac-
tion, I was making mistakes. Just
needed to smooth out and just
ride."
Former Supercross/Mo-
tocross ace Broc Hepler is
showing interest in the enduro
scene and rode a Husqvarna
to seventh overall, which was
also good enough to win the NE
Pro 2 class. The Pennsylvania
rider battled for most of the race
with Trail Jesters Racing/KTM's
Jesse Ansley for the class win
and ended up edging Ansley at
the finish by eighth seconds.
"I've been practicing a little
bit on the Husky, so we wanted
to see how we could do," said
Hepler. "Last race I got to follow
Craig DeLong around, so it was
a little bit of a help. Today, I was
all by myself. First few tests I got
to look ahead. I got to pick my
head up. I'm looking down. The
turns are quick, too. It was fun
ROUND 7 / OCTOBER 3, 2021
CUMBERLAND COVERED BRIDGE / MATTHEWS, INDIANA
P72
OFF-ROAD I AMA NATIONAL ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP
Steward Baylor
finished less than a
second behind Kelley
for third place. Baylor
still has a hand on the
championship with
two rounds left.
