P90
right back on me, and then I just
started making a lot of mistakes.
Late in the race I made a push. I
think we went from 50 seconds
down to 31 down, but I knew
that was all I could do. Then he
gapped me back to 40. I was
like, that's all I got. So, at that
point, I was like, I can push and
probably yo-yo, but I knew he
had the win. We still got another
race. I just needed to finish the
race, and that's what we did."
Baylor's AmPro Yamaha team-
mate Layne Michael turned in
perhaps his best race of the
year, running in third for most of
the race, but could not hold off
the last-lap pressure of Rockstar
"I feel like two or three races
this year I've lost the race on
the last lap," said Kelley. "Hon-
estly, just not being focused. It's
frustrating to lose it when you're
just not focused. That's honestly
been the thing I've been strug-
gling with the most this year. But
today I just stayed focused."
Baylor grabbed the holeshot,
but Kelley made the pass for
the lead on the opening lap and
never looked back, stretching his
lead to over two minutes at the
finish.
"I was riding fast, but I felt re-
ally comfortable, and I just stayed
focused," said Kelley. "It was a
tough race, but it feels good to
get a win in a strong fashion."
Baylor started strong, grabbing
the holeshot, but just couldn't
match Kelley on this day, and not
wanting to risk a major crash,
decided to live to fight again at
the series finale.
"I got off to a really good start,
but on lap two I just kind of got
on the struggle bus," admitted
Baylor. "Just stupid things. Some
days everything just happens
to work in your favor, and other
days everything goes against
you.
"I started having lapper issues.
They were just filing in at the
wrong time. They pull off for the
lead guy and they kind of come
ROUND 12 / OCTOBER 10, 2021
CJ RACEWAY / NEWBURG, WEST VIRGINIA
OFF-ROAD I GRAND NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY SERIES
Ben Kelley took the
overall win at the
Buckwheat GNCC in
West Virginia.
