ROUND 13 / OCTOBER 24, 2021
IRONMAN RACEWAY / CRAWFORDSVILLE, INDIANA
P76
OFF-ROAD I GRAND NATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY SERIES
WORDS BY SHAN MOORE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEN HILL
I
t's only fitting that a crazy
and eventful season would
be capped off with an
equally crazy and eventful
final race.
Rockstar Energy Factory
Husqvarna Racing's Thad
Duvall claimed his first win of
the season in muddy condi-
tions at the Ironman GNCC
final, while FMF/KTM's
Ben Kelley clinched the
2021 Grand National Cross
Country Series title with a
ninth overall finish in a race
that was delayed and then
shortened (to two hours)
after off-and-on torrential rain
turned creeks into rivers and
bar ditches into ponds.
Kelley wrapped up the
2021 Grand National Cross
Country Series champion-
ship after one of the closest
championship battles on
record.
Kelley jumped out to a
big lead in the champion-
ship standings after title
rival Steward Baylor (AmPro
Yamaha) did not start the
opening round of the series
due to injury. However, Bay-
lor would reel off seven wins
in the next 10 races to take
a narrow one-point lead in
the series standings with two
races remaining.
After a dramatic penulti-
mate round disrupted results
at the top, Kelley came into
the series finale at Ironman
Raceway with an eight-point
lead on Baylor—setting up
one of the closest finishes in
GNCC history.
When the Ironman GNCC
finally got underway, Kelley
got away in second behind
Babbitt's Online/Monster
Energy/Team Green Ka-
wasaki's Josh Strang but
coasted to a stop near the
eight-mile mark when his
bike suddenly stopped.
Ironically, Baylor's bike fell
victim to the water, too, and
both riders found themselves
stranded on the course and
frantically trying to get their
bikes to fire.