Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1437138
INTERVIEW I 2021 AMA ENDURO N ATION AL C HAMPION S TEWARD B AYL OR P134 Every series needs a rogue figure and Baylor is happy to play the part, although he'll give the shirt off his back to help a fan or a fellow racer in need. One of his most recent crowd-pleasing antics was flipping his bike across the finish line after a win at the Burr Oak GNCC. "I think the biggest thing that attracts people to me and my racing career has been my personal- ity," says Baylor. "I think our sport is 100 percent an outdoor lifestyle—go out to the lake on the weekends, have a few beers with your buddies, go deer hunting, I'm going to have some fun. I'm not going to change my normal lifestyle just for racing. The reason I got involved with racing from the start was because I enjoyed it. I feel the reason I have the fan base I do is because most of these guys that are crowding these parking lots, most of these guys that are buying dirt bikes, they started racing because it was fun. It was some- thing they enjoyed doing." In 2021, riding for Randy Hawkins' AmPro Yamaha outfit, Baylor won his fifth AMA National Enduro title. It was Yamaha's first National Enduro title since Charlie Mullins in 2010. In addition, Baylor came oh-so-close to adding his first GNCC title in 2021. After missing the opening round of the series due to an injury, he reeled off seven wins in the next nine races to take the lead in the point standings with two rounds remaining, only to drown out his bike at the muddy finale in Indiana. Still, second overall was an amazing feat consider- ing he spotted the field an entire race. Although Baylor's style and personality may very well be the reason fans are drawn to him, that flair has had a tendency cause trouble with team managers and owners in the past. For Hawkins, it was a matter of timing. "Maybe if this would have happened three, four, five years ago it might not have worked as well as a program," said Hawkins. "I do believe when Stew came to our program, the timing was right. He has matured, and I do think there is a bit of mutual respect. I never had a problem with Stew. I watched him grow up as a kid, and as he When he's on, which is most of the time, there is no one faster in the woods than Steward Baylor right now.