WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHAN MOORE
T
here was little surprise when
Steward Baylor kicked off the
2022 Kenda AMA National
Enduro Series with a win at the Sumter
Enduro. Steward and his brother Grant
have been dominating the South Caro-
lina event for a decade and this year's
event was no different, at least for the
oldest of the two brothers, Steward.
The AmPro Yamaha rider won three of
six tests, finishing 32 seconds ahead
of runner-up Coastal Racing GasGas'
Ryder Lafferty. Grant, on the other
hand, was eighth overall, after spend-
ing the off-season chasing sponsors.
Rain leading up to the event left
Sumter's sandy soil in prime condition
for racing, as nearly 1000 riders took
to the 62-mile race, despite frigid tem-
peratures and brisk-winds dominating
the weekend.
After winning test one, Baylor strug-
gled with lappers during the second,
third and fourth tests, but he finished
off the enduro with strong wins in tests
five and six to seal the victory.
"I feel really comfortable in these
conditions; we had a really good setup
for the conditions and I had very few
mistakes," said the five-time National
Enduro Champion, Baylor. "The only
frustrating thing was dealing with
lappers. This is always a really tough
race with lappers, depending on when
you catch them and how you can get
around them efficiently without tangling
with anybody. I think it was tough for
everybody. When you catch somebody
at the wrong time it could go your way
or the opposite way."
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 6 FEBRUARY 8, 2022 P67
Steward Baylor
came out swinging
at the Sumter
National Enduro in
South Carolina.
