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ROUND 10 / SEPTEMBER 11, 2022 SUMMIT BECHTEL RESERVE / BECKLEY, WEST VIRGINIA P70 OFF-ROAD I GRAND NATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY SERIES while Barnes finished ninth over- all and fourth in class. Witkowski was 11th overall and fifth in the XC2 250 Pro class. Babbitt's Online/Monster Energy/Team Green Kawasaki's Grant Davis turned in an impres- sive ride to finish 10th overall and the XC2 250 Pro class behind Girroir and then held off Phoenix Honda Racing teammates Ruy Barbosa and Cody Barnes, and AmPro Yamaha's Mike Witkowski to claim second in class and sev- enth overall. Barbosa ended up third in class and eighth overall, speed, so I just got to put it all together. I rode really good today until the last lap and just made a bonehead mistake and let those guys get away. To be third after everything I've been through, this feels good." Coastal Racing GasGas' Johnny Girroir turned in a steady ride to take fourth overall and win the XC2 250 Pro class, the defending class champ having pretty much an event-free day en route to the finish. Ricky Russell led the race after grabbing a thundering holeshot, leading the first three laps. The Coastal Racing Gas- Gas rider took a hard fall midway into lap three that took the wind out of his sails but still managed to remount with the lead. His third-lap pit stop, however, was a disaster as the dump can failed to fully open and he was forced to stop again on lap four after babying the bike for the rest of the lap to keep from running out of fuel. Russell still managed fourth in the XC1 division and fifth overall. Craig DeLong ran third on the opening lap behind Russell and Ashburn, but a crash with anoth- er rider at the top of a hill sent the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider back to the pits in search of fresh gloves and goggles. In the end he settled for sixth overall. On lap two, Babbitt's Online/ Monster Energy/Team Green Kawasaki's Lyndon Snodgrass passed Tely Racing KTM's Liam Draper to take over second in KELLEY LOOKS TOWARDS NEXT YEAR FMF KTM Factory Racing's Ben Kelley, who was leading the cham- pionship before suffering a leg injury before the summer break, says he won't return this year. "... Bad news," the defending champ said before the race. "It's game over for me this year. One last checkup this week as a Hail Mary, hoping to be released to ride, as I was willing to line up and race without any on the bike prep. I did all I could in the meantime to be as ready as possible to finish out the last four GNCCs and defend the number- one plate, but unfortunately my leg is only 60 percent healed. I'm healing surprisingly well and fast according to the doc, but the dam- age was severe and there's still lots of gaps to be filled with bone. With that being said, I'm going ahead and getting my shoulder fixed this coming week. Seventeen weeks out from my injury now and about to tack on another 12 after this shoul- der surgery before I can ride again. Going to be my longest hiatus ever. Rough, but grateful knowing I'll be able to ride again." Briefly... Thad Duvall was happy to be racing again and getting back on the podium after suffering a hip injury in round one.