BY SHAN MOORE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEN HILL
T
he Grand National-Cross
Country Series returned from
its annual summer break for
this weekend's Mountaineer GNCC
at Summit Bechtel Reserve in Beck-
ley, West Virginia, where Steward
Baylor grabbed a come-from-behind
victory in just his second race back
from a neck injury he sustained at
the first race of the season. The Am-
Pro Yamaha rider fought through the
pack after getting off to a poor start
and ran down early leader Coastal
Racing GasGas' Ricky Russell to
take the lead at the halfway mark.
From there, Baylor pulled away on
the slippery and deeply rutted Sum-
mit Bechtel Reserve course to top
series points leader Jordan Ashburn
(Magna1 Motorsports/Husqvarna) by
19 seconds at the finish.
"We had a really rough first lap,"
said Baylor. "We made a tire choice
that I was really concerned about
after the first two laps. We had some
fresh trail out there, and it just wasn't
down to that hard base yet. I swear,
I couldn't keep it on two wheels, and
I crashed four or five times. Finally,
the track polished off and the tire
became the right call. It's the same
tire we won on the last three years
here. Once we found our groove,
I got some clear air and got mov-
ing forward. Then, I got a pit board
saying minus 20, minus 15, and then
I was on Ricky [Russell] at the rock
garden. It looked like he was getting
tired."
ROUND 10 / SEPTEMBER 11, 2022
SUMMIT BECHTEL RESERVE / BECKLEY, WEST VIRGINIA
P66
OFF-ROAD I GRAND NATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY SERIES
BAYLOR
FIGHTS
Steward Baylor starts off final stretch
