Russell was the last to lead
before Baylor took control. The
Washington rider, Russell, looked
very much like he might take his
second win of the season, until a
mishap on a rocky climb mid-
way into the next-to-last lap cost
him a chance at the victory and
dropped him to ninth at the finish.
Baylor went on to take the win.
"You could throw a blanket
over us for the majority of the
race today," said Baylor. "I saw
second, third, fourth come
wheel to wheel to wheel. It was
really good racing, but it was
tough to make moves out there.
It came down to just little things
and it was frustrating, but I think
that fired me up. That was when
I turned it up and I started push-
ing. When I start seeing red, I
start riding fast. So, luckily, I saw
that Ricky had that mistake on
the hill. I kind of hesitated, found
a line, and attacked when I had
to. From there, it was just trying
not to make mistakes."
Ashburn, "Mr. Consistency,"
looked as aggressive as he's
been all year and came out
swinging. Unfortunately, a few
miscues held him back.
"I was ready to go today and
tried to come out and get another
win before the series is over this
ROUND 12 / OCTOBER 9, 2022
NEWBERG, WEST VIRGINIA
P64
OFF-ROAD I GRAND NATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY SERIES
(Left) Jordan
Ashburn, who
clinched the 2022
title at the previous
race, was in the
hunt for the win all
day, but Baylor got
him near the end.
(Right) The battle
for the second- and
third-place slots
on the podium
was close. Craig
DeLong finished
just two second
behind Ashburn
and one second
ahead of Thad
Duvall for third.
Approximately 30
seconds separated
the top four racers.
