VOLUME 59 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 13, 2022 P91
"You've also got to focus," said
Ashburn. "It's mental focus and
being able to race that hard for
three hours is tough. It really
is. There're so many things just
thrown at you throughout an
event. You couldn't even count
on your hands the number of
close calls or things that happen
during a race that you just brush
them off and never even think
about it. You just keep on going
and forget about it."
After the injuries to a few
top contenders throughout the
season, there seemed to be a
shift in strategy among many
remaining.
"I wasn't going to put it all out
there unless I had to," admitted
Ashburn. "I wanted to be at the
next race, and that was the moti-
vating factor this year, especially
the way everything panned out
for a lot of other guys. It was like,
I'll take what comes to me and
go with it."
In true underdog fashion, the
most eye-opening aspect of Ash-
burn's championship run is that
he and his Manga1 Motorsports
team consistently beat out all of
the factory teams, a significant
accomplishment in arguably the
biggest off-road series in the
country, if not the world.
"We're a pretty small organiza-
tion here," Ashburn said of his
Manga1 Motorsports team. "We
had less stuff, for sure. It just
comes down to everyone on this
team has the same goal and we
all want to win. We kind of make
up in some areas where we're
short in others. I think [team
owner] Chris Landers put this
whole thing together last year and
we have plans of winning some
races and getting the bike on
the top of the podium, and being
able to cap off the second year
with a national championship is
Ashburn has ridden for several
factory teams, but he nabbed
the 2022 GNCC Championship
aboard a privately funded outfit,
Magna1 Motorsports.
