VOLUME ISSUE JANUARY , P73
G
rant Baylor was deer hunting in Missouri
on the Saturday morning of the Okla-
homa Enduro. The next day, he wrapped
up the 2022 AMA National Enduro Cham-
pionship with one round remaining on the
schedule. Obviously, the South Carolina native
knows how to juggle relaxation with work and
still stay focused on the task at hand.
Nicknamed Grizzly, as much for his appear-
ance as for his riding style, Grant claimed his
second National Enduro title in the last three
years, while his brother, Steward, has won
every other year since 2017, which means
between the two, they have accounted for the
last six National Enduro titles in a row. That's
quite a domination for one family.
In 2022, Grant beat the factory teams riding
as a privateer with the help of Rev Motor-
sports GasGas and co-owners Chad Sweitzer
and Craig Hol. Up to that point, it had been a
turbulent couple of years.
"In 2021, we thought we were sponsored
by [brewing company] Yuengling," said Bay-
lor. "But then we roll into the first round of
the season, and Yuengling calls up and goes,
'We don't sponsor anybody as far as mo-
torsports events go,'" said Baylor. "It turns
out, Yuengling is against any racing events.
So, that kind of caused a little bit of drama
and stress at the beginning of the year. Ap-
parently, somebody reached out to us and
sent us a deal that was supposed to be with
Yuengling. It was a full-on, legit-looking con-
tract they had forged. [Someone] had it fake
notarized and all the signatures were forged.
For me, at the end of the day, I still just had
to go ride my dirt bike. So, this year [2022] ,
basically without much outside help, Chad
and Craig stepped up and made good on
their commitment, and we were able to win
the AMA National Enduro title."
But 2022 didn't get off to such a great start
for Grant, either.
"At the first National Enduro round in
Sumter, I finished eighth," said Grant. "I just
had caught Covid for the first time, three
weeks before the race, and it just kept me off
the bike leading up to the race. I wasn't able
to ride; I wasn't able to train like I wanted.
Then when the time came for the race, I rode
a little bit on the Thursday before the race.
Then I tried to save myself for the race, but I
just didn't feel very good. I wasn't expecting
a great result, so I just salvaged what I could.
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHAN MOORE
"GRIZZLY"
WE CATCH UP WITH THE MAN CALLED GRIZZLY, THE 2022
AMA NATIONAL ENDURO CHAMPION GRANT BAYLOR
