sketchy track out there."
After grabbing the holeshot
and leading the entire race, De-
Long made a critical mistake on
the next-to-last lap, going off the
course and allowing Grant to take
the lead. "He made a little mis-
take and I made the pass for the
lead," said Grant. "After that, I kind
of just tried to manage that lead.
I could see Craig about five to ten
seconds behind me there until
about the last lap, then the last
lap I just put the hammer down
and gave it everything I had out
there for that final lap."
DeLong's runner-up finish
proved his win two weeks ago
was no fluke.
"That was tough," said DeLong.
"This place is never easy; I knew
that coming in. I did what I need
-
ed to do. I got a good start. We
worked on a lot of starts the last
two weeks and it paid off. I kind
of got out there to a decent lead,
but I saw my gap kind of going
down and down. I could see GB
out in the field. I know how he is.
When he gets rolling, he's rolling.
I did the best I could to get ready
for him because I knew the pace
was going to pick up. I hung onto
him there until about the last lap.
I was hurting. It was a tough day.
Happy to get back on the box.
DeLong is looking forward to
the series moving northward.
"In the past, I've never quite
shined down here in the South,
so I'm happy to get north," added
DeLong. "That will make it more
interesting. I think it will be a
good rest of the season."
FMF/KTM's Ben Kelley, who
finished third, took over the points
lead and is now sitting three
points ahead of DeLong in the
championship standings.
"Today was gnarly; that's the
fastest paced track we've had all
year, so I was a little out of my
element," said Kelley. "Craig ripped
a holeshot and just put a good
pace from the beginning. I worked
my way into third behind Ricky
Russell (AmPro Yamaha) and Ben
Nelko (Tely Energy Racing Rocky
Mountain ATV-MC KTM) was there
in third for a while. They were
going really fast. It was kind of
the three of us running a train the
first two laps. I fell into third there
behind Ricky and then Craig kind
of gapped us, then Grant passed
me like I was standing still. I just
had nothing for him. I tried to hang
with him that lap, but he kind of
just slowly pulled away."
VOLUME ISSUE APRIL , P45
One of those previous
five winners, Craig Delong,
finished second, 37
seconds behind Baylor.
Ben Kelley is the new
points leader in this
year's highly competitive
GNCC series.
