Kelley Captures The Snowshoe
A
fter nine races, FMF/KTM's
Ben Kelley became only the
second person to capture two
wins in this year's Grand National
Cross-Country (GNCC) Series af-
ter a come-from-behind victory at
this weekend's Snowshoe GNCC
at Snowshoe Mountain Resort in
Snowshoe, West Virginia.
The Snowshoe GNCC is
considered the most challeng-
ing race on then GNCC schedule,
and three days of rain preceding
the event opened the flood gates
for yet another muddy round and
the conditions made for a chal
-
lenging day of racing.
Craig DeLong came into the
event with plenty of momentum
after grabbing his second win
of the season at the previous
High Voltage race. The Rockstar
Energy Husqvarna rider grabbed
the holeshot to start the race,
however, Ricky Russell, who pre-
viously won the race in 2017 on
an AmPro Yamaha (his current
sponsor) was soon in the lead
and pulling away.
The Snowshoe race is per-
haps the most technical on
the schedule, recalling the old
Blackwater 100, with a technical,
rocky, rooty and muddy course,
and by the time the riders arrived
at Howard's Hole for the first
time, the order would be Magna1
Motorsports Husqvarna's Ash
-
burn in the lead, followed by Tely
Energy Racing/ Rocky Mountain
ATV-MC KTM Racing's Steward
Baylor (who was running a trials
tire) and DeLong. However, Rus-
sell took the lead in the XC1 Pro
division by the end of the lap,
with Phoenix Honda Racing's
Ruy Barbosa leading the XC2 Pro
250 class.
Near the end of lap one, the
order was Russell, Ashburn
(who won the race last year) and
Baylor. Meanwhile, DeLong was
starting to drop off the pace. He
was followed by Enduro Engi
-
neering/GasGas' Josh Toth, who
was riding a two-stroke. Just be-
fore the end of the lap, Ashburn
WIND
IN THE
P32
Only the second repeat
winner so far this season,
KTM's Ben Kelley celebrates
his victory at the Snowshoe
GNCC.
PHOTOS: KEN HILL
