VOLUME ISSUE DECEMBER , P79
It's better to go from the front
and decide what you want to do
rather than from the back.
"At the Ironman [finale], I
got the holeshot and led for
probably half a lap. It was one
of those things where I knew
what I needed to do, and I knew
where I needed to be. The track
was fast. There was no way to
separate us. It was one of those
things where everybody was rac
-
ing hard, and I didn't really want
to be caught up in the battle of
somebody going for their sec
-
ond win [of the season]. I didn't
want to be involved in that. I
kind of held my own for a little
bit, but then I ended up drifting
back. I could still see the leaders
until going into the last lap. At
that point, I knew that I just had
to stay where I was at. Sure, I
wasn't up front in the battle, but
I didn't need to be. I was con
-
tent with where I was at. I just
spurted in. Sure, it wasn't the
storybook ending of winning at
the last race, but it's fine. Maybe
another year."
Regarding race strategy,
DeLong says there are three
stages between the green and
checkered flags. "I would say in
the beginning, I'm pretty much
riding as hard as I can. From
the start, I'm pushing hard,
but it's one of those things
where I'm still kind of tight and
don't know the track as well.
I'm not flowing with the track.
There's a difference between
the beginning part of the race
pushing and then the middle
part and the end part of the
race pushing. But we're still
pushing the whole race. In the
middle, you know the track,
where you can sprint about 90
percent. You're in the zone, if
that makes sense. Then, at the
end of the race, it's full-out. It's
like a full sprint, aggression.
You're pushing the track where,
in the middle of the race, you're
one with the track. There's no
thinking involved. That's differ
-
ent than in the middle part of
the race. You're still fresh. It's
different—different levels of
pushing. You're still pushing as
hard as you can, but it's differ
-
ent. It's hard to explain. But we
still average a very high heart
rate throughout the whole race.
I average probably 185 for three
hours, so it's still a high level."
Craig is not the only cham
-
pion in the family. His brother,
Andrew, won the AMA National
Enduro Championship in 2014.
"It's cool; it really is," said De-
Long. "The Baylor brothers have
each won the National Enduro
title, but I don't think any broth-
ers have won a GNCC, and the
other has won a National Enduro
[title]. I think we're the first ones
to do that. It's cool. I'm glad he
was there a couple of times this
year to help and be a part of it.
He's a huge part of my success
this year, but also just in gen
-
eral. It's cool I can call him up
on a Monday or a Sunday night
driving home. He's older now, so
he gives me a good outlook on
what he thinks. He can look at
stuff. He's been there."
And so now has Craig.
CN
Now, the hard part. Defending the number-one plate.
