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INTERVIEW I 2023 GRAND NATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPION CRAIG DELONG P74 you can always be better. That's something that my dad has al- ways kind of instilled in me and also my brother. It was always you might have won today, but you could always be better. You could always be in better shape. That's probably a good thing, but it also can be a bad thing. Like at Ironman, where I won the championship, I finished eighth, and I was emotional at first, but honestly, I wasn't really emotion - al later. I expected to be kind of crying and really happy. I could have been numb to it, maybe be- cause I didn't really expect it at the beginning of the season, but I expected more, if that makes sense, just from myself." A fast start to the season was a confidence-builder for DeLong. "It was already the third round that I got my first win. I got fifth at the first one and then I got third at the second one. Stew [Steward Baylor] and Ben [Kel - ley] were kind of the first and second. They were already dis- tancing themselves a little bit, with a little bit of a points gap. I knew it was going to be tough, but it was one of those things where I had to make it happen. To put myself back in that battle, I had to win or be done." DeLong held a 23-point gap over runner-up Steward Baylor in the series finale. If Baylor won the race, all DeLong needed to do was finish in the top 10. No pressure, right? Even a 23-point lead would have some pressure attached for most racers, but De - Long handled the situation well. "Obviously, it's pressure," said DeLong. "You have to go out and do it. But at the same time, that's what I was in Florida for, for the last three months at that point, working my butt off to the point where it's like, you don't go through all that work for nothing, but you're down there so you can win races and put that hard work to use." The 2023 season was among the most competitive of all time, with eight different win - ners during the 12-round series. "It's pretty crazy, actually," said DeLong. "I sit back, and I watch the videos and look at the different people that have won this year. It's crazy, actual - ly, to think about it. Even if you compare it to a supercross or anything like that, with maybe three or four people that win. We had seven in the first seven races. That was unheard of. It was one of those things where I got that first one, and I almost went backward. I just needed to find myself in front again. Kind of went through a lull there in the middle of the season, but to Once he gets out in front, DeLong (342) proves challenging to pass. DeLong is the third first-time GNCC Champion in as many years.