slam somebody to make a pass.
It was getting ugly out there. I
didn't make any friends.
"As much as the track got
slowed down, it was ridiculous
that we couldn't make any moves.
I was thoroughly upset with that.
But too little, too late. I knew I was
the fastest guy on the track, so
we're ready for the next ones."
AmPro Yamaha's Ricky Rus
-
sell grabbed the holeshot at
the start of the race, leading
the XC1 class into the woods
for the first lap. Russell looked
fast, and even when passed by
Girroir in the woods, latched
onto the KTM rider and kept
the pace, along with defending
series champ Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna's Craig DeLong fol
-
lowing in third. Russell went
down midway into the race,
eventually finishing eighth, while
DeLong messed with a tree, and
he and his mangled bike fin-
ished outside the top 10 overall.
"With two laps to go," DeLong
said, "I was pressuring second
and made a little mistake—I
wasn't riding over my head but
had a big crash. The bike took a
big impact, so I did what I could
for the last lap and a half, but my
bike was twisted up, and I fell
right back. It was a frustrating
day in the end to start my title
defense the way that I did, but it
was just one of those days."
Grant Baylor, third overall fin
-
isher, had a similar story as his
brother, Steward. The Babbitt's
Racing Online Monster Energy
Team Green Kawasaki rider got
off to a slow start.
"It was a crazy day out there
for me," said Grant. "I just got a
little nervous there on the start
-
ing line and chopped the throttle
before the bike fired. It took
probably five seconds for the
bike to fire up. I was dead last off
the start. I just started picking my
way through the pack. Me and
Evan Smith (Husqvarna) actu
-
ally rode together for almost the
whole race, until about the last
lap there. I caught up to Jordan
Ashburn (Coastal GasGas Fac
-
tory Racing) and made a move on
him. I had to thread the needle to
get by him. Partway through that
last lap, I knew I was rolling faster
VOLUME ISSUE FEBRUARY , P53
Like his brother
Steward, Grant
Baylor got off to a
back-of-the-pack
start but finished off
strong in third.
