formance throughout the season
helped him secure his first-ever
AMA National Enduro Champi-
onship. The NE Pro1 rider also
has the honor of representing
the U.S. on the Trophy Team at
the ISDE once again, which will
take place in Spain in October.
"It was pretty nasty out there,"
Toth said. "The terrain is very
unforgiving when you get out in
the grass and stuff, so I just tried
to be cautious and get through
the first few tests smooth. And
honestly, that was the best thing
I could have done. It put me in
the lead early. Then, I had a big
crash in test four, but other than
that, I just kept it up and steady.
I'd like to thank my mechanic
[Mike "Napper" Napieralski]. He
does everything on my bike—re
-
builds it between the rounds,
does my suspension testing—he
knows his stuff. It's great to have
him all year, and it's been awe-
some working together. Plus, the
whole Enduro Engineering crew,
the NEPG crew that puts on
these events, NOCO, my trainer,
Steve Hatch, for helping out, and
my girlfriend, Nicole, for coming
out. There are so many people
involved in my program this year.
I don't want to leave anyone out,
but Bell's Electric and Enduro
Engineering stepped up and let
me do what I want to do. So, it's
been awesome."
After collecting his first win
of the season at the prior round,
Steward Baylor Jr. was eager
to continue that momentum
aboard his Red Bear Racing
Kawasaki. He fell shy of that,
taking the runner-up spot at the
KTM Zink Ranch National. Just
22 seconds off Toth's pace for
the day, Baylor Jr. pushed hard
from the start. He claimed sec
-
ond in class through the opening
test, third through the next three
sections, and ended the day on a
high note with the test-five win.
"I felt kind of comfortable all
day," Steward Baylor Jr. said.
"The track was a good bit differ
-
ent than previous times in Tulsa.
We've definitely had everything
from mud to dust here, and
today was a very good race
-
course—a little bit dry in places,
but, overall, the dirt was perfect."
Ricky Russell has had a chal
-
lenging season. He started the
year with a fourth-place finish
VOLUME ISSUE SEPTEMBER , P39
Rachael Archer
clinched the Women's
Elite Championship
with another win in
Oklahoma.
