a good battle with Russell that
ended with a fall for DeLong.
"Russell kind of got away from
me a little bit midway into the
race, and I had to work to reel
him back in," said DeLong. "You
couldn't really get alongside
and make a pass in the fields,
so I tried to run it in on him with
three turns to go. We were side
by side, and we kind of came
together, and I went down. But it
was a good battle. The last two
races are a step in the right direc
-
tion and are much needed."
Phoenix
Honda Racing's Mike
Witkowski slotted into fifth,
marking his third time finishing
there this season—a picture of
field. He finished 11 seconds be
-
hind the two riders ahead of him.
"It's
nice to finally get up there
this year," said Russell. "It's been
a struggle. I felt like I should
have been right here in this spot,
battling for wins the whole time.
I banged myself up in Florida,
and it was a bummer because I
was in great shape, riding well,
and having a lot of fun. But this
is a good start to the road back."
Fresh off a podium finish at
the Dukes GNCC two weeks ear
-
lier, Craig DeLong backed it up
with
another gritty performance
in Tennessee, fighting his way to
a hard-earned fourth by making
the most of a strong start and
that was string and ribbon, but it
was marked like that with ribbon
there before the race.
"[Overall], I rode a good race,"
said Baylor. "The only reason I
didn't pull that one off is be
-
cause of a bad line. But it was
a good, positive day compared
to
some of the others. It was
sketchy out there, and we were
pushing the limits. I'm not
pleased with the second, but it
is what it is."
To express his disappoint
-
ment, Baylor did not join the po-
dium celebration after the race.
At
36, Russell showed that age
is just a number and that hard
work often evens the playing
ROUND 6 / MAY 3, 2026
OLD GRAY RACEWAY / MONTEREY, TENNESSEE
OFF-ROAD I PROGRESSIVE GRAND NATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY SERIES
P104
Jason Tino won the 250cc class in sixth overall.
