ting up a battle for third. Russell
made the pass on lap four, and
moments later, after sustained
pressure, Ashburn slipped past
Baylor to take the lead.
Kelley suffered his incident
during the sixth of seven laps
while holding down sixth, sev
-
eral seconds ahead of Draper.
Six seconds separated the
top four riders on the final lap of
the race as Baylor picked up the
pace, retaking the lead ahead of
Ashburn, only to have Ashburn
retaliate later in the lap, passing
Baylor for the lead and ultimate
-
ly edging the South Carolina
rider for the win by the smallest
of margins.
as Russell and FMF/KTM Fac-
tory rider Grant Davis went down
in the first turn as a spattering
of rain overnight made for a
slick first lap.
By the five-mile mark, Baylor
carved his way to the front,
demoting DeLong to second as
Ashburn and Phoenix Honda's
Mike Witkowski stayed in pur
-
suit, with the front four crossing
lap one nose to tail ahead of
Kelley and Russell.
Trouble struck again early
on lap two when Davis crashed
and was shaken up, ending his
day. Up front, Ashburn began
reeling in Baylor, while Russell
charged toward DeLong, set
-
Coupled with a DNF from
former points leader Ben Kelley
(the FMF KTM Factory rider hit
a tree on lap six but made it
back to the pits under his own
power), Ashburn's win vaulted
him into the series point lead by
16 points over AmPro Yamaha's
Liam Draper, who was seventh
on the day.
It all started with Craig
DeLong exploding off the line
at the green flag, muscling his
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna into
the lead and dragging Kelley
and Ashburn into a brutal, rock-
choked opening lap. Baylor slot
-
ted in next, shadowed closely by
Draper, while early chaos struck
ROUND 6 / MAY 3, 2026
OLD GRAY RACEWAY / MONTEREY, TENNESSEE
OFF-ROAD I PROGRESSIVE GRAND NATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY SERIES
P102
Baylor led at
one point near
the end but
finished a close
second after a
controversial
last lap.
