AMSOIL AMA GNCC SERIES PRESENTED BY MAXXIS
VOL. 51 ISSUE 11 MARCH 18, 2014 P101
brakes at all and then I got stuck
a few times on the last lap, so I
lost that minute for the overall,
but I'll just have to come back
and get it next time."
Baylor's ride will play a fac-
tor in the overall GNCC National
Championship, as the points are
based off of overall finishes. His
strong ride took away one addi-
tional championship point from
Mullins, who finished sixth overall
for the day. Despite a rough day,
Mullins still holds the points lead
heading into round three.
"Towards the end of the sec-
ond-to-last lap I got into the lead
and then I picked a bad line and
got stuck," Mullins said. "I found
my way halfway through the last
lap and was feeling decent, but
I'm not really sure what hap-
pened, I got passed by Ashburn,
Whibley and Strang. I had a rough
day but it's still early and I'm glad I
got some points."
AmPro Yamaha's Ashburn was
perhaps the most solid and con-
sistent rider of the day, keeping
himself within podium conten-
tion throughout the afternoon.
Ashburn's riding style lends itself
to conditions such as deep ruts
and slick mud, as the Tennessee-
native has a strong build and im-
pressive bike control in even the
worst of conditions.
"I had a pretty good day, just
tried to pick good lines and run
my own race," Ashburn said. "It
feels really good to be back on
the podium again. I'm just look-
ing forward to see what the rest
of the year has in store."
It was a tough day for both
the Factory Husqvarna's Andrew
Delong and RideMPS.com/
AMSOIL/Honda's Thad DuVall,
as both riders experienced me-
chanical issues early in the race.
DuVall was able to complete one
of five laps, while Delong's day
was over before the first lap was
complete.
Factory FMF/KTM's Steward
Baylor secured sixth place in XC1
and eighth place overall for the
day despite running into issues
with his vision.
"I feel like I had the speed and I
would catch up to those guys but
something stupid would always
happen," Steward Baylor said.
"It's hard to pick your lines when
you're by yourself and you can't
see. I couldn't keep goggles all
day, I should have had different
lenses. Every time I would catch
the lead group everything would
go downhill. I would lose two
minutes and then make it up in no
time. You know, it really made me
mad when Grant came by!"
Johnny Campbell Racing
(JCR) Honda's Chris Bach took
seventh in the class and ninth
overall, while Rockstar Energy/
WMR/KTM's Ryan Sipes fin-
ished eighth in the class and
fourteenth overall for the day.
Maxxis/KLIM/DirtWise KTM
Race Team's Rory Mead had a
good battle going with XC2 Pro
Lites winner Baylor through the
first half of the race. Mead made
a couple of mistakes to allow Bay-
lor to gain a comfortable gap and
the New Zealand native cruised it
on for second place in the class
and seventh overall. With 1-2 fin-
ishes in the class, Mead holds
on to the points lead after two
rounds.
It was a big day for XC2 Pro
Lites rookie Trevor Bollinger, who
maintained a top-five position
all afternoon en route to a third-
Paul Whibley scored a cautious
fourth overall.
