IN
THE
WIND
P40
Grant Baylor capped off the
2015 Kenda AMA National
Enduro Championship with
a win at the Muddobbers
National in Indiana.
GRANT BAYLOR MASTERS MUDDOBBER'S
NATIONAL ENDURO
E
ven though the 2015 Kenda
AMA National Enduro Cham-
pionship had already produced
its new title holder—Kailub Rus-
sell—at the penultimate round of
the series two weeks ago, the
Muddobbers National Enduro
in Upton, Indiana on October 11
came to an exciting conclusion
with AmPro Yamaha's Grant Bay-
lor squeaking out a victory over
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's
Josh Strang by just one second.
Strang came out swinging by
topping the first special test, but
Baylor chipped away at Strang's
lead and eventually moved to
the front. Baylor then headed
into the final test of the day
with a seemingly comfortable
23-second cushion over Strang.
The Aussie gave it all he had
in that final test, chopping 22
seconds off Baylor's lead, but
it wasn't enough to prevent the
Yamaha rider from winning his
first National of the year and the
second of his career.
The win also helped Baylor
secure second place in the
championship, finishing 20
points behind Russell, who
skipped the enduro because
of a knee injury. Baylor went
into the Muddobbers carrying
a small points advantage over
former champ Russell Bobbitt
for second place in the series,
but Bobbitt could not really fight
for the position after coming
into the race under the weather.
Bobbitt's best test was a fourth
but he still finished ahead of
Moto-Tech KTM's Steward Bay-
lor, who finished fourth overall
in Indiana, by just two points for
third place in the championship.
Fifth in the championship
went to Husqvarna's Andrew
DeLong who did not compete in
Indiana due to an injury. He had
just enough points to finish out
the year ahead of sixth-place,
Beta USA's Cory Buttrick, who
enjoyed the best ride of his year
with third overall in Indiana.
AirGroup Racing's Nick
Fahringer, MotoSport.com/
Yamaha's Brad Bakken, Bobbitt,
Drew Higgins (the top Expert-AA
rider), KTM rider Broc Hepler
and AmPro Yamaha's Ricky Rus-
sell completed the top 10 overall
at the Muddobbers.
KTM rider Higgins out-dueled
season-long rival Evan Smith for
top Rekluse Expert-AA honors.
Smith ended up second for the
year, with AmPro Yamaha's Ryan
Belue taking third. Both Higgins
and Smith will graduate to the
AA division next year. CN
