OFF ROAD
ROUND 1 / FEBRUARY 5, 2017
SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA
P72
2017 KENDA AMA NATIONAL ENDURO SERIES, PRESENTED BY
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY NEPG
I
t was an exciting way to start
the 2017 Kenda AMA National
Enduro Series, and it was a good
indicator as to how competitive this
year's championship will most likely
be. After six special tests and more
than 60 miles of riding in the South
Carolina woods, the Sumter Na-
tional Enduro, the opening round
of the 2017 AMA Championship,
was decided by just one second!
Yes, one second.
As usual, the enduro came down
to the final test. Steward Baylor
held a slight lead over the rest of
the 800-rider field but nearly threw
it all away because of a crash. He
hit a stump, went down, and spent
approximately 20 seconds getting
back up to speed again. Luckily for
him, the SRT Racing/KTM rider
had just enough of a cushion going
into the test that he managed to
hang on and take the win with one
second to spare over GNCC star
Kailub Russell.
"Over 60 miles of racing and
then for it to come down to one
second is pretty gnarly," said
Baylor.
Thad Duvall (Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna Off-road Racing) com-
pleted the Sumter podium and was
less than a minute behind Russell.
Defending champion Russell
Bobbitt (FMF/KTM) just missed
out finishing on the podium, and
Andrew DeLong was fifth (Air-
group Racing/Enduro Engineering
Husqvarna Racing).
Sixth went to Trevor Bollinger
(JCR Honda), followed by Cory
Buttrick (SRT/KTM), Grant Baylor
(KR4 Arrive-n-Ride Husqvarna),
Jesse Groemm (Solid Performance
KTM) and Josh Toth (N-Fab/Am
Pro Yamaha), who rounded out the
top 10 overall.
Thorn Devlin (Airgroup Racing/
Enduro Engineering Husqvarna
Racing) topped the Rekluse/
Expert AA division, and Australia
Tyla Jones won the Women's Elite
class.
STEWARD BAYLOR EDGES
OUT KAILUB RUSSELL
FOR SUMTER VICTORY
Steward Baylor
held on to win the
opening round of
the Kenda AMA
National Enduro
Series.
BAYLOR EKES
OUT WIN
