Orders Hotline
0161 483 5559


All content © Bob MuIIins

2020 Round 4 of the Kenda AMA National Enduro Series Presented By Moose Racing

Toth Skins Little Raccoon National Enduro

FMF/KTM’s Josh Toth swept all six tests to claim a dominating victory at this weekend’s Little Raccoon National Enduro in Wellston, Ohio, round four of the 2020 Kenda AMA National Enduro Series.

Toth topped second-place finisher Steward Baylor by 1 minute, three seconds, which was a bit of redemption for the Connecticut rider after losing last week’s Rattlesnake Enduro in Cross Fork, Pennsylvania, in the very last test after leading all day.

“I knew coming here I didn’t want to lose,” said Toth. “I put my head down today and just stayed focused and just rode my own race. I just focused on myself. I saw the results all day, but I just tried to ride my own race.”

The win was Toth’s second of the year and third-career National Enduro victory.

Four-time National Enduro Champion, Steward Baylor, purchased a new Kawasaki on Thursday before the race and had about 15 minutes on the bike when he started the race. The South Carolina rider had no expectations coming into the event, but managed a solid runner-up finish ahead of his brother, FactoryONE Sherco rider Grant Baylor.

“I started off a little bit cautious, and then in test two I tried to race a little harder and just started making more mistakes,” said Steward. “The rest of the day I just tried to nail my lines and just ride the bike and learn the bike. The bike definitely started feeling better towards the end. I felt like I could definitely go faster. I just rode my race and did what I needed to do.”

Steward says his plan is to race all of the major brands before making a decision on a team for 2021.

Grant dropped two steps down from last week’s race, finishing on the final step of the podium at the Little Raccoon Enduro, however, he still remains atop the 2020 series standings by 12 points over Toth.

“The first test went pretty good, and then the second test was going pretty good and then halfway through I went down and kind of tweaked my knee a little bit,” said Grant. “I just lost a bunch of time in that second test. Then third test, I made it about a mile into the test and lost my shifter. So that test didn’t go well. At that point I was almost a minute down from everybody, so I just tried to salvage what I could.”

Grant finished the race 20 seconds behind his brother.

Ben Kelley was fourth. The FMF/KTM rider won the opening round of the season, but has followed that up with three-straight fourth-place finishes.

Fifth overall was XC Gear/Enduro Engineering/Husqvarna’s Ryder Lafferty. Lafferty, nephew of eight-time champ Mike Lafferty, finished third overall in the second round of the season, and has been working hard to get back on the podium.

“I started out strong,” said Lafferty. “I was kind of a little timid. I knew it was going to be slick with all the rain. I stayed on two wheels and I didn’t have any mistakes all day, but I think I lost a little bit halfway through. I just kind of kept it the same the whole day until the end when I knew that everybody was making up time on me. All in all, not too bad of a day.”

Thorn Devlin finished sixth. The Beta USA rider was fourth in test five behind Toth and the Baylor Brothers and in the overall standings he was just 29 seconds behind Kelley.

Cory Buttrick rode a privateer Husqvarna to seventh overall, just a bit under two minutes behind Devlin. Although he’s been concentrating on GNCC, Buttrick grew up in nearby Logan, Ohio, so this race was a no-brainer for him to ride.

760 Husqvarna’s Ben Nelko was eighth overall and first in the NE Pro2 class.

“The day went awesome,” said Nelko. “I came out with the first test win (in the Pro 2 class). I think I was 30 seconds ahead right off the bat, so I just kind of tried to keep it together and ride a smooth race. I’m pretty excited on a National Enduro win. This is nothing I’ve ever done before, so I’m pumped on it.”

Beta USA’s Cody Barnes was ninth overall and second in the NE Pro 2 class.

“I rode pretty solid, only a couple little mistakes here and there,” said Barnes. “My Beta 250RR was running awesome and was handling great. Overall it was a good day. Just need to limit some mistakes and go a little bit faster and hopefully come out with the win the next one.”

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Craig DeLong rounded out the top 10 and finished third in the NE Pro 2 division.

“It felt like I was riding good all day, personally,” said DeLong. “I just had some issues with some bottlenecks out there, just other people stuck in the trail. I tried to go around them and tried to do my best and sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t. It’s just the luck of the game and you can’t do anything about it. I tried as hard as I could. I made one personal mistake. I fell in the last test. That was the only crash I had all day.”

Rachel Gutish raced the day before and won the Battle of the Goats in North Carolina, and then drove all night to compete at the Little Raccoon Enduro, coming away with first in the Women’s Elite class.

“I raced the Battle of the Goats extreme enduro yesterday, so I came into this not really sure how things were going to go,” said Gutish. “I’m not on my usual race bike for this. I’m still on the bike I raced yesterday, a 200 set up for extreme. But as it turns out, I think I like this setup for this, especially today as muddy and slick as it was out there, better than I like my normal setup. I was running about second all day, and then in test five it was absolutely magical. I’ve never ridden a dirt bike that well in my life. I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to ride a dirt bike that well ever again. I was 21st overall. I have no idea how that happened. So I’m really hoping that I can maybe someday do that again, but for the time being I’m just over the moon about it.”

Enduro Engineering/ Mepmx/Fly/Grizzly Peak/Traveler’s Rest Speedway/KTM’s Mackenzie Tricker finished second, 49 seconds behind Gutish.

“I won the first test, but I was still pretty cautious,” said Tricker. “Then honestly, they just turned it up and I wasn’t ready, really. I tried really hard to sprint those last two tests and make up the time that I lost and I just didn’t have it today, but I didn’t do anything silly.”

BABB’s Racing’s Becca Sheets rounded out the podium in the Women’s Elite class.

“I came out swinging and had the lead after the second test,” said Sheets. “From there, I just had to ride good, but I got hung up in a bottleneck and there was really just nowhere for me to go, so I lost a bunch of time on one of the tests. Then on the last one I was riding really well again, but I just kissed a tree with my face and had to get back going after that. So it was a little bit tough, but I really just wanted to get on the podium today. I didn’t have a goal to win or anything. So I feel pretty good about it. I had a lot of fun.”

Kole Henslee (KTM) won the AA class ahead of Michael Pillar (Yam), with Will Sievenpiper (KTM) in third. Meanwhile, Luke Ross topped the Open A class ahead of fellow KTM riders Eric Douglass and Brad Mohr.

The Kenda AMA National Enduro Series resumes on August 23rd for the Grassman National Enduro in Chandlersville, Ohio for round five of its series. For more information on the Kenda AMA National Enduro Series go to www.nationalenduro.com .

OVERALL RESULTS

1. Josh Toth (KTM)

2. Steward Baylor (Kaw)

3. Grant Baylor (Shr)

4. Ben Kelley (KTM)

5. Ryder Lafferty (Hsq)

6. Thorn Devlin (Bet)

7. Cory Buttrick (Hsq)

8. Ben Nelko (Hsq)

9. Cody Barnes (Bet)

10. Craig DeLong (Hsq)