2021 Hoosier GNCC | Race Report & Highlights

May 5, 2021

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PHOTOS & VIDEO | GNCC

The 2021 Grand National Cross Country Series made its first of two visits to Ironman Raceway this season for the 2021 Hoosier GNCC, the sixth round of the East Coast off-road tour. Riders were routed to a slightly different layout than that of the famed fall race, but the springtime visit to Indiana delivered in terms of excitement and championship implications.

A dominant showing in Crawfordsville earned Stu Baylor his fourth wins in a row. Baylor got into the lead in the early moments of the long race, then came under fire from Layne Michael and spent the first half of the race battling with his AmPro Yamaha teammate. Michael took over the top spot for a brief period, until Baylor mounted a charge, got back around, and rode off to a 35-second margin of victory. This was a big win for Baylor, as it helped close the deficit in the championship (he missed the opening round of the series with an infection) and puts him within five points of the series lead.

But Benjamin Kelley isn’t going to let his spot at the top of the standings go easily. The FMF/KTM Factory Racing rider was shuffled back on the opening lap, a disadvantage that was made worse by the dust and tricky track conditions, but he worked his way through the pack and made key passes late in the race to reach second place. Kelley maintains the championship lead going into the middle of the season.

Layne Michael spent his three-hour race locked in a battle for position, first with Baylor for the lead and then with Kelley for the runner-up spot. The AmPro Yamaha rider didn’t come out ahead in either, but his solid effort put him on the podium for the first time this season.

Josh Strang’s pursuit of a career-first XC1 title hit a snag at round six. The Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy/Kawasaki Team Green rider held fourth place early, only to have a busted chain guide force him into the work area for a lengthy repair. He would eventually rejoin the race and finish the XC1 Class in tenth place.

Coastal GASGAS Factory Racing’s Johnny Girroir scored his fifth XC2 Class win of the season, a victory that he earned by starting the race in the top five and going for the lead in the closing laps. AmPro Yamaha’s Mike Witkowski controlled the pack for most of the afternoon, then got into an all-out battle with Girroir to the checkered flag; the two crossed the finish line within a second of each other, with Girroir ahead.

Defending champion Craig DeLong was hampered by illness at the Indiana race, which kept the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider from finishing near the front. DeLong’s sixth-place result allowed Girroir to further extend the points gap in the standings.

2021 HOOSIER GNCC

XC1 Pro Event Results

1. Steward Baylor
2. Benjamin Kelley
3. Layne Michael
4. Thad Duvall
5. Jordan Ashburn
6. Grant Baylor
7. Trevor Bollinger
8. Ricky Russell
9. Joshua Toth
10. Josh Strang

XC2 250 Pro Event Results

1. Jonathan Girroir
2. Michael Witkowski
3. Cody Barnes
4. Liam Draper
5. Thorn Devlin
6. Craig DeLong
7. Angus Riordan
8. Simon Johnson
9. Ruy Barbosa
10. Brenden Poling