2020 GNCC Live Round 11 - Mason-Dixon Pro Bike Race

factory connection fxr the 180 of cody hosts out of zinnia ohio on the ktm backed by factory connection and ray close the 252 of adam odell out of east concord new york who wants it get you some hole shut up for grabs going four wide three wide getting squirrely it's gonna be a dusty one we thought there'd be rain so far so good this dust gonna be a major factor here today as we turn our attention to row number 11 the open b class and ricky terry lets us know we're ready to go in 10 seconds i thought that was something else uh the number 91 of max turkey out of adco new jersey on the steve hatch toy tech factory connections back machine the 329 a kyle gray out of waynesburg pennsylvania the 367 of jordan miller out of acme pennsylvania on the miller transport llc machine oh all kinds of cattywampus oh and they go down at the hole shot this one's getting wild i believe that was the five five five of colton hawk out of petersburg by god virginia snagging it right there and we turn our attention back to ricky towery we doggy row 16 senior b ready to roll in ten seconds 109 a gene swine out of sarville pennsylvania the 130 leon whitaker had a war in ohio on the srt off-road o'neill racing back machine brent del sol joseton ramos matt stolter on the 369 on a chess work pa rip it rolling who wants it that's the 3 57 snagging the whole shot right there ricky towering crew letting them know to shut them down shut them down and we're ready to go with the four stroke b lights as ricky towery signals to these guys it's time to race in ten seconds jesse groves out of morgantown west virginia how about that hometown get you some 214 austin hoveater on arthurdale west virginia austin sentinel the 225 at a traveler's rep south carolina 226 at trevor golden had a dunbar pa on the ride on moto morgantown power sports but look at that dust boys jousers getting sideways right at the whole shot well second and third that's going to create a big gap early for our leader a couple rows left here the 250b class coming up next warren friend oh might want to do a 10 second call here 10 seconds warren friend out in front austin glass out in front it's not time for that the 171 warden friend out there to morgantown west virginia on the biggie smalls racing back machine dunlop and fxr austin glass jacob alts uh wyatt schumann look at him jocking for this position one rider goes down the five 5-17 snagging the whole shot right there 6-14 gets right around him that's cameron madison moving into the lead early and we turn our attention now to the 150 b class you boys ready ricky tallery says are you ready 10 seconds the 173 at tanner miller out of morgantown west virginia hayden serena on the 208 out of harrisburg on the ktm peyton guinn the 321 out of parkersburg west virginia clayton robbins on the 354 out of chamong new jersey the 374 of jameson hanlon toby cleveland on the fort 13 who wants it get you some it is toby cleveland aboard the 413 snagging the whole shot early in this one doggy we got ourselves a clear track i hope you guys enjoyed it i'm not butter rodney's butter i am imitation butter that's it for the starting line i believe on racertv.com we're going to take things to commercial and when we come back myself and johnny g will be taking you through today's parts unlimited mason dixon gncc [Music] when you crave the canyon passes rocky trails rutted tracks the podiums and personal records it becomes part of you the choice now is you become a wanderer or the wanderer you just need to ride where you belong [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] born of family values and a homegrown work ethic kinetic gasket seals your machine so you can focus on the finish line kinetic gaskets are the competitive standard for racers who demand the very best kinetic gaskets are constructed from superior materials designed to perform in the most demanding environment whether it's championships on the line for a day in the dirt with friends professionals and enthusiasts depend on kinetic kinetic gaskets sealing championships since 1989. [Music] [Applause] wow it's hard to put our adventures on hold but now is the perfect time to prepare for their return amsoil has your back with fast free shipping and ordering has never been easier just look up your vehicle select your product add an oil change to your cart and check out spend fifty dollars on amsoil products and shipping is on us order now at amsoil.com even when you're the best you never stop striving to be better with over 40 years of experience in motorcycle sales and service we know racing our inventory of yamaha motorcycles sport bikes dirt bikes atvs and side by sides is extensive and constantly changing stop by lojack cycle sales today in torrentium pennsylvania and visit our online inventory at www.lojax.com yamaha wise ease it's why we ride hi my name is andrea lee the director of ontrack school how would you like to go to a school where we take into consideration how students learn best well we do that because we find if we can build the curriculum around the things you are interested in you're going to do a better job the mission at ontrack school is that educational success is possible while chasing your dreams not only will our staff help students to achieve success they will cheer you on to the finish line we encourage you to check out ontrack school at ontrackschool.com where we can help you chase your dreams and still get a quality education we are american motorcyclists we are members of the american motorcyclist association racers fans and crew we come together for this sport we love to race together to grow together we start young and not so young we race motorcycles and atvs we become friends we become family we compete for weekend bragging rights and national championships we make memories on the toughest off-road courses in the country and on the best motocross tracks in the world some of us aspire to the speed and poise of road racing for the fierce competitiveness of american flat track and we honor our greatest champions in the ama motorcycle hall of fame through it all we cheer we win and we lose we are racing we are the ama race with us be part of the greatest sport in the world be an american motorcyclist join us today at join www.amajoy.com now yeah welcome back to gncc live i'm mikey waynes alongside uh mr johnny gallagher himself as well as uh mark mark hyde i hope i'm saying water champion five times four times four times i did the same thing again but there was back in the day there was a lot of hubbub about the drive for five the uh oh yeah the one for the thumb and there was a lot of times mark was real close to that fifth black water back when i was a youngster and uh awesome have you in the booth with us today mark well it's great to be here you know it's uh i always enjoy getting back to the gncc's it's you know what got me where i am today so uh always happy to fill in and do whatever i can to help the series well we'll wait and i think mikey has some updates with us on how those starts went and uh also how things are going but while we wait we uh watch here it looks like we are at the eight mile marker um as it comes and they've got a pretty steep uphill right after this we're watching some of our further back riders which means our leaders should be just about coming into the bike only section of this uh mason dixon gncc course but uh mark tell us a little bit about what you're here doing this weekend with ktm and uh we'll we'll get right into the action here in a few minutes okay well i run the ride orange program for ktm which is uh mostly our demo activities but as everybody knows with the coronavirus that's really not happening so we've got our semi full parts full of staff and i talked to our president john hines who's actually here today out enjoying the racing i said let's go to the gfcc's let's make some stuff happen so we're here uh helping out customers i've got some of the new 2021s under the the awning uh we've got text there both hospital and ktm tech so if you have a question a problem an issue we have parts so uh we've already helped a bunch of guys over the weekend in fact the last three events we've done uh we even had a guy come in this morning with missing a front fender during morning race uh in about two minutes we had a new front fender on he was on his way so we able to do that and again just uh a lot of questions you know help people with their bike setup you know they've come to the track for the first time uh you know we also have people on our staff like mike lafferty eight-time national enduro champ so if somebody wants you know what tires should i run how should i set my suspension up what should i expect we have a lot of knowledge under the tent to help guys have a better weekend and uh one thing we've been uh doing a lot of air filters this weekend as well imagine that that speaks volumes to the conditions out there today mark and again thank you for being with us this weekend and uh representing ktm obviously if you're ktm owner or potentially want to be a ktm owner i'm sure there's plenty information and resources available for you there at that trackside support semi and uh as mark was saying a lot of air filter changes this weekend mikey it is a dusty one i can tell you from yesterday and being out there during this morning's 10 am race we're looking here at the eight mile marker in the monster mile and folks it might look a little dusty there but this is one of the sections of the course that is not all that dusty compared to some of what's out there but uh mike i think you also have some updates on for us on some things that have already happened so early in this race a little bit transpired couple little small penalties out there which in the big picture things probably won't be huge but ben kelly uh false start if you will as well as evan earl so they'll both have i believe i think correct me from wrong johnny but they'll come into the finish uh they'll be held up i think each 15 seconds because they were able to they started the machine they did not take off which would be a 30 second penalty so they'll have a 15 second penalty when they come around with a finish lap one so essentially the way that that rule reads um i don't know what verbatim but i know what it the intention of the rule is is if you start your bike and take off uh that is a 30 second penalty if you take off with the rest of the pack now they do have the opportunity to penalize you more so if you would start your bike take off and you would come through on the first lap with a minute lead and say a dust dress they will hold you until you're back in the pack however if you don't seem to gain any advantage it's a 30 second penalty where the 15 second penalty which it sounds like will be assessed comes in is if you start your bike shut it off and then re-fire it you're basically penalized at 15 seconds for kind of disrupting the flow of the riders around you here we are at the 11 mile marker and judging by the way people are reacting we are looking at our leaders and there it is the 523 ampro yamaha of lane michael who came out with the lead out of those first couple turns and he's making dust making tracks we saw him on screen a little bit ago and he had a little bit of a gap over the second place rider which is right here and that is the 114 of josh strang the freight train out there trying to get maximum points today keep in mind folks that is the only rider left with the mathematical shot to beat that man right there caleb russell caleb russell in search of another gncc championship and now we can check the math but i believe he has uh he just needs to finish within 17 points i believe it's within 17 points of josh string so at the end of the day when we tally him up and here we see coming into the uh this looks like coming into the finish almost but um looks like thad duval there so was that not our leaders with i i know thad was right behind uh caleb so that would have been back there we go there's caleb so caleb and fourth mikey take it over i'm all lost they switch shots on it oh no and the computer's not working okay so we do know our top there it is fat duval in fourth and a big welcome back to gncc racing for thad duvall and i'll tell you what we are in thad duval country right here uh you know there is a lot of fans that are excited to see this number 989 rockstar racing husqvarna back out here and uh you know mark as as we watch this on screen that has been out virtually the entire season what are your thoughts as you know a former uh xc1 or back then double a rider you know to sit out the entire season the rest of these guys are out there battling what's it gonna take for him to get back up in there and mix it up with these guys well i think in dad's case he rode a local race two weeks ago and so he you know we know he's healthy to do a two-hour race and then he was at the national neuro last weekend and got third overall and so that shows the enduro's have more of a sprint pace going on so he knows he has the speed to run with his guys his big thing is the conditioning but the nice thing with that he's ridden the series for many years he knows the tracks he knows his body he knows his bike so he'll get a good feel where he's at he knows what to do especially and the fans i think will really help him you know west virginia he's from west virginia so he'll have a lot of fan support so maybe at the end that'll help carry him through a little bit but i think dad you know get a good start ride smart and uh just see where he is after the the you know when the two lap card comes out see what he's got left well and right now he's doing a great job of it within subtle leaders in that fourth place spot we know our top three uh out front lane michael second place josh strang third place uh was caleb russell and then fourth place is right there thad duvall so the boys are back at it caleb and third fat and fourth and it looks like jordan ashburn there in fifth and uh oh there's a you know who that is that's the 514 ampro yamaha stu baylor there in that sixth spot so he is deep in the dust of jordan ashburn and he's badly wanting to get to the front the last the oh it almost looked like he went down there but he saved it that just shows you just how hard baylor is riding right now two wins coming into this one straight off of basically as he would say off the couch obviously he's been riding yeah you know been riding for months been training been been racing uh even the national enduro is coming in he jumped through some different bikes and ultimately landed on that uh and pro yamaha team for a one ride trial uh won the race came back two weeks later one again and here he is now in the fifth place spot so early six play spot so that is your top six as they run here in that xc1 and we believe overall now we will have to keep an eye on the xc2 guys because with the dusty conditions like this the xc1 pack is going to get more and more strung out which means there's even more opportunity there is oh look at that now they have actually caught up to the back so that is ashburn and they have he has actually caught thad duval it looks like so there is fourth through that chicane there that's fourth duvall fifth that is ashburn and sixth is baylor and those guys are just boom boom boom right there mikey and i gotta tell you take a look at timing and scoring like you said which this lap one correct me if i'm wrong i believe it's gonna be shorter than what we're going to see the rest of the day just like it was in a.m like yesterday and quite a bit shorter yeah yeah and with that said so mike witkowski right now sitting second on adjusted time from the xc2 class after snagging that whole shot uh will he stay there i don't know it's a three hour race lap times are going to get longer but it is a fantastic start for him and then you got thorne devlin in the number five spot in the overall which second in xc2 and then the number 19 of ryder lafferty um which we were just talking i believe mike's his dad right uncle uncle uncle that's right uncle mike i was close yep um so yeah those xc2 guys and the 250 pro class already up in flirting with the top five so as we watch on screen here um you know it looks like uh oh we got a specialized rapid replay coming up let's do let's jump to the inside i think that's clean johnny what do you think yes or no uh judging how it's arrowed it's not bannered um it's not bannered and it appears to be a legitimate line i think everybody's just missing it if those are not we could obviously go inspect that but if those are not double yellow placard or double green placards there then they do not have to go between them they have they would technically have 25 feet if it's not strong or bannered they would be allowed to go to the inside of that tree that would be well within the the parameters of the rules well i guarantee there's folks out there who saw it and are probably on the radio right now check this out they'll figure it out and if it's not a good line they'll ban it off but i'll tell you what a good line right now is the good line is the line out front no dust lane michael with clear vision and it's equating to a little bit of a lead here for him josh strang there in the second place spot on that 114 monster energy babbitt's kawasaki and then right behind him is the number one fmf ktm of caleb russell and there is your top three as they run a little bit of a get back to this guy the 989 rock star has varna thad de thaddeval again first race back this season we last saw him at the season opener there is ashburn and there is baylor so that makes your top six and these boys are keeping it pretty close and one thing we will say for those of you that tuned in yesterday on racer tv uh there is grant baylor also not too far back so seventh place there within striking distance as well um yesterday i think if you were watching i i don't know mikey i wasn't here watching the screen because i was out there bananas so the dust is gonna be a lot thicker with the atvs um essentially four wheels instead of two and the surface area that actually touches the ground of those four wheels is if you do the math it's about 15 times what a dirt bike is yeah so you're just kicking up that much more dust and it just kind of hangs in the woods and makes it a lot harder to see so we're gonna have better visibility today for our racer tv cameras and also obviously for the riders but still there definitely is an advantage to be up front not only vision but also you have to look at it from the standpoint of air filters we saw yesterday that became a big part of the race these guys are actually working their way into vp fuels pro row this is their first time through there's the tealy energy pits there and lane michael i'm assuming is going to be just a clean run here through pro pits nothing nothing he's going to be needing to stop for this lap i have heard rumors that some of the teams are planning multiple filter changes just in advance not even going to take a chance they're just planning it ahead of time mark do you ever remember any races in your career where that was kind of like a pre-race strategy oh absolutely and especially you know when you know going in with all the technology that's out there and the guys getting to see the course and everything and that's one thing while you might see the guys up front they're all veterans of the sport and there's a little bit of a gap between all of them because they know they're in a good space the guy behind him is going to struggle to pass them so if these guys are riding at this pace keep themselves a little bit of a distance it's just smart riding at this point in time because they know there's no reason to pass but then they might use some pit strategies you know you figure i know i did this with rodney smith one time he we talked about super dusty race you get a bad start kind of get in your position and then maybe we gas a lap early but the lot before we get put the hammer down get closer guy then when he pulls into gas it'll be the easiest patch to make so there could be a lot of pit strategies today and as good as these mechanics are i know i saw our kbm guys practicing the other day with the no tools air box they can pretty much gas them put a filter in before that guy's done changing his goggles and getting his drink so we i know on our side we're planning for it uh better safe than sorry if you take a couple seconds there it's better than what we've seen in the past with guys losing motors at the end of the race and you know mark that speaks volumes about the preparation that goes into this you know you're talking about the picture actually practicing i had the opportunity to speak with uh your factory team manager auntie collinan uh during the morning race and he was asking about you know how the filters were looking during the morning and uh he was out there kind of doing some reconnaissance himself and i asked him i said i'd heard a rumor that there was pre-planned filter changes and he just kind of knowingly shook his head yes and and i basically asked him how long it took and i don't want to divulge too much information but it was calculated down to the second how long a filter takes and uh you know maybe i'm not supposed to share this but three seconds longer to do a filter than it is to do fuel fuel takes roughly eight and the filter took about 11 so he said basically it's a three second gamble you know to get a clean air filter in there so i'm he didn't say this but i'm assuming every time the boys are in for fuel they're probably going to be getting a clean air filter uh just because for that three seconds that's worth so much time out on the track especially mark you weren't here with us last year but the riders were just dropping like absolute flies um and i'm sure you heard about it uh you know guys and it wasn't just the ktm guys it was across the board ktm husky um you know nearly all of the factory teams were having some real struggles there with uh keeping the machines running they were bump starting them and everything they could think of to try and keep them going and a lot of those riders ended up not finishing those races johnny we we talked about that i think it was last year where and correct me if i'm wrong i'm not a mechanic i'm not going to sit here to pretend to be one but don't am i wrong in saying that the yamas yamahas with the location of that air filter have a slight advantage as far as the dust goes is that it yes or no in the dusty conditions um it it just depends on how the rider rides but you'll watch i'm sure a lot of these guys got speeches from their mechanics and team managers before the race you know because it's not when we say dust we see dust hanging in the air and that obviously that's what we'll call kind of the uh the the part that there's nothing you can do if you're behind somebody and and they're kicking up dust you have to ride through it however there's a big factor with air filters and dust that you yourself can control and that's when you see a lot of these riders that'll go in and kind of what we call blowing up a berm they'll go in they'll bury that rear wheel in a silk berm and just full gas to come out of it where you see some of the riders that have been round have a little bit more kind of uh savvy and expertise um you know say your caleb russell's your josh strangs guys that are a little a little long in the tooth i guess we'll say um they'll come in and they'll tiptoe around the inside of a corner even though they might give up a second in that one corner if they know that that's saving their airport though because especially on all of the models except for the yamaha uh the air filter is right there in front of the rear wheel so when that's kicking up dust it's getting sucked in there but i know that you know ktm a lot of these teams have done a lot to kind of dust proof the intake there and uh so that was the one case we did see as you mentioned last year ricky russell was the only rider who didn't have to stop for an air filter uh everyone else either stopped or ultimately dnf the race and there's uh you know one of those yamaha's out front right now with that air filter mounted up where the fuel tank would be on most conventional motorcycles um but it you know in full disclosure it takes a little bit longer to change that than it does a side panel mounted air filter i'm sure the impro guys have practiced and got oh look at that caleb russell has really closed up on josh strang mark as you were pointing out you kind of pick your spots you don't want to ride right on somebody's because they're kicking up that dust and you're really sucking it in even just in that seven eight seconds that went by since caleb came through you look at that see that's that's you get three guys deep and that's what you're dealing with but even in just that seven eight seconds we saw the dust start to settle so you kind of want to give yourself just that little gap number one so you can see number two so that you're not clogging up that air filter but how do you kind of how do you pick your spots i guess when you think you might be able to make a move well on the course the riders will know uh where the the maybe there is some moisture in the course you get into the deeper woods there might be not so much dust i know there's a bike only section so that won't be as chewed up and also out in some of the grass track areas i know they threw some water down some of the open sections so that's kind of where you pick your spots you learn the course you know you know you have some lines picked out to where you can get close to where you can make make that happen but i think you know we see the front guys they're keeping that little distance between each other because like you said they've all done this before they have that experience like hey it's a long race i'm going to buy my time see what happens and then also once we get a few laps in then elaine michaels will be getting the dust because of lappers so if they keep their distance now they stay more on a level playing field and then once you get into the deeper traffic that's when a lot of the moves will start pissed strategy you know when do i change an air filter when do i come for gas so that's when a lot of these guys will start thinking about that stuff and you know i know at the truck this morning i said we were selling we have the pre-filters that uh we have a lot of guys stopping by and getting those today and that's uh you know for the amateur guys that'll really help you get through through the day and i know our guys are running them along with some other things that they've done to keep the dust out there and like said being a smart rider don't be exploding those berms you know pick your spots when you think you have a shot to get close and you can see all the veterans are all up front they're all kind of keeping that distance they got clean vision and uh they're just buying their time till i think the whole track gets dusty once lane gets into traffic and then you'll start seeing some more action and that is a great point you know right now we see this clear area between these guys but as time progresses as this race progresses what's gonna happen is as you mentioned they're gonna start hitting lap riders those riders are also gonna be kicking up to us so they're really you know there might be a few patches on the track where they might be able to get some cleaner andrew delong there behind grant baylor that is your uh seventh and eighth place riders there is uh ben kelly all the way back there in that ninth place spot so he's a writer the last two races we've seen up there battling for a win again uh uh probably a function of we do know that they stopped him or we're going to at least stop and hold him at the finish line for 15 seconds he may have lost some positions and definitely lost some time there and here we see here is your leader in that xc2 pro lights class mike wakowski on the 282 ampro yamaha out front and he is the one making dust right now and i could be wrong but i think this second place beta rider that looks to me that is too tall to be thorn devlin i'm almost certain that that is cody barnes was cody barnes up there yeah i think yeah i think you're absolutely right i could be wrong i i but to me i wasn't able to catch a number but by the writing style that looked to be cody barnes to me i think barnes may have worked his way into that second place spot we'll wait and see here this is maybe johnny gerard yep there is the number 969 of johnny gerard that is your xc2 pro lights championship points leader at the moment uh he's got a little bit of a point seat over mike mikowski and also craig delong and there is yes that is devlin right there in the fourth place spot so that was definitely cody barnes and then that's the number 178 on the monster energy online uh babbitt's online kawasaki of lyndon snodgrass then the rockstar husqvarna thad duvall so those are about your top seven in that xc2 class there is ben nelco um and if you look as you see on screen there the overall official there's jesse ansley so inside the top 10 liam draper hard on the throttle back end kicks out and back in pursuit of jesse ansley trying to make that pass interesting to note if you look at our overall right now we talked about the difference of that xc2 versus xc3 we've got only the top six xc1 guys even in the top 10 overall so what was your top four in that uh xc2 pro lights class as they checked in at scoring was whitkowski uh thorne devlin ryder lafferty and ben nelko were your top four that has shaken up now but you had four xc2 guys in the top 10 overall really speaks volumes about the pace of that xc2 class here early and you know guys we've talked about this so many times that xc2 class just absolutely pins it on lap one oh yeah oh yeah uh i don't see cody barnes on on the scoring so maybe he may have transponder issues or something at least he's not showing up right now but we'll keep our eyes on that one uh what about lane michael out front the 523 he's had these great starts we've seen it so many times this season but he has yet to put together a complete race is today the day because to me if i'm laying michael i look at the success these last two rounds that stu has had and not to say a little bit of jealousy but honestly if i were him i'd be like what now wait a second i'm the yamaha guy here i want a taste of that so maybe that's pushing lane michael into that position today it could be and you know he really really rode well here uh when we were here earlier this year technically we were across the street but you know much of the same course parts of the same course at least um you know and that's uh that's a lot to say there that uh he was up front he led and then he chased caleb russell throughout much of that race and was right there unfortunately ultimately went down hard and that was when he separated that shoulder which caused him to have to miss a couple races um just uh just before our summer break so an unfortunate turn of events for him but you know maybe this for him is you know we talked about stu baylor with his chance of redemption there is what may be our top amateur jojo connie as a matter of fact he's in the top 20. there you go that from that uh i believe is that four stroke eight lights classic 258 i always get that one mixed up so 258 jojo cunningham out there on that uh babbitz online monster energy kawasaki and uh killing it one of our amateurs there's tristan landon landrum another 258 rider not too far behind uh both those guys are southern ohio prospects not too far from here and i know they do a lot of local racing and uh the folks watching at home if you guys don't make it out too many races what you're seeing on screen here with this drying dust has kind of been the story this last month or so um i know that mark i think you were just out at the national enduro where they had some cold temps and some rain uh where was that at that was over in matthews indiana uh we had you know conditions like this going into saturday and then saturday night sunday morning it rained and made for some great conditions and the temperatures dropped here in the 50s and people were in coats and jackets and it was kind of strange i'd like to jump back to elaine michaels real quick lane is actually even though he's from north carolina now he's a local kid he grew up in this area so i know he's got a lot of family and friends here so you know that's going to be motivating him today and on the xc2 guys those guys you know in the xc1 right now they're the smart veteran group but the title is only down to two guys and there's a big gap where right now the xc2 there you can throw a blanket over the guys that have a chance to win that title so they're gonna be really aggressive today and the xc1 guys know that hey i can get up front hang out here for a little while then we'll see what shakes out and then put the hammer down at the end where the xc2 guys they don't have that choice they know there's a title there they all want it they all want what uh caleb and those guys have so uh that's why i think we see the real aggressive pace out of the xc2 class today very true it's a good observation and actually you were talking about veterans and perhaps one of the the uh most decorated veterans on the course right now not at least on the front row jason reigns just came through and i believe he may be leading the way in that xc3 class he was the first white background blue number played i saw come by doesn't necessarily mean he's leading we might have missed one uh but nonetheless he is up there running up front or near the front in that xc3 class mikey did you get a uh well according time in scoring when they checked in he was back in the number four spot he was he was competing for the uh the whole shot and then as they went up around where i couldn't see him i heard someone yell he's back to second to last right now so he's got his work cut out for him there's no doubt about that still that's uh you know awesome to see him back out there and that we can't say enough about that fmfx e3 class you know it's uh i believe there was kind of some just ideas that got thrown around and they said hey you know we we really just need a class kind of uh something for the kids that are coming off of minis that have a lot of speed but maybe aren't ready for xc2 and also i think fmf you know said hey well if you guys want to do a class like that you know we'll we'll offer up some money for the purse and uh we'd like to title it the fmfx c3 class obviously fmf uh well known for their two-stroke exhaust systems and supports many of the teams out here but they just wanted to do a little something more for the series a little something more for the riders and uh it's cool that we actually get to see these guys on screen because a lot of times as the race goes on we don't always get to cover that xc3 class they they get a little bit uh far enough back that we're switching to the next camera shot but a lot of good battling goes on in that class for sure and we get to listen to 125s oh man awesome there's nothing like it it's like music it is and speaking of 125xc class um if you swing over the ktm semi we have the brand new 125xc built specifically for this class it's something that we've talked to the gncc people about there was a demand for it so um again john hines our president he pushed hard for it he got austria to buy into it and we've got a brand new 21 over there fresh off the presses and uh speaking of you know my demo program that unfortunately didn't happen this year crow canyon in eurosville ohio where our demo program started they have their big turkey run next week it's an open ride day they got 400 acres of trails they've got the motocross track and we will have all the 21 off-road xc and xcw ktms there to do i think our one and only dirt demo of the year this year so if you want to come try out that new 125 we will have it next week for you well very cool that's a lot of opportunities to go ride some new dirt bikes at crow canyon next week if you're in the area go check it out for sure mark will be there as a team uh and i'll tell you what at the eight mile marker what's heating up right now is the battle up front mike you look like those guys there the top two still had a little bit of a gap yeah and actually even third but go back to fourth there from fad all the way back basically to just before grant there man those guys were like wheel to wheel and that whole that whole hill became a brown out real real quick uh grant baylor looks like he's lost just a little bit of ground andrew delong on his rear wheel and ben kelly still trying to recover from that penalty yeah not able to make his way around those guys but you know that's the other thing those guys in front of them know slouches themselves when you talk about oh you know you look at ben kelly all the way back there in the ninth or tenth place spot physically in xc1 and outside the top 15 overall but the guys he's racing with these are all guys that are either race winners or podium contenders in their own right so uh you know he's gonna have his work cut out for him you see mike wakowski just like lane they both checked up early stayed out of that silt and tried to uh take that inside mikey i can tell you for sure that is cody barnes he may not be showing up on scoring but that is the number 99 of cody barnes on the factory beta uh absolutely i can tell by watching him ride that is him now here is the number 969 third place in xc2 the this is your championship points leader in that xc2 pro lights class but again mark we were just talking about it there's the difference in riding styles some of those guys checking up early taking those inside lines staying out of the silt johnny gerard is on a mission he's trying to make up time he knows those leaders are out in front of him a little bit he's blowing up those berms but man that really could prove costly later you're absolutely right you see the guys and that's part of the thing you know the strategy that comes into it you know you you have the uh the top riders or their mechanics in their ear you know hey ride smart ride safe let's decide this race in the second half you know when we're looking at the riders too a guy like ben kelly today he's not in the points hunt you know he's back a little bit he could take a chance today maybe go an extra lap before he gases and he could be a wild card throw some things in there and you know you could use that put that in the bank for next year let's try something today if it works great if not it's not the end of the world well we are about 46 minutes into this mason dixon gncc now lane michael out in front pit strategy gonna start coming into play here real soon can he hang on and capture his first win gncc live continues after this when you crave the canyon passes rocky trails rutted tracks the podiums and personal records it becomes part of you the choice now is you become a wanderer or the wanderer you just need to ride where you belong [Applause] [Applause] so [Applause] [Music] born of family values and a homegrown work ethic kinetic gasket seals your machine so you can focus on the finish line kinetic gaskets are the competitive standard for racers who demand the very best kinetic gaskets are constructed from superior materials designed to perform in the most demanding environment whether it's championships on the line for a day in the dirt with friends professionals and enthusiasts depend on kinetic kinetic gaskets sealing championships since 1989. wow [Applause] it's hard to put our adventures on hold but now is the perfect time to prepare for their return amsoil has your back with fast free shipping and ordering has never been easier just look up your vehicle select your product add an oil change to your cart and check out spend 50 on amsoil products and shipping is on us order now at amsoil.com even when you're the best you never stop striving to be better with over 40 years of experience in motorcycle sales and service we know racing our inventory of yamaha motorcycles sport bikes dirt bikes atvs and side-by-sides is extensive and constantly changing stop by lojack cycle sales today in torrentium pennsylvania and visit our online inventory at www.lojax.com yamaha wise it's why we ride hi my name is andrea lee the director of ontrack school how would you like to go to a school where we take into consideration how students learn best well we do that because we find if we can build the curriculum around the things you are interested in you're going to do a better job the mission at on track school is that educational success is possible while chasing your dreams not only will our staff help students to achieve success they will cheer you on to the finish line we encourage you to check out ontrack school at ontrackschool.com where we can help you chase your dreams and still get a quality education we are american motorcyclists we are members of the american motorcyclist association racers fans and crew we come together for this sport we love to race together to grow together we start young and not so young we race motorcycles and atvs we become friends we become family we compete for weekend bragging rights and national championships we make memories on the toughest off-road courses in the country and on the best motocross tracks in the world some of us aspire to the speed and poise of road racing or the fierce competitiveness of american flat track and we honor our greatest champions in the ama motorcycle hall of fame through it all we cheer we win and we lose we are racing we are the ama race with us be part of the greatest sport in the world be an american motorcyclist join us today at www.amajoy.com join hyphen now this week in yamaha history takes us back to may 22nd 2010 and the mountain ridge gncc in somerset pennsylvania it was the time of the chris porridge era of gncc racing and it was the days of riders like flores taylor kaiser pennsylvania's chris bethel illinois donnie ockerman ohio's brandon summers mark knopman and kevin yoho and of course one of today's top vet riders out of uniontown pennsylvania jeffrey pickens pickens grabbed the early hole shot and actually the early lead aboard his yamaha that day he was followed by fellow yamaha pilot the number two of taylor kaiser and lurking not far in the background was chris borage porch soon found his way to the front of the pack as kaiser fell all the way back to sixth place on the first lap and then it was chris bethel who worked his way up to the rear bumper of borch and keeping the competition dialed in through most of the race as the conditions were a little wet due to some rain showers leading into the week the hard rocky course at mountain ridge presented a great race track and a great battle that day as the race wore on and the riders were sorting things out it was yamaha's taylor kaiser slowly inching his way up from that sixth place on lap one all the way up to second place on the final lap pulling to within 12 seconds behind chris porch where he finished behind boards who took the win adam mcgill took third on that day and that's this week in yamaha history well welcome back to gncc live johnny were you there we already know the answer but yeah i was there it was uh actually a pretty good day for me i think uh i think ended up inside the top five that day i'm not certain but uh it was it was a uh sure big departure from what we raised here this weekend i mean you couldn't have more polar opposite conditions i remember it was pretty chilly uh wet and actually raining during the race and uh now keep that in mind folks as you're watching at home we're seeing all this dust the radar says we've got some weather on the way but supposed to be here at noon right we're supposed to be here at one it's 204 and we've not seen a drop of rain just yet and i tell you what these guys out there as much as nobody likes riding in the rain everybody except for elaine michael that man on screen right there leading the way no dust in front of him everybody else wants it to start raining i can assure you that that was going to be my question i mean once once you're into the thick of this do you want the rain i mean what what kind of what is that going to add to this race obviously for pit crews now you got goggle changes all that stuff what what would it change in the race if that rain does happen to come in mark i'll let you take this one the biggest thing is going to be your vision yeah that's going to be problem one because what you're going to have if you get some rain get some moisture on your goggles then you hit those powder berms you're not going to get enough rain to make that go away so it's kind of going to be some of the worst conditions you could be in and then you talking tire setup too because guys have set their bikes up for hard terrain hard pack blue groove conditions and now you put you know it's like putting uh grease on ice when we get some rain on this condition so maybe the tire selection that they had previously opted to go with that won't work but uh i think the vision is gonna would be the biggest problem and i said it would just make a mess of everything uh you know mikey uh as i think we're gonna get to a guest in the booth here uh how about you run down the top five for us in those gaps i believe they did just check in with two laps complete uh so taking a look at your overall there lane michael still leading after two the gap on that one when he checked in 16 seconds josh strang the 114 kawasaki uh in the number two spot he is again 16 seconds back and then caleb russell that number one ktm which we haven't really talked about it much yet we'll get to more on it later caleb russell actually left the last race with that injury so how much is that affecting him today we'll have more on that here later this afternoon but right now sitting in the number three spot the 989 welcome back to the rockstar energy husqvarna of thad duvall sitting in the number four spot and uh rounding out that top five is the 127 uh babits online monster energy kawasaki of jordan ashburn and how about this for a segway speaking of babbitt's online monster energy kawasaki we are now joined in the booth with your youth overall champion from the babbitts online monster energy kawasaki grant davis man how are you good pull that in a little closer so man talk to us you wrapped up the uh the national championship this morning in the uh the youth bike race uh man talk to us a little bit about your season what it took to make it happen yeah today was a pretty awesome day for me and i pushed really hard to make this happen it was my goal pretty much my whole life and now i want to win a amateur overall and then xc2 championships and then xc1 just like caleb russell is you got it dialed in you got you got the game plan uh in motion man well i i can definitely tell you enjoy this uh no doubt about it time moves quick next thing you know you'll be up there we'll be watching you on this screen uh duking it out with these guys uh what was uh what were some of the challenges you faced this year i know early on watching you uh as well as uh fellow kawasaki writer jack joy and some of the battles you guys had early on of course jack with the injury there about a quarter of the way through the season kind of changed things up a bit but uh it was not a cakewalk for you no doubt about that no it was me and jack battled a lot and then lane whitmer actually he's picked his speed up a lot and he's been there with us too and it's three-way battle a lot of the times it's really fun it was definitely that today man so you mentioned several classes i know you're not moving to xc2 next year or xc1 but what it do you know what's in store for you moving into 2021 we don't know yet but it might be used but we're almost positive it will probably be big light big bikes and we'll probably run b lights this last race of this year and then we'll go to maybe a lights next year solid i think you'll do well man i'm excited for you uh what are these guys facing out you raced this track part of this track i should say this morning um we can see on screen we've talked about it endlessly but you were actually out there uh aboard the uh the kawasaki what are these guys going through right now it reminds me of riding in the snow no kidding that's uh you know what that kind of nails it yeah cause it like you're going and it like splits two ways it's weird it's uh it's deep yeah it's no doubt about that it's like snow that nails it man well grant davis man again a big congratulations to you on uh the uh overall win in the bikes and um what a fantastic youth career so it sounds like we just got a report sounds like our pro rider's going to be running through uh pro row here in a minute and i believe we're going to get our first string of air filter changes which as they talked about earlier they planned on it they they knew it was coming and um yeah so we'll hopefully have some footage of that coming up here in a second looking at mile marker number two right now again lane michael's still in control this one out in front uh when he checked in there he had a 16 second lead over the 114 of josh strang and here they come they're about uh so they are about to enter the lender those auxiliary pits first and then uh go down in there into pro row i don't know if we don't have that shot up yet or not there we go there's our yamaha racing sky cam so uh hopefully we can get a look in here maybe a bird's eye view of these guys coming into vp racing uh pro row and uh see who's gonna uh do you do you expect them to all to change filters i mean this is where that pitch strategy you were talking about comes into play yeah so michael he's been leading so he's been had a clear track so he would not do it uh i think with uh what's on the line for caleb russell 100 he'll get a filter josh drang he'd probably not do one because well josh not doing one because he's got more on the line this is maybe his chance he thinks he can get away from caleb and uh and drag this on to another race porteo can wrap this up gotta think the same for thad that so ktm do we know if thad duval took a change no okay so no oh he did get the pass he was up in the number three spot see that might be okay and you know why i talked earlier uh some of the guys might not do it now but they might do it later to track position you know you hear that nascar all the time i want track position over tires or whatever here he's going for track position over air filter so if he can get that track position get out front drop the hammer a little bit then maybe the next time through that's when he'll do his filter so there's a lot of games going on right now a lot of strategy without a doubt that's one of the things i was talking about earlier do the voice overs for map tv on the bike side which is just it's a condensed 30 minutes of what we do for three hours and i always think all right there's someone clicking through the channels right now who says oh gncc a 30 minute race why are they pitting why are they doing this and that so i try to drive at home no it's three hours there are so many moving parts pit strategy is such a huge part uh lappers up there grant baylor and the sureco pits getting a change uh there are so many moving parts and this right here without a doubt like you said it's a chess match in those pits uh and it can definitely make or break a race for pro riders on down to the amateur level yeah and one thing too the riders they've got to be aware that this is coming as well and be mentally prepared because there's nothing worse than sitting there looking at your motorcycle why somebody's working on it thinking i gotta go i gotta go but so mentally they gotta say that they know it's part of the program it's coming just deal with it be ready for it and use that time to gather your thoughts talk to your mechanic or somebody there and they can tell you hey you're losing time here you're gaining time here this is going to happen you'll get your drink get your get get hydrated you know get your goo pack or whatever you want done so there you take advantage of that time off you know to make it count you can see you can see the wheels turning if you've ever been in the pits at a gncc and if a rider's got to come off the machine you can see the wheels turning in their head this has taken a long time for jordan ashburn well now here's the other thing if you've got two pro riders out there like the kawasaki team you've got string you've got ashburn is that kind of you stagger those pits for those guys as far as as air filter change you know it's one of those things because uh over the years i've worked with a bunch of different riders and you have guys different styles and different techniques and someone like you know like steve hatch and rodney smith were perfect example you know rodney could use less gas and four laps than steve used in three so you kind of had an automatic stagger built in so i'm not sure on theirs but i think both all the teams out there have enough people and manpower to if they have to do both riders at the same time they will be prepared for it but in an ideal world yes it would be great to stagger them so you have a little less commotion going on in case something else comes up you've got the manpower to deal with it but these guys they're all on top of their game you know they're not up front for you know for me for no reason uh you know i know auntie and his gang yeah and the husband team those guys they they they were practicing yesterday they practiced during the week they they know what's coming they're ready for it so an hour into this one we've got filter changes so you've got to think i think maybe johnny was talking about it earlier maybe anticipate a couple changes today i mean we're one hour into a three-hour race we might see one more before it's all said and done yeah and one of the things too with this filter change we've just gone through they'll look at the filters that came out oh yeah and so then they have some information say hey it wasn't that bad and like you know we've been selling the i talked about earlier the filter covers and so you might be able to just pop your side cover off rip the cover off so then you've got a clean filter under that and maybe that's the plan for the second filter change if needed well it definitely opened up the uh the window of opportunity there for lane michael who i believe did not take a filter change there and he is uh well out in front now this is where he's gonna well i say well out front there was second place right behind him but uh gives him an opportunity to kind of kind of widen the gap if you will uh out there in front i thought for a second he was slowing down i was about to start talking air filters again folks at home are probably getting tired of it on the atv side yesterday it was i mean it was almost unheard of for those guys to have to change air filters it just was not common matter of fact i think about the only pit that was prepared for it was uh was mark naughtman with walker fowler and it got so bad toward the end i was down there doing pit reporting it was like as soon as i do an interview about one rider i turned my my back and there was another rider broke down or getting an air filter and mark naughton the mechanic for walker fowler actually ran out to the rest of the pits he said if you guys have air filters you better change them and it definitely made the difference uh so today the guy's kind of expecting it more which we have seen it more on the the bike side uh versus the atv side as far as the air filter change but uh i know we're talking about it a lot but the way it's dusty out there it's it's snow it's snow dust right right yeah and you know on the atv side they run an hour less than the bike so there's a little more concern and when the atvs are running the track is usually pressure yeah they chew it up a little bit more as they create some of that powder so they actually make the conditions a little bit worse for the bikes on a day like today and elaine michael like i said he's looking good and smooth out front and for him you know i said being a little kid i know he's gonna have a lot of fans out there and a lot of family uh and we know he's got the speed he's done some amazing things on a motorcycle and since it is dusty the guy behind him is not going to be putting on much pressure on him so he's going to feel a little bit more comfortable and every lap that goes by that he stays out front without that you know without hearing that motor we just saw strang there you know slipping a little bit because now you're going to get the hard pack dirt underneath and all this silt on the top you know and that's going to change oh there's that devil in that number three spot looking for a podium i tell you why it's because i said uh during bottleneck live show this last week i said i think that'll get fifth maybe fourth and his mom susie said now wait a second you're just saying that to create drama i said well maybe he'll prove me wrong i mean stu set out on the couch as he says and comes out and wins two in a row maybe that can make it happen he's certainly he's in podium position right now and that's got to feel good i think if you're thad duvall like you were saying earlier who ran the local race but you know these guys you hear them say it all the time nothing practice locals nothing compares to that three-hour gncc so it'll be interesting once we get to that two hour mark into that final hour uh i've got to believe for that duval the fitness and everything's gonna be there but it'll be interesting to keep an eye on that and the good thing with that is he did ride the national enduro last week and so you have the balers were there uh ben kelly josh toth so he knows he has the speed because he ran their pace last week but does he have three hours and these conditions could actually help that because i don't think the pace is as hard at the beginning of this race because the dust you're hanging back you know you can only go as fast as you can see so i think that can conserve some energy and uh and you know have a real strong shot at this thing when it's over with if his conditioning is anywhere close to what it used to be because i don't think they're going to be using quite the energy up front that they would in a normal gncc pace that nails it right there matter of fact if you go back last year the mason dixon uh our winner at that one was that the ball so can he make it two years in a row there's a 282 of mike wikowski there let's take a look at that xc2 class as i pull that up obviously wilkowski's still out frontless i missed somebody but yeah mike wikowski still in that number two spot when he checked in he had about an 18 and a half second lead over the 990 of cody barnes on the beta machine who's having a fantastic ride so far uh johnny gerrard the 969 ktm is in the number three spot and thorne devlin the guy's in it seems automatic on those hole shots uh that podium finish though for thorne devlin has kind of eluded him this year so we'll see if maybe put it together here today as we get down to the tail end of this season and landed snotgrass rounding out the top five a guy that i thought would be up there a little higher and it's still early uh craig delong back in the number six spot um not sure if there's something going on there what but he's only two seconds off the pace liam draper the 198 ktm back in the number seven spot ben nelco in eighth but jesse ansley uh jesse another guy on the ktm we saw him take the championship in the fmf xc3 and to speak to how deep the competition is in the xc2 uh and what a big jump i mean going from the 125 to the 250 class uh what do you think as far as liam draper this season you know coming off the championship in the xc3 how big of a move is that for these guys it's a big move because you know the the xc3 class is more of a newer class so you don't have the depth you have still the fast guys up front but if you have a bad day you know you might be second or third where xc2 and every time you jump up a step and you're going to find this out there youngster every time you jump up a step the the talent just gets faster more consistent so you have to bring your a game every week and so i think that's uh what's affecting because you know in xc3 like i said you can have a bad lap a bad couple laps and still be able to be in the hunt where now especially today i think i think that's the problem that uh craig delong is having he didn't get a great start today yeah and now he's further back in that dust and it's just hard to get through you know you when you're out in it on the tv it doesn't look as bad as what it probably really is out there so just having to deal with all that traffic um like i said i think once we get caught up to where there's traffic all the way around for everybody that's when you're gonna start seeing more more activity moving back and forth braden was in the pits there just a second ago uh by the way congratulations grant davis making his way out of the booth that is your youth champion babbitt's online uh monster energy kawasaki there that was braden allen on screen just a second ago the trail gestures ktm got the air filter changed they had her dialed in and uh we're still we're off and rolling at the mason dixon gncc we're about an hour and 15 coming up on an hour and 15 minutes taking a look at some of the other classes here that fmf xc3 uh the 125 pro am class mike delosa out in front the 2-2-2 he had an 18-second gap between him and the 722 of zach hayes who has seen some major success in that class this year as well as the 707 of jason liskom uh jason rayne still back in that number four spot and matt grimer uh rounding out the top five in that fmf xc3 class and then the xc1 we've really not talked much about it today uh johnny and that is uh one caleb russell looking for another championship here in the uh the farewell campaign if you will and then uh obviously he's coming off that injury uh right now well we know he's not in third that was that the ball we saw a moment ago in third place um i'm not sure on the math uh do you know as far as caleb i think he's got to just so i made the comment earlier that he had a 67 point lead i was actually using walker fowler's points lead coming into yesterday uh it's actually as mark hyde pointed out 55 points is what uh caleb russell actually had on josh strang coming into the weekend with 60 points left available on the table uh basically after this weekend uh he basically needs to leave here with a 60 point lead uh because he would not be able to beat on the tie break bb on the tiebreaker meaning number of wins by string therefore josh strang the only rider left with a mathematical shot at beating caleb russell needs to just finish within four points i was saying okay 16 or 17 it's actually four points of caleb russell so caleb russell only has a few points to dabble with there um he actually needs to make points on josh trang to lock it up today he's got a 55-point lead he needs to leave here with 60 meaning he needs to uh essentially beat josh strang by five points or more so if caleb russell would win that's 30 points second place pays 25. if caleb russell wins even if josh strang is second wouldn't be good enough caleb russell would lock it up but however as they run throwing out some possible scenarios right now josh strang in second caleb russell in fourth josh strang would keep the championship alive uh he would actually gain points back on caleb russell yeah meaning that it would be somewhere in the low actually i guess if it was second and fourth that would be another four plus three seven points he would gain uh meaning that he would only be 48 points down with two rounds to go so it would get even closer but right now 55 points is the gap we'll keep you guys updated as they go we're waiting on the leaders here at the eight mile marker the one thing we know for sure the only way that caleb also can assure himself to win or the championship is to go out and win the race today if he does that doesn't matter what anybody else does he locks it up but as you mentioned coming off that knee injury wasn't shy about it posted some pictures on uh or some videos on instagram uh showing the three inch long needle going into the center of his knee draining the fluid out uh it wasn't anything that required surgery i did have the opportunity to speak with him so it's not like he's nursing an injury along and as soon as the season's over he's gonna have surgery he's actually good to go it's just a matter of healing it was some strains some bruising and basically a really hard hit to that knee uh lane michael out front and charging making dust 16 seconds was the gap last lap and you can see those guys they're pointing on that line they're keeping them out of the dust and uh in that case you know a lot of times you'll hear guys say well i want to make as much dust as i can to make it harder for the guys behind me they're just trying to keep lane out of the dust so he's not sucking it in that air filter and keep this gap on this rider right here the number 114 of josh strang and looks like his shadow there may be the 989 of thad duvall there it is that developed the third we saw that in the pits and right behind him is stu baylor stu baylor now up into the fourth place spot has worked his way around caleb russell so russell now there that was him that just went by there so russell all the way back to that fifth place spot now so baylor up from sixth to fourth and the rider that we lost in that exchange was jordan ashburn worth pointing out josh strang in that second place spot is going to probably have to do an air filter change there's ben kelly so a big move up for him all the way up to the sixth place spot now as they run physically up last time we saw him he was outside the top 10 uncorrected time and i believe he was 10th physically so he's gotten his way around andrew delong he's gotten his way around grant baylor we do know baylor was in grant baylor was in for a filter change it did not appear that ben kelly did or if they did they did it very quickly here's the 410 uh phoenix racing honda of andrew delong a rider that uh really had a couple breakthrough rides here recently he's been doing well he's been seemingly struggling throughout much of the season riding well seeming having these crazy issues and the last race he was able to put together for a solid top 10 finish and uh the rider we're missing is grant baylor and now folks point this out still have not seen jordan ashburn we know he was in the pits for a long long time but what we're going to see is he is going to drop well outside the top 10 overall once these xc2s guys start coming through because he was physically when they left the pits he was physically fit in xc2 yeah on the filter changes um you know we watched some of them done here and the ktm guys got theirs done really quick and that's another thing if they're doing filters on a regular basis they know they they can do it within a normal gas stop time that will let their riders take some more aggressive lines not have to maybe take a lose a second here they're finding a less dusty line so actually caleb and ben and the guys and thad the ball they could get a little bit more aggressive with their line choice you know and they have more filters to burn up than the other guys yep and there is second place in xc2 and that is still the 99 of cody barnes he is not worried about his air filter he is max throttle max go get out of my way i am trying to chase down mike winkowski who did come through right there and their idiot oh no sorry that's lyndon snodgrass so that's now a third place rider in xc2 he is also around his teammate jordan ashburn and i believe that may have been ashbrin that just went up that inside line there looked like a white gear on a green bike potentially um there is craig delong uh now would be fourth place in that xc2 pro lights class and uh yeah the big loser in that exchange at least for now jordan ashburn hate to see it for him was running solidly solidly inside the top five there and now he has dropped way way way back that was a very very long air filter change so i'm sure josh strang is hoping that they figured something out there and uh and they're gonna be a little quicker on his because if not we'd see him drop well outside the top five air filters pit stop strategy lions tigers bears we've got it all here at the gncc today can lane michael hang on he's still leading after two we're an hour and 20 minutes into this one gncc live continues after this when you crave the canyon passes rocky trails rutted tracks the podiums and personal records it becomes part of you the choice now is do you become a wanderer or the wanderer you just need to ride where you belong [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] born of family values and a homegrown work ethic kinetic gasket seals your machine so you can focus on the finish line kinetic gaskets are the competitive standard for racers who demand the very best kinetic gaskets are constructed from superior materials designed to perform in the most demanding environment whether it's championships on the line for a day in the dirt with friends professionals and enthusiasts depend on kinetic kinetic gaskets sealing championships since 1989. [Applause] it's hard to put our adventures on hold but now is the perfect time to prepare for their return amsoil has your back with fast free shipping and ordering has never been easier just look up your vehicle select your product add an oil change to your cart and check out spend fifty dollars on amsoil products and shipping is on us order now at amsoil.com even when you're the best you never stop striving to be better with over 40 years of experience in motorcycle sales and service we know racing our inventory of yamaha motorcycles sport bikes dirt bikes atvs and side by side is extensive and constantly changing stop by lojack cycle sales today in torrentium pennsylvania and visit our online inventory at www.lojax.com yamaha wise ease it's why we ride hi my name is andrea lee the director of ontrack school how would you like to go to a school where we take into consideration how students learn best well we do that because we find if we can build the curriculum around the things you are interested in you're going to do a better job the mission at ontrack school is that educational success is possible while chasing your dreams not only will our staff help students to achieve success they will cheer you on to the finish line we encourage you to check out ontrack school at ontrackschool.com where we can help you chase your dreams and still get a quality education we are american motorcyclists we are members of the american motorcyclist association racers fans and crew we come together for this sport we love to race together to grow together we start young and not so young we race motorcycles and atvs we become friends we become family we compete for weekend bragging rights and national championships we make memories on the toughest off-road courses in the country and on the best motocross tracks in the world some of us aspire to the speed and poise of road racing for the fierce competitiveness of american flat track and we honor our greatest champions in the ama motorcycle hall of fame through it all we cheer we win and we lose we are racing we are the ama race with us be part of the greatest sport in the world be an american motorcyclist join us today at www.amajoy.com join hyphen now and we're back here from the mason dixon gncc on racer tv live you're watching this dusty action here and uh man the racing action is heating up the dust is blowing everywhere and you can see the leaves are falling so we got this beautiful fall scene set and amidst it a dirt bike race and just a test of pure grit and determination right now the man leading the way just as if he was on cue the 523 ampro yamaha of lane michael has led this one since the very first turn he's the one kicking up all the dust and we're joined in booth now by steve hatch steve you've had an opportunity to be out there check a little bit of the action as we wait and watch for our second place rider which should be josh strang what have you seen out there yeah johnny it's definitely uh looks like years ago when we've all been here and uh silty dusty and gnarly air filters were a big problem even years ago and we were all racing it so it's definitely gnarly out there these guys are definitely clamped and there's there's josh there oh that's right on there oh i thought we're gonna see a pass there for that second place spot but it's a mess for sure and uh yeah it's going to be tough uh keeping air filters and these bikes going so as we see there josh strang in the second place spot thad devault in third uh duvall actually working his way around caleb russell and caleb russell pitted for fuel and an air filter on the last trip through vp fuels per row mikey wayne's is actually out and about and he's going to get us an update on the uh as he put it the world of air filters fuel lines and tigers and bears oh my uh so many things happening here at this mason dixon gncc you can see these guys have now checked in they have worked their way through the scoring uh tent with three laps now complete what you're seeing on screen josh strang on the 114 monster energy babbitt's online kawasaki in the second place spot and thad duval up into third the return to action after nearly a year away from racing we last saw that in action at round one uh in south carolina he tried to make a go of it had an off-season knee injury was not able to complete the race and made the decision right there and then that day to have surgery get himself back to a hundred percent and i'll tell you what if this is any indication i think we've got a hundred percent prouder percent than all yeah i agree johnny i happen to see him this morning at the hotel at breakfast and uh yeah he said he feels pretty good most of the time and you know obviously racing's different than practicing but he looks really good to me and you know i think it's as we all know coming out of injury is really tough your timing's off the confidence is down all the other guys have been toughened up and really focused on riding their best and having time off the bikes a little tough but you know that's been at this a long time one of the top riders by far and uh knows what he's doing so he looks good to me yeah he he looks great at the moment and you know mark will uh we'll throw this question to you lane michael we're now one hour 26 minutes into this so for all intents and purposes we're halfway through this race this is by far the longest he has ever led an overall gncc event what kind of pressure do you think is he feeling i know it's hard to speculate exactly how everyone works but i mean this is a guy who's raced gncc since a youth rider and has never led a gncc overall for this amount of time nearly halfway through this one what do you think's going through his mind and if if you're kind of putting messages on his pit board what are you doing to coach this guy through to uh get him to just keep kind of doing what he's doing i think the big thing for him is not to focus on i'm leading i'm leading i'm leading he needs to really you know dissect the track figure out his lines you know and make sure he makes good solid decisions and and the biggest thing for him is not to panic because sometimes you come up on a left rider or something you feel like you're stuck behind him for a minute when it's just a split second and then that can snowball on you and then you'll make a bad decision next because you think you just lost 20 seconds when it was just fractions and then uh another thing his pit crew like said they need to inform him of his lap times and he doesn't need to think about oh i got two laps left or whatever i said hey i got this section i gotta nail this i you know and there's gonna be sections out there on that track where uh it's difficult more difficult than others so those are the places you really need to focus on and he also needs to pay attention uh on the lines because there's lines that are gonna go away um and then two you'll notice out in the open it's not quite as dusty because we do have a little bit of a breeze so when you're out there and you can really hammer down that's when you got to go when you're in the stuff that's really gnarly you know catch your breath pick your good lines and then go but the the mental thing i think is going to come more to him when he when that two-lap card comes out and if people start putting pressure on him so if somebody gets up on his rear wheel and starts attacking him then he's gonna really start thinking about what he's doing and what he can accomplish well mark you pointed out lap times there and uh actually lane doing very well that last lap on the lap times he actually opened up that gap it was 16 seconds at the completion of lap number two 27 seconds over josh strang at the completion of lap number three but looking down through the lap times there was actually one rider on track who was considerably faster than everybody else ben kelly all the way back in that uh ben would have been in the sixth place spot worked his way up from outside the top ten and he actually had a fuel stop this lap and an air filter change still seven seconds faster than anybody else on the track second fastest rider lane michael your leader so ben kelly putting in some moves back there so he'll be a rider to watch as he is currently only three seconds behind caleb russell who's only three seconds behind stu baylor who's only six seconds behind that duvall who's only one second behind josh strang so you want to talk about the dust and how we're expecting to see these big gaps uh we're not seeing it folks what we're seeing is bike lengths and these guys are just eating each other's dust now they just checked in at the finish line which means in a matter of minutes we should be seeing them here in vp fuels per row this may be the tail of the tape for a lot of these guys halfway through this a lot of these guys are going to be on a one pit strategy we did not see lane michael in the pits we did aries lane michael right now the two mile marker which means he's just less than a minute away from the vp fuels pro row he's actually coming down right now he's gonna be popping up behind our racer tv studio and then he's gonna come around the front head into vp fuels pro row he is still leading the way with a 27 second gap meaning as long as they have a good clean fuel stop he's going to be in and out before the other riders even enter into vp fuels per row but the real question josh strang did not fuel last slap did not take an air filter here he is on screen still in that second place spot will they be able to get him out of the pits with an air filter or are they just going to fuel him that rider thad deval the 989 rockstar racing husqvarna in the third place spot stew baylor on the 514 and pro yamaha there in the uh fifth place fourth place spot and then fifth place caleb russell and look at that ben kelly right up to the rear wheel of caleb russell we just talked about that lightning quick lap time a lot of these guys caleb russell ben kelly will not have to pit this lap so if stu baylor and thad devo well thaduba we believe pitted last slap we'll find out mikey's down in the pits mikey if you got any updates for us ring them in but uh we're gonna watch here at the two mile marker and hopefully we're gonna get a shot of these guys as they should be right now entering into vp fuels pro row yeah and i think to add your point and mark's um you know i think i counted 19 seconds now between lane and uh second so it might be pretty tight and like you said it's going to be tough with how much you can gain or lose with that silt is why it usually becomes a parade unless you can get by lappers a little bit differently so you know i think a lot of these guys could go a lot faster if they could see right as all three of us know being racers from a long time but when you can't see you can only go so fast to the dust and then a little bit of russian roulette whether you pull the trigger or not and you might be on the track or off the track pretty quickly and not till no to the end here it is lane michael is in they've got that ims dump can in hand i do not see an air filter looks like they're just going to do a gas and go he's got some fresh goggles going on there some scott goggles and he is wanting to get out and still be in that lead hopefully he knows he's got a little bit of get but he wants to be on his way he does not want to lose that position and he holds on to it he's still got the lead out and there is that by abbott's online monster energy kawasaki team are they ready for josh strang is he coming in this left they're pointing saying here he comes let's see folks here he is he's in what are we doing he's going for an air filter this is going to be the tail we watch here one hour 32 minutes 11 seconds they put that bike on a stand let's see how quick they get this filter done hey while you guys are watching uh straying down there i'm down here with stu baylor he's getting fuel no air filter there they're inspecting her but stu baylor off and rolling and he's going to get around strength boy mark we remember these days don't we when rodney smith and myself would come in and need to change air filters here i remember one year last lap fred andrews rodney smith and i and i came in in the lead and our boss at the time mike webb said hey what are you doing i said i just really want to get going because i look so distraught but i end up winning but it feels like a million hours doesn't it has racers when you're sitting there waiting for the mechanics to get back together and you know you can see these guys are doing a great job but it's really just the design of this filter that that differs so much for the ktm and the and the husky i mean josh drang is just sitting there helpless saying guys i've been racing i understand we got to do a filter but i'm losing a lot of time here but this one is going much smoother it looks like they're going back together they're realigning that side panel and it looks like they may be putting the bolt back in already which means he's gonna be out and still within probably top six seven position but when you're sitting in second to lose five spots in the pits that's a hard one to take i'm sure he's gonna hope that's his only air filter change today and he's able to make it to the finish from there much quicker though that time we must point out that looked like it went pretty smoothly yeah the big thing here though is the ktm guys they have to make caleb russell aware of what's happening here because that could be the difference between a title today or a title at iron man for caleb um he needs to drop the hammer he knows he's in front of strang now and he needs to go with as far as lane michael lane really doesn't have anything to lose today so he can get one not doing an air filter if it runs the distance great and remember he had three clear laps with no dust so he's got that on his side so that's probably why they're not going for the filter and randy hawkins number one our good friend seven-time national enduro champ he's heading up that team there and and randy knows how to make some good decisions so they're probably just rolling the dice like hey elaine you've been in clear air for three laps let's go see what happens and as you pointed out there's a lot of information available coming in mike wikowski now on the pits uh also no air filter just fuel for watkowski that is your xc2 pro lights leader um the ampro team and a lot of these teams obviously have information from previous races i know in speaking with auntie cullen uh liam draper actually raced just across there is strength wow that is you know seems like an eternity i mean he is we'll have to wait and see what the time is but we're not talking a few seconds here i mean he is well outside of that top five now and uh having to claw his way back up there caleb russell with uh with strang dropping back caleb russell should have probably we're conjecture here but we think he probably passed two baylor in the pits because stu had the fuel he was right behind stu if he did pass through that move him up into third with strang being outside the top five depending on just where he finishes and how that goes that could be enough for caleb to wrap up this championship but folks josh strang's not done yet when he knows he has the opportunity to keep this championship alive going into the next round at iron man he's going to be fighting scraping and climbing wouldn't be surprised if we see him claw his way back up to into a podium finish that's for sure and uh you know it it's what a dynamic race and even pit strategy here with all these air filters and and everything that's going on and and actually i think we have mikey wayne's down in the uh babbitt's kawasaki monster energy pits with uh team manager fred andrews mikey there i'm here thanks johnny g uh down here in the uh babbitts online monster energy cowie pits uh it's been a good day for you guys so far with the youth championship uh you guys had to change a couple air filters which we all expected out of everybody today talk to us a little bit about the strategy behind that fred yeah you know it's really dusty today and i don't think anybody can go without changing an air filter so we had to stop we figured lap two when we got fuel i'm sorry lap three we would do it so we stopped josh on lap three we changed an air filter we filled him up with gas our bike's a little bit harder than the rest we don't have a quick detached side panel so we gotta take some bolts out of this of the frame to get it in and we got a screw and filter but you know we did as quick as we could and josh is really riding well so you know your bike's got to make it to the finish so we put a filter and we're good to go and now josh is just going to have to do his work so you say good to go you got the one filter change we're we got to be close to that halfway point yeah we're halfway probably you know jordan stopped the lap earlier he got into some water somewhere if you can imagine where there's water out there i don't know so we had to do him a lap earlier so we're hoping he can go till the end they're both fueled up uh we got lyndon he's on the 250x he's third place right now we just gave him gas he didn't need an air filter so we're gonna see what happens and you know the best we can do with the conditions that we have nailed it right there fred thank you we'll take it back to you guys in the booth there you go and that monster energy babits online kawasaki team fred andrews at the helm uh you couldn't ask for a better guy to be making those decisions for you a lot of experience almost as experience or as much experience as these two guys in the booth with me here i'm just a quad guy surrounded by dirt bike gurus trying to uh act like i know what i'm talking about but you know he pointed out there you got to work with what you have uh that kawasaki's a phenomenal motorcycle josh has been riding very well he's won a race already this year you know when when the engineers design these dirt bikes they don't necessarily take into consideration quick air filter changes because that's not a part of normal racing but you know companies like ktm that have kind of evolved within this realm of racing you know have taken that into account and said hey you know in off-road racing sometimes you have to do quick air filter changes lane michael on screen at the five-mile mark is still leading the way be interesting to see if we can see 137 40 he comes by that string of banners there see if we can see what the gap is back to that second place rider and now we know second place rider caleb russell he's made his way around uh thad ball he's made his way around stu baylor and hot on his heels is ben kelly st uh actually trevor bo or not trevor bullinger he's not back yet thad duval there is caleb russell your second place rider so about 23 seconds was the gap uh going there as they came in second place caleb russell third place thad duval fourth place ben kelly so there it is two three four on screen and we are receiving word from our racer tv producer that and there is uh stu baylor now so it's two three four five all within sight of each other about 23 seconds of back of lane michael who's leading the way uh we have received confirmation six lap race so now these guys are out working on lap number four we're just past halfway and man this one's really starting to get exciting a lot of things on the line here we've got championships on the line in the xc1 class we've obviously got the points lead in that xc2 class we'll check in with those guys here on screen hopefully in just a moment at the five mile marker last we knew it was mike wakowski leading the way and not one uh but man so many things happening guys a lot of exciting things going on here and we're only half just barely passed halfway into this one yeah and with caleb russell i think caleb's in a great position right now because as we know all know caleb he i think he hates losing more than he likes winning and with the knee i think in this pace early on uh he's made some great moves here he's in put himself in great position and you know he rides with lane mike all the time so he's comfortable with that he's got uh thad the ball a semi teammate behind him ben kelly another teammate behind him there so uh when push comes to shove the guys that he's racing with right now he's confident that nothing bad is gonna happen if you know he has to stuff a wheel on somebody or he's not gonna expect that from them so i think he's in a real comfortable spot and mentally caleb's as tough as they come and i think if you could have told him going into this race with the condition he was in like hey halfway through you're going to be in second place you know would you take that and caleb yep and then i'll probably run down the leader and win yeah you know i actually had the opportunity to speak with caleb quite a bit this week um and last week as well after his injury um you know just kind of checking in with him to see how things are going there is uh jordan ashford so now he has worked his way back up a little bit but still trying to claim his way back into the top 10 overall because when you mix in the xc2 guys it's difficult to figure but there there is actually oh look at that that's a battle for the overall or the xc2 lead right there it's oh wow third place in xc2 lyndon snodgrass this is a rider we've been waiting to see something from you know mark i know you have done uh multiple oh fourth place in xc2 on screen craig delong so three of the heavy hitters actually the rider we're missing there is johnny did did he come through he was third okay i may have missed him i saw cody barnes and then snodgrass i didn't see gerard but if he did come through i missed it so so that's five riders that we've already had seen come through there in just about a 15 second span of time and uh again that is the xc2 battle for the championship that's playing out on screen and uh mark you know lyndon snodgrass a rider we i've kind of talked about him a few times throughout the year steve i know you've probably followed his progress as well this is a world-class sprint enduro rider he comes from the uh the australian enduro series and off road series as well there and has done phenomenally at the international six days enduros a number of times for team australia being on that gold medal winning team and uh you know he's got the speed a lot of people kind of expected maybe a little more from him so far but you know i know he's been up in ohio he actually came and rode at walker fowler's place a couple times and in the last few weeks to get used to the dirt and uh you know how hard is it obviously we've talked about our guys having to go over and do six days which is a completely different format obviously it's worked out pretty well for them a few times in the last few years but what what's it like for a guy like that coming into a format like this something completely different all new riders to race against how does that work out mentally for you guys well when you come in here from another place you know he we know he's a good writer because what he's done the big thing is getting used to the format and the other racers because a lot of times that i've talked to people that have come here to race the talent usually where they're coming from they're kind of like the big fish in the little pond and now they're maybe still a big fish but they're in a much bigger pond so the level of consistency of the top riders there's just so much more guys packed together and that's what they struggle with and also the pace right out of the gate you know to go this fast over terrain for three hours for that long and you know i just want to talk about steve here just for a quick second you know we talk about six day specialist and everything steve was actually was a world champion in 1991 on our junior team over in czechoslovakia so he's got experience going the other way too so uh he can speak to that probably a little better than i can on this well steve let's hear your thoughts on it um yeah thanks mark i think 91 how long ago was that there was dinosaurs on the special test tracks i'm pretty sure that we have to get out of the way but now a lot of fun for sure oh you're right darn it there's johnny g right there uh the other johnny g so um yeah it's tough either direction like you said mark and i think the other thing too to add to the question you know that johnny put i think the format of three hours as all three of us know is brutal so i don't care how good shape you are it's a learning curve of knowing in perfect conditions with ego dirt having fun and being 60 degrees and sunny you could probably ride it 100 the whole time but as you learn with silt with dust with heat with your body with your mentality with your bike with air filters if you have a 10 second break sometimes that's the same it feels like an hour and you feel real rekindled so like ben kelly having a great race on that one lap or a great lap time doesn't surprise me so what you got to figure out is putting all those laps together i remember personally going from two hours to three hours felt like an extra four weeks on my motorcycle you know i remember getting done and flopping over and my buddy at the time ray and he just said are you okay and i said i don't think so i never want to do one of those again and he drug me with by my boots into the van and threw me in all muddy and still just took my helmet off and we were halfway to new york before i even got consciousness so it's a whole different level of fitness so obviously the fitness is a consideration lyndon's been here now for several months he's had the opportunity to race many of these three hour races so basically you guys are saying it's not so much the terrain it's not so much really even the different riders that he's racing against it really truly is just the format of the event i totally think so i mean we know he's a great racer like results you can't i always say you can't fake lap times and and you can't fake fitness so those are two things and in this sport the gncc's you have to have both and you have to be really really learning it and i think it takes a while to learn how fast you can go with your body with the type of conditions on the track also to your point but i think also it's one of those things yeah there's ricky russell there talking to him earlier today so it's good to see him back ricky russell on screen joined us in the booth just two weeks ago telling us about his plans to return to racing here very soon obviously having a very scary injury earlier this year but he has made a full recovery as far as his fit or his health goes now he's working on his fitness he's still on some blood thinners so they just don't want him to take the uh the chance of going out there and something happening so he is uh just taking the rest of the season off it sounds like should be able to get back on his dirt bike sometime in november and he'll be uh full gas and ready to go for that next year which we're hearing i think he may be a part of a new team i don't know if that's all common information yet but uh i think he'll be back with that coastal team are working on it and they may have a new color for next year from from some indications so we're here at the five mile marker there's evan earl another one of our xc1 riders riding for that kyler lens motorsports kawasaki team uh new team they just actually joined us for the first race at the last one um so great to have more support more riders in that xc1 class and uh yeah we were waiting there at the eight mile marker we did not yet see the leaders but we do know it should still be lane michael as far as we know around about a 20 second gap over the second place rider now caleb russell third place we believe last we knew uh oh it looks like they've come by and see what we see on screen a lot of dust you know another thing johnny on the three-hour race something that a lot of people don't yeah lane went through there's caleb running in second still in a good spot is the changing track conditions you know when you go and do sprint and duros and things like that the lines are pretty consistent here the track one lap to the next stop could be completely different and when we see some guys here point some lines those guys aren't everywhere on the whole track and to you know memorize a track for you know a 10-12 mile track that's changing constantly throughout the day that's another aspect and setting your bike up for that because do you set your bike up to be good for the first hour and a half or the last hour and a half or somewhere in the middle so that's another part of the learning curve that guys don't realize is how much you have to learn to read terrain and changing train and also set your bike up to work over such a vast array of terrain that you're going to be riding through that's going to change from start to finish well what started this conversation was speaking about the number 178 uh monster energy babbitt's online kawasaki writer lyndon snodgrass a european rider coming from australia who is now running in the top three overall uh and he has been just absolutely just kind of climbing steadily and uh today we're seeing him battle for a top three amongst the championship leaders i believe uh we're gonna take a little break here we're gonna come back we're gonna have some more action there's andrew delong the 410 racing uh phoenix honda racing machine and uh we'll be back with more action after this and uh oh josh strang was your second place rider will uh see if he can climb up there and keep that championship fight alive when we come back [Music] when you crave the canyon passes rocky trails rutted tracks the podiums and personal records it becomes part of you the choice now is do you become a wanderer or the wanderer you just need to ride where you belong [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] so [Music] born of family values and a homegrown work ethic kinetic gasket seals your machine so you can focus on the finish line kinetic gaskets are the competitive standard for racers who demand the very best kinetic gaskets are constructed from superior materials designed to perform in the most demanding environment whether it's championships on the line or a day in the dirt with friends professionals and enthusiasts depend on kinetic kinetic gaskets sealing championships since 1989. [Music] it's hard to put our adventures on hold but now is the perfect time to prepare for their return amsoil has your back with fast free shipping and ordering has never been easier just look up your vehicle select your product add an oil change to your cart and check out spend 50 on amsoil products and shipping is on us order now at amsoil.com even when you're the best you never stop striving to be better with over 40 years of experience in motorcycle sales and service we know racing our inventory of yamaha motorcycles sport bikes dirt bikes atvs and side-by-sides is extensive and constantly changing stop by lojack cycle sales today in torrentium pennsylvania and visit our online inventory at www.lojax.com yamaha wise ease it's why we ride hi my name is andrea lee the director of ontrack school how would you like to go to a school where we take into consideration how students learn best well we do that because we find if we can build the curriculum around the things you are interested in you're going to do a better job the mission at ontrack school is that educational success is possible while chasing your dreams not only will our staff help students to achieve success they will cheer you on to the finish line we encourage you to check out ontrack school at ontrackschool.com where we can help you chase your dreams and still get a quality education we are american motorcyclists we are members of the american motorcyclist association racers fans and crew we come together for this sport we love to race together to grow together we start young and not so young we race motorcycles and atvs we become friends we become family we compete for weekend bragging rights and national championships we make memories on the toughest off-road courses in the country and on the best motocross tracks in the world some of us aspire to the speed and poise of road racing for the fierce competitiveness of american flat track and we honor our greatest champions in the ama motorcycle hall of fame through it all we cheer we win and we lose we are racing we are the ama race with us be part of the greatest sport in the world be an american motorcyclist join us today at www.amajoy.com join hyphen now uh the last last race um the baroque gncc was a little bit unfortunate i had a crash there halfway through the second lap i just kind of got off my line and i smacked the tree and hit my hit the top part of my leg yeah it was pretty painful at the time and i knew something was definitely wrong and when i got it checked out i ended up tearing my pcl and my meniscus and got some uh some other strains and sprains inside my leg and around my uh upper or my knee and my leg area so it's uh it's definitely tough it's it's it's been you know i've torn my acl my other other other other leg and um i was able to ride through it when with it torn before i ended up getting repaired but uh just you know a little bit of age on me i can tell like my body isn't actually healing as fast as i did you know five years ago um it's in the two weeks that i've had to get ready for this race it's been it's been tough uh it's still a little bit swollen stiff and uh kind of awkward feeling and it's uh you know it's part of racing uh stuff happens you know 20 20 wouldn't win end any other way i don't guess so it's uh the way this year's shaping up but uh we're gonna muscle muscle through it and try to get the job done and like i said i'm gonna go out sunday and give it my best and you know that's all i can ask for well there you heard it straight from the horse's mouth caleb russell having a uh unfortunate come together with the tree two weeks ago at the uh uh what i keep wanting to call it john penton but the ber oaks gncc in the john penton section uh he actually uh in speaking with him after the race he basically said he kind of forgot which line he was in basically he thought he was on the outside he was actually on the inside and there was a tree on the outside of that inside ended up smashing um his his knee between his bike and that tree at a high rate of speed uh we talked about it on the last show josh strang the man he's battling for a championship actually stopped and helped him get out of the course so nobody else hit him just goes to show i mean this these are the best some of the best off-road motorcycle racers in the world out there still have the compassion and decency for each other bitter enemies on the track but you know when somebody's in harm's way you're going to make sure he's good to go and we wait for the leaders here at the 11 mile marker at the fmf powerpoint we're expecting to see the number 523 of lane michael and uh leading which would be now four laps after starting this one out front uh battled right down for that whole shot and there he is still leading the way and uh he's got a little dust in front of him now but that's from a left rider and lane's still looking solid mark yeah you know in for lane this could go one of two ways either he's been out front he's thinking about it too much and caleb catches him or i was thinking the other way this could go is k or he's out front and he get every the longer he stays out front the more confidence he gets and that could carry him to the finish but now that caleb and the gang have caught him uh we're gonna see how this holds up because like i said he hasn't had any pressure on now caleb knows uh it's go time and uh and you know there's nothing like a championship to really motivate you and that's another thing that caleb really has going for him i mean it's one thing to go out there and give it an effort and really try but when you know you could have your eighth straight national championship you know something that nobody's ever done and and i know caleb announced early like he said i want to tell everybody this my last year so they give me their best shot yup and kale would nothing more that he'd like than to win it today a little banged up and just say hey guys i told you i was coming i took it i did what i came here to do and you just can't say enough about this kid i mean his dad jeff i've known jeff and raised jeff forever and he's just an amazing guy won a national enduro championship caleb won a national enduro championship but their whole family is just rock solid and and their you know his grandfather howard just the super good people who's where the baroque takes place so to see caleb do this and i've you know when i was a sales rep for ktm earlier in my days before doing the ride orange program he was one of my sport writers so uh i it's great to see a kid like that come up through the the ranks and just to dominate like he has like nobody ever has in gncc racing so eight championships you know you know a championships coming from such a pedigree that he does you know this is a racing family jeff russell as you pointed out has been instrumental in the american effort in isd uh obviously caleb jeff i believe has won gncc win i i know he has at least one because i actually have his goggles from that race i caught him as a little boy um but uh there we see caleb on screen again we are lane michael's still leading the way the 523 and pro yamaha leading the way in this one but he is being chased by the one rider no one on this course wants to be chased by that guy right there number one fmf ktm seven-time champion and if he makes this pass and holds it to the finish line eight-time gncc champion caleb russell again the russell family synonymous with gncc and you know mark what when we talk about that russell pedigree crew russell is now racing i mean are we looking at maybe he could down the road be a guy that's up here battling for wins in xc1 or or who knows maybe by then it'll be called exc1 because it'll be electric motorcycles but uh yeah i mean just such a cool story um but he does still have pressure from behind now coming in the form of his teammate the number 530 of ben kelly in that third place spot and uh man he's hard on the hammer we pointed out a few laps ago he actually had the fastest lap time and uh as we look at the lap times from lap number four it is lane michael still leading the way with a 31-27 30-56 for caleb russell only eight seconds behind ben kelly with a 30-57 uh and he is now 4.6 seconds behind caleb russell as we saw on screen and maybe even a little bit closer than that right now he is up to the rear wheel of caleb russell but it was caleb russell with the fastest lap time out of uh oh actually oh no i'm sorry that was last three we had josh train with the 30-29 but that actually he has not yet checked in with four laps complete um as we refresh we do have our top oh now we've got him in so we'll run down the top ten as they run in the overall it's lane michael leading the way caleb russell second ben kelly in third thaddeval in that fourth place spot only eight tenths of a second behind ben kelly when they checked in in scoring so very much in the battle for a podium only another five seconds back is stu baylor and then it's one minute and five seconds back to andrew delong in that fifth place overall spot uh i'm sorry stu baylor is in fifth sixth place is andrew delong so there's where your your break is your top five are all within about 20 seconds and then it's one minute back to andrew delong still a very solid race for him today in that sixth place spot uh only a minute out of the top five and then it's your leader in that xc2 pro lights class of mike wakowski followed by grant baylor and it looks like craig de long in the ninth place overall spot has actually worked his way into second in that xc2 250 lights class so he is up into second there and uh oh look at this jordan ashburn 10th josh strang 11th as they run so that's a you know those two guys both up within the top three actually aspirin was in fourth but strang was in second ashburn was in fourth they're now back to 10th and 11th after those lengthy pit stops for air filter changes but you know still a lot of racing left a lot of those guys in front of them still have pit stops ahead of them as fred anders let us know it looks like those guys are both good to go ready to make it to the finish on both fuel and air filters so they may be able to pick up a few spots there hey johnny to jump in for you right there standing down here at the ktm pits right now it is literally i think the who's who of ktm here at the gncc but they're both prepared they are all prepared i should say ben kelly caleb russell both going to be pitting looks like ben kelly's going to be getting the air filter change and then should be pitting directly in front of him would be caleb russell fresh set of goggles and some fuel well we've seen them come through the uh scoring there which means we'll next see them at the two mile marker and then when we see them next after that it'll be right here in vp fuels pro row at the factory ktm pits there was that looked to be kelly kelly yeah uh orthad duvall and there is stu baylor so hard to tell was that kelly or was that duvall possibly it looked like kelly to me another thing that no it was so baylor baylor has now gotten around that ball up into fourth and duvall back to fifth still within striking distance of the podium though and again we don't know where stu or where uh that is at on air filter changes we we don't know if he's already done one if he is going to do one so man so many things shaken out and what we're seeing on screen right here is looks to be caleb russell hot on his heels is ben kelly so that is second and third as they run they're coming across the road here and uh in back into this little wood section and they will be soon working their way to the vp fuels pro row another big thing with this johnny is auntie is going to have his calculator out over there because you look where josh strang is now where caleb is now the championship is clearly in caleb's firm grasp so if uh you know so now they really got to work on their strategy make sure he keeps that points gap and keeps enough riders between himself and strength so he can wrap the title and he's got big pressure because as you well know zach osborne is now the 450 outdoor motocross champion so watch it yet i don't get the opportunity to watch it i don't care we're on social media we are so excited that that you know because zach gncc guy he grayson is a six day veteran and stuff so we were so excited that zach won the outdoor championship for us and uh caleb you know probably won't want to be out done so we might have a twofer this weekend and here comes caleb into the pits he's going for an air filter first we got a twofer in the ktm kids they're doing an air filter change fuel caleb russell getting himself something to drink i assume he got some fresh goggles although i did not check there so the next rider coming would be stu baylor has stu oh ben kelly beats caleb russell out of the pitch you see a little head shake there and you know he did not want to get beat out of the pits by his teammate ben kelly but at the same time so it does not like you you're down there what do you got yeah mikey can confirm confirm for you stu baylor able to get around both of those guys here in the pro pit so he is out in front of both of ben kelly and caleb russell right now and there we saw that very thing going the opposite way on the other side of the fence was to baylor now into the second place spot so it's the yamaha's one and two with lane michael out front stu baylor in second ben kelly able to get around his teammate caleb russell in the pits there for third and caleb russell in fourth now with caleb russell in fourth josh strang back in 11th place that would still be enough points if they continue to run there and finish there that would still be enough points for caleb to wrap up the championship when we talk about wrapping up the championships we're joined now in the booth by becca sheets uh our new newly crowned as of today wxc 2020 champion becca thanks for joining us yeah no problem um pretty excited to have wrapped up the championship chip today that's for sure what were the conditions like out there we're watching on screen these guys we've seen a crazy race with air filter changes and uh what was it like for you out there today i think you had a little bit of chaos of your own yeah definitely a chaotic day but the track itself is is just super gnarly it's so bumpy and and the silt is just so deep and you have no idea what's underneath what you're riding in most of the time and it's the slower riders that go up like through these sections that just kind of churn up the dirt and create these super super deep silt hills berms just kind of everywhere and um it like if you're behind somebody and and they're roosting you it's kind of like similar to florida where you get roosted and just kind of rained almost sand only the silt is is just like this heavy dry mud and it gets in your mouth your goggles everywhere and it um it's just really kind of hard to fight and you just have to fight for vision really and you definitely definitely don't want to get past if you're in a battle like caleb russell so a lot of things going on for caleb russell obviously having to make that uh pit for the air filter uh kind of a known quantity coming in i know you had quite a bit of chaos yourself today championship on the line you knew what you had to do coming in and uh i think you spent a little bit of time in in the pitch yourself today how did they go for you yeah all i had to do today was get sixth place which for me typically would not be a challenge and i was in the lead on i think the third lap and a lapper just kind of came to a complete stop in front of me in a pretty high speed corner and i smashed into him and just busted my radiator wide open so i knew what i did and as soon as i saw the pits i just turned in the pits and you know found found you and as soon as i could and i was like johnny come on we gotta bust the radiator and you know we went back to the pits and made that radiator swap luckily we had my practice bike here for a backup and i was able to still go out and finish fourth place today so it was very fortunate because i definitely thought my day was over so when you have that much on the line obviously on a day where you know you can wrap up the championship how much are you racing the race for what it is versus really racing for a championship and obviously relating that to caleb russell right now mark you pointed out you know he's probably getting pip boards to let him know that josh strang is back in that 11th place spot so becca tell us a little bit about what it's like having that extra weight and and does it really change how you race the track and how you race your competitors i definitely don't think it changes because you know we still have a couple rounds left and i was out there racing to win today and i'm sure caleb's out there i mean obviously he's got that injury so i'm sure he's not taking any unnecessary risks but if he didn't have that he would be out there to win just like any other race well you know we're watching on screen here at the four mile marker lane michael the 523 machine if there was one rider he did not want behind him it's probably that guy right there his teammate we said that about caleb as well but if there's anybody who's just carrying a little bit of extra swagger a little bit extra momentum a little bit extra energy it's the number 541 of stu baylor and and so we've got uh caleb russell there in fourth ben kelly did just come by in front of him in third so we've got the top four all real close and this guy right here 989. the rockstar racing husqvarna team of fad duvall and uh speaking of the team we actually just heard word that uh it does not appear that thad duvall is going to do an air filter switch today so i assume he has already made his pits and he is good to go to the finish uh when we come through at the end of this next lap there will be a white flag waving these guys are on lap numbers i'm sorry it'll be the yes they are on lap five so it'd be a white flag waving when they come through at the completion of this lap number five but uh you know becca the track out there i was out there this morning during your race mark i don't know if you've had an opportunity to get out of the woods much but you know i i made the very unfortunate um estimation or guesstimate uh earlier this week speaking with some people who were here just across the street last week for a uh team race and they said oh it's so dusty it's so silty and i said well as bad as it is there's no chance that it could be worse than it was one year ago here and uh i think i'm gonna have to eat those words along with a whole lot of dust what were your thoughts out there as far as the conditions of course i definitely think that this year was way worse because i don't remember it being so heavy last year for our race you know obviously the afternoon had issues last year with bikes blowing up i'm sorry to cut you off a new leader stu baylor the number 514 am pro yamaha has taken over the lead from his teammate lane michael lane just behind him there in second looking like something must have transpired there in just that few turns basically where we didn't see him so shake up there for the lead sorry about that go ahead becca oh that's okay there's a couple lines actually between here and there so i'm sure you just kind of chose a better one mistakes are very they're happening very often in all the racers i'm sure because even when i was uh battling with rachel archer today and goddess you know you're just behind him for just a minute and it doesn't take much to knock them out of place and and change positions with anybody so what's the visibility out there like there you know we can see on screen obviously in our camera shots are you able to see where you're going and it's kind of more just you're trying to stay out of the dust to save the bike and you not having to adjust the duster is it really affecting your visibility as well it's not really that bad visibility wise like you can see it's just foggy but something about it because it's so heavy doesn't create this like blind haze like we've had at the penton a time or two um this dust kind of dissipates a little bit it's just really bad when you're stuck behind someone and as soon as they hit a turn you're just kind of getting covered and still covering your bike yourself and so that's really what makes it hard it's not necessarily the visibility the the thing that is hard with the visibility is the silt berms that like just cover the ground and you can't see the you can't see what's under the ground basically and we've seen that so much as the course develops and as this race develops uh there's different sections and different segments of this course some of which are are kind of that finer dust that floats a little bit longer in the air some of it's that heavier silt and mark you know we were watching just a little bit about that eight mile marker when those guys were all coming in and we talked about the different approaches to those corners some of the guys kind of checking up early taking that inside line staying out of the silt presumably trying to save those air filters largely and then also some of the guys that are kind of on the outside andrew along there still running in a very solid uh sixth place spot so a great ride for him and uh just outside that top five and also still in that sixth place spot in the overall we'll see if we can uh i think we might be able to stay at this shot long enough that we will get so there is josh strang now up to seventh place in the xc xc1 pro class so again we're gonna have to get these calculators out on this last lap and figure out just where things are he's actually made his way around his teammate uh jordan ashburn who when they checked in at the finish line was just five seconds ahead of him so it looks like now they've kind of switched roles there um you know knowing that there's a championship on the line i'm sure josh is gonna throw everything he has at this uh they've told him he's good to go as far as filter and fuel he's gonna give it everything he's got try and uh at least keep this championship hope alive for one more round going into iron man and take it from there because there's so many variables out there on the track we were just talking there oh here's our leader in xc2 pro lights mike witkowski and that is another rider battling for a championship along with johnny gerard uh also um there is grant baylor so another xe1 rider that would be our eighth place rider in xc1 uh probably just outside the top 10 overall in correct time craig delong there we go up into second in that xc2 pro 250 pro class and you know mark with so many variables going on here third place in xc2 cody barnes on the number 99 factory beta with so many variables and championships on the line how much are the crews really uh relaying information to the riders to let them know we've talked about caleb russell obviously in the situation of mike wikowski it's a little bit different because he's kind of the definitely not the underdog but he's currently at a points deficit you know we know johnny drawer all the way back in that seventh place spot last we heard you know how much information gets relayed back and forth between the crew and the rider and again are you really thinking championship are you just trying to get max points on a day like today i think in the xc2 class what we're looking at is max points because those guys there's still two more races left after this round and they're grouped tight enough together where every point matters uh up where caleb and strang are at there could be a little bit more strategy especially when we get down to the last lap does caleb need to pass a guy to one guy to get a championship or does he stay put and he's fine so and strang's the same way if you know they'll give him the word like hey you need to get one more guy before you can uh can relax to take this to the next round because you never know what's going to happen with racing so we have two different classes and definitely two different strategies and like becca was saying on the race course out there that powder and silt gets so thick out there it hides a bunch of stuff underneath you and that could have been what happened wayne michael he could be riding along don't see anything on the ground and there's something underneath that hits it deflects off the course into a tree you know or a bad line you lose some time and that was all it took for uh stu to get around him there is liam draper another rider within the top five in that xc2 class and you know what i i know what you guys are talking about there obviously with the atv side of things we have it a little bit different we're kind of able to just plow over stuff uh to some degree you still have to be cautious but at the same time i was out there this morning during that 10 a.m race and just before that silt hill we're seeing there at the eight mile marker um actually i saw two riders just come into the berm bury the front end and immediately their bike came to a stop and they went over the handlebars and i knew in my head like all right something's something's got to be going on in there so i walked down to the bottom of the hill and actually with my feet just kind of started pushing the silt around and there was a rock not exaggerating it had to be twice the size of a basketball and it was just hidden in the silt so i actually went and started digging rocks out of those superbs you know just because i was sick of having to go down there and pick people up at the nine mile marker that hill wow this was actually at the eight but i did see the same thing at the time yeah where the monster what the monster can was yep yep yeah that hill was so technical like it didn't even have to be technical but people were just dropping like flies in front of you and this is one of those things that's really hard to articulate to people you know becca we were talking about this after pedaling the track on friday and tyler hits it when i said there's going to be a bottleneck at that eight mile marker hill he kind of looked at me like i was maybe speaking french and i didn't understand how to ride a dirt bike and i get that because looking at it before anyone starts riding it here is was your xc2 pro lights leader mark we might have to do some math for the xc2 pro lights class because johnny gerrard was the points leader back now it looks like he may be in that sixth place spot in xc2 with mike watkowski leading there's jesse ansley just behind him so he has gotten his way around ansley he was behind him last we saw but uh he was in that seventh place spot and shout out to jesse ensley if you can finish that one up in seventh place in that xc2 pro lights class that would be his best finish i believe to date in that class but uh yeah you know when you look at these courses before the race weekend starts a lot of these sections look very unassuming they're just kind of you know oh that hill's not so steep and it's not but when you get you know over 500 atvs on the course yesterday multiple laps in multiple races and then today you've got the youth rate while the youth didn't run that section but the morning race then the afternoon i mean these courses are so chewed up and like you guys talked about the silt i thought it was interesting grant baylor said it was like riding snow it is like riding snow it's so unpredictable and you know what the quads really just churn it up nicely for us because i think we'd be i was taking a break because i got a little something in my throat and i need to drink water but i have to defend myself we make the tracks so much better now i'll wait you guys can go ahead and bash that statement no no the quads do definitely open up some lines for us and make the truck a little more erasable that's for sure mark mark just pointed out that gentleman there looked like was one of the team members was actually moving some stuff out of the track that was buried in the sill perms and here we see stu baylor folks we haven't really talked much about this today let's do baylor two consecutive wins coming into this weekend and now here he is coming to the white flag in the lead you know what i'm just gonna go ahead and give a shout out to like i think this track was made for yamaha today it's just a yamaha kind of track you need that uh kyb suspension but it seems like ben kelly's keeping up no problem yeah ben kelly looking like he wants to throw a little orange into this blue party up front yeah he's just trying to mix it up a bit caleb russell has lost some ground still there in that fourth place spot but definitely having lost ground you know what we do here is we speculate and we can figure this is that silt hill you were talking about where you were digging out boulders so if we had to speculate do we think that caleb russell just knows points wise he's in a good spot or is maybe that knee starting to become a factor as we're now two hours and almost 20 minutes into this race you know admittedly obviously not being able to spend much time on the bike the last two weeks not really able to do any training at all as of yesterday pretty much said he could barely ride his pedal assist around to even check out the course so mark what are we figuring here on points do we have anything figured out just yet well right now caleb's running for and further back you get in the points then you gain less points and right now caleb is running in fourth place which would give him 18 points for him to wrap the championship up we would need strang back in eighth place that would be 13 points so that would be the five points that caleb needs so if caleb stays where he's at in fourth strand can be no better than eighth for caleb to wrap the title up so i'm sure they've got pen to paper over there or their calculators go on their phones and everything and uh you know for him the further like i said the further he drops back the tougher it makes him to gain those five points that he needs and that could give strange a little bit more motivation but i'm sure if they give caleb the pit board that you need one more spot on this last lap caleb will dig deep and give it everything he has to get that spot absolutely you know and that's again it's that it's that informational exchange between the uh you know the crew and the rider themselves they're trying to give them all the information that they need without giving them too much information because ultimately they still need to focus on just riding their dirt bikes so many guys out there riding their dirt bikes right now racing their dirt bikes very competitively we've got quite a few other classes out there on track as well we're gonna run down a few of those now uh we know our xc1 we've seen those battles on screen as we go back to our xc2 class there is andrew delong and actually behind him looks to be is that the number 114 of josh strang who's now made his way up to the rear wheel it is josh strang on a mission and that would be one more spot that would be now sixth in that xc1 class as you said caleb if caleb stays in fourth strang would need to finish eighth or worse uh but keeping in mind we've also got the xc2 class that could factor into that as well because it's overall positions for the championship not class positions so as we look back at our xc2 uh 250 pro class and we see where those guys are running and what that looks like right now the top 10 in that one mike wikowski leading the way cody barnes in second cragged along in third there is grant baylor on screen at the eight mile marker at that monster energy mile and up the hill with no problems at all taking that nice inside line saving the filter on that machine he doesn't want to have to make another filter change listen i did not see that line in the morning race i tell you what these pro guys um they definitely know how to make their lines and that's something i wish i could learn as a racer i mean obviously i know how to make lines but i made that line um something about these guys they just know kind of how to pick it out and just go for it so there is a shake up we were just talking about that xc2 pro light or pro lights class there is third place cody barnes on screen just in front of him the 342 rockstar energy racing husqvarna on craig along into second place in that class still leading the way mike wikowski on the 282 ampro yamaha in the fourth place spot where they checked in at the completion of lap number four liam draper lyndon snodgrass in fifth and uh we'll be back with some more class rundowns and also the very exciting finish to this one there will be a white flag waving when we come back and uh everybody tune in get your popcorn ready because this one's gonna be a barn burner when you crave the canyon passes trails rutted tracks the podiums and personal records it becomes part of you the choice now is do you become a wanderer or the wanderer you just need to ride where you belong [Applause] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] born of family values and a homegrown work ethic kinetic gasket seals your machine so you can focus on the finish line kinetic gaskets are the competitive standard for racers who demand the very best kinetic gaskets are constructed from superior materials designed to perform in the most demanding environment whether it's championships on the line for a day in the dirt with friends professionals and enthusiasts depend on kinetic kinetic gaskets sealing championships since 1989 [Music] hi i'm mark hyde with ktm and i run our ride orange program we're here at the gncc today normally i run all our demo activities but with the coronavirus that's been kind of curtailed for the time being and i was talking to the president of our company john hines about what can we do to give back to the sport and help with things and we've come up with this rig we use it for our ars events which is the amateur motocross events and we decided since it's already stocked and ready to go we would bring it to the gncc's and offer the same support that we offer at the amateur motocross so it's full of emergency parts if you need it also we have people like myself and mike laffey here so if you need some technical advice some riding tips bike setup tips so we can provide that as well well i used to race for ktm in husqvarna and then after that went to the the work side of things and uh ended up working for rodney smith uh rent for him for seven years we won ten championships together and then i got my job at cape back at ktm and uh i said just kind of evolved over the years and one thing led to another and uh we ended up you know starting the demo program with ktm and getting that rolling off really well and along with that we do the amateur support things which uh the same truck kind of does both of those events so that's kind of how it how it all happened yeah if you're interested in getting into the industry but not on a racing side of things a lot of our mechanics have gone to the different training schools throughout the country and then they they put it the best thing is to work at a dealership first and get some of that hands-on experience but if you have the degree and everything and that's where we get a lot of our mechanics through is guys that have been done the training and then they've worked at a dealership and get to figure out how to do multiple brands and things like that because you learn a lot that you wouldn't learn just working on new stuff all the time so it's good to have that experience because there's a race mechanic or any mechanic in the industry uh you're you have a lot of problems you need to figure out on your own by yourself you can't sit there in front of a computer and look stuff up so you got to think on your feet quick and that really helps you do stuff like that [Music] yeah you know the uh the last two races have gone really well um i was able to find myself up front really early and both and both tracks and um the bike's been getting off the line pretty good uh it's just everything's been clicking obviously you know the the goal is as top threes as long as i'm on the podium i'm happy and um you know it'd be great to click off another win but just being up front battling with those guys is good i know tomorrow's gonna be really tough the the track seems to be really one line um and as it stands it looks like we're going to have a lot of silt berms and the rain will be coming down right as we start so that's going to throw a curve ball into and goggle prep bike prep everything so it's really hard to set set something up based on one condition when it could completely change mid race that's where i think tomorrow is going to play out or how it's going to play out i think the weather's going to have a lot to do with it well folks we're back here and we're watching on cue stu baylor coming through the finish line chicanes and waiting for him will be ricky towery with a white flag waving meaning one lap between him and potentially three consecutive wins in gncc racing and uh stu baylor having only ever won two races prior to just a month ago is now two in a row working on three white flag waving this is it folks two hours 26 minutes into this one the pip board says you can do it uh stu baylor's a guy don't really know that you need to go to mount that much but they're not taking any chances they're going to let him know you can do it he's gotten the lead uh we will wait to see we don't know if he's good on fuel um but we will find out here in a matter of just about two miles when they get to the vp fuels per row and he is now shaking his tail we'll wait and see here if lane michael is still continuing to run in that second place spot he was your leader through four laps of racing stu baylor able to get around make the pass here we see caleb russell now into the finish line chicanes looks like he's got some heat from behind thad duval there right behind him uh we'll watch ben kelly now into the second place spot 13 seconds behind stu baylor lane michael as of a moment ago had not yet checked in uh there he is lane michael 22 seconds behind ben kelly and caleb russell has now checked into scoring we'll see what the gap is there kayla russell taking a look over 16 seconds he's got to make up to get elaine michael in that third place spot thaddeval 1.5 behind this is a visual we're not you know unaccustomed to seeing caleb russell thad duval battling we're not necessarily as accustomed to seeing them battle over fourth and fifth you know typically we're looking at them battling for a win uh caleb obviously nursing an injury uh he sustained at our last round two weeks ago that of all coming back from a lengthy break from racing after an injury sustained over the off-season and uh proven to be a little bit too much for him to start the season with uh undergoing knee surgery and i think is that stu baylor it is that's stu baylor out in the uh watching for our yamaha racing skycam on that ampro yamaha yz450 out front leading the way and uh man you know mark you want to talk about a shot in your arm for a shot in the arm for your career stu baylor having what could have just been a terrible 2020 you know ultimately having a falling out with his team not being able to find a ride mid-season undergoing a minor knee surgery that had a whole bunch of complications leading to infections so much time off the bike is there any better way to rebound than this no and k or stew has been riding great i mean both enduros and the gncc's but the gncc's have really come his way the last three rounds you know and he was always known more as an enduro specialist that's where he won his championships and to see this i mean he's definitely righted the ship and will put himself in fine shape going into next year and you know caleb russell and and that duvall again maybe not at 100 today but ben kelly is hot on his heels and chasing him and trying to come after that win uh we saw stu wrestle the win away from him just a month ago actually the last two rounds he was able to wrestle the win away from ben but uh leading the way here and now he's just counting off mile markers yeah i mean he's uh kind of got the clear track you know and two by this point of the race most people there kind of used up the other guys out there so it's you know if he catches lappers they're not going to really be hammered down and making a lot of dust so he should have a pretty smooth lap he just needs to hit his marks and not make any mistakes and then ben on the same token he's been on fire here after getting that penalty early on and he's moved through the pack pretty rapidly so if they weren't for that 15 second penalty we would really have a knock down drag out on our hands yeah good point we i had all but forgotten about that ben kelly starting his bike just a little bit early shut it off we believe and then restarted with the rest of the field still incurring a 15-second penalty a stop-and-go penalty where they held him at the finish line there and uh yeah so stu baylor still leading the way in this one ben kelly's second uh lane michael in third caleb russell fourth thad duval in fifth josh strang up to the sixth place position in the overall so that there you go on screen mark that tells the tale of the points right there and uh he's gotta he's you know he's done what he's gotta do to get back up in there to keep that championship hope alive you know becca as we're watching this on screen and we're talking about all these championship battles and and all the dust and all the uh challenge that these guys have to overcome this track has seen so much racing this weekend we talked a little bit about that but how much rougher was the course getting throughout the course of your race and and how do you imagine it's it's shaping up now with three more hours of racing you know it didn't really seem like the truck really got that rough it was just rough from the get-go and i never really noticed it you know wearing me down or anything so but you know i'm sure these guys are breaking it down even more so and um like i said the track is just super rough it's we've raced it kind of twice this year already and you know from the silt last year it's just super chunky and rooty and it's got everything in it and um you know i feel for these guys out here right now well into the third hour racing in this guy right here making it look easy stew baylor on the 514 ampro yamana leading the way we'll see what the gap is 21-32 as oh the gap has come down it was 13 seconds and it is now down to eight ben kelly is on a mission ben kelly on a mission and last week he had a shadow of elaine michael only well not a shadow 16 seconds behind him so we'll see what that was that was 31.40 as he went out of shot there and we still have now it's been 16 seconds we have not seen lane michael yet so it looks like that gap may be growing which opens up the opportunity for caleb russell and thad duvall to potentially get up in there and battle for a podium spot but you know if you're a uh if you're a lane michael fan get out there line the uh there he is on screen so went from oh we don't have the clock on there so i could get the split but looks like it's gone up uh upwards of probably 25 seconds or more um and there we see looks like uh working their way through those chicanes and they will soon be popping out that was the two mile marker the vp fuels pro row is about three mile marker so this would be the last pass-through chance for these guys to get some fuel if they need an air filter which i don't think will probably see any air filter swaps this slap but uh this guy right here is probably going to be getting nothing more than some encouragement from that ampro yamaha team telling him you can do it yeah you know we've got the looks like we might have a battle shaping up front but the big thing that i want to watch this last hop is caleb russell because the way strang has moved up through the pack after his uh long air filter change is he's uh going to stretch this out to iron man unless caleb can get on the gas and get that third place position because if caleb jumps up to third then uh strang even if he gets fifth place caleb will be the champ so if caleb can at least get into that third spot that puts him i think in the driver's seat to wrap up the title today because then strange would have to get to fourth place the way the points play out so there we go that is the uh the points we've been talking so much about today so much on the line championship battles ben kelly into that second place spot charging hard and trying to close down the gap to the leader the 514 of stu baylor he's already around the fence and headed the other way there is kelly going the other way so they just saw each other each other literally like two dogs staring at each other on the opposite side of the fence ben kelly saying i'm coming to get you stu baylor saying no boy i got you covered on this one and i'll tell you what these two have battled each other hard the last couple races even going back to the mountain mountaineer last year dusty race treacherous conditions and they battled each other all the way down to the finish ultimately becoming ben's first ever xc one win lane mic down oh that was hard boom right to the they hit the corner of the uh last easy up there i i believe that's actually a white coal corner yeah so uh he will be okay but he took a real hard hit there his front just washed i think he tried to set up a little too inside for that corner there he grabbed a little bit of front brake and we're sure that lane will definitely be up and okay i'm sure but uh yeah that was a hard hit and it looked like he took that pull oh he's gone he is up and gone on his way just grabbing up maybe a little bit too much front brake or leaning the bike in a little bit too much here see he gets a little kick there under braking backhand starts to come around oh yeah tucks the front and right to the chest with the white pole it did open up the window of opportunity caleb russell and thad duvall almost wheel to wheel going right past them back to you guys okay yeah about it now we've got the points yeah but uh with that right on caleb's rear wheel caleb doesn't have it easy from here in because you know those two they uh they have had some battles over the years and i don't think that is going to want to be the one that let caleb win this title today 100 mark if there was a guy that's not going to cut caleb russell a break knowing that he's trying to lock up a championship it's going to be the guy that he is stolen or or fought so bitterly and and friend i mean that you know they're both good guys they've grown up in gncc it's not a personal dislike for each other it's they both want to win and and fad has had the unfortunate you know uh circumstances basically growing up and racing in the caleb russell era think of how many race wins and championships have been so nearly looking like they were just gonna happen for for thad and caleb would sneak them away so uh if that has the opportunity to give strang you know one opportunity just two weeks longer i'm sure he's cleanly and professionally gonna do everything he can and also he's racing for his own pride his own career and you know i believe he has resigned for multiple years so it's not so much a needing a deal it's you know he wants to prove that he's capable of winning these races which there's no question he is yeah and i think too that's what we're seeing out front is uh everybody knows that this is caleb's last year and i think what you're seeing out of ben and stu is they kind of want to figure out who is going to take that championship and thad he wants to remind everybody like hey don't forget about me i've been second way too many times to count so i want to be the guy that's leading this parade come next year and finishing back on the podium your first race back would be a massive statement so you know championship aside points aside that deval is racing and he sees the potential for a podium if he can get around caleb russell so uh you know leading the way still is the 514 of stu baylor on that ampro yamaha second place the 530 of ben kelly on the fmf ktm and here is baylor out front we'll see what that gap is as he comes by hits that g out just at two hours 37 minutes and he's looking pretty smooth right now guys doesn't look like a whole lot of urgency and he's open that gap back up just a little bit looks like it's nine 10 about 11 seconds back so we saw it at 16 we saw it down to eight now it looks like it's back up around 11 or 12 seconds so that uh you know that's really going to kind of show as we watch that gap can ben get close enough to make a move or is stu baylor just going to kind of manage that gap from the front watch his pit boards keep an eye over his shoulder and man a lot of pressure on both those guys right now yeah and also elaine michael you know how much does he have left after that crash you know going into the last lap you know just having uh you know the ride of his year for this year you know we'll be able at least maybe keep it in the top five yeah and absolutely you know there is a pretty good size gap back to that sixth place ride which we think now is josh strang uh which ultimately could loom large for that championship you know if lane is unable to continue at a at a solid pace he may potentially fall back into the grasp of a very very hard charging 114 machine the green machine of josh tran caleb russell now still out there in that third place spot looks like he lost his tail there uh thad duval on the 989 rockstar racing husqvarna falling back just a little bit but not too far he can still see caleb he is still right there guys that's a close battle but i'm telling you it's hard to battle in that stuff when you're when you're the second place yeah and another thing you know i mean now we're getting into the point with that i mean we know he's got the speed and the heart and the desire but uh fitness you know he's been off all year and sometimes too being off you know helps you sorry i don't mean to cut you off but lane michael made a quicker recovery than we realized he bounced right back yeah he's there in that fifth place spot you know and he looks like he's riding with quite a bit of aggression he didn't look like he was just limping along looking over his shoulder like is anybody catching me he might be on a mission to try to catch back up to that podium battle and you gotta think a guy that led so much of this race he wants to be on that podium he needs to be on that podium he's going to do everything he can do to try to get back up in there in that battle yeah and you know hopefully leading all these laps as he did today has given him confidence and he's another one of those young kids that with caleb gone he's looking at uh moving up the ladder next year and wants to be contending for wins and podiums and stuff but here we got the replay coming up to see what we got going on here we thought we were gonna but instead we've got uh still got a shot of the four mile marker here the next rider that we should be seeing on screen should be potentially as we think the 114 on that babbitt's monster energy kawasaki and that would be the other man battling out still left alive in this championship battle the 114 of josh strang last we knew was in seventh place overall but we heard he had moved up to six that had gotten his way around uh andrew delong for that sixth place overall position which keeps him as they run right now just two points shy of potentially keeping that championship alive so he would need to run lane michael down or hope that caleb russell loses a spot to thad the ball there he is josh trang yeah and i thought you got to give josh trying a lot of credit today because you know he battled back at the borough two weeks ago coming back and then today you know he's not a hundred percent but uh and with their lengthy pit stops you know he is battled today to take this to the next round so we'll see how this next few minutes plays out and you know you've talked about it a number of times in the last couple of minutes rider's trying to make a statement you know with caleb russell leaving you know not racing gncc full-time next year josh trang is another rider that has been that that number two guy so many times you know he definitely wants to put his mark on it and say no no i'm the guy i'm the guy that's gonna get this done yeah so there's a lot of people just like uh when ricky carmichael you know stepped out it's like who's gonna be the next guy uh you know mike lafley in the national enduros you know we've had a lot of guys that uh have been on the top of the step and knocked a lot of people off for a long time and it's interesting to see who steps up when the top guy goes away and you know we've seen that across different classes different forms of racing and different forms of sports in general you know when you have um when you have a rider that is is as dominant and as formidable as caleb russell is you know when he kind of steps away or indicates that he's going to step away kind of re-energizes the rest of the field as you said with ricky carmichael and so many of the guys over the years it's it's all these guys that were kind of well i'm a second place guy i'm a third place guy kind of a thing like hey man championships race wins all that's available and uh you know it's when you're racing for wins not that i would know that well but when you are i think i got one time one time you've got how many do you have how many uh gncc or 100 i think 14. 14. okay yep so you've got quite a few more you have to ask if it's gncc or 100 milers i go back a long way better in here yeah for those that don't know watching at home as we wait we watch for the 514 of stu baylor uh at the 11 mile marker and this will be just you know really really coming down to the nitty-gritty from there it comes right out to the finish and uh that will be a checkered flag waving if whoever we see first we'll likely be the winner but mark we we talked earlier um you know oh sorry we will see him at the eight mile marker we're just i won't i thought we jumped ahead i thought these guys were really on the gas but uh mark we talked a little bit earlier you've actually been racing this series since it was the hundred miler series the weiss go 100 miler series which then became the weisko grand national cross country series which we now know as just gncc so how have you seen this series you know this group of of riders and and properties and everything that's involved in the series the promoter how has the progression been over the course of your career it's been phenomenal you know i you know dave combs was just a visionary and he was so great at seeing down the road and getting people on the same page and have a common goal you know i mean we just went we were riding our dirt bikes and having fun and everything and to see the level it's gone to you know you look down pit row you see a semi back in our day if you had a ford supervan you were you were the top of the list uh now with the semis and all the professionalism and guys are making money racing dirt bikes it's just just amazing and the racer production has just done a phenomenal job you know making this the premiere not just one of the us premier series but through the world you see guys like yuha salman and david knight you know coming over from europe because they won't you know shane watts they want to make their mark here in america at this series so it's been neat in the places we've gone i know it's changed and you know a race like the blackwater 100 the big bear and ed lojack actually we talked about early rode his bike to the race because the shop the fireball 100 was across the street from the shop so you know stuff like that doesn't happen anymore but we got to go to some cool places like that and raise some neat things and even the venues we have now uh some of the ski resorts we've gone to and other locations the boy scout camp a few weeks ago i mean iron man coming up but it's just some phenomenal places and the tv coverage that you're getting and just the the atmosphere at these events it's just amazing to see all these people coming together week in week out and just putting on just first class events you know and as we're talking about that we'll wait on our leaders here at the eight mile marker but you know you pointed out all the international flair i mean it's really honestly grown to the point now where it used to be american riders if they wanted that notoriety they went abroad where now it's riders from europe coming here because this is the premiere off-road series we've seen it in you know the xc1 pro class and and now even with the wxc class obviously we've got riders coming from abroad with uh you know so many of the top female riders and and it's kind of become this america versus you know a broad thing and you know becca for you obviously all those years of uh kind of racing here now 10 years or 11 years actually in gncc how does you know how does that play out when you basically you're racing against riders they've grown up in the gncc series but then also have writers from abroad coming in as well yeah it's grown tremendously even from when i started racing these for fun back in 2011 like the growth of um this sport is just it just keeps on going and yeah we have the girls that come from australia taylor and mackenzie and now we've got rachel archer from new zealand and um you know rachel's pretty young and she has wanted to come over here and race it when she was just a young teenager so it's pretty awesome and it's cool to see it grow especially on the women's side of things but it's awesome to be able to race a series that that people strive to be the best at i mean this is tough racing and no matter how it evolves like the hardship of it is is ever evolving also it it never really gets much easier yeah the the courses a lot of a lot of people and mark you may may see this as well the courses have changed for sure um they used to be kind of slower paced more technical but when you have as many racers as you do on a gncc weekend now you know you have to make the courses that are capable of holding that many riders so it's it's evolved more into you know becca kind of as you were alluding to it's not just about riding a dirt bike not that what you guys were doing wasn't phenomenal but it's almost it's now truly an athletic you know achievement as well as being a writer and there is stu baylor uh you know stu baylor clearly is a writer and and he tries to play down the fact that he's an athlete he tries to act like he doesn't train and he's all about oh look at this but this guy right here behind him is trying to play up the fact that he is an athlete and trying to run stu down and he has definitely closed that gap down yes ben is on it hard you know it's uh he wants to win some races for this year's over he had an injury earlier in the year and jumping back to the international thing it was really awesome last year at six days to see our women's team and our world trophy team both win i mean that was phenomenal so you saw the switch of us just trying to go over to europe and compete where now we're dominating off road and becca you know she had an amazing six days last year just like our gncc led uh um trophy team along with uh taylor robert from out west but um and then the junior team was all gncc kids so it's a really neat for me because six days is is very important to me and you know i grew up with it and it was awesome i know becca doesn't think that sometimes but i heard you were going to go to italy next year mark if you go i go i think that's the deal all right there you go robert pierce auntie calling and you heard it first if becca goes mark will go those are the uh those are the stipulations obviously speaking about the international six days enduro last year in portugal the american team of the trophy team of caleb russell ryder coming up on screen in third place we do not see there is that duval right behind him so that not giving up on that potential podium caleb russell still trying to make it stick knowing that that may be what he needs to drive the final nail in this championship and uh and put it put it to uh put it to rest i know he's been wanting to get this thing closed up and in the position to maybe be able to do that yeah right now thad the ball could be one of his best friends or his worst friends if thad stays behind him it gives him the cushion to beat josh strang if that passes caleb then that gives strang another two weeks to contend for this title as as they run right now yes now strang is still in that sixth place spot in the overall lane michael's still right there he's not lost much ground which means it is still going to be a pretty healthy gap back to josh strang they're here now at the eight mile marker the 11 mile marker finish becca talk a little bit what lies between where these guys are now at the eight and the finish line what what's in front of these guys and what do they still have to overcome um these guys from here on out the truck's actually pretty gnarly it's pretty fast but it's super technical and something about actually after this it's very rooty and it's hard to ride i guess i guess it's not that fast it kind of slows down a little bit you have some gnarly downhills um that are a little bit silty and got that one really silty uphill still ahead of them yep the one really silty one and it's just some tight twisty stuff and with a couple i mean open straightaways um it's technical though anything can happen out there especially with the lappers that they're facing right now so when you mix the lappers in and thinking about the track that lies ahead of them from the eight to the eleven stu baylor not what you might call a comfortable lead but he doesn't exactly have been right on his rear wheel he's got a few seconds there so he's gonna try and kick up dust try and hold ben off ben's gonna be charging trying to get to that rear wheel if ben can get to the rear wheel or in the case of thad and and caleb who are a little bit closer are there many passing opportunities if you can kind of bonsai align or create a line or jump anything crazy or really charge anything coming up oh i'm sure they've got a few lines out there between here and the finish um you know like i said that all those downhills and even in that tight stuff especially when um when there's lappers in front in front of them they could kind of see the line ahead if they're chasing somebody and you know make a good line quick line choice through the bush or whatever you got to do um anything's possible between here and the finish so josh strang we just saw on screen mark and he is still fighting he has gotten around his teammate there we see jordan ashburn the 127 he's gotten around andrew long he's made all the passes that he's able to make of guys in front of him but is that is that bridge too big a gap to cross right now to lane michael for him to potentially keep this championship alive yeah right now that the distance between lane is you know unless lane has a big problem there's no way that's going to happen the only thing he can hope for is that duval is his new best friend and gets around caleb that's the only thing that's going to save him and i think caleb as many championships he's won the smarter racer as he is i don't see him making a mistake between here and the finish all right well there you have it folks we're going to take a little break we're going to come back and on the line is the championship for this overall gncc title 2020. caleb russell with the potential eighth championship pending stu baylor potentially looking at three straight wins and we'll have the answers to all those questions coming back here in just a few moments it's hard to put our adventures on hold but now is the perfect time to prepare for their return amsoil has your back with fast free shipping and ordering has never been easier just look up your vehicle select your product add an oil change to your cart and check out spend 50 on amsoil products and shipping is on us order now at amsoil.com even when you're the best you never stop striving to be better with over 40 years of experience in motorcycle sales and service we know racing our inventory of yamaha motorcycles sport bikes dirt bikes atvs and side-by-sides is extensive and constantly changing stop by lojack cycle sales today in torrentium pennsylvania and visit our online inventory at www.lojax.com yamaha wise it's why we ride hi my name is andrea lee the director of on-track school how would you like to go to a school where we take into consideration how students learn best well we do that because we find if we can build the curriculum around the things you are interested in you're going to do a better job the mission at ontrack school is that educational success is possible while chasing your dreams not only will our staff help students to achieve success they will cheer you on to the finish line we encourage you to check out ontrack school at ontrackschool.com where we can help you chase your dreams and still get a quality education we are american motorcyclists we are members of the american motorcyclist association racers fans and crew we come together for this sport we love to race together to grow together we start young and not so young we race motorcycles and atvs we become friends we become family we compete for weekend bragging rights and national championships we make memories on the toughest off-road courses in the country and on the best motocross tracks in the world some of us aspire to the speed and poise of road racing for the fierce competitiveness of american flat track and we honor our greatest champions in the ama motorcycle hall of fame through it all we cheer we win and we lose we are racing we are the ama race with us be part of the greatest sport in the world be an american motorcyclist join us today at www.amajoy.com join hyphen now the second just the second lap uh at the paint or the burr oak race uh i came up on caleb in the what what we would normally call the john pen section uh and i would think i was in eighth or something so i mean six people had already gone past and he was still in the middle of track uh on the ground so uh i think it was only the right thing to do to stop to make sure he's all right you know uh we had a ricky russell went down earlier in the year with a with a major injury so you never know um being that far out probably the furthest part from the pits or anywhere so um i just thought it was the right thing to do to stop make sure he's alright i helped him off the track and then after a little bit he said i could keep going so uh i mean i i may have lost a few positions overall but i think i did looking back at it i did the right thing and um i'm okay with it well there you go and that shows not just what a racer he is but what a human he is you know to be able to say that knowing there's a championship on the line literally the guy that you were battling with for the championship is laying in the middle of the trail he said hey i know i lost a few positions but it was just the right thing to do and you know ultimately in the end it that's probably a much better move for life and for karma and all that than saying like hey here's this guy down we're just gonna oh look at this we're we're being told that we should be seeing them pop out here into this shot stu baylor leading and ben kelly right on him so we may get to see a battle for the win in the final turns and the drama just keeps on giving today mark yeah and like i said these two kids they're the young kids they want to be the next big thing i mean stu has already done that in the enduro world but uh ben is coming and he's coming hard so uh he's gonna throw everything at look at uh stu he's protecting those inside lines he doesn't want to give ben an inch but uh well this this is a flashback to georgia where caleb russell was able to sneak one away from stu baylor but not today folks stu baylor three wins in a row takes the win here at the mason dixon gncc three in a row for stu baylor ben kelly just fractions of a second behind him on that fmfktm hats off to both these guys handshakes animosity no i don't think there's any animosity nothing but respect amongst those two you know ben wanted that one but stu baylor just able to squeak it out again three wins in a row after what was nothing but a dumpster fire of a 2020 for stu baylor he comes back wins his first race back backs it up two weeks ago and backs it up backs up the back up here today at the mason dixon mark this kid is seriously showing that he wants to be taken seriously in this championship considers consideration moving forward and soon we should be seeing potentially our third eight-time champ dick burleson mike crafty in enduro world and this would be uh the second eight-time champ in the gnc series world followed by ed lojack who has nine there we go and and uh barry hawk actually has eight seven of those are atv titles one motorcycle uh bill balance also has nine on the atv side but this would put him very much up in the conversation of greatest off-road riders of all time greatest gncc riders of all time if he crosses the line in third we will have to wait to celebrate because josh strang if he finishes inside that top five would still keep it alive but as he runs right now he's in sixth and also we don't know for sure that caleb has been able to hang on to that third place spot it could be here it is recognize the helmet caleb russell yep the number one fmfkt right behind you right behind him caleb taking a look over his shoulder and knowing that he needs to make just these last couple corners clean yes as long as he finishes in third place and thad's right behind him that will give caleb the title so even if strang crosses his line at fifth it would still be enough yes okay so that's it folks sorry to be anti-climactic about it we thought maybe josh string still had a chance but with caleb russell crossing the line in third there he is folks eight-time gncc champion caleb russell getting the job done today coming off an injury just two weeks ago not knowing what it was going to take for him you can see walking away from that bike looks like he's pretty depleted and he's gonna have a seat well deserved for this man eight gncc championships takes the seat against the trailer his wife chandler there with him and what a feeling of relief if they've even told him yet that he has in fact locked up the 2020 gncc overall championship you know this is pretty awesome and i really got to put my ktm hat on here because the president of our company john hines he came to this race today even though the odds weren't in caleb's favor to wrap it up and that just to show you how much off-road racing means that ktm when you when the president of our company takes the time to fly here spend the weekend with us he had a long conversation with kobe yesterday so it's just really cool for us as a company and even more important for caleb and jeff russell too jeff has just got to be ecstatic and his grandfather howard i mean it's amazing thing what caleb has done today and throughout his whole career so you know i just have nothing but respect for caleb and what he's done on on a dirt bike and uh it's just amazing and now he's just gonna have to coach up crew for the next in a few years we'll get another wrestle on the podium and and you talk about caleb russell is a guy you give him a chance just a chance and he's going to make the most of it that's what he's done throughout his career and today he had a chance like you said maybe not a good chance obviously him coming off an injury needing to put five points on josh strang he just digs and digs and gets it done yeah it was an amazing effort today because most of us wouldn't even got off the couch today if our knee was in the shape that caleb's name was in probably if we knew if he really got on how bad it was i'm sure he didn't because you know he's a competitor he didn't want to give give his competition any advantage you can see the look on his face he gave it everything he had today and it's just you know you know we both raised i've been we're not quite where he's been but uh won some titles and stuff but uh you know the effort you have to put out when you're healthy and to put an effort out like that in the condition he is is just phenomenal i mean look at his shoulder his jersey's ripped off the shoulders bleeding he that was a struggle for him today but you know he put it out there and uh that's why he's eight-time champ yeah you know and and mark you said it right there you know this isn't just about winning a dirt bike race this isn't just about winning a championship this is about a guy who's able to take himself places mentally and physically we've talked about it before off camera he's able to take himself places that mere mortals normal well-adjusted human beings say no enough's enough that's enough pain that's enough for the day i need to just back it off a little bit sandoval caught him no slack that was so close to that podium today his first right back you know he's thrown everything he had at it caleb russell would not be denied the state championship kudos to that of all kudos to stu baylor another win the man of the day but the man of the year right now this guy right here caleb russell eight-time gncc overall champion that's uh that's phenomenal stuff that is amazing you know and uh i know ktm's got some plans for caleb in the future that are gonna be phenomenal i know we're gonna do some stuff at iron man that you guys don't want to miss so make sure you guys make the trip over that one and you know the iron man is always a fantastic race and everything and you know you can see stu had a great ride today ben had a great ride but uh like i said the man of today was with caleb russell that was just an amazing ride i'm guessing that's not actually a water that's too bad it just drank one of the fans giving him a little bit of refreshment steve baylor never wanted to turn away the fans the people love him he is the every man he overcame so much adversity this year in 2020 looks like he's going to go back get sprayed off quick and then come back for what i'm sure will be a wild podium celebration man stu baylor with the win ben kelly in second caleb russell rounding the last turns coming in in that third place spot hot under pressure from saddleball able to hang on to it clinching the championship had badger ball have passed him that would have been it that would have been the championship right there yep yeah you know it it that's the thing that today's race i mean caleb didn't catch a break from anywhere you know he had to ride hard all day it's not like he could you know yeah just cruise around and fit sixth place whatever he he wrote as hard as he could you know especially in the condition he was in that was pretty mad you can see some smiles on his face now after the first initial finish it i think it's setting in on what he's actually accomplished and it'll probably take even a little while longer but he's got a lot to be proud of i know his dad's extremely proud and and we at ktm too we we think the world of caleb and uh and caleb great job thank you so much for doing what you do hats off to lane michael they're finishing out after that what looked like a pretty hard crash there in the in the pro pits on the last lap while running in third still finishing out the day in fifth josh strange at six a great charge back for him uh he was up in that second place spot drop back to 11th at one point comes all the way back at sixth just fighting clawing trying to keep that championship alive really showing the heart and another rider that you can't help but continue to talk about for race wins the rest of 2020 and also as a championship contender going forward into 2021 yeah that's what i think you know a lot of these you know we had a lot of scenarios playing out today you know caleb obviously the championship was on the line but then everybody else they're all working for next year they want to set themselves up to get that premier ride you know set the tone put it in everybody's mind like hey i'm the guy to beat for next year you know i know dad he's been second too many times to count and uh he wants to re-establish himself it's like hey caleb's gone i'm gonna take over that spot so a lot of that going on and then the xc2 class there's a lot of good reason left there i mean that thing is really undecided and that's cool with the young kids they don't know any better sometimes they're just going to give it everything they have and i think that's why you see so much chaos earth in the early laps of the xc2 class so that'll be interesting to see how that plays out these last two rounds absolutely mark in the xc2 250 pro class rounding out or making the top five as they checked in at the completion of lap number six and a checkered flag mike wikowski grabbing the win on that ampro uh yamaha with the first place position 12 seconds over cody barnes cody barnes a drop back to fourth there fighting his way back on that number 99 factory beta coming back i don't think that's his first podium this year but it's his first podium in a while up there in that third place spot great for him great for beta and then craig the long in the third place spot again two seconds behind cody barnes so that one you know was a battle through the final turns we didn't get to see it liam draper in fourth johnny gerard works his way up to fifth but a minute and five down off of liam draper you know he was in point salvage mode he was our points that are coming in we'll have to do some math we'll let you know at the next round but it is possible that that points lead may have changed hands or at least that battle got a lot tighter and you know mike wikowski and craig delong both very much in the thick of that championship fight still but johnny johnny gerard was leading the way jesse ansley shout out to him sixth place uh actually i'm sorry it looks like johnny gerard and jessie ansley have not yet completed lap number six it's only your top four that have come in so top four we'll have to wait and see how those points uh play out when they complete that lap number six for those guys on further back uh we haven't had any of our xc3 125 uh fmf class come in just yet but uh that we'll check and see if we can get some results before we go off air here i'm sure we're going to be getting some interviews mikey wayne's most likely down there and uh oh it sounds like we've uh we've got a little something for the fans at home on caleb russell's eighth championship a momentous day today to borrow our buddy rodney sang and uh caleb russell getting the job done eight championships and 2020 was another fantastic year for caleb russell it's uh there's an ending in sight and it's not that revolving door of not knowing you know it's uh in racing and sport like there's this revolving door that just never stops moving uh you're always you know you accomplish one goal and it's on to the next and there's never a end in sight so to speak you reach that goal and it's like all right what's the next what's the next and um you know you get to the top and you just you're expected to keep winning and keep moving forward in that direction and like i said without an ending in sight so now that there's there's a end game to it so to speak i'm uh a lot more calm and relaxed and uh collected about it it's it's uh it's like in life all good things come to an end at some point and you know i'm happy with where i'm at and how i'm able to you know close close my career out ambition aspiration hope goals design plan objective and desire all words used to describe the word dream dreams drive us to become the best we can and sometimes drive us to be the best ever you know ever since i was a little kid just watching barry and rodney and freddie and all those guys that's all i ever wanted to do and you know i'm happy to be up here and be a part of that elite group of guys so you know it's pretty awesome experience [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] ladies and gentlemen make some noise eight-time gncc national champion caleb russell [Applause] well caleb i could sit up here and talk all day about championship one two three all through them we want to hear it from you brother talk to us what a way to cap off a career with a championship number eight put it into words for us it's uh it's unreal really and to win one's tough and to back it up is even harder so to keep it going and go eight straights unreal i never never would have dreamt it was uh you know an actual possibility there's just too many variables in off-road racing there's too much to go on there's too much time out there on the track there's too many different conditions i mean uh i mean that track was unreal it's completely brutal if we would have done two filter swaps there's no way this thing would have finished it was just pure silt from the drop of the gate and um it was about just fighting the dust and fighting those ruts and man i had banged myself up a couple weeks ago at the last race and i uh i was a little unsure of how it was going to go but we took it easy last couple weeks and i just really want to get this thing out of the way and not take not drag it on any longer and i just uh stayed to the ground kept my nose the nose the ground and just it was hard to pass out there so i just tried to keep guys behind me and like i said they'd get around me when i grabbed through the filters and uh but it was a must like we would have been uh you know no points if we would have done that so i got to give it up to the whole team with without auntie and everybody that supports this factory ktm team uh this would never be possible it's um it's been it's been a real honor to uh to race for this this team my my entire career and finish it out and uh go out on top it's awesome absolutely caleb one more thing man uh talking about today's race what it took what it took this season how does uh ending your career this finale this championship campaign you had here in 2020 a year that was absolute chaos for everybody we could see it in your body language throughout the season i think back to the john penton as you're coming in there for the checkered flag and you could see you visually kind of taking it all in what was that like for you throughout this entire season it was uh it was good i came in really prepared and really fit and the whole season just fell apart with the coronavirus and everything was an unknown but um you know i did the best i could and staying in shape and riding and stuff and um you know like i said i came into the first beginning just on fire just ready to go and raring and um i've i dig myself up a couple times and uh yeah once you you do that it's tough man the guys are stepping it up ben's getting healthy stu's healthy again and they're going fast and it's it's like i said if you're not on top of your game it's hard to compete with these guys uh and i i couldn't hang on to them there at the end and it was like i said it was fighting the dust it was so it's hard to even stay stay inside anyway so i'm happy for those guys to uh you know turn it around and and have some good results but uh yeah i'm just happy to pull her in and third get this eighth championship out of the way heinz miss zach's first championship in the 450 class to be out here so i have to pull through for him i love it i love it all right last question and then we'll let you pop some bottles and celebrate my friend it's wrapped up there's two rounds of racing left are we going to see it iron man in the following round yeah that for sure as long as i you know this this knee is still troubling it's it's not healthy by any means it's uh it's pretty tough and uh i'm noticing i'm not recovering quite as fast i i once did so as long as uh i don't think myself up anymore we'll be at the line next to that's what we wanted to hear you guys make some noise in my opinion the goat eight-time gmcc champion caleb russell yeah how about it put that into words my friend all right we will uh restack the box here doing them one at a time i believe we're gonna get our second place rider up here next and then we'll talk we'll get ben kelly up here on the box and then we'll we'll talk to stu last up here copy that um all right we are down here with uh with second place finisher here today uh mr ben kelly and uh as caleb russell makes his way off of the box it's hard to ignore the fact of what is the future of gncc and i think we got a little glimpse of that today in ben kelly as well as stu baylor a whole slew of other names but ben uh boy putting it together this season uh it's coming around and i know you got to be watching caleb get that eighth championship and i gotta see the wheels turn it in your head thinking that's gonna be me i i want to be that guy yeah i uh definitely want to fight for that championship you know it unraveled this year getting hurt but i was able to come on strong here at these last few races and i feel like i'm just getting better and better back in the groove so i'm happy and yeah congrats to caleb you know learned a lot from him the past few years so i owe a lot to him for for me riding as good as i am right now and yeah i'm just just looking forward to the future and yeah today was tough i had seemed like everything was going wrong you know i started my bike too early and then shut it off trying to do the right thing but then i ended up with a dead last start and when i came around that first lap they stopped me for 15 seconds which i knew was coming and kind of got me angry the xc2 guys were right there and yeah i just i just pushed as best i could it was tough you know you'd catch the guy and and kind of have to follow him for a while and try to make a pass and uh yeah a few other things fumbled with that first pit and got passed back by a few guys but after that we nailed the second one and i started picking guys off and was able to reel in stew but it was like a mile from the finish and uh yeah when i caught him there was nothing i could do i tried to tried to pass him but there weren't many options out there with that dust couldn't really couldn't really get close enough but uh yeah happy with second you know this one hurts a little bit compared to the last two because i was so close and and i felt like i could have got it done but uh you know hats off to stu again and another two weeks we'll try again try again and iron man make some noise second place finisher in the overall here today ben kelly all right so there we go folks ben kelly your second place finisher obviously we did the championship presentation for caleb russell huge day for him uh great video put together by the boys in the booth there adam gordon uh all the boys in there that uh put that together hats off to you stu baylor waiting for his chance to get up there he wants to get up on that podium uh well deserved for him three wins in a row on that ampro yamaha again we've talked about it we're not trying to beat a dead horse here but this was a guy without a ride literally just a few weeks ago uh he was going he bought a dirt bike from a local dealer he raced to kawasaki at some of the enduro's mark and uh you know he found at least a temporary home with the sam pro team and man he's uh he's shown that as as you were just saying the guy can ride a dirt bike yeah you know and randy hawkins who runs the am pro team he's got to be pretty proud today there's a lot of blue on both podiums in those two top classes so uh stu is definitely a force i mean he he's won some titles for us at ktm in the enduro world uh you know we never saw this side of him on gncc's he's always been up there but uh yeah but there's uh he's talked about it he needs to make a house payment so uh i guess that's his motivation and he's he's laying it down right now yeah and as you pointed out i actually did just receive a text from donny loose off-road race manager for yamaha he pointed out that today was the first ever gncc podium sweep uh of the three premier classes for uh yamaha with uh obviously stu baylor taking the xc1 win mike winkowski the xc2 in rachel archer the xc wx win and then also becca sheets wrapping up that wxc championship so as he put it a great day for the boys and girls in blue uh you know it's caleb russell the man of the man of the year with the championship but the man of the day the man of the last three gncc's this guy right here stu baylor the number 514 and pro yamaha i feel like stu baylor is going to have some stuff to tell us about today well i don't even know what to say you uh you sit on the couch as you say throwing down cold natty lights whatever the hell you were doing uh you came back on the am pro yamaha stu not once not twice but now three times center of the box man put it in perspective for us what is clicking for stu baylor honestly honestly today um you know i i really struggled early on the first three laps i was uh i was pretty frustrated with everything that was going on and i was just i was really aggravated on the track and it was showing i was making a lot of mistakes and um i knew that i knew the ktm boys were gonna have to stop uh with two to go and and i could see that everybody was right in that group i think six of us were all within 10-12 seconds with two to go so i knew i had to make a push and dad waved me by over here and i sprinted to get close to ben and i knew caleb was right there and when they uh when they pitted it was that was what i needed and you know it was like i said today wasn't uh today i i definitely don't think i was the the best guy on the track all around i think i think i had some spurts of excellence but um you know i i know those guys uh those guys had to change filters and and i was just trying to play it at the right pace place the right time and uh and not make any mistakes doing so so um you know i i if you ask what's clicking right now i would say um strategy you know the the team the yamaha having a filter up here you know i i knew that i knew i didn't have to win the i didn't have to lead like i have the last couple races um you know just just pace myself and be in the right place and that's where i was so what about personally what has changed in your mindset uh here at the latter half of the season you know um honestly it was it was the beginning of this season when uh when caleb announced his retirement um i've been i've been chasing that that guy since uh since we were we were kids um he was always a few years older and a few in a class above and and then you know we got the xc1 and i would run with him for a lap or two and um you know i think i think when he announced that i was like all right well uh i don't have many more chances i think a lot of guys did that and um you know my ass off this off season and um i studied caleb i studied what he does he i've said it time and time again he's not here to win the race he's here to beat the guy beside him and uh and that's what he's done so well and um you know i think uh it's the middle side side where he's been so dominant let's do last thing i kind of talked to ben kelly about it a little bit i could see both in ben kelly and in yourself as you watch caleb up here uh except the uh the uh celebration for that eighth title i could see it in your eyes you're kind of visualizing all right that's gonna be me next year uh what do you gotta do to make it happen honestly uh you know i know i know where i need to be as far as speed i know what i need to do as far as fitness it's uh just taking it one race at a time staying healthy and know your lines all day you know three hours is a long time and when you multiply that by 13 it's uh it's hard to be as dominant as he has been and um you know anymore i think that he's set the standard pretty high you know used to if you were consistently fourth place in the gncc's you get a championship now if you're not first and second every weekend um you're not going to win so um you know that's the that's the big uh missing piece of the puzzle that that a lot of us have struggled with we've had you know built brilliant rides here and there but he's always been there well stu baylor it has worked for you for three in a row you guys make some noise your overall winner here at the mason dixon in the stew baylor [Applause] where's gary we need to talk about this don't don't do it on the mic oh wait i i need to we gotta at least give some shout outs i forgot about that you forgot about that no you're live on tv well i'll give the shout out to the yamaha guys corey lucas randy all the guys busting their ass uh all week you know they're working just hard as i am if not harder and um you know jay my suspension guy jdp my wife um moose racing former boots um shelly helmets ex-brand every flex bars everybody everybody behind me um you know it's it's it's huge to have the support that we need to come out here and win and um do it obviously with a little less support than the rest of guys so i love to keep it up here for the next two there you go and with that said that's gonna wrap things up down here on the box and a big congratulations to stu baylor who wants a fender stu baylor's got a little swag gonna make it rain we'll take it back to johnny gallagher in the booth all right there you go folks when you win 3g nc season a row we let you thank your sponsors on racer tv he earned that one and uh anybody who doesn't know what that fender's about there was a little bit of hubbub on instagram stu bailey looping his bike out the finish line at the last one after winning number two and uh he's giving that fender away from the podium so cool story mark thanks so much for joining us in the booth today uh on behalf of myself rodney tomlin mikey wayne's ryan amancio uh the entire racial tv crew everybody stu baylor with the win today caleb russell put the wraps on championship number eight and this guy knows how to do gncc what a phenomenal day here at the mason dixon gncc mark anything you want to say before you go hey thanks for having me it was great to be here to witness you know caleb's eighth title and uh you know ktm and myself will always be here supporting gncc's we love the sport and always want to be a part of it well again on behalf of everybody here at racer tv thank you guys for tuning in thanks for watching a historic day uh next year one of these guys is gonna be winning a championship because caleb russell is all done but we're all done for today we're gonna see you guys again in two weeks as we come to you from the iron man gncc but again on behalf of carrie russell adam gordon griff cotter all of the crew everybody all the camera opener operators rodney tomlin mikey wayne's myself mark hyde bryan amancio everybody that makes this happen thanks so much for tuning in and we'll see you in two weeks

Channel: RacerTV

Views: 13,631

Rating: 4.7956204 out of 5

Keywords: RacerTV, GNCCRacing

Id: nRkf1Jt9zJg

Length: 195min 39sec (11739 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 11 2020