On The Pegs VOL . 4 ISSUE 12 - DECEMBER 2020 39
with five runner-up finishes , compared to two for DeLong .
DeLong got off to a strong start , winning the opening two tests . And while Barnes won the final three , he came up 20 seconds short to DeLong in the end , giving the NE Pro 2 class title to DeLong .
“ I tried to start off with a good opening test ,” said DeLong , who also clinched the Pro2 title in the GNCC series the week before . “ It was a long test , so if you could get a decent gap after the first one it would make the day a little bit easier . That ’ s what I did . I got a good test under me and had a decent gap . I kind of just got my lead early and kind of knew that I just had to make no mistakes . It was a great day . I ’ m happy to get another championship here . Last weekend was a big weight off my shoulders so coming in today was just going out and getting the job done .”
With Grant needing only to finish 11th to claim the Pro 1 title , the Texas race might have been a bit anticlimactic , but there was still the matter of the round win and Grant ’ s brother Steward kept the pressure on and was actually leading by about 25 seconds heading into the final test .
“ Luckily Steward had some issues with the dust in the last test ,” said Grant . “ It was just so dusty . There were a couple of AA riders right in front of