words by Steph Vetterly photos by Shan Moore & Beta USA
FEBRUARY 20 / 21 - UNION SC
To say that this season has been uneventful would be a complete misnomer . Only a few events have taken place , and already we have Steward getting a handlebar to the back at the Sumter National Enduro and needing stitches , Thorn Devlin & Shelby Turner not only getting in an accident heading to the Big Buck GNCC and completely destroying their camper , but also getting in another one on the way home from the event , totalling their van as well . We also have the fact that the entire country was one giant ice storm , but yet all the races are seeing record turnouts .
With Stu sitting the event out , and Kailub Russell sticking with his retirement , the win was up for grabs . Some had their money on Ben Kelley or Thad Duvall because of their speed , or Babbitt ' s Online / Monster Energy / Kawasaki Team Green ' s Josh Strang , who gained the holeshot for the race .
Even though this is technically his home turf , Grant Baylor doesn ' t put this track very high on his list . Somehow he was able to fight past that and put it all together out on the course to give him a top-podium finish to start the season , and give photo credit : Shan Moore
KLM GasGas its first major off-road win . KLM GasGas team manager Kevin Lenz also had some unique strategies that helped put Grant in a better position to win .
Instead of pitting at lap three with the rest of the riders , Grant pitted early on lap two and was able to keep a solid pace and got out ahead come lap three .
" About halfway through the race , I hooked up with Strang and got around him and the other guys when
ON THE PEGS // PAGE 116