words & photos KYLE WOLFE
Round 2 Wild Boar March 5-6
After a surprising round one in South Carolina that saw a number of title contenders end their season before the race was even halfway through , the question became if there was anyone to stop defending GNCC champion Ben Kelley . With Thad Duvall , Stu Baylor , and Layne Michael out with injury , everyone looked to the rest of the field to answer that question . Jordan Ashburn , Josh Strang , Josh Toth , Craig Delong , and Trevor Bollinger were the ones everyone was looking to to answer the call .
As the green flag flew for the XC1 class at the Wild Boar GNCC in Palatka , Florida , it was Magna1 Motorsports Husqvarna ’ s Ashburn who would grab the holeshot over the field , with Coastal Racing GasGas ’ Ricky Russell and Red Bull KTM ’ s Josep Garcia close behind . It wouldn ’ t take long for defending champ Kelley to join the front three . At the end of lap one , Ashburn would lead the way over Kelley , Garcia , Canadian motorcross racer Tyler Medaglia , and Babbitts Online Monster Energy Kawasaki ’ s Josh Strang rounding out the top five .
When lap two completed , it was more of the same , as Ashburn held
ON THE PEGS // PAGE 94