On The Pegs July 2019 - Volume 4 - Issue 7 | Page 125

On The Pegs
Wacky weather continued to plague
off-road motorcycle racing across the
country as heavy downpours wreaked
havoc at this weekend’s Cherokee Na-
tional Enduro, in Greensboro, Georgia.
Rain leading up to and during the race
left the Cherokee National Forest trail in
soggy conditions, which led to deep ruts
and slippery trail in places, while other
areas of the course held up nicely.
Tely Energy Racing KTM’s Grant Baylor
won the first test of the day by 30 sec-
onds and appeared to be heading to a
second-straight win in the series when
a mishap in the final test put the South
Carolina rider into the trees and cost him
a full minute before he could return to
the fray. In the meantime, Grant’s broth-
er and teammate, Steward, took advan-
tage of the situation and brought home
his second win of the season.
“It was really slick out there and Grant
got me by about thirty seconds in the
first test, so I just decided to start rid-
ing a little less aggressive and in a re-
ally tall gear,” said Steward. “Luckily,
we were able to chip away at the lead.
Then Grant got stuck in the last test, and
when I saw him there, I knew I just had
to cruise it in.”
Grant was disappointed at losing the
win, but happy for his brother.
“I was just trying to push the limit a
little too much,” said Grant. “I came into
a corner a little too hot and lost it and
went off into some really thick trees. I
was underneath of the bike and couldn’t
get it off of me, so I lost the overall lead
Vol. 4 Issue 7 - July 2019
125
there. It was a pretty frustrating day, but
at least I still ended up second to my
brother.”
Rounding out the overall podium was
Beta USA’s Cody Barnes, who turned in a
surprise third-place finish on his 250 RR
despite suffering a mishap in test three.
Barnes was also the top finishing Pro2
rider.
“In the third test I was pushing pretty
hard down a downhill and ended up
kind of pushing a little too hard and
jumped into a ditch and ended up going
down pretty good in one of the faster
sections,” said Barnes. “I lost quite a bit
of time there, but I think I made up for it
in test five. Then that last test, because
so many riders didn’t ride it, it was super
slippery. There wasn’t a lot of berms de-
veloped. I just tried to ride smooth and
ended up coming out with a great time.”
Tely Energy Racing KTM’s Liam Draper
was sitting in third overall heading into
test six, but a mental mistake cost him
the final step of the podium.
“It’s just a bummer, but we just got
side-tracked waiting on my start time
before the final test and then Stew
yelled and he goes, ‘Dude, you got to
go.’ So I was late for my start,” said Drap-
er. “Me and Cody [Barnes] were pretty
tight going into the last test. Then I went
in a minute late and that cost me.”
Draper finished second in the Pro2
class with his fourth overall finish.
Husqvarna/ Max Motorsports/FXR
Racing’s Evan Smith was third in the Pro
class and fifth overall.