“ The first part of the track was kind of dusty , so I had to lay back a little , but when we got into the woods it was pretty gnarly and I felt pretty good at that point ,” said Ashburn .
A very excited Babbitt ’ s Online Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green ’ s Lydon Snodgrass was able to secure his first-ever win in the XC2 class , finishing sixth overall . He crossed the finish a full 14 seconds ahead of Phoenix Racing Honda ’ s Ruy Barbosa and 20 seconds ahead of rockstar Energy Factory Husqvarna ’ s Craig DeLong , who would finish ninth overall .
“ I got out front on lap one and I actually made a few mistakes on one lap and crashed trying to get a bottle of water ,” said Snodgrass . “ The boys caught back up to me and then I put in a charge halfway around the last lap and got it back out to where I was comfortable and then just rolled towards the finish and brought it home . The heat was tough , but I just conserved enough energy to get to the finish and still be in the front , so I ’ m pumped with that .”
“ Rough start to the race Sunday ,” said DeLong on Instagram . “ A crash in the second turn that was totally my fault left me dead last heading into the woods . It took me all race to get into a podium position on a technical , fast track , and probably the hottest race all year !”
ON THE PEGS // PAGE 76