Girroir would dig deep and cross the finish line a mere 0.984 seconds ahead of Witkowski , earning his fifth-straight GNCC XC2 class win for the 2021 season .
“ I knew coming into the Hoosier just from last year that the top guys in XC2 all run together for a while because it ' s so fast and there ' s not a lot to separate ,” said Girroir . “ I knew it was going to be a challenge to try to keep my win streak alive like I ' ve been trying to , so I came into the race ready to fight it out . The second or third lap , I had a pretty big crash ; I hit a root and it actually yanked the handlebars out of my hands and the bike went flying . it got all bent up and I had to stop and straighten the front tire on a tree and adjust my clutch lever because it was pointed all the way down . I was in second and that bumped me back to fourth , and then I had my work cut out for me . I just charged as hard as I could in the middle of the race , trying not to wear myself out , then found myself battling with Mike Witkowski the last couple laps . He ended up going down in the beginning of the last lap and I got around him and sprinted and pulled away about five seconds and then he reeled me right back in . we battled right to the finish line . I think I was a little bit faster in the first half of the track or so and he was definitely faster in the second half , so that ' s why he reeled me in just before the finish line .”
ON THE PEGS // PAGE 78