On The Pegs May 2018 - Volume 3 - Issue 5 | Page 59

On The Pegs
Vol. 3 Issue 5 - May 2018
P 59
Steward Baylor extended his lead in the Ken-
da AMA National Enduro Series championship
standings by taking a solid win in extremely
challenging conditions at this weekend’s FMF
Red Fox National Enduro near Lynnville, Indi-
ana.
Riding in some of the toughest conditions
the series has seen in years, thanks to hard
overnight rains, Baylor built a comfortable lead
right out of the gate with wins in the first two
tests. The Tely Racing KTM rider managed to
stay out of trouble for the remainder of the
day to claim the overall victory by a 28-second
margin over FMF KTM Factory rider Josh Toth.
Though he wasn’t pleased with his perfor-
mance, Baylor was more than happy with the
result. With the win, the South Carolina native
extended his lead in the series standings to 10
points ahead of Toth with seven races remain-
ing on the schedule.
“I wouldn’t even call it mediocre, the way I
felt about how I was riding,” said Baylor. “But
considering the conditions, it turned out to be
enough to get the win. Obviously, I felt like I
rode well in the first two tests, but it was re-
ally tough to stay focused in these conditions,
and tests three and four wound up being one
mistake after another. This was definitely one
of the most demanding national Enduros I’ve
ridden. We put ourselves in really good posi-
tion at the start, but I had three big crashes in
test six, the last one coming within sight of the
finish. I was worried it was going to be close
but I came into the test 47 seconds up on Josh
and it ended up being more than enough of a
cushion.”
Toth now has back-to-back runner-up fin-
ishes in the series and is definitely the surprise
of 2018. The Connecticut rider revels in ex-
treme conditions and consistency was his ally
in Indiana, as he was in the top three in all six
tests, including a win in test three. Being the
extreme rider he is, Toth said he wished all
Enduros were as tough as this one.
“I had a good day today, I rode well and tried
to make the least number of mistakes I could,
considering the conditions,” said Toth. “I really
enjoyed the race with all the rain we got, it
made for really technical and tough conditions
but that’s the way an enduro should be in my