Story: Rachel Gutish | Contributor - Enduro.Media
March 10, 2024

Josh Toth first XC2 Rider to take an Overall Win at GNCC!

There was a massive, historic shakeup at The General GNCC, with Josh Toth (Enduro Engineering Bell’s Electric Racing) taking home the overall win from the XC2 line!

WHAT?

In XC1, Johnny Girroir (FMF KTM Factory Racing) kept his XC1 win streak intact. Jordan Ashburn (Coastal Racing Factory GasGas) took home his first pro podium of the season, with a second-place finish XC1 finish and a third place overall, and Steward Baylor Jr. (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) rounded out the top three in the XC1 class and finished fourth overall.

As previously stated, Toth made history by taking the XC2 win and the overall. He was followed by Grant Davis (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) and Liam Draper (AmPro Yamaha), who were eighth and ninth overall, respectively. Nick “T-Rex” Defeo (Monster Energy Babbits Kawasaki) earns an honorable mention as Top Amateur – he earned a seventh-place overall finish from the 250 A class line.

For the third race in a row there was a new winner, with Shelby Turner (Enduro Engineering GasGas) earning her first ever WXC win! She also made history by being the first Canadian to ever win the WXC class. Rachael Archer (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) finished second, with Korie Steede (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) in third.

In the XC3 Pro-Am 125cc class, Jhak Walker (Factory Beta USA) won for the second time this season. Dustin Simpson (Yamaha) finished second, and Zachary Davidson (Husqvarna USA) made his first podium appearance of the season.

SO WHAT?

First off, history was made… that’s pretty cool, right?! All the better that it was made by a very talented “underdog” rider on a team without full factory support. Icing on the cake is that Josh Toth is one of the nicest and most genuine racers in this sport. Hats off to him!

With Girroir taking yet another XC1 win, he is already building a substantial lead over S. Baylor (21 point deficit from Girroir) and Ashburn (31 point deficit from Girroir). It helps that while Girroir has consistently been on top, S. Baylor is the only other rider who has been on the podium all three rounds. Evan Smith (Husqvarna USA) and Ricky Russell (AmPro Yamaha) round out the top five, but each have already been outside the top ten at one race, which means a considerable gap between them and the championship front-runners

In XC2 things are a closer and more unclear. Toth’s win helped him to regain ground from a DNF (10th place points) at the Florida GNCC, moving him into third in XC2 series points – but his 2024 schedule did not originally call for him running the entire GNCC series, though his recent successes may end up altering that plan. Davis is the current points leader, the only rider in XC2 with three podium finishes, and one of each – a first, a second and a third. However, Gus Riordan (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) is very close behind, only three points down. Even though the overall points total on paper may not reflect it, Liam Draper is also a considerable threat. His 15th place DNF in Florida was costly, but the second at round one and the third this past weekend show that he’s competitive and will be able to make up ground – especially since the XC2 class does get to drop their lowest race score.

With three different WXC winners so far, the points battle is quite interesting. The current top three – Archer, Steede and Richards, in that order - are separated by only six points. Steede has been most consistent, the only rider on all three podiums. Wins pay a disproportionately high number of points though, so she still sits in second behind Archer. Richards had a strong win at Wild Boar and was on the box at Big Buck, but the mud this weekend pushed her back into fifth place, costing her valuable points. Turner and Rachel Gutish (Sherco USA) are wild cards. They are capable of having strong rides under the right conditions, but with only one podium appearance apiece, currently lack the consist podium finishes necessary to be near the front of the championship battle.

Jhak Walker currently holds the XC3 points lead after winning these last two rounds, and has pulled a considerable eighteen-point lead over Dustin Simpson, who sits in third. Koda Devore’s (KTM USA) win at the first round is only partially compensating for two bad races in a row – a sixth and a fourth. He has shown he has the speed to win, he just needs to have consistency and reach the finish line at the remaining races in order to do it.

NOW WHAT?

It’s off weekend time here on the east coast! There is no GNCC, no NEPG and no US Sprint enduro. The next race for these riders will be the Camp Coker GNCC in Society Hill, South Carolina.

The Full Story

For the second year straight, The General GNCC has been the stuff dreams or nightmares are made of, depending on who you ask. Georgia’s red clay is brutal when wet, forming water-filled holes, deep ruts and thick, tacky mud that clings to every surface, adding increasingly more weight to the bike as the race wears on. For riders that love technical terrain, these conditions are favorable. For everyone else, the bikes, and the mechanics, they are quite miserable.

The mud changes here, depending not just on how much rain there was leading up to the race, but whether that rain continues through to race day. When the rain continues, the mud stays loose, slippery and splashy. However, raceday this weekend was pleasant – sunny, moderate temperatures and a little bit of wind, which changes the dynamic considerably. The mud got thick and heavy, and traction was pretty good in many places – but inconsistent, because near puddles or in the shadowy parts of the woods, it was still quite slimy. The thicker clay also starts sticking to everything. In addition to weight and the fatigue this brings, the danger of mechanical failure is high during the event due to the load put on the machines when ridden hard in these conditions, compounded by the weight and heat-insulating effect of the mud itself. Due to the conditions and the sections of the track that were degrading as the race wore on, the event was called early, with the pro race ending at two hours instead of the usual three.

XC1

Ricky Russell (AmPro Yamaha) took the holeshot in the XC1 class and made it into the woods out front. Dante Olivera (FMF KTM Factory Racing) was right on his tail, as was Jordan Ashburn (Coastal Racing Factory GasGas). The riders frequently traded positions during the first lap. Steward Baylor Jr. (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) had worked his way through the pack and into the lead, with Johnny Girroir (FMF KTM Factory Racing) right on his tail and Ricky Russell still holding down third. The lead pack was still very close together though, with only a little over fifteen seconds separating first though tenth place.

After a second lap the field had spread out slightly, but the top five were still very close together. Girroir had worked his way into the lead, and Ashburn, who is well known for excelling in muddy and technical conditions (as his dad always says in their deep Tennessee accent “Jordan likes the mud”) had moved into second, with S. Baylor dropping into third.

The lead changed yet again during lap three with Russell overtaking Girroir and Craig Delong (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing). Ashburn (now in fourth) and S. Baylor (now in fifth) were not far behind either.

Girroir got back out front again and pulled almost a minute on the field. S. Baylor had caught back up to the lead, but crashed after wedging a log between his tire and fork. Based on his other laptimes, this cost him around forty seconds and dropped him right back down into fifth. The field finally began to separate, with the riders spaced out by ten and fifteen seconds – still close, but no longer directly jockeying for position like before.

Girroir held on to the lead and took the win, though Ashburn was actually able to cut down on Girroir’s lead on the last lap… just not by enough to challenge him for the win. This is Ashburn’s first podium of the season, fitting to have earned it in the conditions he likes best. S. Baylor was able to charge his way back up from fifth, barely edging out Russell for third. Meanwhile, Delong finally broke his string of bad luck and mechanical issues, taking home fifth in XC1

“Yeah it was gnarly out there! Pretty decent start, followed the leaders for a while then found myself in the lead. Then Stu had some good lines, went blowing by me so I followed along with him, learning. He went down a couple times, then Ricky and Ashburn starting challenging me. Ricky and I actually came together, it was just chaos out there. Kept getting a pit board saying Josh is in the lead, Josh is in the lead. I was charging that last lap as hard as I could, made a mistake and went over the bars and that was it. Congrats to Josh, hat’s off to him… of course I wanted to win, but that’s great for him especially coming from the second row! ” – Johnny Girroir

 XC1 The General GNCC Results

1st            Johnny Girroir

2nd           Jordan Ashburn

3rd            Steward Baylor Jr.

4th            Ricky Russell

5th            Craig Delong

XC2

In XC2, Toby Cleveland (Bell’s Electric Husqvarna) took another holeshot. Last round’s winner and current points leader Grant Davis (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) was right behind him. By the end of the first lap it was, Josh Toth (Enduro Engineering Bell’s Electric Racing) who moved into first place. He took over the lead and never looked back. That gap grew his gap the nastier the conditions got – seven seconds, then thirty-five, then two-twenty-three, then two-fifty-six, finally taking the XC2 class win with a three minutes and forty second lead when the checkered flag waved.

But Josh’s sights were set on more than the XC2 class win. After a single lap he was leading the overall from the XC2 row – in fact, the entire XC2 class was up near the front of the overall, with the entire top six overall on lap one made up of the XC2 class - Liam Draper (AmPro Yamaha) second in class and second overall, Toby Cleveland third in class and third overall, Brody Johnson (Bryan Easler Toyota / Rocket Racing Services) fourth in class and fourth overall, Thad Duvall (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) fifth in class and fifth overall, and Grant Davis sixth in class in sixth overall.

This was short-lived though, by the end of the second lap the XC1 riders had reclaimed most of their top overall spots – with the exception of Toth, who still held the adjusted-time overall. Cody Barnes (Phoenix Racing Honda) had moved up to second in class, seventh overall with Liam Draper ten seconds down. Barnes held on to second until lap four, before dropping back to fifth and then sixth on the day. Meanwhile, Davis had passed both Barnes and Draper, moving into second place. He and Draper would continue to battle it out for second, with Davis coming out on top. Gus Riordan (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) finished fourth after working his way up from ninth on the first lap, and Brody Johnson rounded out the top five.

At this point, I will briefly digress from the XC2 coverage to report that by lap two, Nick “T-Rex” Defeo (Monster Energy Babbits Kawasaki) had also moved into the top ten overall from the 250 A line, which is where he would finish the day.

The battle for the overall between Toth and Girroir was exceedingly close going into the final lap, with Toth holding the lead by a mere ten seconds. However, Toth had an incredible final lap, adding fifteen seconds to his lead and getting within sight of the physical leaders of the race, coming in just behind second place finisher Ashburn – meaning that during the course of the race, Toth physically passed all but two riders in the XC1 field!

“It feels unreal, really, like a dream right now. I put in my own race… put my head down. I knew I was gonna come for Johnny today, I was fired up about it all week and there’s no reason I shouldn’t be fighting those guys. Just tried not to make big mistakes and made it happen! I want to think Napper and the whole Enduro Engineering Team – they let me build my own program, just have fun with everything. I’ve raced a lot of hard enduro recently and I think that showed today… I’m a dirtbike racer and just want to race everything that I can”– Josh Toth

XC2 Big Buck GNCC Results

1st            Josh Toth

2nd           Grant Davis

3rd            Liam Draper

4th            Gus Riordan

5th            Brody Johnson

WXC

The first few miles of the WXC race were chaos, with lines not yet established and riders passing each other nearly every corner and straightaway, just trying to find the good lines. For the first few miles of the race Korie Steede (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) and Jocelyn Barnes (Husqvarna USA) were out front. While racing for position, Barnes ended up stuck in a hole and Steede went down, allowing Shelby Turner (Enduro Engineering GasGas) to take the lead. Steede and Rachael Archer (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) both briefly took the lead before each of them crashed again, allowing Turner past.

Turner stopped for goggles just after the first lap, allowing Archer by, but was able to stay within sight, battling with Archer for the lead and applying pressure from behind. Archer crashed in nearly the same spot she had the previous lap, moving Turner back into the lead. Steede continued to hold third, and behind her it was a churn of riders swapping positions as they crashed, got stuck or got passed – Brandy Richards (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers), AJ Elliot (Sloan’s Motorcycle and ATV), Rachel Gutish (Sherco USA), Prestin Raines (Bonecutter Sherco), and Jordan Jarvis (AmPro Yamaha) were all in the mix in that 4th – 8th place range early in the race.

After that, Turner continued to keep it smooth and steady, leading the rest of the race and taking home her (and Canada’s) first-ever WXC win! In addition to being a talented cross-country racer in her own right, Turner also has an extensive background in hard enduro and EnduroCross, actually holding the current record for most EnduroCross championships among both the men’s and women’s classes, and her technical ability shined through on this incredibly technical track. Archer finished second, nearly three minutes down.

Meanwhile, Rachel Gutish (Sherco USA) had been struggling with a clutch problem beginning early in the first lap. Another rider known for her love of mud and ruts and all things technical, she was able to compensate for the issue by using the clutch as little as possible. On the second lap, she caught back up with Steede, who had been holding down the third-place position, and battled with her until the midpoint of the third lap. Unfortunately, the degrading track and the worsening performance of the clutch took its toll, with Gutish losing considerable time in the last half a lap and barely coaxing the bike across the finish line in fourth place.

Steede took home a comfortable third place finish, and while Archer still holds the points lead, Steede has been the most consistent this season, the only rider so far who has been on the podium every race in a stacked WXC field. Richards, an west-coast rider who finally had the pleasure of experiencing her first real east-coast GNCC mudder, rounded out the top five.  

“It’s a dream come true for me to get a WXC win. The class is unbelievable stacked and everyone is working hard to get on the podium. To come back after major surgery and prove to myself that I’m still capable of being a contender is a truly inspiring situation”  –  Shelby Turner

WXC The General GNCC Results

1st            Shelby Turner

2nd           Rachael Archer

3rd            Korie Steede

4th            Rachel Gutish

5th            Brandy Richards

XC3

Dustin Simpson (Yamaha) may have taken the holeshot, but by the end of the first lap Jhak Walker (Factory Beta USA) had worked his way into the lead. He was closely tailed by Koda Devore (KTM USA) who would unfortunately experience massive problems on lap two, running a forty-two-minute laptime (compared to the 28s and 29s the lead pack in Xc3 was running, himself included. With Devore out of the picture Walker ran away with the race, winning by nearly ten minutes.

Simpon had pulled a decent lead over Zachary Davidson (Husqvarna USA) in the first three laps, and although Davidson picked up the pace the last two laps, it still wasn’t enough to get back within sight of Simpson. Devore recovered enough from his horrible second lap to finish fourth, though still a lap down from the pack. Joe Schriver (Yamaha) took the final top five position.

“I rode very patient and flowed throughout the track. I’m very happy to come away this win as I have never considered myself a mud rider. Thanks again to the team for the support ” – Jhak Walker

 XC3 The General GNCC Results

1st            Jhak Walker

2nd           Dustin Simpson

3rd            Zachary Davidson

4th            Koda Devore

5th            Joe Schriver

The GNCC series will return on March 24th with the Camp Coker GNCC in Society Hill, South Carolina.