
ENDURO & OFF-ROAD RACING COVERAGE
RACING NEWS
Ben Kelley, Grant Davis and Korie Steede take the wins at GNCC Camp Coker
Ben Kelley (FMF KTM Factory Racing ) moves to the top of the overall GNCC standings, 6 points of XC2 rider Grant Davis (FMF KTM Factory Landers) and 15 points ahead of Davis’ XC2 teammate Gus Riordan. Beyond Davis and Riordan in the Top 3, XC2 riders hold down 4 spots in the Top 10 overall with Cody Barnes (Phoenix Racing Honda) in 6th and Josh Toth (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) in 9th.
One of the biggest developing stories of the 2025 GNCC season so far is defending series champion Johnny Girroir (FMF KTM Factory Racing) sitting in 10th overall after Camp Coker, 43 points out of 1st. Girroir struggled mightily in the mud of Rounds 1 and 3 (Big Buck and Talladega) scoring 0 points at Big Buck and only 10 points at Talladega. Although he did take home the win at Wild Boar in dry conditions, he again scored 0 points at Camp Coker after crashing out on lap 4. Notably, he was running uncharacteristically far back in the XC1 class at the time after finishing Lap 1 in P7, Lap 2 in P6 and Lap 3 in P8. Girroir clearly has the speed this year, based on US Sprint results and his Wild Boar win, but he is going to need consistent wins and help in terms of other riders faltering to have any hope of defending his championship.
Korie Steede (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) continued her strong start to the 2025 GNCC season with her first win at Camp Coker Bullet. Steede hasn’t finished off of the podium yet this year and now sits in P2 overall, 6 points behind defending GNCC WXC champ Rachael Archer (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) and 21 points ahead of Tayla Jones (Phoenix Racing Honda). Steede has looked faster with each round of the series as she builds towards ISDE Italy in August. The WXC class is looking to be an exciting one to watch this year with the Top 3 running
We were sad to hear about Brandy Richards crashing out of the race from the lead on Lap 3 with a 38.652 second lead over Archer. Best wishes to Brandy and her loved ones, and we wish her a very successful and speedy recovery.
Video - Inaugural GNCC Talladega Pro Men & WXC Raw
On Sunday, March 9, the Progressive Grand National Cross Country (GNCC Racing) Series presented by Specialized, an AMA National Championship, continued its third round of racing at Talladega, but with much different weather conditions than the previous day. Mother Nature would let loose on Sunday morning as the rain and storm cells moved through the area creating slick, muddy conditions for racers to face throughout the day.
Baylor, Davis and Richards Win the Inagural GNCC Talladega
On Sunday, March 9, the Progressive Grand National Cross Country (GNCC Racing) Series presented by Specialized, an AMA National Championship, continued its third round of racing at Talladega, but with much different weather conditions than the previous day. Mother Nature would let loose on Sunday morning as the rain and storm cells moved through the area creating slick, muddy conditions for racers to face throughout the day.
Video - 2025 GNCC Wild Boar Pro Men & WXC Raw
Raw video highlights from GNCC Wild Boar. In the Pro men classes we saw a great battle between Johnny Girroir (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) and Kalib Russell (AmPro Yamaha) with Girroir taking the win despite a crash in the closing minutes of the race. Girroir's teammate Ben Kelley took 3rd place in XC1 and the overall. FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers' Grant Davis took the XC2 Pro win over teammate Gus Riordan and Liam Draper (AmPro Yamaha). This trio also finished 4th, 5th and 6th in the overall.
In the WXC race Brandy Richards (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) went from 9th off the start to 1st by the end of lap 1, and then held off a late charge from 2nd-place Tayla Jones (Phoenix Honda Racing) with Korie Steede (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) rounding out the podium in 3rd.
History Made as XC2 250 Pros Sweep Big Buck Podium as the 2025 GNCC Season Kicks Off (Copy)
XC1 Pro and XC2 Pro video highlights from the 2025 GNCC Wild Boar in Palatka, Florida, where Johnny Girroir (FMF KTM Factory Racing) and Kalib Russell (AmPro Yamaha) battled to the late stages of the final lap before Girroir took the win. FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Ben Kelley took 3rd overall/3rd XC1.
FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers duo Grant Davis and Gus Riordan took 4th and 5th overall and 1st/2nd in XC2 Pro, with Cody Barnes (Phoenix Honda Racing) taking the final step of the XC2 Pro podium.
Weekly Round-Up | 2024-07-02
It was a great week for Enduro, especially here in North America with Silver Kings Hard Enduro, FMSQ, NEPG, and more, all going down. Let’s get into it!
Weekly Round-Up | 2024-06-24
No joking around this time out of the gates, the past week was a great one in the Enduro/Off-Road world! From a wild Italian round in Enduro GP to one of the biggest GNCC races of the year in West Virginia, to a very interesting Hard Enduro World Championship in Serbia, there was a ton of great action going down. Also, we recently had Aussie GNCC and USSE rider Gus Riordan (FMF KTM FACTORY Racing Landers) on the podcast, be sure to check it out. Let’s get to it!
Girroir Makes Last Mile Pass to win Mason-Dixon GNCC
The Progressive Grand National Cross Country (GNCC Racing) Series presented by Specialized, an AMA National Championship concluded its eighth round of racing, Parts Unlimited Mason-Dixon GNCC, on Sunday, June 2, 2024, in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania. Brief rain showers in the morning created some slick conditions for the first half of the day, but partly cloudy conditions made for some great afternoon battles throughout XC1 Open Pro and 250 Pro Sport classes.
The big story coming into this round was in the XC1 class, where second-place overall Steward Baylor Jr. really needed to finish ahead of overall leader Johnny Girroir, preferably with a win in order to secure the maximum five point differential. Baylor did everything he could, managing to stay ahead of Girroir before taking the race lead on the white flag lap. Girroir managed to ramp up the pressure, though, catching Baylor in the final mile before beating him to the win by under a second. Girroir now holds a 34 point lead over Baylor with five rounds left in the series. Barring a major mishap, Girroir has taken a stranglehold on the overall that will be nearly impossible to break.
Weekly Round-Up #2 - 2024-05-21
With the kick-off of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship this past weekend in Wales we’re fully into the swing of the 2024 season! It was a big weekend of racing with the start of the FIM HEWC, EnduroGP Round 3 in Romania, and GNCC Round 7 in Ohio all going off. Let’s dive in and take a look at what went down!
Weekly Round-Up #1 - 2024-05-13
With the kick-off of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship this past weekend in Wales we’re fully into the swing of the 2024 season! It was a big weekend of racing with the start of the FIM HEWC, EnduroGP Round 3 in Romania, and GNCC Round 7 in Ohio all going off. Let’s dive in and take a look at what went down!
GNCC Round 6 Race Recap - The Hoosier
The AMSOIL Hoosier, Round six of the 2024 Progressive Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series presented by Specialized, an AMA National Championship went off on Sunday at the famed Ironman Raceway in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
The approximately 10 mile course was in great shape by the midway point of the morning Womens’ Pro (WXC) race, following heavy rain showers Friday night, through the day on Saturday, and again on Saturday night. Strong winds and large fields throughout the day turned the vast majority of the track into a grippy and physically demanding beast.
Steward Baylor Jr. (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) took home his second consecutive win, coming from behind to beat series leader Johnny Girroir (FMF KTM Factory Racing) and Craig DeLong (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) to the line. Girroir would be relegated to P3 behind DeLong after pitting outside of the designated Pro pits, however.
Rachael Archer (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) also took her second consecutive win of the series, ahead of Shelby Turner (Enduro Engineering GasGas) and Rachel Gutish (Sherco USA) in what was a very eventful WXC race that saw both Korie Steede (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) and Brandy Richards (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) finishing off the podium.
Gus Riordan (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) was on the top step of the podium in XC2 for his third win of the season, finishing in front of teammate Grant Davis and Liam Draper (AmPro Yamaha).
GNCC Round 5 Race Recap
The 2024 Progressive Grand National Cross Country (GNCC Racing) Series presented by Specialized, an AMA National Championship, continued yesterday, April 14, with the inaugural Dunlop Motorcycle Tires Old Gray GNCC event. Racers and fans from across the world converged in Monterey, Tennessee to witness Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki’s Steward Baylor claim his first win of the 2024 season. Baylor’s teammate Rachael Archer took home the WXC win to solidify her overall lead in the series.
GNCC Round 4 Race Recap
The XC1 class finally saw a new face on top of the box, with Dante Olivera (FMF KTM Factory Racing) taking his first-ever GNCC win! The California native has only raced a handful of GNCCs in his career, typically pursuing west coast series such as the AMA West Hare Scrambles and the National Grand Prix Championship, but is currently a fill-in rider for the injured Ben Kelly (FMF KTM Factory Racing). Gus Riordan (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) became the first repeat winner in XC2 this season, and teammate Brandy Richards (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) also became the first WXC repeat winner on the year.
GNCC Round 3 Race Recap - Josh Toth Makes History
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!
GNCC Round 2 Recap
The Wild Boar GNCC (or any GNCC that’s ever been held in Florida, honestly) has a reputation for being tough. The sand whoops are unforgiving, and even for riders who are in good shape and enjoy sand, the race is a physical and mental challenge. Adding to that, when you’re racing at a place called “The Hog Waller Mud Bog” you know mud and deep water holes are going to be involved – especially when you have a rainy weekend like this past one. There are several long sections of thick, black mud, and a few other spots with water crossings. The water here is so murky that it’s impossible to guess how deep it is. Many spots are shallow, only ankle-deep… but since the place is used by ATVs and utility vehicles, there are occasionally random chest-deep holes and trenches. This makes it critical that you carefully walk the course beforehand, or else leave yourself to the whims of fate, chance and line-pointers who may or may not have your best interests at heart.
GNCC Round 1 Race Recap
The moment we’ve all been waiting for – the opening round of the Progressive GNCC Series! Round one, the Big Buck GNCC, took place this past weekend in Union, South Carolina. Here’s Rachel Gutish’s race recap!