Steward Baylor wins Ironman GNCC final round in Indiana, Ben Kelley clinches XC2 250 Pro National Championship.

The AMSOIL Ironman GNCC brought an end of the 2018 season Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series on Sunday in the woods in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Taking the win at the 24th annual Ironman event was Steward Baylor Jr., his first overall win of the season ahead of Josh Strang and Trevor Bollinger.

XC1 Pro Open class

Ryan Sipes grabbed the early lead and the $250 XC1 Wiseco Holeshot Award but a crash on the first lap dropped him to 11th after lap one – ultimately Sipes would end his day early after pulling off during the second lap. 

It was Trevor Bollinger who held the lead early in the race, battling at the front hopeful to earn his first win. Bollinger would battle with Baylor Jr. throughout the race, while Josh Strang made his way through the pack after starting in sixth. 

As the white flag came out, Strang had his sights set on Bollinger and made the pass stick before the chequered flag flew. With Baylor Jr. taking the win that moved him into third place in the final National Championship points standings.

Ricky Russell ran second and third for the first part of the race, but on lap four he dropped to fourth which is where he finished. Grant Baylor found himself running third early in the race but would eventually fall back to sixth place before making the pass stick on Layne Michael to reclaim fifth at the flag. 

Michael did not get the start he wanted, running in the seventh for majority of the race, he battled with Pascal Rauchenecker to eventually secure sixth place. Michael would make the move past Rauchenecker when the white flag came out on lap five, securing his sixth place finish with Rauchenecker placing seventh in the XC1 Open Pro class.

Beta USA’s Jordan Ashburn came through in the eighth place position to end the season, while Factory GasGas/FAR’s Andrew Delong and Solid Performance KTM/Fly Racing’s Jesse Groemm rounded out the XC1 Open Pro top ten.