Josh Toth Wins His Second Showshoe GNCC

This year’s Snowshoe added another element, heat and humidity, and it pushed riders to their limits, especially in the three-hour Sunday afternoon pro race. The race was hyped as a possible showdown between FMF KTM teammates Ben Kelley and Grant Davis, who are battling for the GNCC Overall Series points lead while racing two different classes and bikes—a 250 and a 350—but it was instead another teammate pair, on a 250 and a 450, that dueled for the victory. Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki Team Green’s Josh Toth came out victorious over his teammate (and team owner) Stu Baylor, the final margin of victory standing at about three seconds after three hours of racing.

The win took so much out of Toth that he was too hot and exhausted to even do a post-race interview! He wasn’t alone, as the brutal conditions pushed nearly everyone to the limit. Here’s what the always-unfiltered Baylor had to say:

"Man that was everything I had," said Baylor. "Right off the start the XC2 kids were riding absolutely wild, and then I blew the quick connect off my drink system so I had no water all day. That was just absolutely brutal. I was cramping lap 2, I came through the pits and no one had water, no one had my bottles. I lost a lot of time, I’m sure you guys saw it watching on RacerTV, I was suppose to have three people over here. When you’re the boss and you tell them to be there, you expect it. But they were in Howard’s Hole. I would lose 20-30 seconds every time over there, then I would make it back up over here. Yeah too little too late. I finally got Josh toward the end but made a little mistake over here and lost the time that I needed. It was everything I had, I made a mistake at the top of the hill. That crash right there, a mile from the finish….we talked it about it before the race, I’ve probably led Snowshoe a mile from the finish six times now. So I’m like almost as good as Kailub Russell…I almost had that sixth one, just always a mile short of a it. I mean, it’s tough being the best looking, toughest son of a bitch out here, but Josh edged me out today. We’re slowly and steadily getting better and better. I lined up today on a broken ankle, needing surgery, but that’s not going to slow me down, boys. I’m counting down the days to retirement, I got a few more years of this so I’m pushing through it. Props to Dr. Tanner, he made me wear that goofy-ass boot all weekend but it got me through it.”

Of the title fighters, Kelley emerged best with third overall, but he too had absolutely nothing left at the end of the day. He did grit out points over Davis, who also struggled and lost time with a bent shifter. He was 11^th overall, which shifts Kelley back into the GNCC Overall series lead again as the championship heads into its annual summer break.