Am Pro Yamaha’s Grant Baylor closes out the 2015 Kenda AMA National Enduro Series with a victory at the Mudobbers National Enduro in Indiana.
Am Pro Yamaha’s Grant Baylor closed out the 2015 Kenda AMA National Enduro Series Presented by Moose Racing with a win in a closely contested Mudobbers National Enduro, presented by Yamaha Power Equipment, in Matthews, Indiana, on October 12.
Baylor didn’t get off to the fastest start in the event, carding the fourth-fastest time through the first special test of the day. Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Josh Strang jumped out to a quick overall lead after posting the fastest time in the first two tests, but after finishing second in Test Two, Baylor roared into the lead by carding the fastest times in tests three, four and five.
Baylor held a 23-second lead over Strang heading into the fifth and final test, with American Beta’s Cory Buttrick third, only a few seconds back. Strang turned up the heat in the final test and picked up 22 seconds on Baylor, however, that would leave him just one second shy of earning his first career enduro win. Baylor’s win was the second of his career and his first of the season, and the result clinched second overall for him in the final Kenda AMA National Enduro standings, behind FMF/KTM’s Kailub Russell, who skipped the Muddobber’s event to undergo knee surgery after already wrapping up the title at the previous round.
“It feels great to get my first win of the season,” Baylor said. “I started a little bit off pace, but I picked it up in the middle part of the race and managed to hold off Strang in the end,” said Baylor.
Strang was bummed to miss out on the overall win by a mere tick of the clock, but he was pleased with the progress he has made during his rookie season in the Kenda AMA National Enduro Series.
“I think we came a long way from the first round of the schedule, and hopefully we can start off next year’s as well as we finished this one,” Strang said.
Buttrick’s third-place overall finish marked his best race of the season. He carded the third-fastest time in the first three tests, the second fastest in Test Four and tied Baylor for the win in the fifth test of the day.
Baylor’s brother, Steward Baylor, finished fourth overall on his Moto-Tech KTM, while AirGroup Racing’s Nick Fahringer was fifth overall, 1 minute and 18 seconds ahead of MotoSport.com/Yamaha’s Brad Bakken.FMF/KTM’s Russell Bobbitt finished seventh overall while battling an illness. Drew Higgins was eighth overall, claimed the top spot in the Rekluse Expert-AA class and also landed Higgins the national title in the Rekluse Expert-AA division. Former Pro motocrosser Broc Hepler finished out the day ninth overall, ahead of Am Pro Yamaha’s Ricky Russell.
Evan Smith finished second in the Rekluse Expert-AA class at the Mudobbers event and also claimed second overall in the class standings, behind Pearson. Am Pro Yamaha’s Ryan Belue was third overall in the Expert-AA class at the event. Both Smith and Higgins are expected to move to the Pro class for 2016.
2015 Kenda AMA National Enduro Series Presented by Moose Racing
2015 Mudobbers National Enduro
Matthews, Indiana
Results: October 12, 2015 (Round 9 of 9)
Overall
1. Grant Baylor-Yam
2. Josh Strang-Hus
3. Cory Buttrick-Bet
4. Steward Baylor-KTM
5. Nick Fahringer-Hus
6. Brad Bakken-Yam
7. Russell Bobbitt-KTM
8. Drew Higgins-KTM
9. Broc Hepler-KTM
10. Ricky Russell-Yam
2015 Kenda AMA National Enduro Series Points Standing (After 9 of 9 rounds)
1. Kailub Russell-201/3 wins
2. Grant Baylor-181/1 win
3. Russell Bobbitt-174/1 win
4. Steward Baylor Jr.-172/1 win
5. Andrew DeLong 127/1 win
6. Corty Buttrick-121
7. Brad Bakken-105
8. Josh Strang-96
9. Ryder Lafferty-81
10. Craig DeLong-76
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