The Snowshoe round of the Progressive Grand National Cross Country Series is one of the most unique races in the world, run around a massive ski resort, with the riders starting on a paved road right in the middle of the village. It’s beautiful up there, but then downright brutal at the bottom of the mountain with mud bogs, boulders and tree roots serving as a reminder of GNCC’s Blackwater 100 origins.

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.

The full GNCC press release with some post-race quotes is below.

SNOWSHOE, W.Va. – It was a picture perfect day for racing in West Virginia as Round 9 of the Progressive Grand National Cross Country (GNCC Racing) Series presented by Specialized, an AMA National Championship, took place at Snowshoe Mountain Resort on Sunday. After three hours of battle between man and machine, plus his teammate, it was Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki Team Green’s Josh Toth who came out victorious.

As the current overall top 20 began on the first four rows of the unique live engine start, FMF KTM Factory Racing Lander’s Grant Davis alongside his teammate Angus Riordan, FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Ben Kelley, Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki Team Green’s Steward Baylor and Phoenix Racing Honda’s Cody Barnes took off and headed into the woods first off of row one. However, as the race wore on they began to have some heavy challengers with the time adjustment from each start row.

The battles continued to heat up throughout the day as Toth would make his way towards the front after starting on the second row. Toth and his teammate/team owner, Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki Team Green’s Steward Baylor would ensue in a heated battle throughout the last lap swapping the physical lead position multiple times. Toth looked to be suffering from some back tire deterioration, but didn’t let that slow him down too much. Baylor would physically cross the line first, but with time adjustments would not have enough distance between himself and Toth. As Toth crossed the finish line, he would be close enough to Baylor to take the Overall Win and XC2 250 Pro class win at Snowshoe. Baylor earned second overall and first in XC1 Open Pro after battling through to the very end.

FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Ben Kelley would have an early race mishap, but would continue to push himself towards the front, racing his way to a third overall finish on the day and second place in the XC1 Open Pro. Flatrock Motorclub GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jordan Ashburn put on a hard charge throughout the race, earning himself third in the XC1 Open Pro class as well as fourth overall on the day.

Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki Team Green’s Grant Baylor would finish an impressive fifth overall and fourth in XC1 after a rough day on top of Snowshoe Mountain. Coming through to take sixth overall was Phoenix Racing Honda’s Cody Barnes, while also finishing second in the XC2 250 Pro class.

“That was gnarly!” said Ben Kelley. “I don’t know what the deal was, was the hardest Snowshoe I’ve ever done. It was hot today and on lap four I was already suffering. I was cramping up so bad, my face, my back, my forearms. I don’t know what the deal was, I could not hold my head up. I couldn’t use the clutch! I made a mistake at the beginning, so I had to charge through the pack, and I was then yoyo-ing with the leaders, but it was a struggle. I’m so pumped to get to the podium, that was…brutal….I could barely keep it on the track. All things considered, and it feels awesome to bank solid points toward the title. Days like this where you keep fighting so hard, that helps win championships.”

 “Tough day on the mountain for me,” said Davis. “I got to start on the front row and ran up front for a while, but fell back a little and was trying to charge, but I mangled my shifter and had to swap it out. I’m going to take the summer break to get ready for the Six Days and then the rest of the GNCC season.”

Angus Riordan, Davis’ teammate and third in points for much of the season, also had a tough one with 13^th overall.

“That was a tough go at Snowshoe for me this year! I was going okay, but my body overheated, which made it a challenging day. We’ll take this summer break to regroup and put in some work, so we can come out firing for the last four rounds of the GNCC season.”

Liqui Moly Factory Beta Racing’s Josh Strang continued his consistent season as he came through to finish seventh overall on the day, and a top 5 finish in the XC1 Open Pro class.

XC2 250 Pro competitors, Brody Johnson finished third in class and eighth overall while Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki Team Green’s Nick DeFeo finished ninth overall and four in the class. Rockstar Energy Factory Husqvarna Racing’s Craig Delong rounded out the top 10 overall finishers at Snowshoe, while also earning sixth in XC1.

Unfortunately, FMF KTM Factory Racing Lander’s Grant Davis would have to stop for an untimely pit stop to replace a damaged shifter. That would see him crossing the line fifth in the XC2 class and 11th overall on the day.

In the XC3 class it was Bonecutter Off-Road/GASGAS-backed racer Jonathan Johnson coming through to complete six laps and take the class win, his fourth of the season. Coming through to take second in the class was Marionville Powersports/Hinson/Fly Racing’s James Jenkins as he had a consistent day in the number two spot. Rounding out the top three class finishers was Beta Off-Road/Estes Motorsports/Wossner Piston’s Riley Messer as he came thorugh to finish third after battling back from a fifth place start to the day.

Earning the Yamaha Racing Snowshoe GNCC Top Amateur honors was Lane Whitmer as he battled through to finish 15th overall and take home the 250 A class win. His brother, Cole Whitmer was second on the Top Amateur podium as he came through 17th overall while earning the Open A class win. Joseph Cunningham rounded out the Top Amateur podium as he came through 19th overall and took home second in 250 A.

This weekend the GNCC Racing Series had some special friends join them in racing, as they traveled from Japan and the JNCC Racing Series. Kazuto Yano raced in the XC1 Open Pro class, finishing 11th in class and 55th overall on the day. Yoshihiro Iwai raced in the Sportsman B (30+) class during the morning race where he finished 12th in class.

As the morning bike race took off it was the WXC class heading into the woods first as Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki Team Green’s Rachael Archer would grab the early lead. Archer would continue to push her way through the rugged terrain, continuing to hold the number one position in the WXC class until the checkered flag flew. Archer continues to hold the WXC National Championship points lead as the series heads into its summer break.

Enduro Engineering-backed Shelby Turner battled her way up to the front of the pack as she started in fourth and then fifth on the second lap. Turner would put her head down and continue on, making the necessary passes to get herself into second place in the WXC class. Turner would hold that position and cross the line second in WXC, her third podium finish of the season.

Rounding out the top three overall finishers was Gary Fridley who earned the Super Senior A class win as well as a spot on the overall podium. AmPro Yamaha’s Danielle Mcdonald would come through to take third in the WXC class after a hard-fought battle throughout the duration of the race in the West Virginia mountains. Special shoutout to Sportsman A competitors, Michael Delosa and Ethan Harwell who came through to finish the race 1-2. Sportsman A and B riders taken out of the overall podium equation due to their non-points paying class status.

In the Bike Youth race it was once again Travis Lentz battling throughout the day to take the overall and YXC1 Super Mini Sr. (14-15) class win atop Snowshoe Mountain. Coming through to take second overall came from YXC2 Super Mini Jr. (12-13) competitor, Hunter Hawkinberry as he also earned his class win. Rounding out the top three youth bike finishers was Kamden Krause who also took second in YXC1.

Lucas Skelton rounded out the top three YXC1 class finishers, while Ace Tokar and Phillip Arnold battled through to round out the top three finishers in the YXC2 class.

Other winners in the Bike Youth race included Cooper Newsome in the 85 Big Wheel (14-15) class, Caleb Johnson in the 85 Big Wheel (11-13) class, Evan Porter in the 85 (12-13) class, Ryder White in the 85 (11) class, Tripp Lewis in the 85 (7-10) class, Davey Fairfield in the 65 (10-11) class, Daxton Mullins in the 65 (9) class, Tanner Toland in the 65 (7-8) class, Sahara Robinson in the Girls Super Mini (12-16) class, Cassie Fairfield in the Girls 85 (7-13) class, Aubrey Tsakanikas in the Girls 65 (7-11) class and Camden Phillips in the Trail Rider (7-15) class.

This weekend at the Yamaha Racing Snowshoe GNCC, two AMSOIL Moto Heroes were honored at the 10 am start on Saturday and 1 pm start on Sunday. Catrina Crump surprised her family with an unexpected homecoming at Snowshoe. The Crump family has a long history of serving in the military, and they were honored Saturday morning.

Then on Sunday, Dakota Williams was honored for serving. Williams joined the West Virginia Army National Guard when he was 17 years old. He served in the Middle East for 12 months, and finished his service in 2023 as a Sergeant. Both parties received a $250 AMSOIL Shopping Spree, $250 Kanati Tires discount certificate, American Flag courtesy of Columbia Flag & Sign Co. along with a gift certificate to their online store.