Steward Baylor Wins Loose Moose Enduro

Baylor brothers dominate Michigan National Enduro

Steward Baylor won the first test of the day, and then added wins in tests five and six to claim the win at this weekend’s Loose Moose National Enduro in Michigan. “I bet in all my years of racing the National Enduro series I think this is just the sixth time I have won the first test of a race,” Steward said. “Grant got out to a lead over me, but it started to get pretty rocky in the last few tests and that’s when things started going my way. Those last two tests seemed to fall in my lap.”Shan Moore

The Loose Moose National Enduro in Marquette, Michigan, turned into a family affair when Baylor brothers Steward and Grant won every test en route to a 1-2 finish, with Steward taking the win over Grant at round 8 of the Kenda AMA National Enduro series.

Grant held the lead by 18 seconds heading into the final test, however when the younger of the two brothers buried his Tely Energy Racing KTM in three deep sinkholes, Steward was able to capitalize and take the win by 27 seconds.

FMF/KTM’s Josh Toth finished third ahead of Trail Jesters Racing KTM’s Ben Kelley and SRT Racing Husvarna’s Evan Smith.

Here’s a look at the race thanks to photographer Shan Moore.

Grant Baylor looked like a sure winner heading into the final test, however the Tely Energy KTM rider got stuck a couple of times, which dropped him to second behind his brother. “The day was pretty good; I got third in the first test and then went on to win the next three tests,” Grant said. “I had a good lead over Steward but then I lost a little time when I got stuck on a rock in the fifth test. Then in the last test, I was just trying to get through it, but there were some random sinkholes and I ended up burying it up to my seat three times and I had to get off the bike and pull it out. At least I had a big enough lead to hang on to second.”Shan Moore
Josh Toth was not on the same pace as the Baylor brothers but was for sure the best of the rest. “It wasn’t my day, I just had nothing for Steward today,” Toth said. “I got a bad start in the first test, and then I thought I rode well in the second test but my times didn’t show it. I was off the pace so I had to try to turn it around. I was going good in the fifth test but I hit a limb with my arm and it went dead on me, but it seems to be okay now.”Shan Moore
Trail Jesters Racing KTM’s Ben Kelley finished 38 seconds behind Toth for fourth. “I felt like I rode pretty well today,” Kelley said. “I had a few mistakes, and in that last test, which was pretty gnarly, I think I had two crashes and got stuck in the mud twice. It was a cool test and I felt like I was going good, but it was tricky.”Shan Moore
KR4 Husqvarna’s Cory Buttrick struggled to get up to speed in the sand during the first two tests but got into a groove at the midway point of the race and finished sixth.Shan Moore
Ryder Lafferty won the NE Pro2 division with a seventh overall finish. The Solid Performance KTM rider has been consistently at the front of the pack in the NE Pro2 division.Shan Moore
Michigan was not kind to Thad Duvall. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider knocked a hole in his side case when he struck a rock and lost the oil in his engine, forcing the West Virginia rider to drop out of the race.Shan Moore
Mike Witkowski turned in a solid performance for 10th in the Pro class.Shan Moore
Russell Bobbitt was eighth overall on his Gnarly Routes KTM.Shan Moore
With his win in Michigan, Steward Baylor extended his lead in the series standings to 13 points over Josh Toth.Shan Moore

Loose Moose National Enduro Overall Results

Position Rider Brand
1 Steward Baylor KTM
2 Grant Baylor KTM
3 Josh Toth KTM
4 Ben Kelley KTM
5 Evan Smith Husqvarna
6 Cory Buttrick Husqvarna
7 Ryder Lafferty Husqvarna
8 Russell Bobbitt KTM
9 Nathan Ferderer KTM
10 Nick Fahringer Sherco

2018 Kenda AMA National Enduro Point Standings

Position Rider Brand Points
1 Steward Baylor KTM 178
2 Josh Toth KTM 165
3 Grant Baylor KTM 132
4 Ben Kelley KTM 125
5 Cory Buttrick Husqvarna 110
6 Evan Smith Husqvarna 96
7 Andrew Delong GasGas 81
8 Thad Duvall Husqvarna 76
9 Russell Bobbitt KTM 66
10 Mike Witkowski Beta 64