Steward Baylor Jr Capture the Gobbler Getter
Round 9 of 9 in the Magna1 AMA National Enduro Series presented by Moose Racing took place at the Perry Mountain Motorcycle Club in Alabama for the Gobbler Getter National Enduro. Abnormally warm and dry conditions for the final weekend of October combined with long test sections poised a challenge for the riders. After 64 miles of trail with approximately only 5 miles being transfer, Steward Baylor Jr came out on top for his 4th win in a row at the end of the season.
Steward, a Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Tely Energy KTM rider came into the event by studying what competition he has does better in previous years at this event. After winning all 6 tests last season at the Gobbler Getter, Josh Toths riding styling is what Steward was trying to copy. Riding standing up and carrying a flow is what helped Steward take the final win this season. “Josh always does well at this event, and I know I need to ride like him to do well here.” Steward said. “One of the hardest things in the National Enduro Series is adapting to all the different terrains we have. Adapting to other rider’s styles at places they do well is what I always try to do.”
Talking about the season with Brother Grant Baylor winning the Championship to make it 7 in a row for the Baylors and 8 total championships Steward said “I may not have all the wins that Randy Hawkins has or all the championships that Mike Lafferty or Dick Burleson have, but between me and Grant now my dad does, he has 8 championships.”
Babbitts Online Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Grant Baylor kept big brother Steward honest all race long today Grant was able take 1 test win and finish 2nd overall the other 5 tests of the day. After 4 tests Grant was just 3 seconds off Steward before Steward put on a strong Test 5 and 6 to win by 41 seconds.
Grant said “I came here with the championship already wrapped up to try to get some bonus money and win the race. After I tweaked my leg I thought, I needed to run smoothly to get through the season healthy, but I knew I needed to finish ahead of Josh Toth for Steward to finish 2nd behind me in the championship.”
Enduro Engineering GasGas rider Josh Toth finished 3rd overall to make it 2 podiums in a row and 6 on the season. Josh was able to grab a test in in test 3 to be his highlight of the day. Josh’s 3rd place finish on the day lands him in 3rd overall for the 2023 Season
Winning the Gobbler Getter in the NE Pro 2 Class was Thorn Devlin on his Bonecutter GasGas. Thorn started the day by winning the first test and later winning the fifth test en route to a 29 second win in the class. Thorn had 7 podiums and 4 wins include the Gobbler Getter to put him 2nd Overall in the NE Pro2 2023 Championship. “It felt good to battle with Liam all year basically being my own mechanic and working on my own bike, to be able to come in 2nd for the season feels pretty good” Thorn Said.
The NE Pro2 2023 National Enduro Champion was crowned this week with AM-Pro Yamaha rider Liam Draper Finishing 2nd on the day. Liam had 3 tests wins in the middle part of the day but was slightly off pace in the other 3 sections to fall short of Thorn Devlins times. After finishing on the podium 7 times and having 5 wins Liam Draper became the 2023 Champion. “I’ve heard if you surround yourself with good people good things happen. I have great people in my corner this year and being part of the Yamaha team where they want to win every weekend has really helped this season” Liam said.
Nicholas Drywall KTM rider Steve Nicholas III finished on the podium for the first time in the NE Pro2 class since the Gobbler Getter the season before. “It felt good to finally get on the podium this season. I feel like I have put in the work and have been riding good, but just haven’t got it done. Working full time doing Drywall most of the time it is awesome to finally get on the podium again” Nicholas Said.
Enduro Engineering GasGas rider Mackenzie Tricker won the Womens Elite class for the 6th time this season after wrapping up her Fifth Championship in a row a round earlier. On the day Tricker won all 5 tests. “It was nice to wrap up the Championship early so that in these conditions here I didn’t have to push as hard as I normally would” Tricker said. Mackenzie also announces that this will be her final time racing the National Enduro Full time.
Brooke Cosner moved to a KX450 borrowing it from boyfriend Grant Baylor set up exactly how he would ride it. Cosner was able to have a season best finish with a 2 place in the Womens Elite Class on the day. “The bike worked great honestly. Other than a little more sore in my legs it worked really well for me today” Cosner said.
Rounding out the Podium in the Womens Elite Class was Husqvarna rider Sheryl Hunter. This is Sheryl’s first National Women’s Pro Podium finish. She has finished 4th a few times and moved up to a podium spot for the final round. “I have been chasing after a podium for quite a while now. I would say the track was a little physical today but really fun. I had so much fun this is an awesome way to end it” Sheryl said.
The Beta Cup was decided at the final round of the season. There were two riders that had a near perfect season in each of their classes. With dropped races factored in both Emma Hasbell of the Womens Amateur Class and James Jenkins of the B200 class had perfect seasons going into the final round. With being tied in points, being tied in wins, and then being tied in test wins it would come down to the total average time of margin of victory for the season. Emma held a slight advantage over James in that category and after winning all 4 tests at the Gobbler Getter also, Emma Hasbell became the 2023 Beta Cup Champion. She will be choosing a free Beta 2 Stroke motorcycle of her choice curtesy of Beta USA.
Gobbler Getter Top 10
1-Steward Baylor Jr- KTM
2-Grant Baylor- Kaw
3-Josh Toth- Gas
4-Ricky Russel- Yam
5-Evan Smith- Beta
6-Craig Delong- Hus
7-Ben Kelley- KTM
8-Thorn Devlin- Gas
9-Liam Draper- Yam
10-Steve Nicholas III- KTM
-Story by Logan Densmore
-Photos by Mack Faint