N-Fab AmPro Yamaha’s Grant Baylor holds onto second in the championship points lead, eight points ahead of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Josh Strang, coming into round eight. Baylor comes to Ohio after just missing the podium the past two rounds, but has had five consecutive top five finishes. Baylor will look to challenge for a podium finish this weekend. 

Josh Strang, who missed the last round due to an injury, is questionable to return for this weekend’s John Penton GNCC. Strang holds third place in the championship points standings with three points separating him and fourth place.  

JCR Honda’s Chris Bach comes to the John Penton fourth in the championship standings. After a strong start to the season by landing on the podium in Georgia, Bach has shown that consistency is key, claiming multiple top 10 finishes in addition to his first GNCC overall win at the Dunlop Tomahawk GNCC.

Rocky Mountain ATV*MC/KR4/FAR’s Thad DuVall earned another third place finish at the Mountaineer Run GNCC just two weeks ago, rebounding after a hard crash ended his day early in New York. DuVall has earned four top three finishes this season, and currently sits fifth in the championship points standings. Along with those podium finishes DuVall has had a fourth place, but has also sustained some bad luck at two rounds costing him points towards the championship.

AirGroup/Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna’s Ryan Sipes has a big weekend ahead of him. On Saturday, June 6 Sipes will contest in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship in Tennessee. After Pro Motocross is over Sipes will head north to Ohio for this weekend’s Wiseco John Penton GNCC. Sipes, who is a former pro motocross rider, made the switch to GNCC last year and has steadily increased with his best performance happening two weeks ago at the Mountaineer Run in West Virginia.

N-Fab AmPro Yamaha’s Jordan Ashburn is currently eighth overall in the championship point’s standings, but sits only one point behind seventh overall. Ashburn had a stellar 2014 season with consistent finishes and even contending for wins, but some misfortune this season has led to finishes outside of the top 10. 

In the XC2 Pro Lites class, DirtWise/Maxxis/KLIM rider Jason Thomas holds the points lead by 40 over RideMPS.com/AMSOIL/Honda’s Layne Michael. Thomas has four wins this season, while Rocky Mountain ATV*MC/KR4/FAR’s Nick Davis has two wins and Raines Riding University/Atlas Yamaha/OffRoadViking.com has earned one win.

Davis earned his second win just two weeks ago in West Virginia, but is still currently eighth in points. After a strong start to the season, winning the first round and finishing second at the Maxxis General GNCC, Davis experienced multiple mechanical issues before returning to his winning ways at the previous round. 

Husqvarna’s Support Rider Craig DeLong has had an excellent rookie season in the XC2 Pro Lites class and is currently third in the championship points. DeLong has had a string of consistent top five finishes, and finished inside the top ten at all seven rounds. Ricky Russell had a great beginning to the season with a second place finish before injuring his wrist and missing rounds two and three. Russell holds the fourth position in the point’s championship with a win at Big Buck and consistent top five finishes at the past three rounds. Moto-Tech KTM’s Trevor Bollinger has also had a string of consistent finishes landing inside the top 10 at all but one round. Bollinger is six points behind Russell coming into the Wiseco John Penton GNCC.