DeLong's teammates, Michael and Sipes, lined up on row three which took off 10 seconds after DeLong in the second row. Sipes, who made his return back to racing on Sunday after missing four rounds due to a hand/finger injury, got a good jump off the start to put his Husqvarna FC350 in a good position on the opening lap. Michael followed suit, keeping his Husqvarna FC250 behind Sipes early on.

Because of the unique start procedure at Snowshoe, the teams and riders were tasked with following the adjusted time clock rather than physical battles on the track. Sipes took advantage of the time adjustment early on as he made several passes to put himself into a top-five position at the beginning of the three-hour race. 

DeLong sat inside the top ten overall for the first few laps as he began a charge toward XC2 Pro Lites leader Trevor Bollinger, who began on row one alongside the top five in overall points. Without a physical leader in sight, DeLong focused on pushing himself with minimal mistakes where he was able to climb into 5^th overall by the halfway point.

Mid-way through the race Sipes encountered an issue that forced him to return to the Coastal Racing pits for a short amount of time. Sipes quickly returned back to racing but dropped several positions back to 15^th overall on lap five. From there, the Kentucky native made a charge to get back inside the top ten.

Meanwhile, DeLong continued his charge in the overall running where he consistently ticked off lap times similar to the XC1 Pro riders. In the end, DeLong finished 2^nd in the XC2 Pro Lites Class to extend his top-five streak to nine-in-a-row this season.

"I got a good start with a good group of people and just hung with the XC1 guys because I know if you stay with them and get on their pace it makes it a little bit easier," DeLong said. "I didn't have any big mistakes. You can easily make them on this track so being smooth and consistent is a big thing here and that's what I'm pretty good at."

Sipes maintained his top ten overall position through the final laps of the race, securing 6th place in the XC1 Pro Class in his first race since injury. 

"My hand wasn't 100 percent but it felt good enough to go racing. My [injured] finger held up really well but everything else got tired because I was overcompensating to not use my hand too much," Sipes commented. "I rode the best I could the whole time but I was definitely tired at the end after being off the bike for two and a half months. I know the speed is there, it's just going to take a little time to get my fitness back to where it needs to be."

Michael ultimately finished 7th in the XC2 Pro Lites Class and 15th overall for the day.

"I felt like I struggled to keep my bike underneath me today," Michael said. "I know I have the speed and fitness to run up front and I'm going to work hard during the summer break to make sure we're on that podium at the last four rounds."

After nine rounds of racing, DeLong sits 2nd in the XC2 Pro Lites Championship Standings with his teammate Michael close behind in 4th.