BEN KELLEY PULLS OFF SECOND OVERALL IN A LAST-LAP
BATTLE AT THE MOUNTAINEER GNCC

BECKLEY, W. Va. – After a two-month break from racing, the AMA Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series returned to action on Sunday with Round 10 of the 13-race series in West Virginia. FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Ben Kelley found himself on the winning end of an intense last-lap battle to claim second-place, while his teammate Josh Toth landed just off the podium with fourth overall on the day.

Kelley, the previous round’s winner, had a few challenges to overcome off the start as he washed the front end of his KTM 350 XC-F coming into the first turn, dropping him back a few spots outside the top-five. He freight-trained with the lead group early on and he used that momentum to break into third before the end of lap one. Kelley set his sights on catching the lead battle but he found himself on the ground too many times in the next few laps and the gap increased to 1:30 with one-hour of racing to go. With an impressive late-race charge, Kelley was able to reel in the second-place rider on the final lap and it was an intense head-to-head battle all the way to the checkers. Despite losing his front brakes in a racing contact situation, Kelley was able to overtake the second-place position in the last few corners before the finish. With three rounds remaining, Kelley maintains the lead in the Overall National Championship with a pair of victories and six solid podiums behind him.