Kelley got off to a great start aboard his KTM 350 XC-F as he battled in second on the opening lap. A mistake dropped him back to fourth at the end of the first hour and he quickly rallied his way back into podium contention by the third lap. Charging his way into the lead on lap four, Kelley maintained an eight-second lead going into the final lap but he got caught up going over a log and crashed into some trees, which allowed his championship rival, Steward Baylor Jr., to get by late in the race. Re-mounting quickly, Kelley was faced with finishing the race without a shifter and he battled as hard as he could to finish only 16 seconds back in second-place.

Ben Kelley: “It was another tough one but I felt like I was doing everything right, I just had a few mistakes and crashes out there that were all my own fault. It was hard to make passes, I had to force a few early on but I had a few lucky ones too. I pushed hard and did everything I had to do to get into the lead and halfway through the last lap I had a crash trying to go over a log and got tangled in some trees and it chewed off my shifter. It’s hard enough when everything is going right to get a win, so when things are stacked against you it’s tough but I gave it my all and got second. I’ll be back in two weeks to go for that win.”