Toth Battles Up Front For a Top-Five Result at Burr Oak GNCC
Wednesday, September 28, 2022 | 4:00 PM
TOTH BATTLES UP FRONT FOR A TOP-FIVE RESULT AT BURR OAK GNCC
MILLFIELD, Ohio – A light drizzle of rain was welcomed by competitors before the start of the 11th round of the 2022 AMA Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series in Millfield, Ohio and FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Josh Toth excelled in the conditions tallying his fifth top-five finish of the year at the Burr Oak GNCC.
Powering his KTM 350 XC-F into a top-five position off the start, Toth gained two quick spots up to third by the next lap and he set his sights on the leader up front. Halfway into the three-hour race, Toth had worked his way up to second but a mishap by the leader resulted in a break in momentum for the FMF KTM Factory racer as he got caught up with another rider and went down. Re-mounting back in fifth, Toth made a late-race attempt to rally back into podium contention but fifth is where he landed after three hours and 18 minutes of battle.
Josh Toth:“Overall, it was a pretty solid day. I got off to a decent start and was right in the mix all day battling for the podium and up front. I never lost sight of the leaders, so it was good to be up in the mix again. Midway through the race, I put myself into second position and then the leader went down right in front of me and I had nowhere to go. I got hit from behind and actually lost five positions there and had to work my way back up to fifth. I felt like I had a podium in sight but overall, I’m happy with the day.”
The 2021 XC1 Open Pro Champion Ben Kelley will remain out of competition for the remainder of the season due to an injury, and now sits third in points.
In the morning race, Trail Jesters KTM Racing’s Korie Steede raced her way to a third-place podium finish in the highly-competitive WXC class. With two rounds remaining, Steede sits only seven points behind the championship points leader in second overall.
Next Race: Buckwheat 100 GNCC – Newburg, West Virginia – October 9, 2022
XC1 Open Pro Results – Burr Oak GNCC
1. Jordan Ashburn, HQV, 03:15:48.019
2. Craig DeLong, HQV, +11.780
3. Thad DuVall, HQV, +56.951
OTHER KTM
5. Josh Toth, KTM, +10.166
Overall Championship Standings
1. Jordan Ashburn, 242 points
2. Craig DeLong, 181
3. Ben Kelley, 180
OTHER KTM
7. Josh Toth, 122