Newburg, WV. - The Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy®/Kawasaki Team returned to Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) racing over the weekend in brisk but pristine conditions at CJ’s Raceway in Newburg, West Virginia, where the No. 17 of Josh Strang
made his long-awaited return to the XC-1 podium, bringing home third overall, with teammate Grant Baylor finishing fifth in class and XC-1 class rookie Lyndon Snodgrass taking home 13th.

When the penultimate round of the series started on Sunday afternoon, all three XC-1 teammates would succumb to mid-pack starts, but all three would soon link up together to form a train of KX™450X’s that began a charge to the front of the field. Baylor would lead the trio around on lap one in the sixth-place position, with Snodgrass in seventh and Strang in eighth. The three teammates would swap positions for several laps before, on lap five, Strang was able to break free from his compatriots and work his way up to fifth before making a few last lap passes to end up third. Baylor would improve one position to end up fifth, while Snodgrass would run into issues late and be forced to withdraw before the completion of the race; he would wind up 13th at days end.

"It's been too long since I was up here, in Georgia, to be exact. The track was really hard-packed and slick, so you really had to be patient, but it was really fun. I felt good today; it was nice to be able to battle like that again. Most of the year, I’ve been just riding by myself. I was able to make a few passes right at the end there to take home a podium, and I'm definitely really stoked on that.” Said Strang.

The 12th and final round of the GNCC series will take place at the famous Ironman Raceway in Crawfordsville, Indiana, on October 22nd, where the team looks to end the year on a high note.

Mack Faint
mackfaint@gmail.com