The 2023 GNCC Racing season has crested the peak over the halfway point of the season and now more rounds are complete than rounds remaining. This means that championship battles are more important than ever, and with history being made each and every race thus far, the battle for the 2023 GNCC National Championship is proving to be one of the best in the 49-year history of the series. Here are a few things of note from The John Penton GNCC, round seven of the 2023 season.
IT WAS FLAT OUT BRUTAL
If you’ve never ridden southern Ohio clay in the rain, then it’s very tough to imagine exactly what it’s like. When the rain is falling, the clay is slick and slimy, and traction is pretty difficult to find. When it stops raining, things actually get even worse as the clay begins to turn into thick, tacky mud. The best comparison is that the slick clay feels like riding on ice, and the thick mud is like trying to ride through peanut butter. For The John Penton, rains fell late Friday and into Saturday morning making things pretty messy for the ATVs.
The track crew went to work Saturday evening working to make things as rideable as possible for Sunday. Naturally, things got better as the day went on Sunday but with some previously unridden sections there would still be plenty of that thick, peanut butter style mud to contend with. Additionally, this race features the infamous John Penton Section, which is an additional three miles of tough and technical single track much like what Mr. Penton himself rode back in his enduro days.
With all of these factors at play this would prove to be one of the toughest John Penton events in quite some time and really lend its hand to the guys who strive in these types of challenging conditions.
SEVEN FOR SEVEN
When the season kicked off with two different winners in the first two rounds, many people began to speculate that someone would repeat by the fourth round. Then there would be another winner, and another, and after six rounds the series would see six different winners in the first six rounds for the first time in history (in addition to the first time there would ever be six different winners in an entire season!)
The vibe really changed coming into The John Penton. Instead of saying ‘alright, this is where someone repeats’, the overall feeling became ‘there are still some guys who can win this’. The 2021 and 2022 editions of The John Penton were won by 2010 GNCC champ, Josh Strang which immediately made him a favorite to become the seventh different winner of the season. Additionally, last year’s Burr Oak GNCC which also took place at Sunday Creek Raceway (the home of The John Penton) was won by eventual 2022 GNCC champ, Jordan Ashburn.
When the green flag flew it would be Ricky Russell leading the way on the opening lap before running into issues on lap two and dropping all the way back to eighth place in the XC1 class. It would then be Jordan Ashburn taking over the lead for a lap before Steward Baylor would find his way into lead on lap three. Baylor would continue to hold that lead through lap four, but Ashburn would stay right on Baylor’s rear wheel challenging for the overall win. On the final lap, Ashburn made the pass for the lead and would hold that lead all the way to the checkered flag to become the seventh different winner in seven different rounds.
Baylor would cross the finish line in the second-place spot, still hot on Ashburn’s heels finishing just over one second behind. Last round’s winner, Johnny Girroir, would work his way into the third-place spot on lap two and consistently stay there throughout the entire race. Josh Strang would end the day in the fourth-place spot, just over one second behind Girroir with Craig Delong rounding out the top five of the XC1 class.
In the hunt for the GNCC National Championship, Steward Baylor has now found his way back into the lead. Baylor holds a ten-point lead over Craig Delong, while Ben Kelley had a devastating John Penton round, finishing 33rd place overall and scoring zero points which dropped him to third place and 19-points out of the lead. Jordan Ashburn sits in the fourth-place spot with Grant Baylor rounding out the top five.
| Rider | Time | Interval | Best Lap | Hometown | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jordan Ashburn | 02:54:24.459 | Cookeville, TN  | Husqvarna | ||
| 2 |  Steward Baylor | 02:54:25.872 | Belton, SC | KTM | ||
| 3 |  Jonathan Girroir | 02:56:03.319 | Southwick, MA | KTM | ||
| 4 |  Josh Strang | 02:56:04.941 | Inverell, Australia  | Kawasaki | ||
| 5 |  Cody J Barnes | 02:56:24.100 | Sterling, IL | Honda |
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Craig Delong | Morgantown, PA | 246 |
| 2 | Steward Baylor | Belton, SC | 235 |
| 3 |  Ben Kelley | Harwinton, CT | 215 |
| 4 | Jordan Ashburn | Cookeville, TN | 201 |
| 5 |  Ricky Russell | Duvall, WA | 175 |
XC2 CLASS IS GETTING INTENSE!
The last several seasons have seen some of the closest racing the XC2 class has ever seen, and this season continues to elevate that to another level. At The John Penton, Liam Draper would lead the opening lap in the XC2 place spot and for the second race in a row, control the overall lead on adjusted time. Cody Barnes would be right on Draper’s rear wheel in second while Angus Riordan, Ryder Lafferty, Ruy Barbosa, Mike Witkowski, Jonathan Johnson, Evan Smith, Zach Osborne and Mason Semmens rounded out the top ten of the XC2 class, and they would all be within 20 seconds of each other!
As the race wore on it would become a back-and-forth battle between Draper and Barnes as they would swap the lead multiple times through the entire race. Eventually the race would end with Barnes taking the XC2 class win over Draper and Witkowski would round out the podium in third place. This also helped to shake up the chase for the XC2 class championship as Cody Barnes has now taken the lead from his Phoenix Honda teammate, Ruy Barbosa, who still holds the second-place position just one point out of the lead.
Liam Draper has now moved into the third-place position and is still in a close striking distance at 12 points out of the lead. Angus Riordan holds the fourth-place spot, just 15 points out of the lead and Ryder Lafferty rounds out the top five sitting just 19 points out of the lead. This sets up a potential five rider battle for the XC2 championship through the rest of the season, which very well may create one the most epic battle for the XC2 class championship in series history.
| Rider | Time | Interval | Best Lap | Hometown | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cody J Barnes | 02:56:24.100 | Sterling, IL | Honda | ||
| 2 |  Liam Draper | 02:56:25.179 | Auckland, New Zealand  | Yamaha | ||
| 3 |  Michael Witkowski | 02:59:02.259 | North Liberty, IN | Honda | ||
| 4 |  Angus Riordan | 02:59:15.530 | Australia | KTM | ||
| 5 |  Ruy Barbosa | 02:59:29.318 | Chile  | Honda |
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liam Draper | Auckland, New Zealand | 270 |
| 2 | Angus Riordan | Australia | 257 |
| 3 | Cody J Barnes | Sterling, IL | 228 |
| 4 | Ruy Barbosa | Chile | 191 |
| 5 |  Mason Semmens | Australia | 175 |
