FMF KTM’s main man in 2024, Johnny Girroir, lifts iconic snowboard trophy with fifth win of the Grand National Cross Country season at Snowshoe GNCC after a last lap pass on Grant Baylor.
Warm conditions, with the exception of a few bomb holes including the notorious Howard’s Hole, made the 2024 Snowshoe GNCC dry, rockyand dusty one.
Starting in 10 second blocks with riders lined up in groups of five, engines live, on the main road, the green flag waved and it was Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki’s Steward Baylor leading the way on the opening lap with Coastal GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jordan Ashburn and FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Johnny Girroir on his back tail.
Girroir would battle past Ashburn and S. Baylor during the second lap of the race, but he would soon have a different Baylor brother behind him as Babbitts Online/Monster Energy/Kawasaki Team Green’s Grant Baylor made his way up to the front on lap four.
Tailing the Kawasaki for the first half of the lap, points leader Girroir made the pass back and had to set about pulling enough marginto account for the start rows and corrected time, an addition 10 seconds. But he nailed it and sealed the win by a margin of 6.941 seconds.
Watch RAW highlights here:2024 Snowshoe GNCC: RAW highlights
With podium results at all nine rounds to date this year, inclusive of five victories, Girroir has built a 43-point lead in the overall and XC1 Open Pro Class point standings with four rounds remaining.
Johnny Girroir: “It came down to within seconds and that was a good race! With two and a half laps to go, Grant came by me and I knew I had to get going, then he made a couple of mistakes and I was able to sneak back by – that was gnarly!
“It was fast and technical today, took a lot of physical energy with the higher speeds in the dry conditions. I hit the ground once, but other than that, it was a solid race for me.”
Davis is supreme in XC2 250
XC2 250 Pro Class points leader Davis also started strongly from the front row of the GP grid, leading all five laps and bringing his KTM 250 XC-F home almost three minutes ahead of the chasing pack.
It was an impressive ride to land Davis a 37-point advantage in the standings over FMF KTM Factory Racing Team Landers teammate Gus Riordan, who was P5 at Snowshoe.
Grant Davis: “I started pretty well and then had to shake off some arm-pump, but we were able to finish strong and I am stoked to get my third win in a row, which is my fifth of the season. That was a big result for us at Snowshoe going into the break, so I look forward to keeping things going when we start up again.”
Team Enduro Engineering’s Josh Toth and Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki’s Thad Duvall would both have consistent days on the mountain as they held the second and third place positions in XC2 for the length of the race.
2024 Snowshoe GNCC PM race results:
In the FMF XC3 125 Pro-Am class Kibuk Cycle/Steel City Medical Center/Josh Lojak’s House of Speed’s Sawyer Carratura earned his first class win of the season atop Snowshoe Mountain.
Earning the Top Amateur Honors at the Yamaha Racing Snowshoe GNCC was 250 A winner, Nicholas DeFeo as he came through in the 13th overall finishing position.
Archer dominates WXC
In the morning race Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki’s Rachael Archer yet again dominated the WXC class, leading from early in the race and extending the gap, as the checkered flag flew Archer would cross the line with over a minute lead.
Finishing runner-up at Snowshoe was Rockstar Energy Factory Husqvarna Racing’s Korie Steede as she tried to battle back after some mistakes and crashes ultimately kept her away from catching Archer.
Enduro Engineering/GASGAS/FXR Moto’s Shelby Turner would sit in third for the duration of the race and round out the top three WXC finishers at Snowshoe.
Class acts:
In the morning youth bike race it was Brody Amos coming through to earn the overall and YXC1 Super Mini Sr. (14-15) class win atop Snowshoe Mountain.
Travis Lentz continued his domination in the YXC2 Super Mini Jr. (12-13) class as he earned his ninth-straight win of the season.
Hunter Carey took home the 85 Big Wheel (11-15) class win, while Ace Tokar earned the 85 (12-13) class win.
In the 85 (11) class it was Wyatt Johnson coming through to take the win with Maverick Boyer would earn the 85 (7-10) class win.
Hunter Jones would take home the 65 (10-11) class win, Tripp Lewis earned the 65 (9) class win and Daxton Mullins earned himself the 65 (7-8) class win at round nine.
In the Girls Super Mini (12-16) class it was Jayden Shea earning the win, while Sahara Robinson earned her eighth win in the Girls 85 (7-13) class and Paisley Harris would take the Girls 65 (7-11) class win.
In the Trail Rider class, it was Camden Phillips earning the class win.
The GNCC Series will continue with the Buckwheat 100 in Newburg, West Virginia, on September 1.
Photo Credit: Ken Hill + FMF KTM
