AMA National Enduro round eight saw Steward Baylor finally take a win, halting Josh Toth’s win streak, with victory at the Flying W Ranch National.

350-plus enduro competitors arrived at a new venue in Cherryville, MO for the Wiseco Flying W National – a new event on the Redline Oil AMA National Enduro Series, presented by MSR and Beta Motorcycles, and the first-ever enduro to be held at the location.

Round eight presented riders with a dusty 55-mile course with three, six-mile tests followed by a shorter 4.5 mile section before concluding with two more six-mile tests.

Overall Podium

Enduro Engineering’s Josh Toth has dominated the season with six overall wins, but Steward Baylor Jr. was not going to let Toth add to the tally in Missouri.

Baylor Jr. started the day taking third in the first two tests. The NE Pro1 rider went on to capture three test wins and end the day with a second-place finish in the final test aboard his Red Bear Racing Kawasaki. It marked his first win of the season.

“I knew after that first test that it was going to take a little bit of luck catching people at the right places,” Baylor Jr. said. “It was just one of those days where it was kind of an equal playing field with how dusty it was. Definitely tough to see and tough to predict with the loose rolling rocks.

“But Missouri and Oklahoma tracks have treated me well. It suits my riding style. Overall, it was a good day. I thought I threw it away at the beginning of the last section with a pretty good crash. After that, I rode good and nailed my marks.

“It’s been almost a year [since I won]. It’s been a little frustrating watching Josh [Toth] ride away with all of these. He’s been on a mission.”

Enduro Engineering’s Josh Toth narrowly missed out on what would have been his seventh-straight win of the year. Just 3.396 seconds behind Baylor Jr., Toth didn’t give up the win easily. He landed fourth through four of the tests, while taking third in two other tests throughout the day.

“The race didn’t go as well as I’d hoped, but it wasn’t a bad ride,” Toth said. “The terrain was so unforgiving out there. A lot of big, loose chunky rocks floating around. They can catch you off guard. And with the dust being so bad, it was really tricky just to get through clean and safe. I had a couple of little spills and close calls and just tried to be safe, make it through and not do anything stupid. Looking back, hindsight is 20/20 where I could have picked up three seconds.”

Max Motorsports Husqvarna-mounted Evan Smith took the third spot on the podium, but it wasn’t without fighting through pain all day. He rolled his ankle prior to the race and had to battle through that discomfort.

“I stepped out of the van this morning before getting dressed and rolled my ankle,” Smith said. “I Thought I broke my ankle and was about to go home before the race started. My ankle is very swollen in my boot right now. I couldn’t take my foot off the peg all day.”

NE Pro2 Podium

Jonathan Johnson of South Carolina dominated the NE Pro2 podium, taking the win by more than 57 seconds aboard his Beta. He got off to a strong start, taking third through the initial test. From there, he continued to set a fast pace – clinching second in Test 2. He kept the momentum rolling for the final four tests, taking the win in all of them.

After a shoulder injury at the prior round which ended his day, Grant Davis was motivated at this round. The KTM-mounted rider started the day by grabbing NE Pro2 test wins in the first two sections.

He slipped a bit to take fifth and fourth through the next two tests, but battled hard to score second and third in the final two tests. His second-place finish on the day awarded him his seventh podium finish of the season. The points leader is ahead of Nathaniel Tasha by 16 points headed into round nine.

Beta’s Jhak Walker never finished worse than fifth through all six tests at the Flying W Ranch. It was a close battle with Will Sievenpiper throughout the day. But in the end, it was Walker who took the last step of the podium.

Women’s Elite Podium

Rachel Gutish returned the top of the podium, ruling the day with three test wins and two runner-up results. It marks the Sherco-mounted rider’s second win of the year.

Red Bear Racing’s Rachael Archer opened the day with a test win, followed by second-place finishes through the next two tests. In Test 4, she captured the win again. Her day ended with a second-place result in the final test. She still continues to lead the Women’s Elite point standings aboard her Kawasaki.

Shelby Turner, aboard her Enduro Engineering GasGas, continued her podium streak. With a couple of third-place test finishes and landing three fourth-place test results, she walked away with third in Missouri.

Pro podium interviews:

Top Amateurs

250A rider Chase Landers finished an impressive 12th overall and has topped the 250A class at all eight enduros in 2024. The KTM rider seized every test win. He was able to finish 1 minute and 23 seconds ahead of the next rider in his class. His remarkable performance this season allowed him to wrap up the 250A

championship and Overall A championship early. He will be stepping up to compete in the NE Pro2 class at the final rounds of the season.

In the AA class, Holden Allmon took the win on his Yamaha. He grabbed three test wins throughout the day, in addition to two third-place finishes and a second-place finish in the final test.

Overall Top 10 Results – Wiseco Flying W National

Series Overall Standings After Rnd 8:

1. Josh Toth (GG) - NE Pro1

2. Steward Baylor Jr (KAW) - NE Pro1

3. Johnny Girroir (KTM) - NE Pro1

4. Evan Smith (HUS) - NE Pro1

5. Grant Davis (KTM) - NE Pro2

6. Will Sievenpiper (KAW) - NE Pro2

7. Nathaniel Tasha (YAM) - NE Pro2

8. Grant Baylor (KAW) - NE Pro1

9. Trevor Bollinger (HUS) - NE Pro1

10. Ryder Lafferty (GG) - NE Pro1

The next round of the National Enduro series heads to Sand Springs, Oklahoma for the KTM Zink Ranch National on September 22.

Full results: www.nationalenduro.com/scoring

More information: www.nationalenduro.com