Grant Davis Wins a Muddy John Penton GNCC; Ashburn Keeps the Points Lead

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GNCC came back from its summer break to a mud fight, and Grant Davis loved every minute of it. Rain fell all day on September 20 at The Wiseco John Penton, Round 10 of the Progressive Grand National Cross Country Series at Sunday Creek Raceway in Millfield, Ohio, and the FMF KTM rider led the Pro Bike race from start to finish, per GNCC's official race report, for his second overall win of 2026.

Davis stretched his lead to nearly two minutes by lap four, then backed off on the last lap and still won by 58 seconds, per GNCC's race report and Cycle News. His time was 2:23:26.380. KTM's team report notes it's his rookie season in the premier class and that the win moves him up to seventh in the XC1 standings. Cycle News put it simply: out of title contention, Davis was riding with little to lose.

Baylor charges, Ashburn holds on

Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki's Steward Baylor Jr had to come through the pack, and in that slop it took the whole race. He finished second overall, 2:24:24.238, and beat Ashburn by close to a minute and a half. Ashburn hung on for third and keeps the points lead, but the gap at the top is now just eight points: 187 to Baylor's 179, per the official GNCC report. Liam Draper is third on 166, Ben Kelley fourth on 157 and Craig DeLong fifth on 143.

Phoenix Racing Honda's Angus Riordan was fourth overall and won XC2 250 Pro again, his fifth class win of the year. Kelley worked through to fifth, AmPro Yamaha's Kailub Russell was sixth, and Michael Witkowski held off Draper for seventh after a long battle. Kawasaki teammates Grant Baylor and Josh Toth completed the top 10.

Class notes

In XC2, Liqui Moly Factory Beta's Jhak Walker was second behind Riordan and Gavin Simon (Husqvarna) third. Jiggs Fustini was the top amateur in 13th overall, winning 4-Stroke A Lites.

In the morning race, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's Korie Steede won WXC and was third on the AM overall. Brandy Richards (FMF KTM) was second in WXC and Danielle McDonald (AmPro Yamaha) third after taking the class holeshot award. Gary Fridley won the AM overall and the Super Senior A (45+) class. In the Youth Bike race, Evan Porter took the overall and the 85 Big Wheel (14-15) class, with Phillip Arnold second overall and winning YXC1 Super Mini Sr. (14-15). On Saturday, Peyton Austin won the Bike Micro overall. GNCC revised the WXC results on September 24, and these are the revised positions.

What it means

The John Penton is one of the longest-running stops on the GNCC calendar. It's named for the Ohio enduro pioneer who brought KTM into the U.S. market, and Sunday Creek's clay showed both its faces: slick when it rained, rutted and rocky as it broke down. For anyone who races woods events, that's the lesson from this round. Davis won it with a fast start and a measured ride, not by taking big risks late.

The championship picture went to Mason-Dixon in Mount Morris, Pennsylvania, on October 2-4 with Ashburn and Baylor eight points apart. Our Mason-Dixon results pick up the story from there. For the full class sheets, see the official John Penton race report and Racer X's overall results.

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