The last time we saw National Enduro racing, it was a dog fight in Alabama in November between Stew Baylor and Josh Toth in the Pro 1 class. Bike changes, life changes, and three months of off-season later, the story continued at the first round of NEPG 2025 at Sumter.
The reigning Enduro champion, Josh Toth, hit the ground running in test one, beating Stew Baylor for the test win by over 19 seconds. From there, the two went back and forth all day, swapping test wins and the overall lead. Stew took tests two and three, Josh got test four, and Stew capped off the day by winning tests five and six. Stew took the overall win with Josh finishing a close second. They beat third place Ben Kelley by over two minutes.
Even though he finished second, Josh was stoked on the day. “There were a lot of unknowns coming into this race with me being on a new team and new bike, but honestly, I felt great straight away on it,” he said. “The bike handled awesome and was super fun to ride. It made the long tests go by a little quicker. I felt great all day, but Stew was on it. Had to settle for second today.”
Stew had a roller coaster of a day, but his whole off-season has mirrored that. From having a new baby to taking over Kawasaki’s factory off-road effort, he has been a busy man. But when the goggles went on, he was back to business as usual. “The day started off a little rough for me in test one, but we made some bike changes that helped. I also had to change the way I was riding to adapt to the bike and the trail conditions,” said Stew. “From there I was able to chisel away at Josh’s lead and get the win. I am happy with my riding right now. Looking forward to the GNCC next weekend.”
The team’s Pro 2 rider, Nick Defeo, had an up and down day. Although he finished sixth overall, Nick had three test times in the top four. “My transponder wasn’t working correctly today, so I never knew how my times were. I thought I was riding good but I was off pace. On to the next one.”
The reigning Women’s Elite class champion, Rachael Archer, had a good first round. She won tests and was in the running for the overall win, but ultimately had to settle for second. The New Zealand native had some unfortunate travel issues leading up to the race that she thinks affected her. “Pretty good day today. Won the first two tests and was a feeling good. Made a couple mistakes in tests three and four. Won test five but broke my brake pedal off in the process. I gave it my all in test six but went off track and lost some time,” said Rachael. “Still a good day, I think, considering I only got back to the U.S. a week ago and am still pretty jet lagged. Back to testing and we will be ready for GNCC next weekend.”
Team Manager Ryan Sipes was happy with the day. “I think all our riders did great. There is definitely room for improvement with their riding, their bikes, and our execution, but we are in a good spot as a team. Stew and Josh put on a great show, pushing each other to another level of speed. Rachael showed that she is still one of the best and Nick was fast at times, just not consistent. As they say, we can work with speed! We will put our heads together and figure out the rest. We have some of the best mechanics in the paddock and incredible support from Kawasaki. We had a good first round of Enduro and are excited to start the GNCC series next weekend.”
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