Western-Based Dante Oliveira is a GNCC Winner in South Carolina

When the green flag flew it was Phoenix Racing Honda’s Mike Witkowski earning himself the $250 Steel City Medical Center holeshot award. However, it wouldn’t take long for Oliveira to take over the lead in the sandy conditions. Girroir would battle wheel-to-wheel with him the entire race, crossing the line 1.2 seconds behind him to earn second overall on the day. Girroir now has 1-1-2-2 overall finishes to start the ’24 GNCC season.

"It was a good race,” Girrior said. “I got off to a good start and was following Dante the first lap – we were ripping. Yeah, he had me in the open stuff. It was square edged, dusty, West Coast conditions. I felt like I had more in the tight stuff, but there's no passing out there. No complaints, that’s the track and everyone has to race it. Hats off to Dante, he rode a killer race. We were wheel-to-wheel the whole race and that's what racing's all about! We were riding our hearts out. He’d make a mistake and I would catch him, I’d make a mistake and he’d pull away. We were probably within three to five seconds for three hours. I feel good, we've had four solid rounds, so let's keep the ball rolling from here."

At first, it appeared that Girroir’s closest title rival, Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki’s Steward Baylor, would take third overall, but he was given a one-position penalty for being more than 25 feet off the marked course. This actually moved Steward’s brother, Grant Baylor, to third overall on the Babbitts Online/Monster Energy/Kawasaki Team Green machine. Grant Baylor would put in a good ride after coming through 14th on the opening lap of the race.

As for Steward, he wasn’t happy with his start and gave his usual unfiltered take on things in his post-race interview, although at that time he was not aware of the penalty.

“Yeah I got a little throttle happy off the start and flamed the bike out,” said Steward Baylor. “I’ve really got the starts on this bike figured out now, so I think I just mistimed it. Rookie mistake. It was tough to pass today, luckily a few guys waved me by, like Ricky [Russell]. I wasted a lot of time riding at trail riding pace with the rest of the XC1 guys. If someone just wants to ride that way, usually they just let you by. Today it was follow the leader, not too much you could do out there. I understand everyone is racing but dammit, I’m in the points, I’m coming and I will slam you if you’re in my way, and a few of them learned. We’re here to win, we’re here to work and we’re here to pay the bills. I need to make sure my kid can eat. I don’t like those games, brake checking and stuff like that has got to stop. We had a solid ride, the bike worked awesome and we made the right choice on tires. She was eating today. I felt really good and really strong, I just didn’t have time today. We’re looking forward to the rest of the season, round five is, I think, definitely, one of the newer tracks that is definitely up my alley.”

Another rider who continued to push was Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy/Kawasaki Team Green’s Lyndon Snodgrass as he would battle around the front of the pack for majority of the race. Snodgrass would come through to earn fifth overall on the day. Coastal GASGAS Factory Racing’s Ryder Lafferty had his best finish of the season at the FMF Camp Coker Bullet as he came through to finish sixth in XC1, and eighth overall on the day.

Coastal GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jordan Ashburn continued to battle back-and-forth and would come across the finish line seventh in XC1 and ninth overall on the day.  AmPro Yamaha’s Ricky Russell would start his day running fourth and third at one point but would have a mishap while out on lap four as he would come through sixth and ultimately fall back to eighth in the XC1 class and 11th overall.

It was a challenging day for defending GNCC Champion and Rockstar Energy Factory Husqvarna Racing’s Craig Delong. He started the day with a good jump off the line, but he would struggle with arm-pump and stomach issues throughout the race. Delong would come through to earn ninth in XC1 and 12th overall on the day. His teammate, Trevor Bollinger, would be forced to end his day early after trying to recover from another illness. JS Sherco Racing’s Josh Strang would round out the top 10 finishers in the XC1 class after working his way back from a 13th place start to the day.

As the XC2 250 Pro class took off it was FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers Angus Riordan earning the $250 Steel City Medical Center holeshot award and making his way into the woods first. Riordan would continue to push up front, but his teammate FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers Grant Davis was on the move and ready to battle.

Davis would make a run for the lead and pass Riordan on the fifth lap; however, Riordan wasn’t giving up that easy and on the last lap of the race Davis crashed, and his teammate got by to earn the XC2 win. Davis would hold onto second place, as he came through just two seconds off of Riordan. As a result, Riordan has reclaimed the series lead, two points clear of Davis.

Angus Riordan said the following in a post-race press release: "I got the holeshot and led the first four laps, then Grant got around me, but I put my head down, sort of caught him in the end there and I could see it looked like he started to make a few mistakes... He went down and I got him, so stoked! You don't give up in these races."

"It was a fun race, for sure," Davis said. "I had a terrible start and saw Gus was in the front checking out, so knew I had to go before he got too far ahead. I started passing everybody and we got together after that and it was a fun battle all the way for the rest of the day. I had the lead, but got my front-end taken out by an XC1 rider toward the finish, so I crashed and lost the win, but congrats to Gus and the team."

Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki’s Thad Duvall would battle back-and-forth throughout the day but would be able to hold onto third in the class to round out the top three finishers in the XC2 250 Pro class at round four. It was a good ride by the veteran who has returned to a class where he won the title over a decade ago.

Getting the jump off the line in the FMF XC3 125 Pro-Am class was Destructo Racing/Dixie Fuel/Total Control Suspension’s Dustin Simpson to earn himself the $100 Lojak Cycle Sales holeshot award. Simpson would find himself feeling the pressure from Liqui Moly Factory Beta Racing’s Jhak Walker early on though. Walker would make the pass on Simpson as both continued to push for the duration of the race. Walker would come through to earn his third FMF XC3 win after leading all seven laps of the race.

Simpson would also remain consistent back in the second place position, and he kept on the lead lap, completing all seven laps. Devore Racing/KTM/FXR/SRS Suspension’s Dakoda Devore would come through to finish third in the class after running in that position for the majority of the day. Devore would try to push but was said to be feeling a bit under the weather.

Team Green Kawasaki’s Nicholas Defeo would come through to finish 16th overall on the day and earn himself the Top Amateur Honors at the FMF Camp Coker Bullet. DeFeo came through to earn his third-straight 250 A class win this year. Husqvarna’s Jason Tino would come through in 17th, taking second on the Top Amateur podium and second in the 250 A class. Team Green Kawasaki’s Joseph Cunningham rounded out the Top Amateur podium as he came through 19th overall and third in the 250 A class at round four.

In the morning race it would be Rockstar Energy Factory Husqvarna Racing’s Korie Steede grabbing the $100 Kanati Performance Tires holeshot award and the early lead in the WXC class. Steede would lead for the first two laps but would begin to have pressure from FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers Brandy Richards. As the two battled it out on the third lap, Richards would be able to make the pass stick. As the white flag flew, Steede would try to apply the pressure to Richards but would ultimately run out of fuel while out on the last lap. Steede would manage to get enough fuel and cross the line ninth in WXC.

Brandy Richards: "It was a good race for me. Started off kind of terrible, but made my way through the pack. I had a little tip-over, but knew that the second half was a little more open and I was able to get through to the front. From there on I just tried to push, get a good gap, and make it to the finish, so I just brought it home."

Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki’s Rachael Archer, who was running third for the majority of the race would capitalize after her consistent run throughout the day and make her way into second. Sherco USA/Moose/Rachel Gutish Racing’s Rachel Gutish had her work cut out for her as she came through seventh on the opening lap. Gutish would put her head down and push forward each lap clicking off the passes. Gutish would come through to round out the WXC top three finishers at round four.