ROUND 3 RACE REPORT
/// FOR IMMEDATE RELEASE ///
2026 US Sprint Enduro Series
Round 3
Rodgers Farm Sprint Enduro
March 21-22, 2026
Ninety-Six, South Carolina
By Shan Moore
Photos by Jade Barnes
If the previous round in Georgia was any indication, Liqui Moly Beta’s Cody Barnes was closing
in on a breakthrough—and this weekend in South Carolina, he delivered. Still settling into a
new brand and team, Barnes had shown flashes of speed by winning the final two tests at the
Mac Daddy’s XC Sprint, round two of the series last month. At round three of the US Sprint
Enduro Series this weekend, he put together his most complete performance yet, earning just
his second career overall US Sprint Enduro victory at the Rodgers Farm Sprint Enduro in Ninety-
Six, South Carolina.
Barnes wasted no time asserting himself on Saturday, opening the day with a win in the first
Cross Test, edging 2024 US Sprint Enduro Champion FMF KTM Factory Rider Johnny Girroir by
1.1 seconds. Girroir’s challenge would unfortunately come to an early end, as a lingering illness
forced him to withdraw during the third test.
From there, Barnes controlled the pace, capturing four of the six tests on the day. Despite a slip
in the second Cross Test and a late-race issue in the final Enduro Test, Barnes maintained his
composure and consistency to secure Saturday’s win by 10.7 seconds over Husqvarna’s Toby
Cleveland underscoring both his speed and resilience under pressure. Cleveland accounted for
the remaining two test wins for second overall and first in the Pro 2 division.
“I tagged the tree in that last Enduro test and messed up my front brake, so I rode the last mile
without front brakes.” Said Barnes. “It was a bummer, but I still was able to salvage the test, but
it would have been a really good time if I wouldn’t have made a mistake.”
Round-two winner FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Grant Davis had an uncharacteristically quiet
outing on Saturday, settling for third overall without recording a single test win. KTM USA
Orange Brigade’s Cooper Jones delivered a solid performance to finish second in the Pro 2 class
and fourth overall, edging out Gavin Simon (Hsq), who rounded out the Pro 2 podium in third
and claimed fifth overall.
“It was a good day, but Toby (Cleveland) really put it on us,” said Jones. “We’ll find the speed,
and tomorrow we’ll come out swinging.”
In the Pro-Am ranks, Husqvarna-mounted Colton Shields led the way with an impressive sixth
overall finish and first Pro-Am rider, while Cole Whitmer (GG) backed him up with second in the
class and seventh overall.
Cleveland came out firing on Sunday, setting the fastest time in the opening test to seize the
early overall lead and command the Pro 2 division. Davis was close in pursuit, less than a
second behind, while another Pro 2 contender Gavin Simon slotted into third. Barnes faced an
uphill start to the day, posting fourth fastest in the test with Jones rounding out the top five.
Cleveland continued to build momentum with a victory in Test Two, extending his advantage at
the front. Barnes limited the damage with a strong secondplace finish, just one second off
Cleveland’s pace. Davis followed closely behind in third, crossing the line a further 1.5 seconds
back, keeping the battle tight at the top.
Barnes got back in the groove with a close win in Test Three, topping Cleveland by just one-
tenth of a second. Davis was third, 1.6-seconds behind Cleveland.
Davis claimed his first Test win of the weekend in Test five, while Barnes was .2-second behind.
Cleveland was third 2.5 seconds behind Barnes.
Barnes finished the weekend in dramatic fashion, edging out Cleveland by just onetenth of a
second in the final Enduro Test. Despite the late charge, Cleveland’s 2.3second advantage on
the day was enough to secure Sunday’s win and the Pro 2 class overall victory. When the dust
settled on the weekend, however, Barnes’ 10.7second cushion from Saturday proved decisive,
earning him the overall victory by 7.3 seconds over Cleveland and marking a significant
milestone in his career. Davis capped off a consistent weekend by finishing third overall for the
day and the event.
“It was a good weekend,” said Barnes. “I had a crash today on the first Cross Test and kind of
threw away some seconds and wasn’t able to quite get the gap closed back to Toby. But yeah,
overall, it was a good weekend.”
Toby Cleveland came close to winning the overall from the Pro 2 class.
“I just had an absolute blast with the track,” said Cleveland. “I was very comfortable all
weekend and I really wanted to battle it out all the way to the end for the overall on the
weekend but I ended up second. So super happy and hopefully I can do this in Maryland.”
Grant Davis took over the overall series standings with his third overall finish.
“Yeah, I pretty much just got smoked,” said Davis. “I couldn’t figure it out. I just didn’t have the
speed this weekend, but I got the points lead now, so that’s the only thing that came out of this
week and that was good.”
Cooper Jones came out on top of a tight battle with Gavin Simon for fourth overall and second
in the Pro 2 division.
“It came down to milliseconds,” said Jones. “It was pretty cool being that close. It’s kind of
funny. He’s beat me by 1/2 a second or a second for the Pro 2 overall two or three times Now,
which is wild. So we have good races with each other.”
Simon was fifth overall and third in the Pro 2 division.
Sixth overall and fourth in the Pro 2 division went to RaceCraft Husqvarna’s Brody Johnson,
with first Pro-Am rider Cole Whitmer seventh overall on a GasGas. Whitmer also won the
$1000.00 GasGas contingency check from the KTM group. At each of the seven US Sprint
Enduro rounds a class will be randomly chosen as the “Power Pick” class and the winner, as
long as they are competing on KTM, Husqvarna or GasGas, will receive a $1000.00 contingency
boost.
Colton Shields (Hsq), Will Sievenpiper (Kaw) and Brayden Baisley (Yam) rounded out the top 10
overall.
In the Women’s Pro Division, FMF KTM’s Brandy Richards claimed a decisive overall victory
after topping Danielle McDonald (Yam) by 29 seconds on Saturday and by a 1:22-second
advantage on Sunday.
“I like this wide-open grass track, and I even did better than I expected in the woods,” said
Richards. “The Cross Test is one of my favorites. It’s just a traditional grass track. It’s tricky
because you have to memorize pretty much every corner, so that was tricky. But I absolutely
love that stuff, putting it all together and I also have fun in the woods. It was challenging.”
Yamaha-mounted Lillie Sheets finished third overall, with Emma Smith completing the weekend
in fourth on a GasGas.
The top Amateur for the weekend with an overall win in the 250 A division was Braiden Baisley.
“Yesterday, especially towards the end, I started getting my flow,” said Baisley. “The track was
good and I felt like there was a little more traction today. But yeah, overall, a good weekend
and I’m ready for the next one.”
Baisley also won a FMF $150.00 Top Amateur prize.
Cody Barnes turned in the fastest Enduro time for the weekend, a 6:14.7, and he also turned
the fastest Cross time for the two days with a 6:31.2.
The US Sprint Enduro Series has started the Six-Day Futures presented by US Sprint Enduro Series.
The 6Days Futures program was created to support, educate, and inspire the next
generation of American off-road motorcycle racers, while building awareness of what the International Six Days of Enduro (ISDE / “Six Days”) truly entails.
This weekend they had AMA 6Days Past Club Team Members, Cole and Lane Whitmer as mentors on Saturday at the conclusion of race day. This was a great experience for the racers as they got to hear some firsthand accounts of the 6Days experience as a club rider and were able to walk the track and get prepared for Sunday’s race day.
Learn more at
www.ussprintenduro.com.
Photo Links:
Round four of the 2026 US Sprint Enduro Series resumes with the Olde Mill Farm Sprint Enduro
on April 11-12 in Charlotte Hall, Maryland. For more information on the US Sprint Enduro Series
check out www.ussprintenduro.com.
ROUND 3 OVERALL RESULTS
- Cody Barnes (Bet)
- Toby Cleveland (Hsq)
- Grant Davis (KTM)
- Cooper Jones (KTM)
- Gavin Simon (Hsq)
- Brody Johnson (Hsq)
- Cole Whitmer (GG)
- Colton Shields (Hsq)
- Will Sievenpiper (Kaw)
- Brayden Baisley (Yam)
