ROUND 6 US SPRINT ENDURO ADULT RACE REPORT
/// FOR IMMEDATE RELEASE ///
2025 US Sprint Enduro Series
Round 5
High Voltage Sprint Enduro
April 19-20, 2025
Maidsville, WV
Am Pro Yamaha’s Liam Draper relied on consistency to take the overall win at this weekend’s
High Voltage Sprint Enduro on the border of Pennsylvania and West Virginia in a very hectic and
eventful weekend. Series points leader FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Johnny Girroir’s absence
from the race due to a head injury suffered a few weeks ago left the door wide open for a few
of the up-and-comers to take podium finishes. And many of them did. With five rounds in the
books and only two rounds remaining, round five of the 2025 US Sprint Enduro Series, which
also doubled as the ISDE East Coast Qualifier, has the series coming down to the wire,
creating some high drama as several top positions are still at stake.
Saturday’s enduro test was tricky at best and caused several top riders to fall and lose valuable
time. And while Saturday’s weather was windy, yet sunny, a mini tornado hit the pits Saturday
night, blowing down team canopy’s, along with the signup area and score equipment, forcing
the promotors to clear fallen trees as well as recover damaged equipment. To top it off, the
scores from Saturday to Sunday were topsy-turvy, with top riders finishing outside the top five
on Saturday but then returning to the top of the standings on Sunday, making consistency a
priority.
Draper was the most consistent of all, finishing first on Saturday and third on Sunday to grab
the overall win for the weekend.
“I rode good yesterday but today was tough, starting with the first cross test, which was
slick. But ultimately, I needed more speed in the woods test because Phoenix Racing
Honda’s Cody Barnes was killing it in there,” said Draper. “I’m happy to get the overall
win but bummed to not win both days. But I was solid; I had a good day on Saturday,
although Cody had a little bike issue in the second to last test. But I was solid all day
yesterday and I felt really good. Then today it was a whole different story. The two-
tracks were really super slick and Cody just kind of worked me a little bit in the enduro
test, but I got it back on him in the cross test and then in the last enduro test we
matched each other but he got the win for the day which kind bummed me out. I was
hoping to win both days but I got the overall victory which is cool.”
Usually fighting for the top spot, FMF KTM Factory Racing Team Landers’ Grant Davis was all
the way down in ninth at the end of Saturday’s event, however a thumb injury put a damper on his first day’s performance. At the end of the two-day event, Davis finished second overall and
first in the Pro 2 division.
“Thursday, I crashed and hurt my thumb. And yesterday in the first test I hurt it really bad
again,” said Davis. “I was just dealing with a lot of pain all weekend and today I’m like ‘I can’t let
these boys beat me’, so I came out swinging and I just got the pain out of my mind and just
tried really hard all day and I gained it back. I just tried to stay smooth and try not make any
dumb mistakes. I was a little bit slower than Cody, he got me, but next time I can’t let this
happen, I got to beat him.”
In just his second Sprint Enduro of the year, Flatrock Motorclub Factory GasGas Racing’s Jason
Tino grabbed a podium finish, taking third overall for the weekend after taking a second on
Saturday and a sixth on Sunday. He also finished second in the Pro 2 class.
“Saturday was dry all day, but we got hit with rain probably about 8:00 PM, it was like a
hurricane tore the whole place down,” said Tino. “As far as the racing, I usually do better in the
cross test and this weekend I took the fastest cross test time of the weekend. The enduro test
was honestly pretty slick. It was like it was hard packed slick on Sunday. It rained during the first
test and was really greasy and the second and third test were just as slick as it was Saturday. I
was having a really good first cross test of the day and right towards the end I tucked the front
and couldn’t get the bike started and lost like 20 seconds.”
Husqvarna rider Toby Cleveland just missed the overall podium, finishing just three seconds
behind Tino, but garnered third in the Pro 2 class.
“I had a rough first two tests and then I started riding pretty good,” said Cleveland. “At the end
of day one I came up in third. I passed Gavin Simon in the last enduro test of the day and then
today I had a good first cross test but in my enduro test I wrecked twice and fell back about 20
seconds. I ended up second in the rest of the tests in the Pro 2 class and came out third in the
class and fourth overall.
FMF KTM Factory Racing Team Landers’ Cooper Jones parlayed a third on Saturday and a
seventh on Sunday into fifth overall and fourth in the Pro 2 division. The KTM rider has been
turning in some impressive rides this year and will undoubtedly be challenging for some overall
podiums.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Craig DeLong had a rough weekend, going 8-5 got sixth overall.
“I had a couple little mishaps that kind of set me back,” said DeLong. “I crashed in first test of
the day and had a little bit of a mechanical issue yesterday. I lost about 30 seconds in the one
test so that kind of set me back in the overall but still it felt like I was riding good when I wasn’t making mistakes. So I still need to be a little better but I feel like I’m getting closer and closer to
kind of being more in the mix so we’re getting there.”
Phoenix Racing Honda’s JoJo Cunningham was the first of the Pro-Am riders in seventh overall
after finishing sixth and eighth over the weekend. The Honda rider has been showing flashes of
brilliance throughout the year and it won’t be long until he is challenging in the Pro classes.
Gavin (Hsq) was 5-11 for eighth overall, missing out on seventh overall by just two seconds.
Meanwhile, FMF/KTM Factory Racing’s Ben Kelley finished with a seventh and a 16th for ninth
overall.
“On Saturday, I started off slow but picked it up as the day went on and was able to win that
last enduro test,” said Kelley. “But I was Ohh still off the pace. Then today, it’s a little different
conditions, a little muddier but I felt OK that first test; I was doing pretty good, keeping Liam in
my sights and then near the end I crashed and as I was falling down I ran a stake that went
through my helmet and hit me in the jaw so that was rough. I had to make sure I was OK after
that one and get my bike going so I lost a lot of time there and then yeah I guess I was just off
the pace.”
Phoenix Racing Honda’s Cody Barnes won Sunday’s event but DNF’d Saturday’s race due to
mechanical problems.
“I had a problem at that was something electrical on Saturday so I wasn’t able to finish the
day,” said Barnes, “But I got it all together on Sunday and got the win.
The top Amateur for the weekend with an overall win in the Open A class was Ben Nelko.
FMF FASTEST TEST TIME AWARDS:
PRO DIVISION
Jason Tino (Pro), Cross Test 6:58.9
Liam Draper (Pro), Enduro Test 6:55.9
AMATEUR DIVISION
Ben Nelko (Open A), Cross Test 7:19
Ben Nelko (OPEN A), Enduro Test 7:24.3
Rockstar Energy Factory Racing’s Korie Steede beat out Aussie Tayla Jones by 14 seconds
to win the Rockstar Energy Factory Racing’s Korie Steede won the Women’s Pro Division.
“Yesterday I started off slow,” said Steede. “I was making a lot of mistakes and Tayla (Jones)
was riding really good so it was really tight out there and then again today I fixed some of my mistakes. We both went down a couple times in the first cross test it was pretty icy out there
but I just cleaned up my mistakes and got a little bit more comfortable and tried to just push.
Rieju’s Rachel Gutish rounded out the podium with Ellie Wineland in fourth.
P2 Craig Delong P1 Liam Draper P3 Ben Kelley
P2 Jason Tino P1 Grant Davis P3 Toby Cleveland
P2 Thorn Devlin P1 Joseph Cunningham P3 Cole Whitmer
P2 Tayla Jones P1 Korie Steede P3 Rachel Gutish
P2 Grant Davis (Pro 2) P1 Liam Draper (Pro 1) P3 Jason Tino (Pro 2)
The US Sprint Enduro Series returns to action on May 10-11 in Kingwood, West Virginia, for the
King of the Mountain Sprint Enduro, Round 6 of the US Sprint Enduro Series. For more
information check out www.ussprintenduro.com.
ROUND 5 OVERALL RESULTS
- Liam Draper (Yam)
- Grant Davis (KTM)
- Jason Tino (GG)
- Toby Cleveland (Hsq)
- Cooper Jones (KTM)
- Craig DeLong (Hsq)
- JoJo Cunningham (Hon)
- Gavin Simon (Hsq)
- Ben Kelley (KTM)
- Thorn Devlin (Yam)
