American Motorcyclist January 2018

Steward Baylor Back On Top

AMA National No. 1 Plates Awarded To AMA National Enduro Series Champions

Photo by Shan Moore

For the second time in his racing career, Steward Baylor of Hodges, S.C., was crowned the AMA National Enduro overall champion after securing the win at the final round of the KENDA AMA National Enduro Championship Series, Presented by Moose Racing, on Nov. 5 in Stanton, Ala.

Baylor clinched the championship by just seven points over second place finisher Thad Duvall after the championship had come down to the final test of day.

“Coming into the last round with just two points separating me and Thad, I knew I had my work cut out for me,” Baylor said. “The first thing I did when I won was go straight to Thad and congratulate him.

“It was an awesome feeling taking this win and Thad was a great competitor all season long and didn’t make things easy.”

In 2011, Baylor was also the AMA National Enduro overall champion. He was just 17 at the time and says winning the championship was different this year.

“The National Enduro series is a hard one to figure out, so winning this championship means a lot to me because of the injuries I’ve faced. It’s made me have a different respect for the championship than I did when I was 17,” Baylor said. “Next year is going to be tough, but we’re just going to do what we did this year and defend the title.”