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Kawasaki Dominant at Sumter Enduro
Sumter, S.C. -The last time Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki Team Green™ saw a National Enduro race, it was a dog fight in Alabama in November between Steward Baylor Jr. and Josh Toth in the NE Pro 1 class. Bike changes, life changes, and three months of off-season later, the story continued at the first round of the 2025 Red Line® Oil AMA National Enduro Series at Sumter with Baylor earning the win and the team sweeping the top two steps of the podium.
The reigning NEPG champion, Toth, hit the ground running in test one, beating Baylor for the test win by over 19 seconds. From there, the two riders went back and forth all day, swapping test wins and the overall lead. Baylor took tests two and three, Toth got test four, and Baylor capped off the day by winning tests five and six. Baylor took the overall win with Toth finishing a close second. They beat third place [Ben] Kelley by over two minutes.
Even though he finished second, Toth 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. I had to settle for second today.”
Baylor 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 racing 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 Baylor. “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 NE Pro 2 rider, Nick DeFeo, had an up-and-down day. Although he finished sixth overall, DeFeo 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 well but I was off pace. On to the next one,” said DeFeo.
The reigning Women’s Elite class champion, Rachael Archer, had a strong first round. She won multiple 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. “It was a pretty good day today. I won the first two tests and was feeling good. I made a couple of mistakes in tests three and four, then 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 Archer. “It was still a good day, 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 the 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 NEPG and are excited to start the GNCC series next weekend.”
