2026 US Sprint Enduro round three, Rodgers Farm Sprint at Ninety-Six, South Carolina, sees break-through ride for Cody Barnes in the Liqui Moly Beta team with victory as Johnny Girroir pulls out with illness.

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 (“I tagged the tree in that last Enduro test and messed up my front brake, so I rode the last mile without front brakes.”), Barnes maintained his composure and consistency to secure Saturday’s win by 10.7 seconds.

Husqvarna’s Toby Cleveland underscoring both his speed and resilience under pressure took the remaining two test wins for second overall and first in the Pro 2 division while round-two winner FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Grant Davis had an uncharacteristically quiet 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.

Day 2 – Cleveland comes out firing

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 second‑place 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 sitting third, 1.6-seconds behind Cleveland at this point.

Davis claimed his first Test win of the weekend in Test five, while Barnes was 0.2-second behind. Cleveland was third 2.5 seconds behind Barnes to squeeze up the overall heading to the final test.

Barnes finished the weekend in dramatic fashion, edging out Cleveland by just one‑tenth of a second in the final Enduro Test. Despite the late charge, Cleveland’s 2.3‑second 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’ 10.7‑second 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.

Decisive win for Richards in Women’s Pro class

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 an impressive 1:22-second advantage on Sunday. The result also put Richards inside the top 20 overall. 

“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. 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.

Class acts

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.

Rnd 3 Overall Results:

* full results here

The US Sprint Enduro Series is starting a 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.

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.

More information: www.ussprintenduro.com

Words Credit: Shan Moore

Photo Credit: Jade Barnes