Defending US Sprint Enduro champion, FMF KTM’s Johnny Girroir comes out on top of another battle with Liam Draper at round three of the series, the Fox Squirrel Ridge Sprint Enduro in Pelham, Georgia.

At the previous round of the 2025 US Sprint Enduro Series in North Carolina, Am Pro Yamaha’s Liam Draper claimed his first-ever win of the series, handing FMF KTM Factory Rider Johnny Girroir his first sprint enduro defeat in the last 22 races.

This weekend’s Fox Squirrel Ridge Sprint Enduro looked like more of the same as Draper led the event after the first four tests, while Girroir got off to an uncharacteristically slow start.

Girroir got stronger as the event wore on, eventually winning every test but one on Sunday to claim the overall win. Meanwhile Phoenix Honda Racing’s Cody Barnes squeezed by Draper for second overall with a great ride on Sunday.

“I started off not hitting my marks on Saturday and then I made a little adjustment and crushed the last two tests,” said Girroir. “That gave me a little confidence and I rode good today, although Liam and Cody were fast too. The first couple of tests we were half a second apart. Cody won the first test yesterday and then he crushed today’s last enduro test.”

On Saturday, Phoenix Honda Racing’s Cody Barnes jumped out to the early lead, winning the first cross test and tying Draper for the win in the second cross test. The enduro test was Barnes’ Achilles Heel on Saturday, however, as the Honda rider lost a lot of time in the roots and ruts.

Draper took control after three tests having won the first enduro test (test two) by four seconds ahead of Barnes and two seconds better than Girroir.

Girroir picked up the pace in the third cross test, moving in position to challenge Draper. The final enduro test of the day was a game changer for both Girroir and Draper as Draper took a big fall while Girroir had one of his best rides of the day, leaving Girroir with Saturday’s win, 13 seconds ahead of Draper, even though Draper won three of the six tests compared to only two for Girroir.

“I started off well in the first test and then kind of just lost my groove,” said Girroir. “I wasn’t really flowing with the track. Then in the fifth test something clicked, and I had a good test and that carried over into the last test. Unfortunately, I hit the ground but that's racing.”

Barnes was a close third to Draper on Saturday, finishing just 0.740 seconds behind the Yamaha rider, with Rockstar Energy Factory Racing’s Craig DeLong in fourth and FMF KTM Factory Racing Team Landers’ rising star Grant Davis coming in with fifth.

Stronger start for Johnny on Sunday

On Sunday, Girroir was on form from the start, easily winning the first five of six tests while Barnes and Draper fought it out for second for the day and second overall for the weekend.

Barnes went into the final enduro test with a two-second lead over Draper and wound up turning in the fastest enduro-test time of the weekend to grab second for the day and second overall.

In the overall results, Girroir went home with the first place, followed by Barnes and Draper. DeLong was fourth with FMF KTM Factory Racing Team Landers’ rising star Grant Davis
in fifth. Davis was also the top Pro 2 rider, with Husqvarna-mounted Toby Cleveland sixth overall and second in the Pro 2 class. FMF KTM Factory Racing Team Landers’ Cooper Jones was seventh overall and third in the Pro 2 class.

“My weekend was good then bad then good again and then it just kept going around like that,” said Davis. “I couldn't stay off the ground and had some bike issues with my fuel pump, but other than that at the end of the weekend I started putting in some good times.”

“It was a good weekend,” said Barnes. “There was some tight racing with Liam and Johnny all week. On day one, I had some struggles in the enduro test but was able to turn that around today so I’m happy about the weekend. I actually had a problem with my rear brakes in that last test but I managed it to get through it.”

Phoenix Honda Racing’s JoJo Cunningham finished first in the Pro-Am class and eighth overall. Meanwhile, Gavin Simon (fourth Pro 2) and Coastal Racing GasGas’ Layne Whitmer (second Pro-Am) rounded out the top 10 overall.

“The tracks actually got way rougher than what I thought they would,” said Cunningham. “I think I only had one spill and of course it was in the last cross test when I was trying to make up time. Other than that, it was a good weekend.”

Tayla Jones runs clear of Pro Women

In the Pro Women’s division, Phoenix Honda Racing’s Tayla Jones took the win by over a minute ahead of Reiju USA’s Rachel Gutish and Rockstar Energy Factory Racing’s Korie Steede.

“I'm super pumped to be back in the middle of the podium,” said Jones. “Unfortunately, Korie had a big crash and that made the weekend a little bit less tight but honestly, I had a great weekend. The tracks were gnarly out there and towards the end it got super rough. It was wild, but these girls were ripping the whole time.”

The top Amateur award went to Olin Daniels (Kaw) with an impressive 12th overall finish.

FMF Fastest Test Awards

Specialty Awards given fastest Cross Test and Enduro Test on the weekend in the Youth/Amateur and Pro divisions.

ENDURO: Cody Barnes – 5:57.9
CROSS: Johnny Girroir – 6:07.6

AMATEUR CROSS: Caleb Wood (250A) – 6:31.02

AMATEUR ENDURO: Olin Daniels (250A) – 6:26.1

Round 3 overall results (full results on link below):

The US Sprint Enduro Series resumes action on March 22-23 at Olde Mill Raceway in Charlotte Hall, Maryland.

More information: www.ussprintenduro.com  

Words Credit: Shan Moore

Photo Credit:  Art Peppin