FOOTHILL RANCH, CA – February 17, 2023 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – The Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy®/Kawasaki Team Green™ race team will return to off-road racing in 2023 prepared to take on the rugged terrain in the Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) series and the AMA National Enduro Championship. Returning to the team this season will be former GNCC XC1 Champion Josh Strang in the XC1 class and reigning XC2 Champion Lyndon Snodgrass in the XC2 Pro class. The team will also welcome the reigning AMA National Enduro Champion, Grant Baylor, as he gears up to contest the GNCC series and the National Enduro Championship in 2023 aboard a Kawasaki KX™450X.
“We have a well proven 2023 roster,” said Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy®/Kawasaki Team Manager, Denny Bartz. “We are pleased to welcome Grant to the team and look forward to continuing our support of Josh as they both contend for the XC1 Championship. In the XC2 Class, we have had a productive off-season with Lyndon and are on-track toward our goal of securing the championship again in 2023.”
The 2010 GNCC XC1 Champion, Strang will focus on the GNCC series and is prepared to compete in the same race winning form he displayed during the 2022 season before being sidelined with an injury. Meanwhile, two-time AMA National Enduro Champion Baylor enters the 2023 season with his sights set on the top step of two different podiums. The South Carolina native will combine his proven off-road racing skills and his new KX450X to take on the world’s elite in the GNCC series and the National Enduro Championship. With a full off-season of preparation, Strang and Baylor equip Team Green with two XC1 Class championship contenders. On the Kawasaki KX™250X, Snodgrass is set to use the same proven combination of speed, fitness and consistency that secured him four wins last year to defend his 2022 GNCC XC2 Championship in the upcoming racing season.
The Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy/Kawasaki Team Green team kicked off the 2023 racing season in Sumter, South Carolina on February 5th with a win at Round 1 of the AMA National Enduro Championship, and look to continue their winning form at the GNCC season opener in Union, South Carolina on Sunday, February 19th at Big Buck Farm.
About Kawasaki
Kawasaki started full-scale production of motorcycles over a half century ago. The first Kawasaki motorcycle engine was designed based on technical know-how garnered from the development and production of aircraft engines, and Kawasaki’s entry into the motorcycle industry was driven by the company’s constant effort to develop new technologies. Numerous new Kawasaki models introduced over the years have helped shape the market, and in the process have created enduring legends based on their unique engineering, power, design and riding pleasure. In the future, Kawasaki Motors, Ltd. is committed to maintaining and furthering these strengths which will surely give birth to new legends.
Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. markets and distributes Kawasaki motorcycles, ATVs, side x sides, and JET SKI® watercraft through a network of approximately 1,100 independent retailers, with close to an additional 7,700 retailers specializing in general purpose engines. Kawasaki and its affiliates employ nearly 3,100 people in the United States, with approximately 260 of them located at Kawasaki’s Foothill Ranch, California headquarters.
Kawasaki’s tagline, “Let the good times roll.®”, is recognized worldwide. The Kawasaki brand is synonymous with powerful, stylish and category-leading vehicles. Information about Kawasaki’s complete line of powersports products and Kawasaki affiliates can be found on the Internet at www.kawasaki.com.
Source: Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A.
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