Tuesday Toolbox: Grant Baylor

The Baylor boys are at it again! After Steward dominated the Youth Bike ranks a few years ago, the 8 a.m. races were safe for the competition, but in 2010 younger bro Grant has grown into the role of the dominator-he's won the last three Youth Overalls, even though he's still racing in the younger (12-13) class! Here's more on Grant.

GNCCRacing.com: Hey, Grant, what are you doing today?
Grant Baylor: Well, usually I just do my schooling and stuff like that in the morning and clean my room and everything. Then I ride in the afternoons and workout and work on bikes in the evening.  Jon Michael Rainey came over today and we rode for a couple hours today and then just I came in here and called you.

What's the weather like in South Carolina today?
It rained for about 30 minutes today.  We just rode during that and it got pretty slick. But it was good practice.

What kind of track do you have?
We have like 100 acres we can ride on.  So we have a little motocross and like a six-mile loop in the woods.

Are you and Steward the only kids in the family that race?
My sister Jordan raced a couple years back, but now she's into horses.  She broke her collarbone after her fifth race on the bike so she stopped after that.

Was she a good rider?
She just rode like a little Honda 70, she didn't really race, she just kind of trail rode.

I see her at the races.  Is she a big support for you guys?
Yeah, she helps us out a bunch!  She like washes clothes and dishes and stuff like that.  At the races she walks around with me and goes out to mud holes and point me lines.

What's it like being Steward's little brother?
It's rough!  I get picked on a bunch.  It's not too fun.

What's he do?
I don't know, just like, walks around and loosens up a bottle and shoots the bottle cap at me and stuff like that.  It makes me mad and we'll get in a fight. (Laughs)

How much bigger is he than you?
He's probably about 6 feet and I'm about 5-7 or 5-8 and he's probably about 30 pounds heavier.

Do you ever do anything to him?
Every once in a while I will.

What kind of things do you do?
Pretty much the same things he does to me, just like, pay back.

Steward told me that you guys have a pretty intense training program you guys have been working with. Tell me about that.
We have this power line and we made an "S" track and it takes right around two minutes to run it.  And I run that three times then come back and do a workout called "Cross foot."  I do push ups and sit ups and just body work outs, you don't use any equipment or anything.  And just lately I beat Steward's best lap timeout there on the "S" track right before the last race.

Really?
Yeah by like 2 tenths of a second!

What size bike are you on?
I'm on a 105 and he is on a 250.

How does he feel about that?
He doesn't believe me. He wasn't out there when I did it, he said I cut.

Who is faster between you two?
He's faster in the races.  The only time I ever race him is like after I do an hour race at my locals I do the 2 hour right after that.  And I'm kind of worn out after the first hour of the second race.

How do you do against him in the first hour?
I don't know, this team race we went to a couple months back, I did like three laps and all of them were like within 5 seconds of his.

How old are you now?
I turned 13 the Friday before the last GNCC.

Didn't you break a record of your brothers recently?
Yeah, I won the over all from the second row.  The best he ever did was 2^nd from the second row.  And I was twelve years old.  I'm probably the only twelve year old to over all from the second row.

You've won the last three youth over alls.  Are you trying for it or is something that just happens?
I wanted to win the first eight and wrap up my class then move to the big bike.  But, once I started winning the over all, I decided to go for the over all Youth Class Championship.

What class were you planning to move up to?
Probably 200 A or 250 A or something like that.

Seriously?  At 13, you think you are ready for that move?
That's what I'm thinking

Are you just getting too big for the little bikes?
I'm out growing the little bikes.  I have the tallest seat on it.  On my practice bike I have YZ 250 springs on it.  On my race bike I have higher forks and higher suspension and higher seat and things like that.  I can't ride anything stock or I bottom out the suspension.

Makes sense to move up.  Why the A class and not B?
I think if I wrap up the over all early that I may ride the last couple of races in the B class.  I'll probably ride the 200 for a year then move up to the 250 after that.

Do you feel any pressure being Steward Baylor's little brother, do you feel you have to be like him?
Well, so far I have been better than him when he was my age and stuff. But I don't feel under pressure or anything?

If you could race Stew heads up and you could be the same age, who do you think would win?
I think I would!! (Laughs)

Anyone you would like to say thanks too?
I want to say thanks to my Mom and Dad.  My dad works on my bikes just about every night.  And my mom sets up my goggles and everything and gets all my gear right and polishes my boots and things like that.  I want to thank KTM, KTM Hard Parts, KTM Power Wear, FMF, Michelin, Shoei, Smith and everybody else that helps.