Kailub Russell gets win streak going at the Big Buck GNCC in South Carolina; Trevor Bollinger remains undefeated in XC2 Pro Am.
FMF/KTM Factory Racing’s Kailub Russell has found his winning rhythm in the AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series.
The three-time and defending series champion put together a dominant performance to earn his second straight series win at round four, the VP Racing Fuels Big Buck GNCC in Union, South Carolina, yesterday. Russell’s performance moved him into a tie with former series champion Josh Strang, who won the first two rounds of the year. JCR Honda/Lucas Oil/Maxxis/FLY Racing’s Chris Bach finished second, followed by the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing/Bel-Ray-backed Strang.
Obermeyer/MCS Racing Suzuki/Kenda/Fly Racing’s Ricky Russell jumping out to the early lead in the XC1 Pro race, but Kailub Russell quickly moved to the front of the field and began to gap his competition with each mile. Strang had hoped to go with Kailub Russell off the start, but the Husqvarna rider did not get off the line quickly and found himself mired in the field.
Meanwhile, Strang was busy working his way through the pack and making passes after a bad start. Strang suffered from a last minute mechanical issue and barely made it to the start on time, and once the green flag dropped he was stuck mid-pack.
Westfield Powersports/Moose Racing’s Jordan Ashburn moved into second place once Ricky Russell began fading, but Kailub Russell had already amassed a seven-second lead by then. Coastal Racing/Rockstar/Husqvarna’s Ryan Sipes was third by the end of the first lap in the three-hour race, but the order began to shift during lap two as Sipes began to challenge Ashburn, allowing Bach to adcvance toward both men after running sixth on the opening lap. Bach shot past Sipes and Ashburn for second place.
While Kailub Russell appeared to be having a clean run on the Big Buck course, a miscue in the pits almost cost him the lead after his mechanic’s radio cable got snagged on Russell’s bike.
“When I had my pit stop my mechanic’s radio tether got wrapped around my handlebars,” Russell said. “So when I pulled out I drug his radio with me and had to slow down and unravel it. It was a bummer because I knew Ashburn and the rest of the guys were catching up, so I just put in a little sprint for the next lap and was able to create another gap between us.”
Strang finally moved into podium contention after four laps, but third was as high as he could get as Kailub Russell and Bach were out of sight.
“I had a rough start to the day,” Strang said. “It was a little stressful, but we got everything figured out and it was fine after that. It was important to get a good start today with the dust, but I just didn’t get as good as a start as I wanted. But, I’m still pretty happy with third place.”
Bach appeared to be satisfied with his second-place finish.
“I should have been on the podium the whole time this season,” Bach said. “This is notoriously a bad track for me because I normally struggle here, but now I’ve got a little momentum for the rest of the season. I was able to win at the new track last year, and that’s my plan heading into the next South Carolina round.”
Sipes finished fourth with Ashburn fifth. N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha-backed Grant Baylor finished sixth in what his home race, while Ricky Russell held on for seventh.
There seems to be no stopping JCR Honda/Lucas Oil/Maxxis/FLY Racing’s Trevor Bollinger in the XC2 Pro Am class, as he continued his winning ways at the Big buck GNCC, going a perfect four for four. This time, Bollinger had to work hard for it after failing to get a good start in the race. Coastal Racing/Husqvarna/MSR-backed Craig Delong pulled the holeshot, but Bollinger got on his game and managed to pass Delong for the win. Beta USA/Fly Racing/Kenda Tires’ Jesse Groemm led the race briefly but ended up third. Indiana native Austin Lee and Beta USA’s Teagan Temple completed the top five in the XC2 division.
“Today was probably the hardest race I’ve had all season,” Bollinger said. “Delong was running really good and ended up catching me on the last lap so I just pushed it as hard as I could without going overboard, and luckily it was good enough for the win.”
Braxton McGee took home the American Kargo overall amateur award by finishing 21st overall and winning the 4-Stroke A Lites class.
The 10 a.m. overall podium was dominated by the WXC class where Obermeyer Suzuki rider Mackenzie Tricker took home her first GNCC overall win just one week after winning the California Classic WMX title. FLY Racing/Maxxis/Seat Concepts/Yamaha-backed Becca Sheets took home second and catapulted herself into the championship points lead. After coming out of retirement to race this weekend, N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha’s Jessica Patterson took home third.
The 2016 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series resumes April 30 and May 1 with the inaugural CST Tires Camp Coker GNCC in Society Hill, South Carolina.
2016 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series
VP Racing Fuels Big Buck GNCC
Union, South Carolina
Results: April 17, 2016 (Round 4 of 13)
XC1 Pro
1. Kailub Russell-KTM
2. Chris Bach-Hon
3. Josh Strang-Hus
4. Ryan Sipes-Hus
5. Jordan Ashburn-KTM
6. Grant Baylor-Yam
7. Ricky Russell-Suz
8. Daniel Milner-Yam
9. Steward Baylor Jr.-KTM
10. Jason Thomas-Yam
2016 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series Points Standings (after 4 of 13 rounds)*
1. Kailub Russell-106/2 wins
2. Josh Strang-106/2 wins
3. Chris Bach-71
4. Ryan Sipes-66
5. Trevor Bollinger-62
6. Daniel Milner-61
7. Grant Baylor-50
8. Steward Baylor Jr.-46
9. Jordan Ashburn-41
10. Craig Delong-38
*Indicates that the Overall National Championship Standings will determine the 2016 National Champion.
XC2 Pro-Am
1. Trevor Bollinger-Hon
2. Craig Delong-Hus
3. Jesse Groemm-Bet
4. Austin Lee-Yam
5. Tegan Temple-Bet
6. Michael Witkowski-KTM
7. Vance Francis-Hon
8. Mark Heresco Jr.-KTM
9. Joshua Toth-KTM
10. Samuel Evans-Yam
XC2 Pro-Am Points Standings (after 4 of 13 rounds)
1. Trevor Bollinger-120/4 wins
2. Craig Delong-83
3. Jesse Groemm-78
4. Tegan Temple-66
5. Austin Lee-52
6. Layne Michael-52
7. Trevor Barrett-49
8. Benjamin Kelley-47
9. Zack Hayes-43
10. Samuel Evans-42
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