Russell made the pass on Mullins to take over the lead on lap two but a slight bobble by Russell on lap three allowed Chris Bach to get around him for the lead position. Meanwhile, while running inside the top five, Mullins experienced a hard-impact landing in the mud hole that ultimately ended his day due to his recovery status.

Halfway through the three-hour race, Russell had worked his way past Bach to overtake the lead. From there, Russell began to put a gap on the second place position, which then became points leader Josh Strang. Russell was able to maintain a comfortable gap over Strang throughout the end of the race, where he ultimately finished over a minute ahead of the runner-up.

“It was a tough day to get going. I choked on the start, gave it too much gas and the bike didn’t fire,” Russell said. “I was able to sneak to the inside and make some passes to get behind Charlie [Mullins] on the first lap. Chris [Bach] caught up and got around me and from there I kind of bided my time and picked my way around lappers. I was able to fall into a groove and then I rode a smooth rest of the race.”

Russell now sits nine points behind Strang in the XC1 Pro Championship standings.

FMF KTM Factory Team rider Kacy Martinez continues to lead the point standings in the WXC division following a close second place finish at Round 3. Martinez got off to an early lead in the two-hour race but through a series of back-and-forth scenarios with competitor Becca Sheets, Martinez ultimately came short of the win.