GNCC Racing

Russell Races to His 8th Victory of the Season at the Mountaineer Run GNCC

Monday, September 26, 2016 | 2:10 PM

FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Kailub Russell earned his eighth victory of the season on Sunday at Round 11 of the Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series. Russell’s dominant performance allowed him to further extend his XC1 Pro points lead with only two rounds remaining in the season.

The rocky terrain, along with the dry and dusty conditions made for a challenging afternoon of racing but KTM-mounted riders rose to the occasion, capturing five of the top-ten overall positions. It was SRT/KTM’s Cory Buttrick who jumped out to the early lead in the XC1 Pro class, while Russell struggled to get off the line with the rest of the group. Despite a last place start, it didn’t take long for the three-time GNCC National Champion to put his KTM 350 XC-F into the 2nd place position, where he followed Buttrick through the opening lap.

Russell made his move into the lead on lap two, where he began to drop the hammer and create a gap on the rest of the field. Russell was able to stretch his lead to more than one-minute ahead of 2nd place which proved to be a favorable strategy as he made a few mistakes that cost him some time later in the race. 

Kailub Russell earned his 8th win of the season at the Mountaineer Run in West Virginia. Photo: Courtesy of KTM
Kailub Russell earned his 8th win of the season at the Mountaineer Run in West Virginia. Photo: Courtesy of KTM

After three brutal hours of racing, Russell finished 54 seconds ahead of Thad DuVall in the overall running, thus earning his eighth victory of the season. With two rounds remaining, Russell holds a 50-point lead over Josh Strang in the Championship Standings. 

Russell: “I kept it on two-wheels for the most part but it was a tough day. The track was pretty brutal with the dusty and hard-packed conditions and it takes a toll on your body – you can’t see and you’re hitting stuff because the rocks come out of nowhere. I knew I had to be patient. It’s never as easy as it may look out there and I’m really happy to get the win and take one step closer toward the championship goal.”

SRT/KTM’s Steward Baylor Jr. put in a solid ride to maintain a top-five position all afternoon, earning 4th overall for the day. Baylor’s KTM-Supported teammate Cory Buttrick finished 6th in the XC1 Pro class and 10th overall for the day. 

FMF KTM Factory Racing Team’s Russell Bobbitt made his fifth GNCC appearance of the season on Sunday aboard the KTM 350 XC-F. Bobbitt got off to a top-ten start in the XC1 Pro class but a series of crashes ultimately ended his day early. The current AMA National Enduro Championship points leader will continue to contest his fifth championship in that series next month. 

In the 10 a.m. race, FMF KTM Factory Team rider Kacy Martinez shot out to grab the holeshot aboard her KTM 250 XC-F where she led the way early on in the WXC class. However, Martinez went down on the opening lap and spent the first half of the race playing catch-up to the leaders. The defending WXC Champion made her way up to 4th after the first lap but the dusty and rocky conditions made for difficult passing opportunities.

Despite a hard-fought effort to catch the front-runners, Martinez ultimately finished 4th for the day where she sits 2nd overall in the WXC championship standings.

Next Event: St. Clairsville, Ohio – October 2, 2016

Overall Results (XC1 Pro and XC2 Pro Lites Combined)

  1. Kailub Russell – KTM 
  2. Thad DuVall
  3. Ricky Russell
  4. Steward Baylor Jr. – KTM 
  5. Trevor Bollinger
  6. Layne Michael
  7. Josh Toth
  8. Benjamin Kelley – KTM 
  9. Jordan Ashburn – KTM
  10. Cory Buttrick – KTM

WXC Results

  1. Becca Sheets
  2. Brooke Cosner
  3. Mackenzie Tricker
  4. Kacy Martinez – KTM
  5. Kendall Lafollette

Overall Point Standings

  1. Kailub Russell (286)
  2. Josh Strang (236)
  3. Trevor Bollinger (155)
  4. Jordan Ashburn (143)
  5. Steward Baylor Jr. (134) 
  6. Thad DuVall (130)
  7. Craig DeLong (127)
  8. Ricky Russell (120)
  9. Grant Baylor (117)
  10. Chris Bach (105)

WXC Point Standings

  1. Becca Sheets (175)
  2. Kacy Martinez (164)
  3. Brooke Cosner (164)
  4. Kendall Lafollette (129)
  5. Shelby Rolen (127)