The Limestone GNCC saw heavy rainfall throughout the day on Saturday, making for muddy conditions on Sunday afternoon. In the XC1 Pro race, Russell got a decent jump off the line but he soon came together with Josh Strang on the slick off-camber straight-away, where he fell back to a mid-pack start. Russell quickly bounced back and made his way up to the front, where he engaged in a four-way battle for the lead with Thad DuVall, Josh Strang and Jordan Ashburn.

The front-runners swapped the lead several times throughout the three-hour race, with three different riders leading the way during the last three laps. With his eyes set on the lead position, Russell made a few mistakes late in the race that kept him in the 2nd place position heading into the final lap of racing.

As the white flag flew it was Strang who led the way, followed closely by Russell and DuVall but a quick pit stop then allowed DuVall to jump out front with the checkered flag in sight. However, things quickly changed as Strang reclaimed the lead with Russell on his tail heading into the final moments of the race. With about one mile left to go, Russell made a spectacular pass on Strang to reclaim the lead and ultimately earn his fourth consecutive victory this season.

“Coming into the last lap and the finish area I was almost settling for second because there was nowhere to pass, but Josh took a different line than I did and I got a good drive and good traction to get around the outside.”

Russell added, “It was a really tough day – the track was gnarly but it was fun and challenging,” Russell said. “It was really hard to lead, it was much easier to follow but those are the ones that are the most fun to race!”

In the 10 a.m. race, FMF KTM Factory Team rider Kacy Martinez got a good jump off the line and grabbed the lead after the first corner. Unfortunately due to the rough track conditions and slick rocks, Martinez got hung up and fell back to 3rd on lap two before making her way back into the 2nd place position.

Martinez then ran into an issue when she stalled the bike and couldn’t get it started, where she sat for about 40 minutes. After falling outside of the top ten, Martinez bounced back and charged her way into 7th place, where she salvaged some championship points for the day.