Round 6 of the 2014 Grand National Cross Country series takes on the iconic Loretta Lynn's ranch setting this weekend in Hurricane Mills, TN.
Kailub Russell and the rest of the pro bikes start their marathon ride at 1 p.m. (CST) on Sunday. The track terrain varies widely offering elevation changes along with some serious rooty and rocky areas. Russell took third in Round 5 after an end-over-end crash took him out of the lead on Lap 3. Russell managed to continue the race but lost more time in the pits to replace a ruined piece of the exhaust system.
"The crash itself was pretty intense," said Russell, a MotoSport-sponsored rider. "It was just one of those things where I grabbed a little too much front brake and couldn't really tell it was going to be as slick in that spot as it was, and it sent me flipping down the straight away."
The third place finish ended a three-race winning streak for Russell and knocked him out of the points lead in the Overall National Championship Standings to Charlie Mullins, his Factory FMF/KTM teammate. Mullins took first and jumped back on top with a seven point advantage over Russell. Both riders look to be repeating last year's performance by riding away in points from the other racers and bouncing back and forth for the lead.
Russell said the only lingering effect from his crash at the Dunlop 100 in Springville, IN two weeks is his will to get first-place on Sunday.
Round 6 at Loretta Lynn's begins Saturday with ATV and UTV racing and the pro bikes ride out on Sunday.
Overall National Championship Standings
- Charlie Mullins (125)
- Kailub Russell (118) - MotoSport rider
- Josh Strang (90)
- Jordan Ashburn (77)
- Paul Whibley (75)
- Steward Baylor (71)
- Grant Baylor (67)
- Ricky Russell (62)
- Thad DuVall (61)
- Andrew Delong (55)
