Kailub Russell grabbed the checkered flag for his second-straight victory on Sunday at the Parts Unlimited Mountaineer Run GNCC in West Virginia. The win places him just eight points behind fellow KTM factory rider Charlie Mullins for the lead in the championship standings with five rounds left.
It wasn't easy for Russell to win his third race of the 2013 AMSOIL GNCC series after another rider went down on the first turn and the melee forced Russell almost to the rear as the pack entered the woods. Russell proved his mettle and one-by-one passed every rider and by the end of Round 8's Lap 1 he was well into the lead.
"I had a few close calls. I had to get off the bike a couple of times and spin it around to get back going," Russell said. "It's tough when the tracks are really technical and the lappers are stuck in the good lines and you have to muscle through the bad ones."
Track conditions were nearly abysmal thanks to heavy rainfall prior to Sunday's race. Conditions were slick but Russell said he knew that coming into the race and he was ready to have fun.
"I think that's what allowed me to have such a strong ride," he said.
As the afternoon wore on, the track tacked up and Russell said his Dunlop's hooked up all day through the rocks and root.
"I'm just happy to click off another win and close the points gap to eight," he said.
Russell and the rest of the GNCC riders get a week off before Round 9 at the AMSOIL Snowshoe at the Snowshoe Mountain Resort in West Virginia. After that is extended time off before the GNCC resumes in New Berlin, NY in September.
Parts Unlimited Mountaineer Run GNCC Race Results:
- Kailub Russell
- Josh Strang
- Charlie Mullins
- Chris Bach
- Paul Whibley
- Jordan Ashburn
- Takeshi Koikeda
- Adam Bonneur
- Mark Fortner
- Rory Mead
GNCC Championship Standings:
- Charlie Mullins (198)
- Kailub Russell (190)
- Chris Bach (133)
- Josh Strang (122)
- Paul Whibley (114)
- Thad DuVall (114)
- Grant Baylor (93)
- Jordan Ashburn (91)
- Jason Thomas (91)
- Andrew DeLong (61)
