Kailub Russell had little trouble winning his sixth race of the year in the 2014 Grand National Cross Country series beating his closest competitor on Sunday in Round 9 by more than three minutes and never really having any competition during the three hour race.
The win at Snowshoe in West Virginia was Russell's third in a row and gives him a 53-point edge in his quest for a second consecutive championship with four races remaining. Snowshoe is one of the toughest courses in the series and features a live start.
"The worst thing about this venue is the elevation and that means steep up hills and down hills that are really slick from the quad race," Russell said "But I just got out front and had a blast trying to stay on the pegs and go fast through all the technical portions and enjoy the race."
Russell started in the front row and his only competition was at the beginning, when adjusted for time. He quickly dominated and even took the fastest lap award on Lap 3.
"I've been working really hard on my trials skills lately and they paid off big time, the track was tough but I was hoping for it to be a little bit rockier than it was," said Russell, a Motosport rider.
Russell's main competition all year has been Factory FMF/KTM teammate Charlie Mullins the only other rider to win a GNCC race. Mullins, who led in points through Round 7, broke his wrist in a practice run before Round 8 but is expected to be back for Round 10 in September. His absence the last two rounds allowed Russell to post what is now an almost insurmountable lead for the 2014 GNCC Championship.
Josh Strang needed a win to move past Charlie Mullins for second but finished in sixth-place his first time off the podium this year. Jordan Ashburn grabbed second and closed the gap for third with Strang to 11 points.
Russell said for the break which is nearly three months long he'll be focusing on endurocross and plans to race in the Atlanta Endurocross and Tennessee Knockout, both in August.
In other notable news, Ryan Sipes who retired from the Supercross and Motocross circuit last year took 13th in the XC1 class, his seventh Top 10 finish. Sipes briefly exited retirement to race in the fourth round of Motocross at High Point last weekend in nearby Pennsylvania. He took 13th overall in the 450 class.
GNCC Round 10 is September 7 at Unadilla Raceway in New Berlin, NY.
2014 GNCC Round 9 XC1 Pro Results
- Kailub Russell - MotoSport rider
- Jordan Ashburn
- Andrew Delong
- Steward Baylor
- Chris Bach
- Josh Strang
- Jason Thomas
- Paul Whibley
- Jesse Robinson
- Ryan Sipes
2014 GNCC Overall National Championship Standings
- Kailub Russell (233) - MotoSport rider
- Charlie Mullins (180)
- Josh Strang (165)
- Jordan Ashburn (154)
- Grant Baylor (134)
- Paul Whibley (123)
- Andrew Delong (119)
- Ricky Russell (109)
- Steward Baylor (102)
- Chris Bach (92)
