got the lead with two to go and I felt pretty good so I
decided to go for it. But then I took a bonehead line on
the last lap and dumped it over in a mud hole so I just
cruised it on home for second to wrap this thing up."
With one race to go, Russell had amassed an
insurmountable 35-point lead over Duvall—more than
enough to secure the title one race early.
"The season started off really good and I was able
to click off a lot of wins," said Russell. "I rode really
good at the start of the season but then I kind of nicked
myself up during the summer and that kind of messed
things up for the last part of the season."
Ben Kelley has been turning heads with his recent
performances and finished third overall from the XC2
division for the second race in a row. As usual, the Trail
Jesters Racing KTM rider spent most of the race bat-
tling with his roommate Josh Toth. Toth finished second
in the XC2 class and fourth overall after Grant Baylor
was able to wedge himself between the two Connecti-
cut riders for third in the XC1 class and fourth overall.
VOL. 55 ISSUE 41 OCTOBER 16, 2018 P33
Thad Duvall (989) and Kailub Russell
(1) fight for the lead at the start of the
Powerline GNCC in Ohio.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
KEN
HILL
Russell didn't get
the win but he
did get the 2018
Championship—for
the sixth time!
