OFF-ROAD
AMSOIL GRAND NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY SERIES
ROUND 1 / MARCH 10, 2019
RODMAN PLANTATION / PALATKA, FLORIDA
P80
complain too much."
Duvall was late getting started
with his off-season training due
to a wrist injury, which probably
cost him at the Wild Boar. How-
ever, he was still disappointed in
a third-place finish.
"It was a disappointing day, for
sure," said Duvall, who is looking
to claim his career-first GNCC
National Championship. "Just a
lot of work in two months just to
ride around in third all day. I fell
off the start, just struggled all
day. Stew was riding really good.
I made a push at the beginning of
the race and caught Kailub and
just maybe blew myself up a little
"I'm pretty okay with second,"
said Russell. "I've come away
with a lot worse finishes from
round one, and this place is bru-
tal. Stew killed it. He got around
us and took off, and I hung on
there for a lap, and I was like,
'Man, I can't hold onto this. I'm
going to weed myself trying.' So
I was like, all the power to him.
He rode really well. I feel like this
track really suited his riding style,
being an enduro rider. It was kind
of tight and twisty. I just rode it
on to the finish and tried not to
fall down. I was smoked. It was a
brutal day. I knew it was going to
be really tough in this heat. I can't
won and they know their strategy.
A lot of today's win was just me
finding my strategy. I learned a lot
last year, riding with those guys
the last two years and I know
my strategy, and I know when I
have to do it and when it's going
to work, or when I think there's
going to be races where it works
against me. A day like today, I
think I was just the fastest guy on
the track. I had the sprint speed
to get away from those guys and
run my strategy."
Despite finishing nearly two
minutes behind Baylor, Russell
was surprisingly happy with a
runner-up finish.
Ben Kelley won the XC2 class, coming
in fourth overall in the process.
