there for a while," said Russell. "It
seemed like it was raining pretty
hard. It might not have been, but
going fast in it feels like it's really
pounding on you, but it made the
track better. A lot of lines."
Russell grabbed the holeshot
to start the race and immediately
started trying to pull away from the
pack. At the midway point, when
Russell saw that Duvall was not
going away, he put it on cruise to
save his energy for a final push.
Duvall took the cue and settled in
behind Russell.
Heading into the final lap,
Russell held the lead with Du-
vall in second, Baylor in third,
and Rockstar Energy/Factory
Husqvarna Racing's Trevor Bol-
linger and Babbitt's Monster
Energy Kawasaki's Josh Strang
rounding out the top five.
"Kailub kind of gapped me at
the beginning of the last lap," said
Duvall. "I was able to catch him
when he kind of got tied up with
a lapper, and then it was on from
there. It was a full-on sprint."
Duvall pulled to within strik-
ing distance with just a few turns
remaining, making for an exciting
finish. However, Russell held his
ground and crossed the finish
with Duvall about a bike-length
behind.
"I put the hammer down during
the first three laps or so, and I
tried to see if I could get away,
but after that we just kind of
cruised because he was staying
with me," said Russell. "It was a
brutal race."
"I should be happy with sec-
ond, but I'm just a little disap-
pointed," said Duvall. "I felt like I
put in a good race. I just wasn't
very comfortable all day, so to get
second is good."
Baylor turned some of the fast-
est laps of the afternoon en route
to third, but couldn't shake the
gremlins that have plagued him in
2019.
"I'm not happy at all with my
race," said Baylor. "We just had
more issues. I'm really getting
frustrated. The last three races I
feel like I've been there, I've had
the speed. I would almost guar-
antee we had some of the fastest
VOL. 56 ISSUE 15 APRIL 16, 2019 P45
Thad Duvall
pressured Russell
right down to the
last few feet of
the race.
