VOLUME 56 ISSUE 27 JULY 9, 2019 P43
really good."
Strang, along with Ashburn,
were two of the riders pushing
Russell on the final lap.
"The track was fairly easy today
I would say, so maybe that helped
me a little bit," Strang said. "On
the second to last lap, I had to
put on a charge to catch Jordan
towards the end and finally get
third."
Ashburn finished three sec-
onds behind Strang for fourth in
what was his best finish of the
season.
Grant Baylor also had a sea-
son-best with fifth overall. The
Tely Energy KTM rider finally
looks healthy after struggling with
a shoulder issue early in the year.
Trail Jesters KTM's Ben Kelley
continued his unbeaten streak
in the XC2 250 Pro class. Kel-
ley came away with his eighth
consecutive victory in XC2 250
Pro; however, this one came after
a fierce battle during the early
part of the race with Coastal Rac-
ing Husqvarna's Craig DeLong.
Kelley was eventually able to pull
away and gapped DeLong by
over three minutes at the finish,
extending his lead in the XC2 250
Pro Championship to 104 points.
The finish was also good enough
for sixth overall.
After running outside of the
top-10 during the early going, Tely
Energy Racing KTM's Steward
Baylor put on a late race charge
to finish seventh. Husqvarna-
backed Layne Michael, who has
been training with Justin Barcia,
turned in a nice ride for eighth.
AmPro Yamaha's Ricky Russell
was ninth, and Craig DeLong took
second in the XC2 250 Pro class
with a 10th overall finish.
Tely Energy Racing KTM's Liam
Draper was third in the XC2 250
Pro class at 12th overall.
Trail Jesters KTM Racing's
Jesse Ansley claimed win number
four in the FMF XC3 125 Pro-Am
class, leading all seven laps to
top Chase Colville (Yamaha) by
13 minutes. KTM-mounted Jason
Lipscomb completed six of the
seven-lap race for third.
Becca Sheets (Fly/Maxxis/
Pro Circuit/KTM) beat out Mack-
enzie Tricker (Mepmx/Fly/Grizzly
Peak/Traveler's Rest Speedway/
KTM) by 30 seconds to win the
WXC class. The win was Sheets'
fourth of the season, and she
now leads Tricker, 245-184, in the
class standings.
AmPro Yamaha's Rachel
Archer, from New Zealand, was
third.
Shan Moore
OVERALL
1. Thad Duvall (Hus)
2. Kailub Russell (KTM)
3. Josh Strang (Kaw)
4. Jordan Ashburn (Kaw)
5. Grant Baylor (KTM)
6. Ben Kelley (KTM)
7. Steward Baylor (KTM)
8. Layne Michael (Hus)
9. Ricky Russell (Yam)
10. Craig DeLong (Hus)
An "off" day for Kailub Russell is still
pretty good. The defending champ
ended up second.
Ben Kelley continues to destroy the XC2 Pro class.
