Duvall Survives Mason-Dixon GNCC
R
ound 11 of the 2019 Am-
soil Grand National Cross
Country Series, the Mason-
Dixon GNCC, in Mount Morris,
Pennsylvania, September 28-29,
was a battle of attrition after
bright sun and unseasonably hot
weather turned the Pennsylvania
soil into a choking, silty powder
that worked its way into engines
and carburetors causing one
failure after another.
The smothering silt didn't
discriminate, either. Not even the
top factory bikes were immune
to its strangling suffocation, as
many in the top 10 were affected,
including series point leader Kai-
lub Russell and Jordan Ashburn,
who both combined to lead the
majority of the three-hour race.
Ashburn led three full laps of
the race after taking over from
early leader Kailub Russell, and
held a comfortable lead going
into the white-flag lap, but that's
when his Monster Energy Bab-
bitts Online Racing Kawasaki
stopped in its tracks.
"The bike just started losing
a little bit of power right there
towards the end of the fourth
lap, and just like that it stopped,"
said Ashburn. "I just tried to get
back into the pits, because I
knew the filter was clogged, but
I didn't make it. It's a bummer
because we were the fastest guy
out there, I felt like, today. We
were on the hunt for a first win,
but we'll be back."
Kailub was lucky and only lost
power, allowing him to limp his
FMF-backed KTM back home
for valuable points, although he
dropped from first place, hav-
ing taken back the lead when
Ashburn dropped out on the final
lap, to eventually finish sixth in
the final results.
The main beneficiary of the
IN
THE
WIND
P44
Thad Duvall won
a hot and dusty
Mason-Dixon
GNCC, keeping
his championship
hopes alive.
PHOTOS: KEN HILL