VOLUME 56 ISSUE 39 OCTOBER 1, 2019 P45
dust was Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna's Thad Duvall, who
inherited the lead and managed
to make it to the finish without in-
cident after Ashburn and Kailub
lost power.
Duvall's chances at taking
the title from Kailub went from
unlikely to slim, as he heads into
the final two races of the season
37 points behind Russell.
The win was Duvall's second
in a row at the facility, and it was
a bit of restitution after a disap-
pointing finish at the previous
round in New York, where he
ended up third.
"After the last race, I think I
just put so much pressure on
myself, and I didn't perform how
I wanted to," said Duvall. "So,
comfortable lead before tak-
ing the time for a filter change
heading into the final lap. "I didn't
even really want to stop, because
I didn't feel like my bike was
really sputtering that bad, but I
knew I had a comfortable lead
[about a minute over Ricky Rus-
sell] and had it popped off and
ready to go, and the boys put it
on," said Duvall. "I got a splash of
gas and then decided to cruise
the last lap. It was easy to make a
big mistake out there. Just cruis-
ing the last lap. Played it safe and
brought it home in front of my
hometown fans here. It's good to
get a win here."
Second place went to Ricky
Russell who hung out in the top
five all day. The Am Pro Yamaha
rider grabbed the holeshot at
the start of the race, only to get
bumped out of the way by Kailub
in the second turn.
"I knew I needed to get a good
start with all the dust, and I got
the holeshot but then Kailub
gave me a good nudge," said
Ricky. "On the second lap, the
dust actually was down a little bit,
and I was able to kind of just ride
my own race. I think people were
dropping out, like Kailub and
Jordan, because of the dust. So,
I kind of got a little bit of a gift at
the finish, but I think I would have
been on the podium no matter
what."
After struggling for a few
months with an illness, Trevor
Bollinger was happy to be back
on the podium, the Rockstar
Energy Husqvarna rider finishing
third.
"I'm finally feeling back close
to myself after being sick for a
while," said Bollinger. "I basically
started from zero again this sum-
mer and just keep building my
fitness and come out swinging
next year. I got a little break today
Ricky Russell had a shot
at the win but would have to
settle for second overall.
the last two weeks I just had
some fun with it, did some deer
stuff and hung out with my kid,
and my wife. It seemed to pay
off. After the last race, I felt like I
just wasn't in the right place. So,
I got back on the right place to
win here and get that motivation
back. We're ready for the last
two, for sure."
Midway into the race, when it
was obvious that the dust would
be a factor, some of the teams
started changing out air filters
during the gas stops. Some
took a risk either skipping a filter
change or waiting later in the
race to change filters.
Duvall waited until he had a
