VOLUME 57 ISSUE 8 FEBRUARY 25, 2020 P73
Ricky Russell kept the
pressure on throughout the
race en route to finishing
second overall.
pack, as they usually do, while Kailub
and Ricky pulled an ever-increasing
gap over a big battle between Duvall,
Strang, Ashburn and Michael for third.
On lap two, Duvall crashed out of
the race, apparently reinjuring the
knee that forced him to miss the final
two rounds of the season last year.
Near the end of the race, Strang
settled into third while Steward Baylor
worked his way into fourth, just ahead
of a hard-charging Mike Witkowski,
who had displaced Trail Jesters Racing
KTM's Johnny Girroir for the spot.
At the finish, Ricky Russell was 1:52
behind Kailub, while Strang was 1:41
behind Ricky in third.
"I got behind Kailub pretty quick and
I was just able to kind of cruise there,"
said Ricky Russell. "Then I kind of for-
got; we didn't know our mileage at the
top because we haven't raced this bike
yet. We pitted early two laps in, and I
lost sight of Kailub for a little bit. I was
trying to give a good push to get back
to him because I knew he had to pit
the next lap. Unfortunately, I had one
lap with two big spills within one mile.
Mike Witkowski came out
swinging in the XC2 Pro class.
