OFF-ROAD
GRAND NATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY SERIES PRESENTED BY SPECIALIZED
ROUND 8 / JULY 12, 2020
MAIDSVILLE, WEST VIRGINIA
P52
everything started falling apart.
"I looked back and I see my
bike smoking," Russell said.
"Literally, just four turns after I
got the pit board that said 'save
the bike,' the thing just started
spitting and sputtering a little
bit. I could tell it was not want-
ing to be lugged. I ended up just
making a small mistake and I fell
over, and I broke my shifter off,
so I was stuck in second gear,
so now I couldn't short-shift my
bike, and there's still half the lap
to go, and Josh got around me
in the field. I think he thought he
had it in the bag. He was behind
Dante was in front of me," said
Russell. "He was going a good
pace, but Toth was a little bit
quicker than him. I would catch
Dante in some of the woods
stuff and then in the open stuff,
it was impossible to ride behind
anybody on the first lap because
it baked after the morning race.
Once I got into second, I just
needed to nickel and dime [Toth]
and not make any mistakes to let
him get further out. Eventually I
caught up to him and was able
to make the pass. That's when
I got the pit board that I needed
to save the bike. That's when
complicated for Russell when he
tipped over and broke his shift
lever off, leaving him stuck in
second gear.
Toth took advantage of the
situation and re-claimed the lead
on the final lap, but, somehow,
Russell managed to remain
close.
With just a quarter mile to go
in the race, and with his first XC1
victory well in his sights, Toth got
held up by a lapper on the final
hill before the finish, allowing
Russell to dart by and steal the
win away from Toth.
"I was third off the start and
Josh Toth
(206) led most
of the race only
to see a sure
win get ripped
away at the last
moment.
