By lap five, Draper still held
the lead, but Davis had worked
his way into second and was
closing fast. The KTM rider
finally made his move near the
nine-mile mark, passing Draper
to take over the top spot.
For Draper, the pass carried
championship implications.
With Ashburn slipping down the
running order, Draper needed to
regain the lead to put himself in
position to claim the title.
The opportunity came on the
as the afternoon wore on.
Draper continued to lead on
lap two, followed by Russell,
Ashburn, Witkowski, Rockstar
Energy Husqvarna's Craig
DeLong and FMF KTM Factory
Racing's Grant Davis, who was
beginning to work his way into
contention.
Russell briefly lost ground
during a fuel stop, allowing
Ashburn and Witkowski to move
ahead, while Davis continued his
charge toward the front.
then wasted little time passing
his AmPro Yamaha teammate,
Russell, to take control of the
race, dropping Russell to second
and Ashburn to third.
At that point, the champion-
ship scenario was relatively
straightforward. A Draper victory
combined with a third-place
finish by Ashburn would give the
Honda rider the championship
by a single point.
However, the situation became
considerably more complicated
VOLUME 63 ISSUE 45 NOVEMBER 10, 2026 P91
(Left) Ashburn (3) leads the XC1-class start ahead of teammate Michael
Witkowski (8). (Above) Kailub Russell took the overall win.
