OFF ROAD
AMSOIL AMA GRAND NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY SERIES, PRESENTED BY MAXXIS
ROUND 3/MARCH 30, 2014
STEELE CREEK/MORGANTON, N.C.
P82
secutive rounds and just when
he thought his title defense
couldn't get worse, the Ohio-
native missed two more rounds
with a broken arm before sitting
the season finale out to welcome
his baby boy into the world.
In 2009 Paul Whibley claimed
his first GNCC Championship
with big-time support from Ka-
wasaki but as the times began
to change, Whibley lost his lu-
crative living. So in 2010, Whib-
ley remounted his number-one
plate on an AmPro Yamaha ma-
chine. At the time Yamaha was
in the midst of pushing its new
WR model, therefore the stars
of the sport were also riding the
company's newest bike, which
meant a little bit of readjusting for
the New Zealand-native who was
used to riding a different model.
Needless to say, the adjustment
period didn't work to Whibley's
advantage as he went winless
until the last two rounds of 2010,
finishing third overall.
Whibley dialed in his program
with the AmPro Yamaha team
through the next two sea-
sons, eventually captur-
ing a second title in 2012.
Once again the "Axe Man"
headed into another sea-
son with the coveted num-
ber-one plate, only to expe-
rience another roadblock.
Midway through the season
Whibley admitted to having
a serious sports hernia that
was causing stress on his
abdominal and groin mus-
cles to the point of not be-
ing able to hold on. Whib-
ley underwent surgery and
missed two rounds at the
end of the season, salvag-
ing fifth overall for the year.
Enter factory FMF/
KTM's Kailub Russell who
had a dominant season in
2013, capturing seven overall vic-
tories en route to his first GNCC
National Championship. Russell
had his work cut out heading
into the 2014 season, as every
past champion since 2009 has
returned to the XC1 Pro-class
healthy and more competitive
than ever before. While round
one seemed to be par for the
course in terms of Russell's title
defense, the reigning champion
bounced back from a 14th overall
to secure two consecutive wins
(Left) Kailub Russell closed
the gap on series leader
Charlie Mullins with the Steele
Creek GNCC win.
(Right) Trevor Bollinger
captured his very first win in
the XC2 Pro Lites class in front
of his home fans.
