AMSOIL AMA GRAND NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY SERIES, PRESENTED BY MAXXIS
VOL. 51 ISSUE 17 APRIL 29, 2014 P97
and fifth-place overall.
Whibley added, "I was a little
bit disappointed with myself be-
cause I couldn't charge much
at the end of the race, I kind of
tapered off. Once Kailub got me
I had nothing for him but today
actually went a lot better than I
thought it was going to."
Whibley's training partner,
Raines Riding University/Atlas
Cycles' Ricky Russell, had a
breakout performance with his
first career XC2 Pro Lites vic-
tory in Indiana. Russell battled
with Maxxis/KLIM/DirtWise KTM
Race Team's Jesse Groemm ear-
ly on but the Washington-native
made a run for it, latching onto
a hard-charging Kailub Russell
to excel through the pack. Ricky
Russell's impressive lap times
from the second row put the XC2
rider in contention for an overall
podium finish on the final lap, but
in the end, Kailub Russell topped
Ricky by over 40 seconds for
third overall.
Grant Baylor landed second
place in the XC2 Pro Lites divi-
sion, finishing out sixth overall
just ahead of his brother Steward,
who came in seventh. HR Motor-
sports-backed Takeshi Koikeda
put forth a stellar ride at the fifth
round, running in the fourth place
position for a majority of the race.
Koikeda, a former Japan National
Cross Country (JNCC) Cham-
pion, chalked a season-best fin-
ish of sixth place in the XC1 class
and eighth overall for the day.
N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha's Jor-
dan Ashburn finished ninth
overall for the day, while Rocky
Mountain ATV*MC/N-Fab AmPro
Yamaha's Josh Strang rounded
out the top 10. Strang lost sub-
stantial time in the early portion
of the race when he stopped in
his pits to repair a bent shifter
that was smashed on the open-
ing lap.
Groemm finished third place
in the XC2 Pro Lites class, which
(Above) Ricky Russell had a break-
through ride after winning the Pro 2
class and getting some of the Pro 1
racers.
(Left) Defending champ Kailub
Russell had a big get-off early in the
race but came back to finish third.
