OFF ROAD
AMSOIL AMA GRAND NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY SERIES, PRESENTED BY MAXXIS
ROUND 9/JUNE 22, 2014
SNOWSHOE MOUNTAIN/SNOWSHOE, WEST VIRGINIA
P98
ship competitor Charlie Mullins,
whose championship hopes
were lost when he recently suf-
fered a double wrist injury in a
practice crash, Russell has been
in a league of his own. With four
rounds remaining in the 2014
season, the XC1 Pro points lead-
er is well on his way to becoming
the next back-to-back champion
since David Knight came over
from the UK and dominated in
2008 and 2009. GNCC's level
of competition has increased to
a point where multi-time cham-
pions are becoming few and far
between, but Russell has the
opportunity to make history this
season.
"I'm confident that I can go out
there and win in any type of con-
dition but I know I'm not invinci-
ble," Russell said on the podium.
"When these guys come around
and get some confidence,
there's no reason they can't run
with me. They're great riders and
once they figure it out they'll be
right there."
As the current XC1 Pro points
leader heading into the ninth
round, Russell began on the first
row of the unique live engine
start at Snowshoe, alongside
Rocky Mountain ATV*MC/N-Fab
AmPro Yamaha's Josh Strang,
N-Fab AmPro Yamaha's Jordan
Ashburn and KTM Support rider
and XC2 Pro Lites points leader
Grant Baylor, who entered this
race in fifth place in the overall
standings. Russell got a good
jump and led the front-runners
into the opening lap, but with the
time adjustment, Russell had a
few challengers early on.
The first challenger of the
race was RideMPS.com/AM-
SOIL/Honda's Thad DuVall, who
started back on the third row, 20
seconds behind Russell and the
leaders. DuVall used the time
deficit to quickly jump into the
second place position with ad-
justed time but Factory Husqvar-
na's Andrew Delong, who began
on row two, interjected himself
into the battle on the second lap.
Delong exchanged positions with
DuVall and Ashburn throughout
Kailub Russell ran away with his third-straight win.
