INTERVIEW
2014 AMA GRAND NATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPION KAILUB RUSSELL
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satile, and I'm really enjoying rid-
ing different things and I really see
the importance of riding races like
ISDE, especially now that I know
we've got a good group of guys
who are going to be competitive
in Six Days. Right now, we all be-
lieve we can get the job done."
As far as the honor of being
top American, Russell has mixed
emotions about it.
"It's cool I got it, but that's not
what the goal is," says Russell. "I
want the team to do good, and if
Taylor's bike hadn't broken down
he would have been top Ameri-
can and we would have won, so
that is more important to me. To
me, being top American means
nothing to me. Being third over-
all for the event is something to
be proud of, but I don't like the
feeling of top American because
it feels like you separate the team
when you do that."
Despite his exceptional per-
formance at Six Days, Russell
still feels the highlight of the year
for him is his win at the Ironman
GNCC on a 150.
"In the middle of the year,
when Charlie [Mullins] got hurt,
I started kicking around the idea
of racing the 150," says Russell.
"Then I thought it would be cool
to raffle the bike off, and so that's
kind of how it took off."
After the race, Russell raised
$50,000, which in part, went
to help fellow racer Rory Mead,
who was paralyzed last year in a
racing accident.
"That was probably the great-
est win of my career, winning
Russell and
his FMF/KTM
Team celebrate
their second
consecutive
GNCC title.
"That was
probably the
greatest win
of my career,
winning on
that thing."
