VOL. 52 ISSUE 13 MARCH 31, 2015 P41
two Husqvarnas.
Russell kicked it into high
gear in the final moments of the
seven-lap race as the Factory
FMF/KTM rider finished over
two and a half minutes ahead of
Strang, who came in second.
DuVall finished just twenty sec-
onds behind Strang to round out
the top three overall for the day.
XC1 Pro rookie Grant Baylor
made a jump in the champion-
ship standings on Sunday with
an impressive come-from-behind
performance to land fourth over-
all. Baylor began the day just
outside the top 10 as he pushed
his way through the pack all
afternoon, ultimately landing just
outside the overall podium in his
third full-time race in the premier
class. Baylor's AmPro Yamaha
teammate Jordan Ashburn was
able to maintain his top-five run-
ning from the afternoon, secur-
ing fifth overall.
The XC2 Pro Lites battle heated
up at the third round as DirtWise/
Maxxis/KLIM's Jason Thomas
emerged victorious. Thomas
began the day with the $100 Hot
Cams XC2 Pro Lites Holeshot
Award and the early lead in the
class. Thomas had early competi-
tion from the usual suspects like
Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KR4/
FAR's Nick Davis and Moto-Tech/
KTM's Trevor Bollinger, but as the
race wore on the top three began
to spread out.
Thomas and Davis came
together about halfway through
the race, causing both riders
to go down just after the fin-
ish line. With Bollinger in the
lead, RideMPS.com/AMSOIL/
Honda's Layne Michael made
his way past the downed riders
for second, and the lead duo
got back up and began charging
once again.
However, Davis ran into a
mechanical issue that would
ultimately remove him from the
race and any chance at salvag-
ing points. Thomas went on
to capture his second straight
XC2 victory of the season, with
Michael holding on for second
and Bollinger—a Morganton,
North Carolina native—capturing
a third-place finish in front of his
home crowd.
Josh Strang had
his work cut out
for him after a
first-turn crash left
him at the back of
the pack, but he
still managed to
finish second.
Steele Creek GNCC winner Kailub
Russell (center) is flanked by Josh
Strang (left) and Thad DuVall (right),
who rounded out the overall podium.
