IN
THE
WIND
P38
SIPES' WIN, RUSSELL'S CROWN
R
yan Sipes is on a roll. After
making history as the first
American to overall the ISDE,
Sipes is continuing to ride his
high back in the U.S. where
the Rockstar Energy/AirGroup
Racing Husqvarna rider followed
his world victory with a national
one. Sipes reached another
career milestone by winning his
first-ever national enduro at the
LA Black Coal Enduro in Lyn-
nville, Indiana, round nine of the
Kenda AMA National Enduro
Series.
While Sipes won the day, his
ISDE teammate Kailub Russell
won the championship with a
third-place finish. Russell domi-
nated most of the season, but
the FMF/KTM rider faced an
uphill battle to clinch the cham-
pionship after he tore his ACL in
Slovakia. Russell came into the
Black Coal Enduro still nursing
the injury, but needed only to
finish ahead of Russell Bobbitt,
Grant Baylor and Steward Baylor
to claim the championship.
"Today was tough for me,"
Russell said. "I haven't ridden
in a week due to my knee. But
once I figured out how to com-
pensate for [my knee], I started
to ride a lot better."
It was nearly a repeat of the
challenge Russell faced the
weekend before at the Unadilla
GNCC, and the day started out
quite similarly—Sipes and Rock-
star Energy Husqvarna's Josh
Strang battled for the lead while
Russell focused on running a
consistent pace. Russell kept
his times inside the top-five all
day, which led him to a third-
place finish, and his second
national title in less than two
weeks. The three-time GNCC
Champion collected his career-
first National Enduro number-
one plate, also marking the first
time a father/son duo has each
won a national enduro title—Kai-
Kailub Russell (with his father, 1991
National Enduro champion Jeff Russell)
claimed his career-first National Enduro
championship only a week after
wrapping up the GNCC title.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
SHAN
MOORE
