lap. Sipes and Ashburn began
to battle for second place,
meanwhile JCR Honda's Chris
Bach was closing in. Bach soon
made his way around both Sipes
and Ashburn, leaving the duo to
battle for third place as he set
his sights on Russell.
The defending champion had
opened up a commanding lead
by this point, but Bach caught
a break when Russell got his
handlebar caught his mechanic's
radio cord in the pits.
"When I had my pit stop my
mechanic's radio tether got
wrapped around my handle-
bars," said Russell. "So when I
pulled out I drug his radio with
me and had to slow down and
unravel it. It was a bummer
because I knew Ashburn and
those guys were catching up so
I just put in a little sprint for the
next lap and was able to create
another gap between us."
The incident allowed Bach to
gain some time on Russell, but it
wasn't enough to challenge him
for the lead.
Strang, meanwhile, had been
making his way up through the
pack, but by the time he got into
third place, Bach and Russell
were too far ahead for him to
mount a charge. Strang finished
third followed by Sipes in fourth
while Ashburn rounded out the
top five.
In the XC2 ranks, Trevor
Bollinger remains undefeated.
The young JCR Honda rider
captured another win, though
he called it the hardest race he's
had all season. Bollinger had his
hands full with a hard charging
Craig Delong, as Bollinger and
the Costal Racing Husqvarna
rider swapped the lead. Beta
USA's Jesse Groemm also had
his turn leading the class, but in
the end, Bollinger would not be
denied.
The WXC class saw a big
change up front as Obermeyer
Suzuki's Mackenzie Tricker
claimed her first victory, as
well as her first overall win in
the morning race. Fly Rac-
ing's Becca Sheets was able to
grab second place, catapulting
herself into the points lead. After
coming out of retirement to race
the Big Buck GNCC, N-Fab/Am-
Pro Yamaha's Jessica Patterson
took third. CN
VOL. 53 ISSUE 15 APRIL 19, 2016 P27
JCR Honda's
Chris Bach
had a good
performance,
but couldn't
quite close the
gap on Russell.
XC2 winner
Trevor Bollinger
is getting
pretty good
at popping
champagne.
