RUSSELL CHALKS UP
40TH CAREER GNCC WIN
T
he 2016 Amsoil Grand
National Cross Country
Championship wrapped up in
Crawfordsville, Indiana, at Iron-
man Raceway, October 29-30,
where FMF/KTM's Kailub Rus-
sell chalked up his 40th career
GNCC win. Russell, who had
already zipped up the 2016 title,
spent much of the day dicing for
the lead with Rocky Mountain
ATV-MC/KR4 Arrive-N-Ride
Team's Thad Duvall. The race
wasn't fully decided until the last
lap when Duvall struggled on a
hill that allowed Russell to get
away and take the checkered
flag a little over 30 seconds
ahead of the Husqvarna rider.
"It's pretty cool to think that
I've won 40 overalls since I
started racing XC1 in 2011,"
Russell said. "The season has
been good—10 races is the most
that anyone has won in a single
season, so I'm happy to make
that happen along with a fourth
GNCC title. The race was tough
and Thad was riding really well
in the first half, but I just stayed
focused on making good line
choices and minimizing the mis-
takes and it paid off."
"There was a hill climb that
had two different lines around
it," Duvall said of the deciding
last lap. "Kailub went up one
side, so I went to the other. I
thought it was clear, but when I
got to the top there were about
five lappers who were stuck. I
tried everything I could do to get
around them, but I fell when I
went up on the bank and thanks
to another race I was able to get
going a lot quicker than I thought
I was going to be able to."
The race for the final podium
spot came down to a three-way
battle involving Ricky Russell
and brothers Grant and Steward
Baylor. Steward, however, had
to withdraw on the final lap, the
victim of a mechanical problem.
That left third place to be de-
cided between Grant Baylor and
Ricky Russell.
Russell, on the MCS Racing
Suzuki/Obermeyer/Kenda/
MX Tech/Fly Racing RM-Z, was
IN
THE
WIND
P28
Ricky Russell (212) took the holeshot in the XC1 Pro class.
