PRESENTED BY MAXXIS, AN AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 54 ISSUE 9 MARCH 7, 2017 P77
wasn't they way he and the team
wanted to start out the season.
Sipes could breath a little eas-
ier once Duvall began having his
problems. After starting the off in
sixth, he spent most of the race
in third and took the checkered
flag 25 seconds behind Russell.
At one point, Sipes had caught
both Baylor and Russell and was
just 12 seconds behind Baylor
after the second lap, but he just
couldn't keep the two riders
ahead of him in his sights. Some
of that reason had to do with
the congested trail. He was well
over two minutes behind Russell
at the end of the race.
"I started in sixth but I eventu-
ally caught up with Baylor and
Russell and was right on their
back wheels when the lappers
got pretty bad," said Sipes.
"They were both riding really
good and when I lost them it was
hard to make up time."
The 2016 XC2 Champion,
Trevor Bolinger made his XC1
debut and put his JCR Honda in
fourth place at the finish. It was
a day of playing catch-up for the
Honda rider, as he completed
the first lap in 10th place. By lap
two he was in seventh, and the
next lap he was fourth, where he
would stay for the duration of the
race. He finished 25 seconds
behind Sipes.
N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha's Ricky
Russell rounded out the top five.
At one point in the race, he was
12th, but after the halfway point,
he put in a charge that carried
him up the leaderboard, finishing
myself in a position to ride with
them. Once Russell made his
mistake and I had a clear trail, I
gave it everything I could to get a
big lead knowing that every sec-
ond counts, because Russell is
the fastest guy on the line. I just
knew I couldn't make a mistake
and it feels great to pull off my
first win not only at the season
opener, but also in front of my
friends and family."
Russell admitted that he just
couldn't catch Baylor once Bay-
lor got into the lead.
"We had a pretty decent
day—nothing special but nothing
terrible—it was just kind of so-so.
Stew was riding really well, he
had the pressure on me there
when I got into the lead and
him and I were out front. I got
tangled up with a lapper on the
hill climb and dropped back to
fourth and he got about 29-30
seconds on me, and I never
could close it. I was trying and
trying and trying—I mean, he was
riding well; I have to give it up to
him for that. The track was brutal
between the lappers and how
many riders there were general
today, it was definitely a tough
round one."
Sipes ended up finishing third
after having an early battle with
fellow Husqvarna rider Thad
Duvall.
One of the pre-race favorites,
Duvall, however, was forced
to pit early and replace a rear
wheel after his rear-brake rotor
got bent. Duvall would eventually
drop out of the race. It certainly
After an encounter with
a lapper and losing the
lead to Baylor, Kailub
Russell couldn't catch
Baylor and had to
settle for second.
