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IN THE WIND P34 RUSSELL FIGHTS FOR STEELE CREEK GNCC WIN E xcept for two brief moments, FMF/KTM's Kailub Russell led the whole way at the FMF Steele Creek GNCC in Morgan- ton, North Carolina, April 9, to claim his fourth win in a row in the 2017 Amsoil Grand National Cross Country Series, present- ed by Maxxis. Josh Strang nabbed the holeshot to start the race, but it wasn't long before Russell had moved passed him to take the lead. Later on, Russell surren- dered the point position to Thad DuVall for a moment following a scheduled pit stop for fuel. Besides that, Russell led it the whole way. "It was a tough day out there, it wasn't what I was expecting," said Russell. "I thought the track would have more moisture. In some places you would have good traction, and other places it would just go away. I laid down a good pace on the first lap and Thad hung on there all the way to the end." Duvall, on the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna, kept Rus- sell honest the whole way and was close enough to him to take the lead after having a quicker pit stop. Duvall, however, could not hold Russell off and found himself running second again. "It was hard to get into the flow there at the beginning and I was kind of a little timid with the traction because some places you would have good traction and other places you'd just go away so it was kind of unfamiliar territory on the first lap," Russell added. "But then we got into a good groove and I felt comfort- able and laid down a pace that I knew was going to be really fast. I felt really good and solid on the bike. I made a few mistakes, nothing major, but I'm happy to come away with the win." Russell and Duvall ran 1-2 the whole race, with never more than a second or two separating them as they completed each lap of the seven-lap race. It wasn't until the final lap that Rus- sell was able to pull away a bit from Duvall. Russell ended up taking the checkered flag 18.7 seconds ahead of Duvall. The race for third was also intense between Steward Baylor and Trevor Bollinger. Bollinger, on the JCR Honda, held third for most of the race as Baylor worked his way up from an eighth-place start. Baylor got into fourth on the fourth lap and was 16 seconds behind Bollinger. The FMF/KTM rider, Baylor, steadily closed the gap on Bol- linger and passed him for third on the sixth lap and then opened up a small gap on the Honda Kailub Russell worked hard at the Steele Creek GNCC but still came away with his fourth straight win. PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEN HILL