KAILUB RUSSELL WINS BULLET GNCC
K
ailub Russell and Thad Du-
vall continued their heated
rivalry in the 2017 Amsoil Grand
National Cross Country (GNCC)
Series presented by Maxxis, an
AMA National Championship.
This time it was at the CST Tires
Camp Coker Bullet GNCC in
Society Hill, North Carolina,
April 23. And, once again, it was
defending champion Russell
who came out on top.
Both Russell and Duvall got
off to fast starts, but not as fast
as Josh Strang, who grabbed
his third $250 All Balls Racing
Holeshot award of the season.
However, it wasn't long before
Russell and Duvall made their
way to the front, this time with
Duvall leading and Russell doing
the chasing.
Duvall was flying on his Rock-
star Energy Husqvarna Factory
Racing Husqvarna, holding
a 20-second lead over Rus-
sell after the first lap. He even
extended it by a few seconds
after the second lap, but that's
when Russell started creeping
forward.
In what would end up being a
seven-lap race, Russell whit-
tled the lead back down to 21
seconds after the third lap, and
then 17 seconds after the fourth.
Pretty soon it was down to 13
seconds, then nine seconds, at
which time things got exciting.
Heading into the final lap,
Russell actually passed Duvall
for the lead but moments later
had to pull in for his scheduled
pit stop for fuel; Duvall, on the
other hand, chose not to come
in and regained control of the
race. But with just four miles to
go, Russell caught up and made
the pass on Duvall to retake the
lead.
Duvall didn't give up but his
IN
THE
WIND
P54
Kailub Russell won again
but had to work for it.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
KEN
HILL
