IN
THE
WIND
P46
RICKY RUSSELL GETS FIRST
GNCC WIN AT SNOWSHOE
S
nowshoe Mountain hosted
the eighth round of the 2017
Amsoil Grand National Cross
Country (GNCC) series pre-
sented by Maxxis, an AMA Na-
tional Championship, this past
weekend, June 25. The rough
and rugged conditions created
a grueling track for the Amsoil
Snowshoe GNCC that lived up
to the nickname of "America's
Toughest Race." After three
hours of intense racing it was
N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha's Ricky
Russell taking home the cov-
eted win—marking his first-ever
GNCC overall victory.
The unique live-engine start
modeled after the famed Black-
water 100 race treated SRT/
KTM's Steward Baylor well,
where he jumped out to the
early lead, with Ricky Russell in
tow. As they approached timing
and scoring for the first lap, it
would be Ricky Russell lead-
ing the way through the West
Virginia woods.
As the pros tackled the west-
ern territory of the mountain,
Ricky continued his lead. His
teammate, Josh Toth, used his
first-row start to his advantage
where he was riding in a podium
position physically and learn-
ing the ways from the other XC1
Open Pro racers.
Meanwhile, Rockstar Energy/
Factory Husqvarna Racing's
Ricky Russell (212) went
on to win his first GNCC
of his career at the
Snowshoe.
