VOL. 54 ISSUE 43 OCTOBER 31, 2017 P49
the remainder of the three-hour
race.
Russell, who had already
clinched the 2017 GNCC Cham-
pionship, was able to cross the
finish line 18 seconds ahead of
runner-up Thad Duvall.
"This was a great way to end
the GNCC season—taking home
my 47th career win to surpass
off-road racing legend Scott
Summers to take over the all-
time wins record," Russell said.
"I wasn't expecting to see Scott
[Summers] at the race, but I'm
very happy that he was able to
be in attendance today to watch
me break his winning record,
as I watched him set it as a very
young kid. I can't thank every-
one that's been behind me for
all these years enough for all of
their support!"
Antti Kallonen, FMF/KTM
Factory Racing Team Manager,
said, "It's pretty amazing to be
able to witness every single win
of Kailub's from the start of his
career until now. He's grown so
much as a racer and the whole
team is very proud to be a part
of his accomplishments thus far.
This is a milestone for sure but
we're already looking forward to
what's next and we'll keep try-
ing for more. Kailub is tied with
five GNCC Championships so
maybe we set our new goal for
six championships and we'll go
back to work this off-season to
come back stronger than ever."
Russell's record-breaking win
didn't come easily, though, as he
had to fight off early race leader
Ricky Russell (N-Fab/AmPro
Yamaha) and Duvall (Rockstar
Energy Husqvarna) before he
could celebrate win number 47.
Duvall, who started the race
off in third and was returning to
racing from injury, picked up
momentum as the race went on.
He slipped past Ricky Russell
for second, and at one point
near the midway mark, he trailed
Kailub by less than 10 seconds.
But Duvall just couldn't quite
match Russell's pace and took
the checkered flag 18.657 sec-
onds behind the KTM rider for
second place.
"I'm a little disappointed in
second, because I thought I
Ricky Russell
(212) nabbed the
XC1 holeshot and
finished out the
day on the podium.
