OFF-ROAD
AMSOIL GRAND NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY SERIES, AN AMA
ROUND 2 / MARCH 11, 2018
RODMAN PLANTATION / PALATKA, FLORIDA
P70
Kailub Russell
came from
behind to grab
his second win
of the season
at the Wild
Boar GNCC in
Florida.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEN HILL
K
ailub Russell rebounded from a less-than-stellar open-
ing lap to claim his second overall win in as many races
at the Moose Racing Wild Boar GNCC, round two of
the Amsoil Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series, an
AMA National Championship, in Palatka, Florida.
Russell suffered a few self-inflicted wounds early on in the
three-hour race, including a couple of crashes and a bent shift
lever, however, the FMF KTM Factory Off-Road racer gath-
ered his composure and ultimately took control of the race just
before the sixth and final lap to beat out Tely Energy KTM's
Steward Baylor at the finish. The win was Russell's second in
a row for 2018 in his pursuit of a sixth-straight XC1 title and the
49th overall of his career.
"I got a bad start and, after that Thad, and I just started trad-
ing crashes; I'd go down and pick it up, then he'd go down and
pick it up," said Russell. "It was one of those races where it
seemed like nothing was going right for me and I've got to get
that sorted out. It was just mental errors. I watered out my gog-
gles on the first lap and then, on the second lap, I crashed and
bent my shifter, just dumb little things that put me at a deficit."
Baylor seemed in control of things during the first half of
the race, and at one point held a 28-second lead over Strang,
who in turn had a comfortable gap over a fierce battle be-
tween Russell and Duvall for third.
RUSSELL WINS
WILD BOAR
