Kailub Russell (1) gets out to an early lead at the Big Buck GNCC, where he would continue to extended his points lead and win-streak. Photography by Ken Hill.
Factory FMF/KTM’s Kailub Russell extended his win-streak to four-in-a-row on Sunday at round four of the 2015 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series presented by Maxxis, an AMA National Championship, in Union, South Carolina. After more than three hours of intense racing at the VP Racing Fuels Big Buck GNCC, Russell came away with his 26th career win, where he now sits tied with Ed Lojak for third place on the All-Time Bike Wins list in GNCC Racing.
Russell began the day out front after capturing the $250 All Balls Racing Holeshot Award but it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the two-time GNCC Champ. In the opening laps of the race, Russell lost some ground to the field with a pair of crashes, but he recovered quickly and never yielded the lead. Behind him, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Josh Strang put himself into second place on the opening lap. As Strang worked diligently to run down the leader, JCR Honda’s Chris Bach led the rest of the pack in a race-long battle for the third and final podium position.
Bach, Ryan Sipes and Daniel Milner mixed it up in the battle for third for the first half of the race, but none of them could stop a hard-charging Grant Baylor. The XC1 Pro rookie was a man on a mission at the Big Buck, and after overtaking third place, he set his sights on Strang for second. Although he went on to close the gap to within four seconds, Baylor would settle for third behind Strang. It still marked Baylor’s career-best XC1 Pro finish.
Bach held on to finish fourth while Steward Baylor passed Sipes on the final lap to round out the top-five.
In the XC2 ranks, Ricky Russell made an impressive return to the series. In his first race back since suffering a broken arm after the season opener, the Raines Riding University/Atlas Yamaha rider toped the field for his first win of the season. Layne Michael and Trevor Bollinger rounded out the XC2 podium in second and third, respectively while the usual suspects – Nick Davis and Jason Thomas – both experienced issues that kept them out of the top-10.
Big Buck GNCC XC1 Pro Results:
1. Kailub Russell (KTM)
2. Josh Strang (Hsq)
3. Grant Baylor (Yam)
4. Chris Bach (Hon)
5. Steward Baylor (KTM)
6. Ryan Sipes (Hsq)
7. Andrew DeLong (Hsq)
8. Takeshi Koikeda (Hon)
9. Chris Douglas (KTM)
10. Adam Bonneur (KTM)
Big Buck GNCC XC2 Results:
1. Ricky Russell (Yam)
2. Layne Michael (Hon)
3. Trevor Bollinger (KTM)
4. Craig DeLong (Hsq)
5. Scott Grills (Yam)
6. Austin Lee (Yam)
7. Callan May (Yam)
8. Ryder Lafferty (Hsq)
9. Cory Buttrick (Bet)
10. Ryan Lojak (Yam)
