Defending champion Kailub Russell (1) has officially started his second win-streak of the season with a victory at the John Penton GNCC. Photography by Ken Hill
On Sunday, the eighth round of the 2015 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series presented by Maxxis, an AMA National Championship, embarked upon Sunday Creek Raceway in Millfield, Ohio for the 26th annual running of the Wiseco John Penton GNCC. Reigning XC1 Pro Class Champion Kailub Russell led the three-hour race from start to finish en route to his seventh win of the season.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Josh Strang was on the gas as the green flag flew, grabbing the $250 All Balls Racing XC1 Holeshot Award. Factory FMF/KTM’s Kailub Russell was close in tow coming into the second corner, and would make the move into the lead during the opening lap.
AirGroup/Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna’s Ryan Sipes, who had raced the Pro Motocross National the day before in Tennessee, would follow the FMF/KTM rider on lap one along with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Andrew DeLong and N-Fab AmPro Yamaha’s Grant Baylor.
Russell’s gap steadily increased on Sipes throughout the six-lap event, he would end up finishing one minute and 37 seconds ahead of Sipes.
The exciting battle came just behind Russell and Sipes as Grant Baylor and Rocky Mountain ATV*MC/KR4/FAR’s Thad DuVall made a charge through the pack. DuVall had battled with DeLong on laps two through four before making the pass stick during lap five. DuVall then set his sights on Baylor during the last two laps, pressuring him all the way to the finish. As they headed towards the checkers through the motocross track, Baylor effectively covered his lines and crossed the finish one second ahead of DuVall.
As Baylor and DuVall pulled away on the final lap, DeLong would cross the finish line fifth for the day.
Strang was among the front-runners early in the race, but the Aussie found that his shoulder would not hold up for the entire six laps. He crossing the line eighth on lap four would be his last lap of the day. Ultimately, Strang was credited with 12th in XC1 and 140th overall.
In XC2 Pro Lites, Husqvarna Support Rider Craig DeLong grabbed the $100 Hot Cams Holeshot Award and headed into the woods first. As the XC2 riders came through the motocross track and towards the finish on lap one it would be Lojak Cycles’ Ryan Lojak leading the way followed by Raines Riding University/Atlas Yamaha’s Ricky Russell and Rocky Mountain ATV*MC/KR4/FAR’s Nick Davis. Russell moved into the lead on lap two and ran up front until pressure came from Davis and DirtWise/Maxxis rider Jason Thomas.
Ultimately it was Davis who moved his way into the lead on lap four, and held it to capture his third victory of the season. Thomas finished 21 seconds behind Davis earning second place followed by Russell in third. XC2 rookie, DeLong crossed the line in fourth followed by MCS Racing’s Callan May, who would earn his best finish of the season with fifth place.
Lojak, meanwhile, suffered a mechanical issue and lost valuable time as his pit crew scrambled to fix his brakes. They were unable to solve the problem, leaving Lojak to ride very cautiously for the remaining three laps and fall back to 14th in XC2.
Factory FMF/KTM’s Kacy Martinez grabbed another win in the WXC Class, followed by the N-Fab AmPro Yamaha duo of Becca Sheets and Jessica Patterson, rounded out the podium. These girls also grabbed the top three overall positions in the morning bike race.
