Cycle News Staff | October 9, 2017
2017 Powerline GNCC Racing Results – With one round still remaining, Kailub Russell clinched his fifth consecutive GNCC Championship after topping the Polaris Ace Powerline Park GNCC in St. Clairsville, Ohio, October 8. Russell, on the FMF/KTM Factory Racing Team 350 XC-F, took the lead for good on the second lap and, from there—even in rainy and wet conditions—never looked back for his 46th career victory, which ties him with Scott Summers on the all-time GNCC win list.
2017 Powerline GNCC Racing Results
“I got off to a top-five start and got into the lead just before the rain started to come down too much,” Russell said. “I put in a few solid laps to build a lead and held on to the finish. It was a really fun technical track with the rain and I just had a good time riding my bike today. It’s been a great year, I’m happy to get championship win number five and tie the all-time win record.”
Russell made the race a little more difficult on himself than he wanted when he fell after having just taken the lead away from Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/KR4/Husqvarna’s Grant Baylor, who got his bike stuck in the mud. Russell got up sans a front fender that had broken off in the fall and passed Jordan Ashburn who had just gotten around the downed rider.
“I made a dumb mistake and fell over and broke my front fender off, and then I was just roosting myself out,” Russell said.
Despite having no front fender in the slop, he still ended up taking the checkered flag approximately a minute and a half ahead of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Josh Strang.
About another couple of minutes back came third overall Russell Bobbitt, Kailub Russell’s FMF/KTM teammate. It was a career best finish for Bobbitt in GNCC.
“It’s been a career goal of mine to get on the GNCC XC1 podium and I’m just happy to get it up there today. Everyone on the team has been putting in a ton of effort and having the guys out on the track today was a huge help—my mechanic did an awesome job pitting me and getting me goggles when I needed them and the other team members pointed out great lines. The rain made it super greasy and the track had to be ridden with a lot of throttle control. The hills got really interesting toward the end of the day with lappers scattered everywhere and the creek jump landing deteriorated and was nasty, but I’m super happy to hang in there and get third today.”
Baylor ended up finishing fourth overall, 41 seconds behind Bobbitt.
2017 Powerline GNCC Racing Results
Rounding out the top five overall was XC2 250 Pro (16-24)-class winner Craig Delong on the Coastal Racing/Husqvarna. Delong took the lead just before seeing the white flag when his teammate Layne Michael went down. It was Delong’s first win of the season.
Michael ended up second in class (seventh overall), followed by N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha’s Josh Toth (eighth overall), who has already clinched the XC2 Championship.
Sixth overall went to N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha’s Ricky Russell in the XC1 class.
Jonathan Girroir (KTM, XC1) and Benjamin Kelley (KTM, XC2) rounded out the top 10 overall.
Coastal Racing’s Jack Edmondson topped former GNCC champ Barry Hawk (who is also Edmondson’s team manager) for the win in the FMF XC3 125 Pro-Am class. Devan Welch filled out the XC3 podium.
Bonanza Plumbing/Trail Jester KTM’s Mackenzie Tricker secured her first WXC win of the season along with morning race overall. Fly Racing/Maxxis/Seat Concepts/KTM-backed Becca Sheets was second, with 125 B/C class winner Randall Ervin finishing an impressive third overall. Brooke Cosner capped off the WXC top-three. CN
Polaris Ace Powerline Park GNCC
St. Clairsville, Ohio
Round 12 of 13
Sunday, October 8
XC1 Open Pro Event Results:
- Kailub Russell (KTM)
- Josh Strang (HUS)
- Russell Bobbitt (KTM)
- Grant Baylor (HUS)
- Ricky Russell (YAM)
- Jonathan Girroir (KTM)
- Trevor Bollinger (HON)
- Ryan Sipes (HUS)
- Andrew Delong (HUS)
- Jordan Ashburn (BET)
*Overall National Championship Standings:
- Kailub Russell (290)
- Thad Duvall (202)
- Ricky Russell (199)
- Steward Baylor (193)
- Josh Toth (180)
- Grant Baylor (162)
- Trevor Bollinger (137)
- Craig Delong (130)
- Layne Michael (130)
- Russell Bobbitt (122)
*Indicates that the Overall National Championship Standings will determine the 2017 National Champion.
XC2 250 Pro Event Results:
- Craig Delong (HUS)
- Layne Michael (HUS)
- Josh Toth (YAM)
- Ben Kelley (KTM)
- Mike Witkowski (KTM)
- Zach Nolan (KTM)
- Sam Evans (KTM)
- Jesse Groemm (KTM)
- Triston Landrum (YAM)
- Ryder Lafferty (KTM)
XC2 250 Pro Series Standings:
- Josh Toth (322)
- Craig Delong (268)
- Layne Michael (262)
- Mike Witkowski (211)
- Ben Kelley (177)
- Austin Lee (168)
- Jesse Groemm (164)
- Zack Hayes (138)
- Sam Evans (114)
- Zach Nolan (109)
FMF XC3 125 Pro-Am Event Results:
- Jack Edmondson (HUS)
- Barry Hawk (HUS)
- Devan Welch (YAM)
- Chris Venditti (YAM)
- Shawn Page (KTM)
- Hunter Neuwirth (HUS)
- Mark Heresco Jr. (KTM)
- Jaryn Williams (YAM)
- Tayla Jones (HUS)
- Josh Adkins (YAM)
FMF XC3 125 Pro-Am Points Standings:
- Jason Thomas (292)
- Hunter Neuwirth (232)
- Mark Heresco Jr. (219)
- Jack Edmondson (208)
- Jaryn Williams (150)
- Josh Adkins (148)
- Devan Welch (132)
- Paul Whibley (117)
- Nate Smith (62)
- Dustin Gibson (61)