Round seven of the 2016 Amsoil Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) series visited the Sunday Creek Raceway in Millfield, Ohio and FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Kailub Russell took his fifth consecutive win. Husqvarna’s Josh Strang kept it close for a while but ultimately settled for second and Thad Duvall, a fellow Husqvarna rider finished third.
Russell got off to a quick start on his KTM 350 to take the early lead but made a mistake that sent him into the bushes on lap one. Jordan Ashburn and Strang took over first and second temporarily but Russell found his way back to the front of the pack before the end of lap two. At that point, he held a comfortable margin for the remainder of the race and ultimately finished the three hour race two minutes ahead of Strang.
Duvall had to work hard to earn the final podium position after being knocked down in the second turn. The Rocky Mountain ATV/MC backed rider closed to within twenty seconds of Strang on the last lap but ran out of time to move any further forward.
Coastal Racing/Husquvarna/MSR’s Craig Delong took the win in the XC2 Pro Lites division over his teammate Layne Michael with a last lap pass. It was Delong’s first win of the season after several podium finishes. FMF/RPM/KTM’s Mike Witkowski made his first podium appearance in third. Trevor Bollinger, the XC2 points leader had a mechanical issue but recovered to finish fourth.
Kacy Martinez rode her FMF/KTM Factory Racing machine to another win in the WXC class, taking the overall win for the morning race again as well. She was joined on the podium by Yamaha rider Taylor Jones and Becca Sheets, also riding a Yamaha.
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