ST. CLAIRSVILLE, O.H. (October 8, 2017)–The penultimate round of the 2017 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series presented by Maxxis, an AMA National Championship, traveled to St. Clairsville, Ohio this weekend for the 17th Annual Polaris Ace Powerline Park GNCC. As the pros lined up for the start of the 1 p.m. race, rain began sprinkling the already muddy track making for one of the worst mud races of the year.
Rocky Mountain ATV*MC/KR4/Husqvarna’s Grant Baylor didn’t let the rain bother him as he raced his way to the $250 All Balls Racing Holeshot Award to start the Powerline Park GNCC. Baylor maintained the lead through the endurocross section with Rockstar Energy/Factory Husqvarna Racing’s Josh Strang, Beta USA’s Jordan Ashburn and FMF/KTM Factory Racing’s Kailub Russell in tow. Baylor cruised through timing and scoring on the first lap still in the lead, while Strang went from second to fourth just one turn before the checkpoint, allowing for Russell to move into the runner-up position with Ashburn behind him in third.
Russell made the pass for the lead after Baylor took a bad line and got stuck. Ashburn capitalized on Baylor’s misfortune and also got by him for second. As they came out of the woods in a field section, Strang was back into third.
Another lead change occurred when Russell hit a log and went down, allowing for Ashburn to slide by. The crash caused Russell’s front fender to fall off creating another added obstacle to the already treacherous track. Russell got back past Ashburn and then Ashburn had more trouble at the creek jump where he went over the bars and couldn’t get his bike unstuck. Strang used this to his advantage and once again found himself in second.
N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha’s Ricky Russell had worked his way into third in the Powerline Park GNCC, but also had issues at the creek jump allowing Baylor to move back up to third. Russell seemingly ran his own race up front fenderless and came to the finish 1:13.500 ahead of Strang who had one of his best rides of the season in second.
Russell’s win was enough for him to wrap-up his fifth-straight title, and he is now tied with Scott Summers for first on the all-time GNCC winner’s list.
“Today was a good day,” Kailub Russell said. “it looked like it was going to be really awesome this afternoon before it started raining and got slick. I made a dumb mistake and fell over and broke my front fender off, and then I was just roosting myself out. But yeah, it’s been a great a year and I’m happy to get number five and tie the all-time win record today.”
Meanwhile, FMF/KTM Factory Racing’s Russell Bobbitt was continually pushing through the pack and was in fourth when the two-lap card came out. Baylor looked to be in a good position for the podium until taking a bad line through the creek jump just one mile before the finish. Bobbitt took the main line and made the pass on Baylor to land his first-ever podium finish, third place, at the Powerline Park GNCC.
Baylor followed in fourth, with R Russell in sixth overall. Jonathan Girroir rebounded from two different crashes on the first lap to have his best finish to date with ninth overall.
When the green flag waved for the second row, RPM/KTM’s Mike Witkowski grabbed $100 Hot Cams XC2 250 Pro Holeshot Award, but Coastal Racing/Husqvarna’s Layne Michael quickly took the lead. Michael led majority of the race in an overall podium position until having a small tip over just before the white flag came out.
Michael’s teammate, Craig Delong, was right there to make the pass and continued leading until the checkered flag flew, claiming his first win of the season. Michael and N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha’s Josh Toth finished second and third. Trail Jesters/KTM Racing’s Ben Kelley and Witkowski rounded out the top-five in the XC2 250 Pro division.
Coastal Racing’s Jack Edmondson barely edged out Rocky Mountain ATV*MC/KR4/Husqvarna’s Tayla Jones for the $100 Wiseco Holeshot Award in the FMF XC3 125 Pro-Am class at the Powerline Park GNCC. Edmondson continued leading from start to finish for the class win, with his team manager Barry Hawk racing his way to second, followed by Devan Welch in third.
Eleventh overall earned Coastal Racing/Husqvarna’s Alex Teagarden top amateur honors. Matthew Keefer and Jojo Bowden finished second and third, respectively.
Bonanza Plumbing/Trail Jester KTM’s Mackenzie Tricker secured her first WXC win of the season along with the 10 a.m. 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. The Motorcycle Shop/Kenda/Bell/V3 Off-Road’s Brooke Cosner capped off the WXC top-three.
The 8 a.m. youth race kicked off the day with some exciting race action where each lap had a different leader. At the end of the race it was Mack Riemer standing in the middle of the box claiming his first win of the season. Max Fernandez and Shawn Myers rounded out the overall podium. Zack Davidson missed the podium, but his sixth overall finish allowed him to secure the overall youth championship.
The 2017 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series concludes in three weeks with the popular AMSOIL Ironman GNCC in Crawfordsville, Indiana, October 28- 29.
2017 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series (GNCC)
Polaris Ace Powerline Park GNCC
St. Clairsville, Ohio
Results: October 8, 2017 (Round 12 of 13)
XC1 Open Pro
1. Kailub Russell (HSQ)
2. Josh Strang (HSQ)
3. Russell Bobbitt (KTM)
4. Grant Baylor (HSQ)
5. Ricky Russell (YAM)
6. Jonathan Girroir (KTM)
7. Trevor Bollinger (HON)
8. Ryan Sipes (HSQ)
9. Andrew Delong (HSQ)
10. Jordan Ashburn (BET)
2017 AMSOIL GNCC Overall National Championship Points Standings (after 12 of 13 rounds)*
1. Kailub Russell (290)**
2. Thad Duvall (202)
3. Ricky Russell (199)
4. Steward Baylor (193)
5. Josh Toth (180)
6. Grant Baylor (162)
7. Trevor Bollinger (137)
8. Craig Delong (130)
9. Layne Michael (130)
10. Russell Bobbitt (122)
*Indicates that the Overall National Championship Standings will determine the 2017 National Champion.
**Clinched 2017 AMSOIL GNCC National Championship
XC2 250 Pro
1. Craig Delong (HSQ)
2. Layne Michael (HSQ)
3. Josh Toth (YAM)
4. Ben Kelley (KTM)
5. Mike Witkowski (KTM)
6. Zach Nolan (KTM)
7. Sam Evans (KTM)
8. Jesse Groemm (KTM)
9. Triston Landrum (YAM)
10. Ryder Lafferty (KTM)
XC2 250 Pro Series Points Standings (after 12 of 13 rounds)
1. Josh Toth (322)
2. Craig Delong (268)
3. Layne Michael (262)
4. Mike Witkowski (211)
5. Ben Kelley (177)
6. Austin Lee (168)
7. Jesse Groemm (164)
8. Zack Hayes (138)
9. Sam Evans (114)
10. Zach Nolan (109)
FMF XC3 125 Pro-Am
1. Jack Edmondson (HSQ)
2. Barry Hawk (HSQ)
3. Devan Welch (YAM)
4. Chris Venditti (YAM)
5. Shawn Page (KTM)
6. Hunter Neuwirth (HSQ)
7. Mark Heresco Jr. (KTM)
8. Jaryn Williams (YAM)
9. Tayla Jones (HSQ)
10. Josh Adkins (YAM)
FMF XC3 125 Pro-Am Series Points Standings (after 12 of 13 rounds)
1. Jason Thomas (292)
2. Hunter Neuwirth (232)
3. Mark Heresco Jr. (219)
4. Jack Edmondson (208)
5. Jaryn Williams (150)
6. Josh Adkins (148)
7. Devan Welch (132)
8. Paul Whibley (117)
9. Nate Smith (62)
10. Dustin Gibson (61)