Whenever a rider starts putting together a dominant run, the discussion changes from current competition to matching the all-time greats. That’s where the off-road racing world is with FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Kailub Russell, whose quest for a fourth-straight AMA National Championship in the Amsoil Grand National Cross Country Series presented by Maxxis, begins today down in Palatka, Florida.
No one has won four-straight GNCC titles since the original champion of the series, Ed Lojak. But even Lojak did that in a much different era. In the world of factory rides and international competition, Russell is attempting to rewrite records, and four titles outright would put him only behind all-timers Lojak, Scott Summers and Rodney Smith. Just last year, Russell notched the AMA National Enduro Championship, too, to become the first rider ever to grab GNCC and Enduro honors in the same season. Cycle News named him Rider of the Year. He also wrapped the GNCC title with three rounds to spare after winning eight of the first nine races.
And yet, this year his competitors have a glimmer of hope. Russell went down with a torn ACL at last year’s International Six Days Enduro (where both he and Ryan Sipes were making bids to become the first American rider to win the race overall) and hasn’t raced since surgery in October. He’ll be on the line at the opener on Sunday, but this week told us he’s just been laying low and taking the pressure off, making sure the knee heals correctly. We have suspicions he’ll be much more ready than it sounds—but if he isn’t, plenty of riders are waiting to take their shot.
Sipes did end up taking that historic ISDE overall trophy, and thanks to that and his profile from motocross and supercross, he probably carries the most hype into the season. But he’s still a work in progress. He’s yet to win a GNCC race, and this year he’s on a new team with Coastal Racing, Rockstar and Husqvarna.
The new Husqvarnas are considered a massive improvement compared to last year’s (the off-road models now based on the KTM that debuted as last year’s Factory Edition bike under Ryan Dungey) but Sipes tells us he’s spent most of the off-season adjusting to the new bike, which is better, but different. He’s also been stuck in the cold and snow in his native Kentucky. In his first two years in GNCC, he’s gotten faster as the season goes on—it will be interesting to see how much better he gets in year three.
Meanwhile there’s no wondering about a few other riders. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Josh Strang has been second to Russell too many times—including four-straight seconds to start last year. Strang suffered a shoulder injury at mid-season that hurt him in the points, but he returned to win three of the last four races after Russell’s injury. Strang will also have that new Husky, he’s experienced (winning the GNCC title in 2010) and he’ll never give up. If the Aussie gets an opening, he will take full advantage.
Last year, a rookie ended up second in points. Grant Baylor starts year two with N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha with even more experience, and the South Carolina native battled Russell at a few races last year. The Yamaha squad has switched to the new YZ450X off-roader, and team owner Randy Hawkins tell us this bike, thanks to electric start, more tractable power and revised gear ratios compared to the YZ450F motocrosser, is a good step forward for his woods riders.
One rider actually broke through to beat Russell straight up last year: JCR Honda’s Chris Bach. It was a miracle day for Bach, who was simply in the zone and held Russell’s advances at bay. The Indiana native and his team, which gets factory Honda support, continues to improve. But his one fine day shows how fame can be fleeting in this game.
Several others know it. Thad DuVall and Cory Buttrick were once GNCC youth and amateur stars, but both nearly fell through the cracks. DuVall had a series of injuries and inconsistencies while riding with the AmPro Yamaha team, and was almost out of racing completely. He’s rebuilt himself with help from Fred Andrews’ Rocky Mountain ATV*MC/KR4/FAR Racing team, and he took his Husky to a victory last year in Pennsylvania. Bad Thad is still bad fast, when he puts the pieces together, he can match anyone.
Buttrick is still in career rebuild mode after a few years way off the back. He struggled on a 250F last year before giving the XC1 class a shot again late in the season, and showed glimpses of his old speed. If Buttrick reels off a podium, it will be the feel good story of the season.
He won’t be the only wild card. Jerry Robin, who became a sensation a few years back by qualifying for the B class at Loretta Lynn’s on a 1985 Honda CR250R, and then won a title there on a slightly newer bike, is now an off-roader. He’s shown great speed in pre-season races and training and could be a surprise. He will miss the opener, though, after a pre-season injury. He hopes to return for round two.
Charlie Mullins, the 2011 GNCC Champion, was once Russell’s toughest competitor. They went down to the wire for the 2013 title, and were battling again for the points lead in 2014 when Mullins went down with two broken wrists (he was practicing with Justin Brayton at the JGR test track when his bike cut out on a double). He missed all of 2015 trying to get those wrists back into shape, even spending some time down at Aldon Baker’s place in Florida. Charlie said the time off has only refreshed his will to win, and he hoped for big things in 2016. Then he suffered a foot injury during the pre-season. He told us this week he won’t be able to line up for the opener.
It’s one thing to climb to the highest level of a sport, something different to stay there. Russell hopes to keep his run going, while a host of others hope to stop it. We’ll see how it goes in the sand starting at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
You can watch the Amsoil GNCC opener live on RacerTV.com at 1:00 p.m. EST. For more info, go to GNCCRacing.com.