Russell Dominates Maxxis General GNCC

Russell grabbed the early lead with the $250 All Balls Racing Holeshot Award but AirGroup/Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna's Ryan Sipes tucked in close behind and applied pressure to the two-time champion early on. Russell ran into a few issues on the opening lap, evening dropping back to the fourth place position, but it wasn't long before he made up the time and gained the lead once again.

Sipes pushed hard on the opening lap but the Kentucky rider ran into issues after getting stuck in a mud hole on the second lap. Sipes lost a substantial amount of time working his way out of the mudhole, where he spent the rest of the race catching up.

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing's Josh Strang put himself into a favorable position early on. However, as he worked his way into the second place position, Strang got together with a lapped rider, resulting in a damaged brake rotor on the front side. The 2010 GNCC National Champion came into the pits for a quick front wheel swap and returned to the course a couple positions back. Strang quickly made up that time and returned to the second place position, as a hard charging Thad DuVall began his charge through the pack.

Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KR4/FAR's DuVall came from outside the top five off the start and moved into the third place position. The West Virginia native experienced a couple issues throughout the three-hour race that caused him to lose substantial time in the overall running, but a late-in-the-race charge allowed him to maintain a podium position heading into the final lap of racing.

N-Fab AmPro Yamaha's Jordan Ashburn interjected himself into the podium battle early on where he went back and forth with DuVall for a majority of the afternoon. Near the end of the six-lap race, Ashburn went head-to-head with JCR Honda's Chris Bach to capture the fourth place position. Bach, who also began the race outside the top five, charged his way through the pack to battle for a podium position.

N-Fab AmPro Yamaha's Grant Baylor finished sixth, with Factory FMF/KTM's Russell Bobbitt in seventh. Visiting Canadian Motocross Lites Champion Tyler Medaglia finished eighth in XC1 on a Husqvarna Canada/Parts Unlimited Canada machine, with Funmart Cycle/FLY/Maxxis/Powersport Graphx-backed Adam Bonneur and Sipes rounding out the top ten in XC1.

The XC2 Pro Lites class saw one of the most exciting battles of the day between DirtWise/Maxxis/KLIM's Jason Thomas and Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KR4/FAR's Nick Davis. Thomas and Davis went back and forth all afternoon, exchanging the lead several times throughout the three-hour race. On the final lap, it was Davis who had the advantage coming into the final segment of the racetrack but Thomas was able to make his move in time to take the checkered flag and his first win of the season just 11 seconds ahead of Nick Davis. Thomas finished an impressive seventh overall for the day with Davis coming in eighth.

Following a rough start to the season at round one, Moto-Tech/KTM's Trevor Bollinger landed atop the podium with a third place XC2 finish and ninth overall at round two. Bollinger maintained a steady pace, keeping himself inside the top five all afternoon.

Davis holds a four-point lead over Thomas in the XC2 Pro Lites Championship standings as the series heads to North Carolina in two weeks for the FMF Steele Creek GNCC.