Russell Wins Snowshoe GNCC, Regains Points Lead

Duvall was a man-on-a-mission and right on the back tires of Russell when Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing/Bel-Ray's Josh Strang came into the mix. The three rode within seconds of each other until Strang fell back allowing for Westfield Powersports KTM Presented by Moose Racing's Jordan Ashburn and N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha's Grant Baylor to catch up to the front runners.

JCR Honda/Lucas Oil/Maxxis/FLY Racing's Trevor Bollinger used his first row start to his advantage where he was riding just in front of Duvall and learning the ways of the front row. Unfortunately, Duvall would face a mechanical issue with two laps left where he could not keep his bike started. Bollinger was able to reel in Russell around the halfway point of the race until Russell started to pull away once again.

Meanwhile, Baylor secured the second place position in XC1 Pro class on the fifth lap with Ashburn racing right behind him. Russell continued pushing where he crossed the line over two minutes ahead of Baylor and took the overall win. Bollinger's outstanding ride earned him second overall with Baylor following in third. Ashburn rounded out the XC1 Pro podium.

"I think I belong up there with the XC1 Pro guys, and I work too hard not to think that," said Bollinger. "It was good to ride with Kailub and Thad. I definitely learned some things and I'm going to try and carry this over into next year. It's hard to catch them from the second row due to the starts I normally get, but to be able to start with them was eye opening, today was just awesome. Thank you to everyone on the whole JCR Honda team for your support."

SRT/KTM/Kenda Tires' Steward Baylor crossed the line fourth in XC1 Pro and sixth overall. This finish vaulted Steward Baylor Jr. into eighth in the points championship. Strang ended up finishing seventh overall with Coastal Racing/Rockstar/Husqvarna's Ryan Sipes following in tenth overall after making his return to GNCC Racing after missing the past four rounds due to injury.

With Bollinger holding the top spot in the XC2 Pro Lites class, Coastal Racing/Husqvarna/MSR's Craig Delong rode an equally impressive ride where he maintained the second place position throughout the entire three-hour race. After getting off to a bad first lap, Trail Jesters Racing's Benjamin Kelly recovered from a 14th place start to round out the podium in third. Kentucky's Vance Francis and Solid Performance KTM's Jesse Groemm followed in fourth and fifth.

After finishing sixteenth overall, Alex Teagarden earned the $125 American Kargo Award along with the 250 A class win. Loic Leonard and Chris Venditti took home second and third in the amateur overall podium.

The 10 a.m. overall podium was topped by Super Senior A (45+) competitor Phil Smith. WXC winner FLY Racing/Maxxis/Seat Concepts/Yamaha's Becca Sheets was in second overall and Cernic's Racing/MXtire.com's Carl LeBlond rounded out the top three overall.

Sheets would end up winning her third win in the WXC division. RPM/KTM's Rachel Gutish made her first podium appearance of the season in second with Bonzi/RideMPS.com/Yamaha's Brooke Cosner landing on the box in third.

Yesterday's racing action kicked off with the 8 a.m. youth race. Benjamin Wright emerged through the fog to cross the finish line first with Hunter Riemer and Super Mini Jr. (12-13) racer Zack Davidson following in second and third overall.

The 1 p.m. race was broadcast LIVE in its entirety on RacerTV.com and can be viewed as an archived video now by visiting the GNCC LIVE page online.

The 2016 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series continues in the fall, September 10 and 11, with the Parts Unlimited Unadilla GNCC at the popular Unadilla MX in New Berlin, New York.

For more information on the series, visit the official website at gnccracing.com call (304) 284-0084. Join the conversation on the series Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and be sure to always hashtag #GNCCLIVE.