Photos by Krista Shaw
It’s hard to believe that it’s been over 5 months since this site was last updated! Since my last post things have been a whirlwind. The RidePG Satellite KTM team I rode for last year was absorbed by the factory Shock Doctor / Muscle Milk KTM team and I now ride out of the big rig with teammates Cory Buttrick, Nate Kanney, and former WORCS champ Kurt Caselli.
We’re already 6 races into the season and I’ve been fortunate enough to rack up 4 wins, one 2nd, and one 3rd place finish. Being up on the box at every round is pretty awesome and I’m hoping to keep this streak alive and hopefully win my first professional championship.
That’s it for this quick post, just didn’t want my site to sit idle for any longer! Look for a new design by Jason Hooper at Digital Offroad and lots of updates coming soon!
Hey guys, it’s been a while since my last update but we had a long run of bad luck lately and there really wasn’t too much good stuff to write about! Finally at the last round of the GNCCs things started to turn around and I was able to get back up onto the top spot of the podium in the XC Pro Lites class! My race started out pretty awesome with a huge holeshot which earned me an extra $100 from thumpertalk.com which is always nice! The rest of the race was an awesome battle between myself and teammate Cory Buttrick. The track was awesome and we were pushing pretty hard and by the end of the first lap were well into the XC1 field and had over a minute lead on 3rd place in XC2. Cory B and I continued to go at it, with him pulling a little gap, then me closing in, and this process repeating a few times. With two laps to go I saw a bib mousse tire insert in the middle of the trail and not too long after passed Cory with his tire in shreds on the back of his bike. From then on I just cruised the last two laps for the win and a 6th place overall finish, my best of the year!
After coming off my first race win in Kentucky, I was feeling the pressure of backing it up with another solid ride. Prior to the race i spent the week riding with Steve Hatch at Brushy Mountain motorcycle park in one of his riding schools, honing in on some skills. At the start of the race I got off to a good start heading into the woods in second behind Dustin Gibson. I found the myself in the lead at the start of the second lap, having to stop in the pits for a fresh set of Scott goggles because of sweat on my lenses I dropped back into second place. By the first mile I had already cought Jason Thoamas and also started noticing the feel in my clutch was going away. Into the third lap i was still in second felling comfortable but my clutch was getting worse, by the middle of the lap it was completly gone. After stalling my bike a few time i decided to come back to the pits and get it fixed. When i got back going again I couldn’t get it together i was making a bunch of mistakes but I just kept my head down and by the end of the race I finished a solid 6th place after coming back from 14th.
Jason Weigandt from GNCC gave me a call today to talk about my win and put it on the website for the Tuesday Toolbox. Head on over to www.gnccracing.com to check it out!
This week will definitely go down as one of the biggest so far in my life. I graduated high school, which will let me now focus 100% of my time on my racing. For the past two years I’ve been going to real school, not homeschool, and we all know what a significant chunk of time school and homework can take out of your day. On top of graduation, I had probably the biggest achievement of my racing career so far—winning the XC2 Pro Lites class at the Sparta, KY GNCC!
The start of the race for me was pretty lousy. I didn’t get a very good jump and was mid-pack heading into the woods. With a few miles of virgin trail ahead of me I knew it was going to be tough to work my way through the very fast XC2 pack. By the end of the first lap, I had moved my way into 4th but was nearly a minute behind the leader, Dustin Gibson.
I hooked up with my buddy Andrew Matusek and we rode together for a couple of laps. I was feeling really smooth, and not pushing too hard. I made my way around Andrew and got the pit board from my mechanic Hollywood telling me I was 40 seconds down. I kept riding well and the next lap I was 42 seconds down! At that point I wasn’t too sure if it was going to be my day! Somehow though, I slowly began to start reeling Dustin in, and was able to get past him.
With 2 laps to go I really put my head down and charged. I rode my fastest lap on lap 5, and my 2nd fastest lap on the last lap (lap 6). I think this is a great testament to the training program that Steve Hatch has created for me. Mentally I felt really tough, and once I was in the lead I knew that the race was mine to win.
As I rounded the final few turns before the finish, I finally took a look back and realized I was all by myself. My last lap charge was too much for Dustin and I ended up winning by 1 minute and 2 seconds. What an awesome feeling!
Dave Smith of www.racedaypix.com did an interview with me at the John Penton in Ohio. Check it out!
With it raining nearly everyday the week prior to the 2008 John Penton GNCC in Millfield, OH we headed to the track prepared for some seriously muddy conditions. It started raining on Saturday night and only quit a few brief times on Sunday meaning some of the wettest and muddiest conditions in GNCC history. My mechanic Hollywood had my bike prepped for the mud with big old elephant ear covers on my barkbusters and strategically placed pieces of foam to prevent mud from getting packed in. Mud races are all about your mentality and I headed to the start ready to get muddy and most of all have a good time.
The race started out awesome as I pulled the holeshot which got me two awesome things: clear vision and $100 from Thumpertalk.com! Unfortunately the start was the highlight of my race. I slipped back to 4th place on the first lap behind Josh Weisenfels, Thad DuVall, and motocrosser Kevin Hoge. It was really a survival race with down riders everywhere, and the course becoming nearly 200ft wide at times with lines going everywhere. It was one of those races where you don’t know where you are, where anyone else is, or what’s really going on. When it was all said and done I ended up 7th in the XC2 class and 17th overall. It definitely wasn’t the finish I had hoped for with such a great start, but in mud races anything can happen and I am just happy to have escaped healthy and with some points.
2008 John Penton GNCC XC2 Class Results
1. Thad DuVall
2. Scott Watkins
3. Ryan Echols
4. Eric Bailey
5. Josh Weisenfels
6. Dustin Gibson
7. Kailub Russell
8. Kevin Hoge
9. Johnny Barber
10. John Bennett
Check out these holeshot pictures from the first four GNCCs of the season. So far, I’m 2 for 4 for Thumpertalk.com holeshot awards. Hopefully I’ll pick up another big check in Tennessee this coming weekend!
All photos by Jason Hooper.
Overnight rain turned the first round of the AMA East Harescrambles Series at Hocking Valley MC in Lithopolis, OH into a survival race. Off the start I was sitting in third place, but once we got into the woods I made a quick pass into second and then set my sights set on race leader Jason Raines . About a mile into the track Jason made a mistake and I was able to get by. I went on to lead the rest of the lap with Justin Williamson right behind me. J-Dub was able to get by me but then halfway through the second lap I had passed him back and started to open up a gap the rest of the field. Unfortunately, my race took a terrible turn for the worst. The overnight rain had flooded the creeks and I found myself swimming in one of them after I got cross rutted and fell. Some buddies helped me get my bike going again and I finished out the lap but I didn’t want to ruin my bike any more than I had to so I pulled out of the race. I absolutely hate quitting any race but I was more concerned about limping my bike into the pits and taking this coming week to prepare for round 5 of the GNCC series at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. Check back next Monday for what will hopefully be a much better race report from Tennessee! - Kailub
Results:
1 Justin Williamson
2 Jason Raines
3 Cory Buttrick