Russell chased all the way by Bollinger at Tomahawk

GNCC goes down to the wire again in 2018 as Kailub Russell and Trevor Bollinger fight to the flag at Tomahawk – Josh Toth earns his fifth XC2 250 Pro Class win.

Round eight of the 2018 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series was greeted with more than perfect racing conditions as temperatures were in the mid-60’s and a cool breeze on Seneca Highlands for the Dunlop Tomahawk GNCC in Odessa, New York.

XC1 Pro class

Making his return to GNCC, Ryan Sipes grabbed the main event holeshot and lead for the first laps of the race, but ultimately finish in 18th. Kailub Russell and Trevor Bollinger would make the early pass and push forward battling amongst themselves for the three-hour race.

Bollinger came through timing each lap just seconds behind Russell, pushing harder each lap. When the white flag flew Bollinger tried for a last lap charge but finished just 0.8 seconds behind K. Russell. This is Bollinger’s second appearance on the podium this year, and his best performance thus far in the season.

Just two weeks ago in Ohio, Thad Duvall dominated the day but a mid-pack start left him way down on the two front-runners. Duvall worked up to third on the second lap and remained there for the duration of the race. 

Duvall’s team-mate Josh Strang finished fourth after finding himself in the ninth on the second lap. He put his head down from there and made the charge up to fourth.

Ricky Russell ran in podium contention early in the race. No stranger to the top five positions in the XC1 ranks, Ricky earned his second-best finish of the season with a fifth overall in New York.

Steward Baylor and Grant Baylor were not having the race they hoped for. Grant was out after two laps due to a mechanical issue while Steward was putting in a good ride until he blew a fuse on his bike.