Round 2 of the 2015 Grand National Cross Country series brings the battle to the red clay of Georgia at Aonia Pass Motocross Park in the city of Washington.
Two-time defending Champion, who started his campaign for a third straight crown had little difficulty in Florida last week after passing Jordan Ashburn shortly after the holeshot and dominating the field for the early lead in points.
Russell, a MotoSport rider, made easy work of his challengers last week but with Round 1 jitters behind all the riders and a forecast calling for rain today and thunderstorms on Saturday it should make for a muddy good time on Sunday with temperatures topping out at 80.
Though Charlie Mullins, Russell's primary challenger in recent years, remains sidelined through May, Josh Strang isn't going anywhere. The 2014 runner-up, played runner-up again at Round 1 taking a well fought second-place after a battle with Ryan Sipes and Thad Duvall. Sipes, the former Motocross/Supercross standout, is in his second year and already looks much improved over his rookie GNCC season and appears ready for title contention. If not for a gnarly crash last week, Sipes would have been on the podium instead of rolling up in sixth. Chris Bach is also showing early fight after he passed Duvall for third mmid-way through Round 1 and fought him off again on the final lap.
Elsewhere, Kacy Martinez is following in the tracks of Russell as the defending WMX Champion made easy work of the field in her class by winning Round 1. Martinez had nine wins last year and took the Women's crown by 18 points without racing in Round 13 and finishing in 12th for Round 12.
The Main Pro Bikes event starts at 1 p.m. (EST) on Sunday at Aonia Pass Motocross Park, 3030 Thomson Road in Washington, GA.
2015 GNCC Overall National Championship Standings
- Kailub Russell (30) - MotoSport rider
- Josh Strang (25)
- Chris Bach (21)
- Thad DuVall (18)
- Tyler Medaglia (16)
- Nick Davis (15)
- Ryan Sipes (14)
- Ricky Russell (13)
- Jason Thomas (12)
- Grant Baylor (11)
2015 WXC (Women's) Class
- Kacy Martinez (20) - MotoSport rider
- Jessica Patterson (19)
- Ashley Copeland (18)
- Mandi Mastin (17)
- Becca Sheets (16)
- Shawn Davidson (15)
- Rachel Gutish (14)
- Shelby Turner (13)
- Tarah Gieger (12)
- Kendall LaFollette (11)
