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Strang
Strikes Again at FMF Steele Creek GNCC
Third win in a row
for Josh Strang
21, 2010) --Josh Strang fended off
intense race-long pressure from FMF/KTM young-gun Cory
Buttrick to win a muddy FMF Steele Creek GNCC - his
third-straight victory of the 2010 Can-Am Grand
National Cross Country season.
A record crowd turned out to watch nearly 1500
competitors go at it in a driving rainstorm in
Morganton, North Carolina, where Strang proved he can
win in all conditions, having won the opening round in
Florida in the sand, round two of the series in the
Georgia clay, and then round three's rain and mud. The
conditions at the Steele Creek campgrounds were
perfect when the race got underway, but a steady rain
moved into the area just as the flag dropped to start
the 3-hour race. From there, conditions deteriorated
quickly as the rain got harder, and in fact, the race
had to be shortened after a gnarly hill at the 8-mile
mark became so muddy nearing the three-hour mark that
nearly 40 riders were stranded on it, forcing
organizers to pull the plug and revert the scoring to
the previous lap.
.
But the going was good when Strang grabbed a rare
holeshot to start the race, pocketing the $250
Motorcycle-USA.com Holeshot Award in the process.
Meanwhile, Buttrick quickly found his way to Strang's
rear fender and the two riders proceeded to pull away
with Am-Pro Yamaha's Paul Whibley, Buttrick's FMF/KTM
teammate Nate Kanney and GEICO/JG Racing/Monster
Kawasaki's Jimmy Jarrett in pursuit.
At the two-hour mark, the Strang-Buttrick battle
had intensified as the two pulled nearly a minute gap
over Kanney, Whibley and Mullins, who were locked in
their own separate battle over third. However, XC2
rider Kailub Russell was starting to make waves of his
own, and on the third lap he turned the fastest lap of
the race, and by the end of the lap he had moved into
third place overall. Russell would turn the fastest
lap again on lap four, but could still not catch the
two leaders, Strang and Buttrick.
On lap six, one of the muddy hills had become so bad
that riders were stuck from top to bottom and when
Strang arrived there was no place to go.
"When we got to the hill there were riders all
over it," said Strang. "And there were
people telling me that we weren't going to make it. So
I decided if I stopped then Cory would stop."
At that point, the organizers decided it would not
be possible to finish the race in the time allowed and
riders were sent back to the pits and the scoring was
reverted to the fifth lap.
Officially, Strang led the event from start to
finish and took the win by some 11 seconds over
Buttrick, with Mullins, Whibley and Kanney rounding
out the top five.
"It got pretty slippery out there and I had to
ride cautious, and Cory was keeping me honest the
entire way," said Strang. "It's great to win
the first three races. They've all been so different,
with the sand, the clay and the mud. But I've worked
hard and it is paying off. I'm having a blast right
now and I think that's been the difference."
Buttrick was thrilled to finish second, after a
disappointing showing at the first two rounds.
"I just tried to stick with Strang all
day," said Buttrick. "There were a couple of
times I felt a little faster, but then I decided to
play it cool. On a day like today, with the
conditions, a second is as good as a win. I needed
this in a bad way."
"When we got to the bottom of the hill I saw
Josh shut his bike off and I was so mad, I wanted to
keep on going," added the 18-year-old. "But
then I heard [Trail Boss] Jeff Russell come over the
radio saying, 'no one move.' So then I knew it was
over."
Despite finishing third in the XC1 division,
Mullins couldn't have started the race any worse than
he did.
"I started dead last, and on the first lap a
guy ended up going down in front of me and I ended up
going down in a ravine," said Mullins. "But
a little luck played in my favor today, I latched onto
Whibley and he got me going into the second-to-last
lap. I'm not happy with how I rode, but I kind of
lucked out and I'll take third."
Kearney rounding out the top six. Rookie sensation
Chris Bach was seventh, with Am-Pro Yamaha's Barry
Hawk Jr., Kenneth Gilbert (KAW) and Eric Bailey (KAW)
finishing eighth, ninth and tenth.
Completing an unbelievable ride on a 250F was
Russell, who ended the day with third overall, in
addition to taking the win in the XC2 class, topping
Monster Energy/FAR/Andrews Yamaha rider Jason Thomas
and GEICO/JG Racing/Monster Kawasaki Scott Watkins.
"Jason led for over a lap and then he took a
bad line and I took a better one and got by him,"
said Russell. "I just put my head down after that
and started catching the pros. I rode with Charlie and
Whibley and enjoyed the race."
Thomas admittedly struggled with the conditions,
despite grabbing the $100 Motorcycle-USA.com holeshot
award.
"I didn't feel good all day and I just
struggled," said Thomas. "Maybe because it
was wet, the two-stroke was spinning a lot more than
the four-strokes and I just had problems. I crashed at
one point and hurt my hand again, but I was able to
come back and finish second."
Top Amateur was Open A rider Jordan Ashburn once
again.
In the morning race, Shane Watts and Rodney Smith
went at it like old times in the Sportsman A class,
with Watts getting the win on this 250 KTM, while
Smith finished second on his fuel injected RMX450Z.
"It's been a long time since I raced with
Rodney and it kind of brings back memories of the
glory days, fighting for the championship," said
Watts. "It's a bit of a bummer  that
he ended up going down."
"I got a pretty good start and I got out front
and then me and Shane started battling like we used
to," explained Smith. "We came to a spot in
the track - a big ravine - and Shane skidded sideways
and missed it and slid into it. I was upside down and
when I finally got out it was in fourth. It took a lap
to regroup and I got back into second."
Maria Forsberg won the Women's division on her
factory KTM, beating defending champ Mandi Mastin on a
Yamaha and JG Off-road's Ashley Crouch from Texas.
The Can-Am Grand National Cross Series will return
in 3 weeks for the Pirelli Big Buck GNCC, held in
Union, S.C. on April 10-11.
XC1 Results:
1. Josh Strang (Suz)
2. Cory Buttrick (KTM)
3. Charlie Mullins (Yam)
4. Paul Whibley (Yam)
5. Nate Kanney (KTM)
6. Glenn Kearney (Hsq)
7. Chris Bach (KTM)
8. Barry Hawk Jr. (Yam)
9. Kenneth Gilbert (Kaw)
10. Eric Bailey (Kaw)
XC1 Standings:
1. Josh Strang (90/3 wins)
2. Chris Bach (60)
3. Charlie Mullins (60)
4. Paul Whibley (54)
5. Cory Buttrick (53)
6. Glenn Kearney (39)
7. Homero Diaz (35)
8. Nate Kanney (34)
9. Kenneth Gilbert (34)
10. Eric Bailey (31)
XC2 Results:
1. Kailub Russell (KTM)
2. Jason Thomas (Yam)
3. Scott Watkins (Kaw)
4. Steward Baylor (KTM)
5. Jesse Robinson (KTM)
6. Dustin Gibson (KTM)
7. Mark Fortner (Hsq)
8. Brain Lawson (Yam)
9. David Snyder (Yam)
10. Nicholas Hunter (KTM)
XC2 Standings:
1. Kaliub Russell (81/2 wins)
2. Jason Thomas (80/1 win)
3. Jesse Robinson (62)
4. Steward Baylor Jr. (50)
5. Scott Watkins (49)
6. Dustin Gibson (46)
7. Josh Weisenfels (37)
8. Jake Korn (30)
9. David Snyder (29)
10. Mark Fortner (25) |
