Thad DuVall proved he has the speed to run up front, but also that when you crash at that speed it can hurt!

After pulling only his 3rd holeshot ever, it looked like Josh Strang might run away with the Yadkinville GNCC for his 5th win of the season. But somehow through the dust, a charging Charlie Mullins got Strang in his sights and it looked as though we might see an epic battle to the finish like last year’s Somerset GNCC when Strang and Mullins, then teammates, battled tooth and nail to the finish. Unfortunately, Strang took a digger at the end of the 2nd lap that ended his chances for a win, but not before he was able to post the 2nd fastest lap of the day. While Mullins kept a great pace throughout the rest of the race to keep the rest of the contenders at bay, he also set the 3rd fastest lap of the day, on the last lap of the race showing his excellent fitness, and keeping XC2 rider Kailub Russell from being able to nab him for the top spot in the overall standings. All that’s left for us to talk about is the fastest lap of the day, and there’s no real surprise here as Thad DuVall laid down a blistering 29:33 on lap 2, which coincidentally ended up being his last lap of the race as DuVall crashed out with a possible torn rotator cuff on lap 3. As we’ve mentioned before in The Stopwatch, in GNCC racing it rarely matters who can lay down the fastest lap, but rather who can continuously put down fast laps without landing on their head.

XC1 LAP TIMES
Finish	Lap Time Rank	Rider	Lap Number	Lap time
1	3	CHARLES MULLINS	6	0:29:49
2	4	PAUL WHIBLEY	2	0:29:59
3	5	GLENN J KEARNEY	2	0:30:04
4	6	CHRIS BACH	6	0:30:05
5	7	NATHAN KANNEY	3	0:30:06
6	8	CORY BUTTRICK	3	0:30:06
7	9	BARRY HAWK	3	0:30:32
8	11	JEDEDIAH HAINES	1	0:31:10
9	2	JOSHUA STRANG	1	0:29:44
10	12	ERIC BAILEY	2	0:32:07
11	13	KENNETH S GILBERT	1	0:32:40
12	14	BOB SANTHESON	1	0:32:47
13	1	THADDEUS DUVALL	2	0:29:33
14	10	JIM JARRETT	1	0:31:09

Kailub Russell is proving his championship run of 2009 was no fluke as he grabbed his 5th win of the season.

There has been a lot of talk over the past 2 years about an XC2 rider winning an overall GNCC, and it looked like this past Sunday could’ve been the day. Kailub Russell came out of the blocks flying and before the first lap was over was riding in the middle of the XC1 pro pack. While Jason Thomas and Jesse Robinson were left in the dust battling for 2nd and 3rd in the class, Russell was pushing hard all day long for 2nd and 3rd overall. While he came up just short of the overall, finishing 2nd-overall and a mere :52 seconds behind Mullins, KR did manage to set the 3rd fastest lap of the day with a 29:47, making him the only XC2 rider to dip into the 29-minute range, and 1 of 4 riders to do it all day. Young gun Steward Baylor set the 2nd-fastest lap in the XC2 class with a 30:25, with Jason Thomas 3rd with a 30:26 and Jesse Robinson 3rd with a 30:30. Kudos go out to Thomas and Robinson for battling so hard to the finish, it’s pretty cool to see two guys charging and battling so hard on the last lap of a three-hour race.

XC2 LAP TIMES
Finish	Lap Time Rank	Rider	Lap Number	Lap time
1	1	KAILUB K RUSSELL	3	0:29:47
2	3	JASON THOMAS	1	0:30:26
3	4	JESSE ROBINSON	4	0:30:30
4	2	STEWARD BAYLOR	1	0:30:25
5	5	SCOTT WATKINS	3	0:31:13
6	6	MARK J FORTNER	1	0:32:06
7	7	DAVID A SNYDER	1	0:32:08
8	8	BRIAN K LAWSON	1	0:32:58
9	10	NICHOLAS HUNTER	1	0:33:01
10	9	CHRIS SPEAR	1	0:32:59

Josh Strang took the Big Buck win and in the process set the race's fastest lap time.

Coming into the Big Buck GNCC, Josh Strang had two streaks going: the first is the obvious one, he had won the first three rounds of the series. If you read the Stopwatch every week (like you should!) the second streak will be obvious to you as well, in his three wins Strang hadn’t set the fastest lap in any of the races. In GNCC racing it’s not necessarily about who is the fastest, but who can keep up the fastest pace for the grueling three hours. On Sunday afternoon in the process of extending his win streak, Strang broke his not-having-the-fastest-lap streak when he put down a blazing fast 29:18 lap on the 5th of 6 laps or racing. This was the lap he made his pass on Thad DuVall, and Strang wasted no time doing his best to run away and hide. DuVall inched closer on that final lap of racing, but was forced to slow down after a rock knocked out his goggle lens.

The big question coming out of Big Buck, is who is going to stop the FMF/Makita Suzuki of Strang? He’s won in the sand, won in the clay, won in the mud, and won in a come-from-behind fashion in the dust in South Carolina after running down one of the fastest riders in the series. Strang won at Loretta’s and Somerset last year, got his first-ever GNCC win at Yadkinville in 2008 (and a 2nd in 2009), and has finished on the podium at the John Penton the last two years. His confidence must be at an all-time high while the rest of his competitors are left scratching their heads.

XC1 LAP TIMES
Finish	Lap Time Rank	Rider	Lap Number	Lap time
1	1	JOSHUA V STRANG	5	0:29:18
2	2	THADDEUS DUVALL	4	0:29:31
3	2	PAUL J WHIBLEY	6	0:29:31
4	4	CHARLES D MULLINS	4	0:29:33
5	8	GLENN J KEARNEY	2	0:30:04
6	7	CORY J BUTTRICK	6	0:30:03
7	6	BARRY HAWK	3	0:30:02
8	5	CHRISTOPHER BACH	4	0:30:00
9	9	NATHAN A KANNEY	3	0:30:38
10	10	ERIC BAILEY	2	0:31:20
11	12	KENNETH S GILBERT	2	0:31:56
12	13	ROBERT SANTHESON	2	0:32:00
13	14	JEDEDIAH HAINES	4	0:33:21
14	15	PAUL PETRIN	4	0:33:42
15	11	JIM JARRETT	2	0:31:34

Kailub Russell couldn't duplicate his 3rd-overall from 2009, but he did win his class and set the fastest lap time in the XC2 Pro Lites class.

At last year’s Big Buck GNCC, Kailub Russell finished an impressive 3rd overall from the second row, making many wonder if he’d be the first rider to win a race overall that wasn’t in the XC1 Pro class. The 2010 Big Buck track certainly made that a possibility, as an extremely tight section in the first miles of the track slowed the pace of the XC1 riders tremendously and allowed the XC2 class to catch them early on. Halfway through the first lap, Kailub Russell and Jason Thomas were both physically inside the top-10 overall with Jordan Ashburn leading the overall and Thomas and Russell rounding out the top-3. Thing would eventually become more spread out over the course of the race, but Russell kept his charge on until the last lap, recording a 29:43, good enough for him to secure the race win, 5th-place overall, and the 5th fastest lap time of the day. Many have questioned Russell’s endurance and training regimen, but to be able to lay down your fastest lap in on the last lap, and not to mention only the 5th rider to dip below 30-minutes for a lap is pretty good sign that whatever it is he’s doing works!

XC2 LAP TIMES
Finish	Lap Time Rank	Rider	Lap Number	Lap time
1	1	KAILUB K RUSSELL	6	0:29:43
2	2	JESSE ROBINSON	3	0:30:12
3	5	STEWARD L BAYLOR	2	0:30:39
4	4	JASON THOMAS	3	0:30:37
5	3	SCOTT WATKINS	2	0:30:36
6	8	DAVID A SNYDER	2	0:31:55
7	6	DUSTIN GIBSON	4	0:31:14
8	10	JASON GREER	2	0:32:13
9	9	MARK J FORTNER	2	0:31:56
10	11	BRIAN K LAWSON	2	0:32:30
11	12	NICHOLAS HUNTER	2	0:33:07
12	7	COREY MACDONALD	2	0:31:49
13	13	CHRIS SPEAR	5	0:35:05
14	14	MAT G HERRINGTON	2	0:36:33

XC1 LAP TIMES
Finish	Lap Time Rank	Rider	Lap Number	Lap time
1	2	JOSHUA V STRANG	2	0:25:56
2	3	CORY J BUTTRICK	2	0:25:58
3	1	CHARLES D MULLINS	2	0:25:55
4	6	PAUL J WHIBLEY	2	0:26:28
5	4	NATHAN A KANNEY	2	0:26:13
6	7	GLENN J KEARNEY	2	0:26:29
7	8	CHRISTOPHER BACH	2	0:26:45
8	9	BARRY HAWK	2	0:26:50
9	12	KENNETH S GILBERT	2	0:27:48
10	11	ERIC BAILEY	2	0:27:42
11	14	HOMERO DIAZ	2	0:28:32
12	18	RYAN S GAINEY	3	0:29:54
13	15	ROBERT SANTHESON	2	0:28:58
14	19	JEREMY L SMITH	2	0:32:27
15	16	JEDEDIAH HAINES	2	0:29:14
16	5	THADDEUS DUVALL	2	0:26:18
17	10	JIM JARRETT	2	0:27:16
18	13	COREY M ARBOGAST	2	0:28:23
DNF	17	KEVIN L WALKER	2	0:29:42
DNF	20	JAKOB MORHED	DNF

Kailub Russell got his 2nd win and a row, and also set the fastest lap time.

In the XC2 Pro Lites class, Round 2 Winner and defending champ Kailub Russell came through the barrels after a short lap one in 2nd place, then turned on the after burners and began a charge to not only the front of his class, but to the front of the entire race. Russell’s 2nd lap of 26:19 was good enough for the fastest lap in his class by 18 seconds, and also good enough to situate him into the top-3 overall in the race, not only on adjusted time but physically on the track. When the race was called in the middle of lap 5, Russell was the 3rd pro to get to the huge bottleneck behind XC1 Pros Josh Strang and Kailub Russell. A couple of things to keep an eye on in XC2 as the season progresses will be if any of the XC2 riders can do what has never been done before, claim an overall race win from the second row. The second thing to watch is the battle between the four stroke and the two stroke. At Steele Creek the two stroke claimed 7 of the top-10 spots, but missed out on the one that matters most, the top of the podium.

XC2 LAP TIMES
Finish	Lap Time Rank	Rider	Lap Number	Lap time
1	1	KAILUB K RUSSELL	2	0:26:19
2	3	JASON THOMAS	2	0:26:37
3	2	SCOTT WATKINS	2	0:26:26
4	5	STEWARD L BAYLOR	2	0:27:16
5	6	JESSE ROBINSON	2	0:27:16
6	8	DUSTIN GIBSON	2	0:28:12
7	12	MARK J FORTNER	2	0:29:27
8	14	BRIAN LAWSON	2	0:30:21
9	9	DAVID A SNYDER	2	0:28:49
10	11	NICHOLAS HUNTER	2	0:29:16
11	7	COREY MACDONALD	2	0:28:08
12	13	REFUGIO GARCIA	2	0:29:58
13	15	CHRIS SPEAR	2	0:30:55
14	4	JOSH C WEISENFELS	2	0:27:08
15	17	BRAD T BAKKEN	2	0:32:25
16	16	CODY J MUMMERT	2	0:31:13
17	10	RYAN ECHOLS	2	0:28:59
18	18	JOHNATHAN WOODFORD	2	0:37:38

Thad DuVall showed he still has the speed to run up front and battle for race wins.

In the XC1 Pro Class Thad DuVall did his best to runaway hide from the field pulling out to a 49 second lead over Josh Strang by the end of the 3rd lap. On the 4th lap Strang cut the lead down to 31 seconds, and on the 5th lap actually passed DuVall after he crashed. DuVall was able to get back past Strang, but ended up crashing again, even harder this time and pulled out of the race after lap 5. In a similar fashion to the first round, Josh Strang played it cool the first half of the race then turned on the heat in the final laps. In laps 4-6, Strang was the only rider to dip into the 22 minute range of lap times, stretching his lead to over a minute. While he cooled it off on laps 7 and 8, Strang continued to extend his lead to over 2 minutes at the finish. It’ll be interesting to see in the coming weeks if riders will continue to try and check out in the early stages of the race as Mullins and DuVall have done in the first two rounds, or if they’ll play it a bit more cool as has worked out so well for Strang thus far.

XC1 LAP TIMES
Finish	Lap Time Rank	Rider	Lap Number	Lap time
1	3	JOSHUA V STRANG	4	0:22:49
2	5	PAUL J WHIBLEY	2	0:22:54
3	6	CHRISTOPHER BACH	2	0:22:54
4	2	CHARLES D MULLINS	2	0:22:43
5	4	NATHAN A KANNEY	2	0:22:51
6	8	CORY J BUTTRICK	2	0:23:27
7	7	RUSSELL A BOBBITT	2	0:23:25
8	12	HOMERO DIAZ	2	0:24:26
9	13	KENNETH S GILBERT	2	0:24:28
10	9	ERIC BAILEY	2	0:24:18
11	14	NICK FAHRINGER	2	0:24:43
12	10	GLENN J KEARNEY	4	0:24:18
13	15	COREY M ARBOGAST	1	0:25:02
14	16	JEDEDIAH HAINES	2	0:25:25
15	17	ROBERT SANTHESON	4	0:25:28
16	18	JAKOB MORHED	1	0:26:50
17	1	THADDEUS DUVALL	2	0:22:19
18	11	BARRY HAWK	2	0:24:22
DNF		JIM JARRETT
DNF		BLAKE WOOD

Kailub Russell couldn't find his groove until late in the race, but it was good enough for the fastest lap time and the race win.

The XC2 race was a heated battle early on, with Steward Baylor, Jesse Robinson, Jason Thomas, and eventual race winner Kailub Russell all leading laps through the first 6 laps of the race. Kailub Russell complained about arm pump on the podium, and we actually saw him come through the pits on the first lap and literally coast down pit row while attempting to shake both of his arms out. It must’ve worked as Russell put in his fastest lap, and the fastest lap of the class on the 7th lap of the 8 lap race. If Russell is able to fix his arm pump problem (one he mentioned in Florida as well), Jason Thomas’ wrist heals up, and Jesse Robinson can improve his fitness in the next two weeks we should be in for some more good racing in the XC2 class at Steele Creek. We also can’t forget about riders like Steward Baylor, Josh Weisenfels, Scott Watkins, and Jake Korn who are all podium contenders that have yet to find their groove this season.

XC2 LAP TIMES
Finish	Lap Time Rank	Rider	Lap Number	Lap Time
1	1	KAILUB K RUSSELL	7	0:23:18
2	3	JASON THOMAS	2	0:23:27
3	2	JESSE ROBINSON	2	0:23:21
4	9	STEWARD L BAYLOR	3	0:24:19
5	6	DUSTIN GIBSON	8	0:24:04
6	4	SCOTT WATKINS	2	0:23:59
7	8	JAKE A KORN	2	0:24:15
8	7	BRAD T BAKKEN	1	0:24:12
9	5	JOSH C WEISENFELS	2	0:24:02
10	10	ROBBY NORWOOD	2	0:24:36
11	13	DAVID A SNYDER	2	0:25:50
12	14	MARK J FORTNER	2	0:25:52
13	23	BRIAN LAWSON	2	0:27:28
14	15	NICHOLAS HUNTER	2	0:25:59
15	20	GUY GIROUX	3	0:26:46
16	18	JIM M SENECAL	4	0:26:24
17	17	JASON GREER	2	0:26:20
18	19	JOHNATHAN WOODFORD	5	0:26:44
19	24	ADAM S VOLPE	4	0:27:35
20	25	GRANT L MARYOTT	2	0:28:04
21	26	CHRIS SPEAR	2	0:28:37
22	27	JOSH LOJAK	2	0:30:38
23	16	JOSHUA K MONSRUD	3	0:26:01
24	22	ETHAN S BROATCH	1	0:27:20
25	11	RYAN ECHOLS	2	0:25:03
26	28	MATTHEW STEWART	1	0:33:13
27	12	COREY MACDONALD	1	0:25:13
28	21	REFUGIO GARCIA	1	0:26:57

XC1 LAP TIMES
Finish	Lap Time Rank	Rider	Lap Number	Lap time
1	3	JOSHUA STRANG	2	28:30
2	4	CHRISTOPHER BACH	2	28:30
3	1	CHARLIE MULLINS	2	28:13
4	2	JIM JARRETT	2	28:25
5	8	THAD DUVALL	3	29:04
6	5	GLENN J KEARNEY	2	28:36
7	7	BARRY HAWK	2	29:00
8	10	CORY J BUTTRICK	2	29:10
9	13	HOMERO DIAZ	2	30:06
10	6	PAUL J WHIBLEY	2	28:40
11	12	KENNETH S GILBERT	2	30:04
12	14	ERIC BAILEY	2	30:41
13	16	BOB SANTHESON	2	31:50
14	11	TAKESHI KOIKEDA	2	29:13
15	15	COREY M ARBOGAST	2	31:37
16	17	KOBAYASHI MASAHIRO	2	32:38
17	20	JACOB MORHED	2	35:08
18	21	MATT D WEAVER	2	35:11
19	9	NATHAN A KANNEY	2	29:05
20	18	JEDEDIAH HAINES	2	32:54
21	19	MARTIN LIND	3	35:03
22	22	CLAYTON ENSLIN	2	36:03

Charlie Mullins had the fastest lap time of the day, but a mishap on lap 4 dropped him to 3rd place overall.

Charlie Mullins took the early lead in the XC1 Pro Class and was doing his best to check out from the rest of the field. Mullins laid down a 28:13 lap on the 2nd lap of the race (which was the first full lap, as the track had the riders come through the finish 2 miles after the start) and continued to hammer down the next two laps extending his lead to 45 seconds over Josh Strang after lap 3. As you would expect in Florida, as the race went on and the track grew increasingly more rough, the lap times began to drop. On the 4th lap Strang knocked 15 seconds off of Mullins lead and it was looking that if the lap times were to stay the same it would have Mullins and Strang within a second of each other by the finish. This ended up not mattering as Mullins stalled his bike while skimming a water hole and dropped nearly a minute and a half to Strang and Chris Bach. The last two laps saw Bach and Strang battle it out, passing each other multiple times. Bach edged Strang by 2 seconds on the last lap, but it wasn’t enough as Strang held on to win the overall by 6 seconds.

XC2 LAP TIMES
Finish	Lap Time Rank	Rider	Lap Number	Lap Time
1	1	JASON THOMAS	2	28:41
2	3	JESSE ROBINSON	2	29:20
3	2	KAILUB K RUSSELL	2	29:11
4	4	JOSH C WEISENFELS	3	29:36
5	8	JAKE A KORN	2	30:55
6	9	DUSTIN GIBSON	2	31:10
7	6	STEWARD L BAYLOR	2	30:04
8	5	SCOTT WATKINS	2	29:59
9	10	TRAVIS HULLFISH	2	31:28
10	7	COREY MACDONALD	2	30:19
11	12	ROBBY NORWOOD	2	31:57
12	14	REFUGIO GARCIA	2	32:19
13	17	JOSHUA K MONSRUD	2	33:00
14	11	DAVID A SNYDER	2	31:42
15	18	NICHOLAS HUNTER	2	33:02
16	13	CODY J MUMMERT	2	32:11
17	20	GUY GIROUX	2	33:31
18	16	BRIAN LAWSON	2	32:57
19	19	MARK J FORTNER	2	33:16
20	21	NOEL BOLSO	2	33:40
21	25	JOSH LOJAK	2	36:10
22	24	JAMES S GAINES	2	36:07
23	15	JOSEPH SCHERER	3	32:27
24	22	JUSTIN WILLIAMSON	2	34:15
25	23	DAVID S KILGORE	2	35:37
26	27	BRAD J HOFFMAN	2	1:01:00
27	26	SHANE OBANION	2	37:12
28	28	JOHN B DAY

Jason Thomas is the first XC2 Pro Lites winner on a 2 stroke. Can he do it again in the Georgia clay?

In the XC2 Pro Lites class it was the Jason Thomas show all day long. Thomas jumped out to an early lead and capitalized on his biggest rival in the class, defending champ Kailub Russell’s first turn crash by basically running away and hiding. Thomas put down a blistering fast 28:41 on the 2nd lap and had quickly began to catch XC1 Pro riders who had started a minute before him. Thomas hooked up with friend and XC1 Racer Thad DuVall and the two put down a few fast laps and grew Thomas’ lead in the process. It’ll be interesting to see how the YZ250 2-stroke of Thomas does in the clay of Georgia where he may have less of an advantage over Russell’s 4-stroke KTM.