Strang spent his winter in Australia and then California, and the hard work is paying off.

Coming into the season did you have any idea that you would have won the first two rounds and sitting with the points lead?
After all of the training and riding I’ve been doing back in Australia I figured I had a pretty good chance at winning, but not many people have been able to win both races. My goal was to really try and finish top 3 in both races, I probably wouldn’t have been happy without a win but it would’ve been a better start than last year. And also, given the crash I had a few weeks before the season started we were all a little bit worried about how I was gonna go, but thankfully everything went to plan.

I’m not too sure many people even knew you had a bad crash before the season started, so explain a little about what happened.
We didn’t tell many people, I figured it’d be better to keep it kind of hush-hush, but yeah, I had a crash practicing moto one day. It was pretty gnarly, at first I thought I had busted my femur. I cartwheeled and my handlebars punched me in the side of the leg. I got it x-rayed and it was okay, but I ended up having to do a week’s worth of physio. I think I got away pretty lucky there for sure.

After running out of gas in last year's Florida GNCC, Strang left round 1 this year with a points lead.

The Florida GNCC is so different than all the other races in the series and a lot of guys seem to spend so much time down there riding in the sand, but you didn’t get to Florida until the Friday before the race and you ended up winning.
It’s a sand race and I’ve always felt reasonably comfortable in the sand. We have a bit of sand out here in California and I really don’t feel the need to ride in it for that long to get ready for just one race. I went and rode Croome one day and felt good so I didn’t really do a whole lot of sand riding. I think a lot of guys go down there early to get out of the cold but I was out here in California where it wasn’t cold and there wasn’t any snow so that was kind of a bonus for me.

Leading up to Florida you had been doing a lot of motocross racing but you hadn’t done an off-road race since the Japanese Cross Country race back in November. Were you feeling prepared coming into Florida having not done a GNCC-style race in close to 5 months?
Some people need to race to get up to speed but I’ve been riding motocross and I think that’s what works best for me. I’ve just been pounding out the motos and it seems to be working good for me.

A winter of riding motocross in California has Strang confident in his speed.

Last year you ran out of gas in Florida and had to play catch up in the points all season long. This year you’re in a much better position, and kind of ironically Paul Whibley ended up running out of fuel in Florida this year and is in a similar situation that you experienced. Are you thinking much about having that point lead right now?
Nah, you can’t think about that at all. It’s a really long series and a lot can happen. Like you said, Whibs ran out of gas in Florida but I really think that he’s going to be a factor the rest of the series. He’s the guy that won last year and there’s a reason he won, he’ll be strong for the whole championship. And there’s obviously a lot of other really fast guys and I’m not ruling anyone out at the moment. So yeah, I can’t think too much about a small championship lead and two race wins this early.

These first two GNCCs we’ve seen guys really sprint the first few laps of the race and try to open up huge leads. In both races you’ve kind of just played it cool and it’s worked out for you. Is it your plan to take it slow like that, and do you get nervous when a guy has pulled a minute lead after a few laps?
I’ve done a lot of hard work over the off season to be able to finish how I finish. But those guys can sprint but what’s the point if you can’t keep it up for the last few laps when it really matters. I’m sure I could sprint with them but they end up having problems and don’t win the race. I’m not trying to be a smart ass or anything, but I think I’m a smart racer and I seem to get good results and I don’t want to change what’s working for me. Sometimes I guess I do get a bit worried, like Thad was riding really good over the weekend, but he’s riding so fast that something is gonna happen. And obviously something did happen, he clipped that tree and went down really hard. I really just have to focus on my own race and not worry too much about what anyone else is doing.

Knowing it's a long season with a lot of fierce competitions, Josh is keeping his first to race wins in perspective.

We’ve heard that Thad crashed really bad but haven’t heard exactly what happened. I’m assuming it must’ve been pretty gnarly because you literally stopped on the side of the trail to tell me that he crashed and it looked bad, I’m not so sure how many guys would give up time in a race to let someone know about that.
He was just far enough ahead so I couldn’t see exactly, but I just saw him and his bike flying through the air. There was a rut coming through the corner so he may have gotten cross-rutted and clipped the tree. But whatever it was it wasn’t good and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Thankfully he’s alright and I guess not too long after I passed him he got back up and was able to ride it back to the pits. You know, if I was laying out there in the middle of the trail I really hope someone would stop and let someone know I was there! It’s just the right thing to do and I was worried for Thad and I just felt like it was what I should do.

Okay, let’s switch gears a bit, what’s it like being the only guy in that big Suzuki rig?
You know so far it’s been pretty good. There are times when I kind of wish I had someone to go ridding with. But at these last two races we had 6 people or so there and everyone of them wants me to win. Everyone is pushing for me to win and there’s no mixed emotions like if there was another rider and obviously his mechanic would want him to win. Right now I really think it’s better than having more than one rider. I know I’ve got a good team behind me and they’re all super pumped right now!

Well, that’s pretty  much all I’ve got. Thanks for taking the time for the interview and see you in North Carolina next weekend!
No worries, thank you!

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

Josh Strang battles early in the race with Russell Bobbitt.

Washington, Georgia (March 7th, 2010) – For the second race in a row, Josh Strang put his FMF Makita Suzuki on the top step of the podium, declaring himself the man to beat in this year’s Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series. The 21-year-old Australian’s latest win came at the Maxxis General GNCC, round two of the 13-round series in Washington, Georgia, and gives him a 14-point lead in the series standings.

“I’ve worked hard for this and it feels good,” said Strang. “And to get two wins is great. I got a good start, perhaps the best start I’ve ever got on the 450, and I rode well. I think I was better prepared for this race than I was in last week’s race in the sand and my bike worked awesome, so it was a good day for us.”

Early on in the three-hour race, Strang trailed Am-Pro Yamaha’s Thad DuVall, who threatened to run away and hide during the first two laps. However, DuVall’s day came to an end when he crashed heavily at about the midway point of the race.

“I rode kind of steady on the first lap and then Thad passed me and he simply checked out,” said Strang. “But then I came around and DuVall was on the side of the track – I guess he crashed – and I stopped to see if he was okay. He got going again and he passed me and then he crashed again – he just freakin’ ate it.”

Chris Bach kept rode a smart, steady race and nabbed his 2nd GNCC XC1 podium finish in as many races.

After DuVall dropped out, Strang cruised to an easy victory, crossing the finish line with two minutes to spare over Am-Pro Yamaha’s Paul Whibley, who was happy to be on the podium after running out of gas at the opening round in Florida.

“I was actually racing with Josh [Strang] during the middle part of the race, but I tangled with a lapper and stalled my bike and lost maybe half a minute,” said Whibley. “After that, Josh got away and I could never catch him. That’s pretty much my race.”

Chris Bach rebounded from a poor start to finish third, his second-straight podium finish.

“The first lap was chaos,” said Bach. “I just stayed safe for a while and then started moving up. I caught up to Whibley and I thought if I latched onto to him we would ended up in the top five, which is where I wanted to be.”

Indeed, Bach followed Whibley into the top five, and then when DuVall crashed out and FMF KTM’s Nate Kanney got stuck in a rut, Bach inherited third.

Paul Whibley was glad to be on the podium after a tough race in Florida.

“This is great, having back to back rides like this,” said Bach. “I want to keep it going all year.”

Fourth went to AM-Pro Yamaha’s Charlie Mullins, who came from last place, after getting caught up in a first turn crash. Meanwhile, fifth went to FMF KTM’s Nate Kanney. Kanney ran as high as second place on the opening lap, but was taken out two different times by lappers, moving him back down the order. During the final hour, Kanney made his way back towards the front but got stuck in one of the many mud holes and dropped back to fifth.

Cory Buttrick finished sixth, ahead of three-time AMA National Enduro Champion Russell Bobbitt, who also claimed the holeshot at the start of the race, collecting the $250 Motorcycle-USA.com Holeshot Award. Bobbitt managed the holeshot on perhaps the only 250 two-stroke in the XC1 class.

Mexican national enduro champ Homero Diaz was eighth on a KTM, while Kawasaki riders Ken Gaffney and Eric Bailey rounded out the top 10.

Defending XC2 Champ Kailub Russell grabbed his first win of the season after a fierce battle with Jason Thomas and Jesse Robinson.

FMF KTM’s Kailub Russell got back to his winning ways, taking a hard-earned win in the XC2 class. The defending XC2 champ battled for most of the race with Monster Energy/FAR Racing/ Andrews Cycles-backed Jason Thomas and Ride PG’s KTM-mounted Jesse Robinson, before making his move on the final lap to take the win.

“I felt like I rode horrible today, but I was able to get it done,” said Russell. “The first few laps I had arm pump like crazy and I couldn’t do anything. But I finally got in a groove and things started clicking.”

Thomas earned the $100 Motocycle-USA.com Holeshot Award to kick off the race, and then fell in behind Robinson to check out the lines.

“Jesse had awesome lines so I followed him for a while,” said Thomas, who is recovering from a dislocated wrist. “He had smoother lines and I was able to pick up on them. Then I managed to pass him on the last lap to take second.”

Robinson was pleased with second, and even more pleased to have led part of the race.

“This is probably the best ride I’ve ever had here,” said Robinson. “I passed Kailub and pulled a little bit of a lead, but then I had to pit for gas and they caught up.”

KTM riders Steward Baylor and Dustin Gibson rounded out the top five.

For the second race in a row, Open A rider Jordan Ashburn claimed the Top Amateur Award.

The Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series resumes on March 20-21 with the FMF Steele Creek GNCC in Morganton, North Carolina.

XC1 Results:

1. Josh Strang (Suz)

2. Paul Whibley (Yam)

3. Chris Bach (KTM)

4. Charlie Mullins (Yam)

5. Nate Kanney (KTM)

6. Cory Buttrick (KTM)

7. Russell Bobbitt (KTM)

8. Homero Diaz (KTM)

9. Ken Gaffney (Kaw)

10. Eric Bailey (Kaw)

XC1 Standings:

1. Josh Strang (60/2 wins)

2. Chris Bach (46)

3. Charlie Mullins (39)

4. Paul Whibley (36)

5. Cory Buttrick (28)

6. Homero Diaz (25)

7. Glenn Kearney (24)

8. Kenneth Gilbert (22)

9. Eric Bailey (20)

10. Nate Kanney (18)

XC2 Results:

1. Kailub Russell (KTM)

2. Jason Thomas (Yam)

3. Jesse Robinson (KTM)

4. Steward Baylor (KTM)

5. Dustin Gibson (KTM)

6. Scott Watkins (Kaw)

7. Jake Korn (KTM)

8. Brad Bakken (KTM)

9. Josh Weisenfels (Kaw)

10. Robby Norwood (Kaw)

XC2 Standings:

1. Jason Thomas (55/1 win)

2. Kailub Russell (51/1 win)

3. Jesse Robsinson (46)

4. Steward Baylor (32)

5. Dustin Gibson (31)

6. Jake Korn (30)

7. Josh Weisenfels (30)

8. Scott Watkins (28)

9 Robby Norwood (21)

10. David Snyder (17)

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.

Ian prepares for the Pro2 start.

Back from Primm Nevada WORCS (at 6:00AM after pulling an all nighter)! Ian rode well in the Pro2 Final, overcoming an almost last place start out of a field of 24 Pros. The race was 2 hours long, he methodically worked his was through the field and with two laps to go was up to 6th. The 5th place rider was within sight, his lap times were good and we were looking solid for a top 5 finish with 30 minutes to go.

There was a gnarly, 5th gear pinned straightaway on the back part of the course that had the riders hitting 60+MPH and Ian hit a hole, swapped out and took a serious digger. When he ran to his bike he discovered the crash had severed the starter wires. On KTM’s there is no kickstarter, so by the time he manually “hotwired” the bike his race was basically over. Ian was credited with a 14^th overall after limping to the finish.

The Stillwell Performance pit crew

On the bright side, his times we very competitive, the suspension setup we used was spot on and the kid is in awesome shape, as he was faster at the end of the race and was moving to the front at a good clip.

We will be headed to Lake Havasu, Arizona at the end of March for the next round. Ian is looking to redeem himself and we will be stoked to be there. Be sure to stop by the Stillwell Performance pit and say hello!

Keep It Pinned!

Alan

End of lap two we were in for gas (as most riders did) as we elected not to push the gas mileage in the thick sand. With a freah pair of Smiths restoring my vision I managed to catch back up to Josh Strang who was running in 3rd. Part way into that lap my vent hose for the tank came loose and begain splashing gas everywere. I came into pit again at the end of the 3rd lap to refuel and for a quick repair. I had lost some time and dropped well back. I pushed hard and regained some positions but had to pit again at the end of the 4th lap to make sure I had enough gas to finish the last to laps of the race. After working my way up to 4th I ran out of gas just under a mile from the finish. I ran out to the pits and borrowed some gas from the some guys who were pitting track side. By the time I made it to the finish I was down to 10th XC1 and 15th overall. Very disappointing start to the year and one that leaves me with a lot of work to do.

Lake Wales, Florida (March 2nd, 2010) —

\Nearly 1200 riders representing eight countries attended the series opener, which saw no less than five different riders hold the lead at one point or another in the highly competitive XC1 division.

At the drop of the green flag, it was defending series champ Paul Whibley taking the $250 Motorcycle-USA.com Holeshot Award on his Am-Pro WR450F. Meanwhile, Strang was at the back of the pack after his bike failed to start on the first kick. At the end of the first lap, however, it was last year’s River Ranch winner, Charlie Mullins, holding a lead the Obermeyer/Am-Pro Yamaha rider eventually turned into a 45-second advantage. And at the midway point of the race, Mullins looked to be well on his way to his second-straight River Ranch win, however he eventually fell victim to one of the waterholes that littered the rough and sandy 14-mile course.

“There was one little pond that we were hydroplaning across, and I splashed up some water and my engine sucked it on and quit on me,” said Mullins. “I kicked and kicked and finally got it going, but after that I was pretty winded for the rest of the race.”

Mullins’ ordeal left Strang with a bit of breathing room out front, until late in the race when Bach moved up to challenge. During the first two hours of the race, Bach had methodically worked his way up into a top-three position, and when Mullins drowned out, it left only Strang in front of him.

“I got a surprisingly good start, which I wasn’t expecting to get, but unfortunately someone in front of me made a mistake in a mud hole and covered me with mud,” said Bach. “I had to stop and pull all the tear-offs off my goggles and by the time I got going I was all the way back in last.”

“After I got going, I just settled down and was moving up,” added Bach. “I was watching my pit board and it said I was in fifth, and then fourth, and then the next thing I knew I was in third behind Mullins and Strang. Then when Mullins had problems, I knew the only one left in front of me after that was Strang.”

Bach caught Strang during the final hour, and passed him in the palmetto section. However, Strang retook the lead when Bach stopped for gas. Bach took the lead again when Strang fell in the palmetto section, but Strang reclaimed the lead, this time for good, when Bach took a wide line around a lapper about two miles before the finish.

“I’m stoked to get the win and get off to a good start for once,” said Strang, who has had bad luck at the Florida race in each of the last three years.

Perhaps the biggest story of the race was Bach, a privateer from Indiana who was making his first ride in the XC1 class after finishing as the top Amateur in last year’s series.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this and I sure didn’t think it would come today,” said Bach. “Performance SuperCycle and Clockwork KTM are helping me, and I owe them a lot of thanks, but it is basically a privateer effort.”
Despite his troubles, Mullins was able to salvage a third.

“I’ll take third, I’m okay with that,” said Mullins. “It’s a long season and I just gotta keep at it. I was happy with the way I rode, I was able to put the bad luck out of my mind and keep pushing.”

Whibley held the fourth position on the final lap, but ran out of gas within a mile of the finish, handing fourth to GEICO/JG Racing/Monster Kawasaki’s Jimmy Jarrett.

Australian Husqvarna rider Glenn Kearney ran as high as fifth, but went over the bars on lap four and dropped back a couple of spots. Kearney worked back up and passed Jarrett for fifth, but crashed again on lap five.

“I finally passed Whibley when he ran out of fuel on the last lap and I thought I was going to end up with fifth, but then DuVall caught me by surprise at the end and I ended up with sixth,” said Kearney.

Am-Pro Yamaha’s DuVall wound up with fifth, ahead of Kearney, while seventh went to veteran Barry Hawk, also on an Am-Pro Yamaha.

Factory FMF/KTM Off-Road’s Cory Buttrick, who moved into the XC1 class for 2010, finished eighth, with Mexico’s Enduro Champion Homero Diaz finishing ninth on a KTM, ahead of the unlucky Whibley.

In the XC2 division, Jason “UK7″ Thomas took advantage of the new rule, which allows 250 two-strokes to compete with 250 four-strokes in the Lites class this year, riding a Monster Energy/FAR Racing/ Andrews Cycles-backed YZ250 two-stroke to a first place finish in the division.

Last year’s champ Factory FMF/KTM Off-Road’s Kailub Russell went down in the first turn, but recovered to finish third, despite tearing the skin off his hand on the choppy course.

“I just washed out the front in the first turn, but going into the woods I was already in third, so I was pumped about that,” said Russell. “The skin ripped on my hand and it was pretty bad after that.

Jesse Robinson, riding a two-stroke KTM, capitalized on Russell’s injury to claim second.

“I was behind Thomas at the start but I kind of pumped up, and then Kailub caught me,” said Robinson. “Later in the race, I just picked it up and moved into second.”

Meanwhile, Kawasaki rider Josh Weisenfels and KTM-mounted Jake Korn rounded out the top five.

John Day grabbed the $100 Motorcycle-USA.com Holeshot Award at the start of the XC2 race.

Open A Rider Jordan Ashburn claimed the Top Amateur Award.

The second round of the Can-Am Grand National Cross Country series, The Maxxis General GNCC, is this weekend, March 6-7, in Washington Georgia.

For more information, log on to www.gnccracing.com.

XC1 Results:

1. Josh Strang (Suz)
2. Chris Bach (KTM)
3. Charlie Mullins (Yam)
4. Jimmy Jarrett (Kaw)
5. Thad DuVall (Yam)
6. Glenn Kearney (Hus)
7. Barry Hawk Jr. (Yam)
8. Cory Buttrick (KTM)
9. Homero Diaz (KTM)
10. Paul Whibley (Yam)

XC2 Results:
1. Jason Thomas (Yam)
2. Jesse Robinson (KTM)
3. Kailub Russell (KTM)
4. Josh Weisenfels (Kaw)
5. Jake Korn (KTM)
6. Dustin Gibson (KTM)
7. Steward Baylor (KTM)
8. Scott Watkins (Kaw)
9. Travis Hullfish (Kaw)
10. Corey MacDonald (Yam)