2020 GNCC Round 1 Big Buck Bikes - MAVTV

for seven years the number one plate has stayed right here in the hands of caleb russell but the tables have turned this season as caleb announced his retirement giving the competition one last chance to dethrone him vandavall stew baylor josh strang and rookie ben kelly are hungry for the top spot will caleb be able to win again in his final professional season the chase for the grand national cross country championship begins next are you ready to go [Music] here we are in union south carolina for the vp racing fuels big buck gncc presented by specialized riders now prepare their focus on what they hope to be a strong start to the 2020 season and a new look for some of our riders including this guy lane michael joining the ampro yamaha racing team and ricky russell joining the coastal racing team aboard the husk barnum and hard not to talk about another rider on everyone's mind ben kelly will he continue his path of success of course thad duvall knows this is his last opportunity to win a championship against rival caleb russell we take a look now at the results of last season caleb winning his seventh national championship as we all know 2020 is his farewell tour will he cap off a legendary career with an eighth title we had a chance to get his thoughts on his final season it's definitely it's it's definitely a sense of relief like i said knowing that there's an end in sight and that you know even if i race in 2021 it's a couple gnc's which probably won't happen uh you know it won't be with the same intent and the same intentions of you know knowing that there's a championship on the line but or that i've got to repeat it next year do the same thing but yeah it's different it's for sure different when there's an actual set ending and you you know it's coming and your attitude and the way you uh your outlook becomes on certain things but it's uh it's been a great career and like i said i'm really focused for this year and i want to want to do my best and i want to want to reach a lot of goals that i've set forth for myself you know in the past years i want to try to accomplish some of those that have eluded me and we'll see where we stand at the end of the year but we're ready to go one rider who is sure to be standing in the way of those goals is stu baylor on his new factory one sureco ride we're here to win um the mechanics are here to win i think the team's here to win um and that and i think uh i think we're we're just as set on winning as as anybody else out here uh i know i definitely am so you know that being said i i i think we're we've got everything in place um it's just gonna be the steps that we know that we're gonna have to take the little things that we're gonna have to improve on throughout the season um you know gncc like i said is a totally different beast than anything else so um it's going to be a learning curve i know it's going to be a learning curve but sure would be nice to start start out with a with a good start and a podium at least but you know like i said we want to win we all want to win the rider and team expectations certainly set high as a new decade of gncc is about to begin just three hours just three hours on a 13-mile course through union south carolina separate us from a checkered flag who's going to take the win here today as we are set to go with row number one the xc one pro class and of course the whole shot up for grabs courtesy of all balls racing who is going to snag the first one of the year caleb russell out in front early he does snag it thad duvall in the number two spot and ricky russell third lane michael fourth and andrew to long fifth right there off the hole shot how about it pro riders making their way into the woods section now we'll see how things are shaping up it is still caleb russell out in front followed by thad duvall and a slew of xc1 riders in single file as they make their way onto this course here in union south carolina and we make our way back to the starting line for the start of the xc2 250 pro class whole shot on the line here as well courtesy of hot cams who's going to take it of course no ben kelly moves up into the xc1 class who's going to take the first one of the year it's teagan temple taking it away from mike wakowski who's in the number two spot aboard his new ride on the am pro yamaha and these two riders battling early into the woods looks like mike rukowski works his way out in front maybe tegan temple got around him right there but uh and how about that some different line choices from the xc2 class compared to the xc1 just a moment ago and we make our way back down to the start line again for the start of the fmf xc3 the 125 class and listen to them sing nothing quite like that sound in the world right there who's going to take that whole shot it is going to be jason reigns taking it second place right there into the whole shot was a 7 22 of zach hayes followed by dominic morris and into the woods section looks to remain the same jason liscombe on the number 707 ktm in the number four spot as they make their way into this big buck gncc well underway now here in union south carolina we'll be back with more racing action here in just a second [Music] coverage of the 2020 grand national cross country series on mav tv is brought to you in part by specialized turbo e-bikes it's you only faster rocky mountain atvmc get ready and by yamaha revs your heart welcome back to the vp racing fuels big buck gncc as we look at our leaders on screen caleb russell still out in front after a great start followed closely there by thad deval in second ricky russell on the coastal racing husqvarna in third jordan ashburn in fourth with lane michael in fifth place and phoenix racing honda's andrew delong in the number six spot josh strang there in seventh with the rookie behind him ben kelly and stu baylor on the factory one sureco ride in the number nine position taking a look now caleb russell back on screen and it looks like he's got a bit of a gap now sure enough he does a little bit of a gap now between caleb russell and the rest of the pack and how about this ricky russell up into the number two spot where is thad duval jordan ashburn third lane michael fourth andrew along in that number five spot josh strang in sixth and still no signs of the 989 rock star energy husqvarna of thad duvall stu baylor right there patiently working his way through this big buck gncc and you gotta wonder where is thad duvall caleb russell making quick work of the creek jump as well as ricky russell into the number two spot ricky looks like he's closed that gap a little bit now uh in that number two spot we'll see if he can catch up to excuse me to uh caleb russell before this one's said and done lane michael great start for him in the number three position a new team for him as well on the ampro yamaha team uh in third fourth place jordan ashburn followed by andrew delong and josh strang in the number six spot and how about it your top six riders right there kind of pulling away a little bit caleb russell and ricky russell now back on screen ricky russell trying to key off of caleb as they enter the 10-mile marker and we'll see if ricky russell can catch up to him before it's said and done but boy how about the start for the coastal racing husqvarna of ricky russell the ups and downs he had just a year ago battling injury it's good to see him up here battling for the lead with caleb russell right now both of these riders i mean just about as flawless as you can get in a gncc and no signs of third place no signs of fourth place these two guys have checked out right now and said it's me and you buddy mono imano let's see how this thing works out caleb russell back on screen there there gives you a good idea that long shot right there of the distance between those three riders two different line choices right there doesn't make a whole lot of difference for ricky russell but these guys hard on the throttle that would be lane michael third place rider right there looks like he's put on a little bit of a gap between him and fourth place rider jordan ashburn and again still no signs of thad duvall as we wait to see who checks in in the number five spot still the phoenix racing honda ride of andrew de long in fifth and sixth place josh strang so these guys all kind of looking identical the battle between first and second the battle between third and fourth and that battle between fifth and sixth almost identical just those gaps in between uh every other rider there so ricky russell's still in second still trying to close that gap between him and caleb and we'll see if lane michael is still in that number three spot no it's jordan ashburn into the number three spot so jordan ashburn takes that position away from lane michael does lane michael fall back into fifth or excuse me fourth no it's josh strang the babbitt's online uh monster energy team green kawasaki teammates now battling each other for that third place position caleb russell back on screen here followed by ricky russell in second the battle's on here at the big buck gncc we'll have more coverage in just a second gncc without a doubt a family race mr tim cotter right there talking to the students and faculty at one of the local schools kind of giving them a glimpse into what it's like in the gncc racing nation and certainly have a little fun as well with the youth riders and some of our adult riders right there just a great program every city we visit we do a little bit of this for the community so good stuff getting back into the race in action that's not what you want to see if you're an andrew de long fan there with the phoenix honda racing team and rockstar energy husqvarna ryder thad duvall dnf for him and ben kelly and dnf for him as well both riders suffering injuries or re-injuries and that is a heartbreaker you've got to think that these guys both had huge expectations as did their teams as did fans and now we're left to wait and wonder how long is it going to be before we see them racing with these guys ricky russell on screen in the number two spot caleb still out in front in first and there is josh strang in the number three position trying to throw his name in the hat for that number two spot not sure he's gonna be able to get it before this one's said and done caleb working his way around a couple lappers right there and the number two rider or the number two one two rider in second place ricky russell doing the same and he's probably thinking man i hope caleb's gotta battle some lappers up there in the front because right now i could use any break i could get to try and catch up to that pace that caleb russell is riding incredible seven-time gncc champ we've seen him do this so many times before and here today in the season and a season opener no different as he makes his way up the hill what seems like effortlessly making it look easy and ricky russell works his way around another lapper and these guys do a great job you know they are running their race as well but they uh hear those guys coming now granted sometimes they're coming so fast that it does alter the results of a race it can be the difference in a couple of positions it could be the difference in a race win uh but i think generally speaking these guys do a pretty good job and certainly hats off to the pro riders being able to get around uh some of the amateur classes josh strang back on screen right there in the number three position great riding out of him today on the babbitt's online monster energy team green kawasaki and there he is he's going to be making his way up to the hill here in just a moment as he makes his way up no lappers around him but look at this stu baylor right behind him one lapper in between them between the fourth and third place position oh and stu baylor almost loses it man just just ducks in behind that tree we gotta think he's kept it on two wheels but wow that was some incredible riding out of stu baylor can he hang on and maybe take away that number three spot from josh strang whoo he's certainly got the time for it that was one of the things we talked about early on was stu baylor he was back in ninth place early on and we said he is not gonna stay there before this is said and done he's gonna make his way up the pack he's doing that now can he catch up with josh strang ricky russell right there still in the number two spot working his way around and here's josh strang let's see how far behind now stu baylor is from string makes his way to the top camera pans there's stu baylor boy he is certainly making up time here can stu catch josh string for the number three spot can caleb russell put a stamp on round number one [Music] coverage of the 2020 grand national cross country series on mav tv is brought to you in part by specialized turbo e-bikes it's you only faster rocky mountain atvmc get ready and by yamaha revs your heart [Music] what a beautiful shot by the yamaha racing sky cam i tell you we really get to race in some beautiful landscapes throughout the eastern states caleb russell on screen right there as we jump back into the action caleb looking to go green flag to checkered flag just would not be denied today i mean about as flawless of a gncc right as you could ask out of a guy caleb russell what a performance here today ricky russell there in the number two spot as he passes the 10-mile marker and ricky's got to feel confident about this ride here today battled with caleb early on never was able to make the pass but some great riding out of him today he could certainly hold his head high and josh strang he took that number three spot away early from lane michael and here we go stu baylor in the number four spot a little bit of distance uh more distance than we saw earlier between these guys now but still plenty of time we'll see strength gets a little squirrelly there able to keep it on two wheels stu baylor makes easy work of it we'll see if those guys can sort it out who's gonna take that final podium position right now the advantage to josh strang as rick excuse me caleb russell now back on screen one last turn here fist bump in the air and the fmf ktm factory racing's caleb russell takes win number 61 here at the vp racing fuels big buck gncc yeah there's no way i was gonna lose my last first race ever so uh i put the hammer down and uh got the whole shot led wire to wire felt really good i came in really prepared i was um you know been dialed in the last seven weeks and just uh training hard working hard finally coming to the you know the season 100 healthy and ready to go and i feel like i'm back on 2015 forum where uh you know the race comes to me easy i'm you know felt real really good at the beginning and uh really solid and i i just kept a pace and uh that i i thought would wear those guys down and um i just i just held that pace through the whole race basically so i didn't try to like manipulate it and you know hang back and uh wait for the end you know i just went straight from the get-go just a really solid solid pace that i knew would be tough to hang on to and uh was able to pull it in we'll soak up every second of this farewell tour my friends who knows how long it's gonna be before we see a rider of the same caliber as caleb russell what an incredible stamp on this season opener for him ricky russell now making his way into the checkered flag and again he's got to feel very confident about this second place finish here today yeah no doubt i got an awesome start our top three actually then i got behind caleb pretty soon thad uh had a big spill in front of me unfortunately i hope he's okay i heard he might have hurt his knee again that was no fun but um anyways just caught back up to caleb after that and just kind of were just kind of going and picking smooth lines and i didn't feel like i was overriding or doing anything crazy and like felt good i was just able to kind of cruise there and then i kind of forgot we didn't know our mileage at the top because we haven't raced this bike yet and we pit early two laps in and i lost side of caleb for a little bit and i was trying to give a good push to get back to him because i knew he had to pit that lap and then uh fortunately i had one lap with two big spills within one mile hit my head pretty hard and i was just like okay cool down man just ride your own race you got a good gap on third and just try to pick off laps and hopefully come in for the podium and that's what we did so super stoked the bike i had a super stressful day yesterday we had a couple little minor issues and team worked their butts off all night all morning to get the bike ready to go i think timmy and barry for making it happen and making obviously the bike worked awesome and able to come away with second i gotta believe we're gonna be seeing a lot more of ricky russell on the gncc podium this season we turn our attention back down to the race now josh strang in the number three spot again looks like there's a little bit of distance now between him and stu we'll see yeah here you go josh strings gonna hang on for that number three spot you see just down the left side of your screen there as stu baylor enters one lapper to get around but it's gonna be string hanging on keeping her on two wheels to take the third place position and right there that's how close they were sue baylor at fourth yeah this is a uh i mean compared to the last few years this is the perfect start for me so uh finished on the box uh not too bad so uh the start of the race i kind of just settled in behind a couple of guys where i probably should have tried to make a couple passes earlier maybe i could have stayed a little closer to uh i guess caleb and ricky the two russells so uh um but now overall man i had a good day the track is probably the best one of the best big buck dirt wise we've had in man i think we worked out on the weekend it's my 14th season so i've been at it nearly as long as you so uh um the dirt here was good this place always gets rough and it was rough today there a lot of people turned up which is good for jeans to see you know there's heaps of people coming racing uh we get we all get to keep our jobs and that and i had a blast actually yeah i just tried to enjoy the race there was some people on the side of the track i was yelling at and having some fun with and uh when the lapis would get out of the way i'd give them a kouig say thanks and uh overall i mean it was good so i had a fun fun day and it's good to start with the third place man uh i see thad crashed early so there's a couple other guys out but i think i i have a speed i just need to put put the star the race together and i can be up there every weekend i reckon well there you have it folks your top 10 from today's vp racing fuels big buck gncc caleb russell taking the win here today what a race we look at a specialized race recap now your xc1 class that guy right there the number one caleb russell taking the whole shot leading early and in the number two spot it was thad duvall who we know went down with the injury we had a bit of a battle between ricky russell and caleb russell early on but as the three hours wore on caleb pulled away leading by as much as a minute 30 here today a look in there andrew de long phoenix racing honda team working on the bike as we saw earlier that duvall had to leave a dnf for him and a dnf for ben kelly as well an absolute heartbreaker how long is it going to be before we see these guys back out racing the gncc are dealt when it all came to an end your top three caleb russell first place ricky russell second and josh strang keeping stu baylor at bay to hang on to that final podium position congratulations to caleb russell his 61st career win in this farewell tour here in 2020 at the gncc [Music] also a big congratulations to mike wikowski taking a win in the xc2 250 pro class well that my friends is going to do it for us here at racer tv i'm mikey waynes thanks for watching you

Channel: RacerTV

Views: 6,156

Rating: 4.830986 out of 5

Keywords: RacerTV, GNCCRacing

Id: A5Lhxn28lzM

Length: 22min 56sec (1376 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 18 2020