Winning two races in a row means that you are the king of the series, according to the fictional made up book entitled “How to become king of a racing series”*  And so it is with great honor that I present to you your new king… Paul Whibley.  He has won the last two races in the GNCC series as well as a win in between in the OMA series.  At the last GNCC race, the nasty muddy race that some say was the worst in the history of GNCC racing, Whibley hung on for the win and at this weeks race he was able to sneak past his teammate on the last lap to pull off a great win.  His teammate, Josh Strang, would end up third; also getting past on the last lap by Husqvarna rider Glenn Kearney.  Strang, the 19 year old lad from Australia, has been on the podium for much of the season, but just has not figured out how to get a win.  Husqvarna on the other hand hasn’t seen a GNCC podium in decades.  One can only hope that the Husky’s continue to improve and add more flavor to the series. 

On to the ones who wish they were on the podium, but were just too wimpy in the hot and rough conditions.  Nate Kanney, obviously feeling like a KTM stepchild, stuck a fork in his teammate, David Knight, and showed that he deserves some KTM attention by finishing fourth and beating Knight by one position.  In Knight’s defense (and I don’t usually defend a guy that has a top ride and clearly has no talent, but…) he had a big crash while leading.  He was under serious pressure from Strang and Kearney on the third lap when it all went wrong.  Kearney saw it happen and said “…he was ping-ponging off some trees…”  That is never a good thing.  His bike was bent and he was sore.  Holeshot winner Charlie Mullins ended up sixth.  He was chased home by Jason Raines, Jimmy Jarret, Garret Edmisten, and Brian Garrahan. 

In the XC2 ranks things got a bit shook up.  Season long winner and large point leader, Thad DuVall was out early with mechanical troubles.  This opened things up a bit and the void was filled by first time winner Kailub Russell (who finished ninth overall).  So at least the KTM bosses can sleep a little better tonight knowing that they scored one win on the day.  Finishing just over a minute behind Russell; Yamaha’s Dustin Gibson finished second (tenth overall) and Andy Matusek came home third (sixteenth overall) after leading early and suffering through the pain of a broken foot.

XC1 points after 7 of 13 rounds complete:

David Knight                   175

Paul Whibley                   148

Josh Strang           129

Charlie Mullins       121

Jimmy Jarret          115

Nate Kanney                   114

Glenn Kearney       94

Jason Raines                   93

Garrett Edmisten    83

Jesse Robinson     73

XC2 points after 7 of 13 rounds complete:

Thad DuVall                   181

Dustin Gibson                 151

Kailub Russell                 128

Josh Weisenfels               127

Andy Matussek               94

Psycho Monkey

*(published by psycho books.  Copyright 2037.)