Charlie Mullins maintains his XC1 Pro overall series lead.

The Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) series made its 17th annual stop at the Big Buck Farms over the weekend with over 1200 riders in attendance throughout the weekend for the fourth round of the series.

AmPro Yamaha’s Paul Whibley kicked off the XC1 Pro action taking the All Balls Racing XC1 Holeshot Award, while Factory FMF/KTM’s Kailub Russell and Charlie Mullins jumped in right behind Whibley on the opening lap.

It didn’t take long for Russell to relegate Whibley to second place and control of the race, but his teammate Mullins and Whibley remained in tow.

Shenandoah Honda/USWE-Sports.com’s Thad DuVall made his way through the pack on the opening lap, DuVall found a comfortable pace that didn’t cause too much strain on his injured ribs, and he quickly put himself into podium contention.

Russell and Mullins were wheel-to-wheel for a majority of the seven-lap race but with only two laps to go, Mullins was able to make the pass on his teammate for the lead.

Russell didn’t let Mullins out of his sights on the final lap, staying within ten seconds of his teammate. Russell put one last push on Mullins in the final corners before the finish but a quick washout by Russell hindered any chances of claiming the race win.

Mullins’ victory allows him to maintain the points lead after four rounds of racing. Russell came in second just a little over thirty seconds behind his teammate and DuVall landed the final podium position in third.

Australia’s Josh Strang began the day up front but things quickly shifted when he took a tree branch to the face through his helmet and goggles.

After pulling over to remove the branch from his face, Strang was never able to recover the lost time, ultimately finishing sixth in XC1 Pro class aboard his Rocky Mountain ATV/MC entry.

Mullins leads the XC1 Pro standings on 115 points with Russell holding down the runner-up spot on 105 points. Chris Bach rounds out the top three on 70 points while Australia’s Strang sits in fourth on 63 points.

The XC2 Pro Lites competition was as fierce as ever with the top three riders battling it out for the round four victory. It was rookie Grant Baylor who grabbed his second DigitalOffroad.com XC2 Holeshot Award of the season and led a talented field of 30 riders into the opening lap.

F.A.R Husqvarna’s Andrew DeLong put in the highlight performance of the afternoon, moving to the front of the XC2 class by lap two. From there, DeLong began moving his way through the overall ranks, where he physically battled with the top five XC1 Pro riders on the track.

As DeLong began to pull away from the field, it was Offroadviking.com/Raines Riding University’s Jed Haines, KTM Support Rider Grant Baylor and Rock River Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger who tried to catch the leader all afternoon.

DeLong put a comfortable gap on the rest of the class until he experienced an end-over-end crash that allowed Plessinger and Baylor to gain some time.

DeLong was able to collect himself enough to maintain his lead on the final lap, securing the XC2 Pro Lites class win. Less than twenty seconds behind DeLong was the intense battle for second place between Plessinger and Baylor.

Plessinger was leading Baylor as they headed into the final turns before the finish line but Baylor made an impressive last minute pass to secure the second place position, while Plessinger rounded out the XC2 Pro Lites podium with third.

DeLong leads the XC2 Pro Lites standings on 108 points ahead of Baylor who sits on 87 points followed by Jason Thomas on 81 points in third overall.

The GNCC series now heads to Park Mammoth Resort in Kentucky for the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Mammoth event on 4 May.

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