N-Fab AmPro Yamaha's Paul Whibley secured the $250 All Balls Racing XC1 Holeshot Award, while his teammate Jordan Ashburn grabbed the lead on the opening lap. While the rest of the pack was rounding the second corner, Russell was just getting through the start straight after another rider went down in front of him.
From there, Russell charged his way through the pack, eventually taking over the lead from Mullins on Lap 3. Russell's quick pace was enough to earn the $150 KR4 Performance Fastest Lap once again.
"I was about 30 seconds down from Charlie's lead and it was tough to make moves real fast and get around those guys quick so I just chose good lines. I knew that if I could catch him [Mullins] I was going to win," Russell said.
Mullins kept the pressure on Russell throughout much of the race, but a couple of mistakes cost him a substantial amount of time in the final laps of the three-hour race.
"I clipped a lapper and ended up hitting a tree and hitting my hand pretty good," Mullins said. "The last few laps were pretty tough but I just did the best I could and didn't really make up any time."
