FMF/KTM’s Charlie Mullins put together a strong ride to win the Mud Mucker AMSOIL GNCC in Florida.
Factory FMF/KTM rider Charlie Mullins kicked off the 2014 AMSOIL GNCC Series in fine fashion today with the overall win at the inaugural Mud Mucker GNCC in Bunnell, Florida.
The 27-year-old Mullins, who won the AMSOIL GNCC Series championship in 2011 completed eight laps during the 3-hour race on a muddy course that became extremely rutted in the woods sections to finish 1-minute, 48 seconds ahead of second-placed Am-Pro Yamaha rider Paul Whibley of New Zealand. Whibley’s teammate, Josh Strang and Shenandoah/USWE Honda’s Thad Duvall battled for most of the race, with Strang holding off Duvall by .9 of a second for third overall.
Defending champion Kailub Russell’s title defense got off to a less than stellar start as he was involved in a multi-bike pileup that included his FMF/KTM teammates Mullins and Steward Baylor in the first turn just after the XC1 class left the starting line. Russell remounted in dead last with a bent motorcycle and would come through the field to run 16th at the end of lap one.
Meanwhile, Josh Strang grabbed the holeshot, followed by Paul Whibley, the Yamaha riders occupying the top two spots through the first lap. Whibley passed Strang for the lead before the start of lap two, with motocrosser-turned-GNCC-racer Ryan Sipes running third, Thad Duvall fourth and Chris Bach fifth. Mullins and Russell put in a fast lap to run sixth and seventh respectively after their first-turn crash.
“It was good, but it didn’t start off too good,” Mullins said. “I didn’t really get a good jump, and a few guys went down and I just got tangled. I think my whole front was all tweaked, so I had to get that fixed. And I think my front rotor was bent because it felt weird and inconsistent all day. I just had to look past that and just kind of focus. It wasn’t hurting me too bad. I just rode and caught up to the guys.”
Mullins was flying, and he passed his way through the field to take the lead from Whibley just before the start of the third lap. Whibley then picked up the pace to run within about three seconds of Mullins. Strang and Duvall also ran closely, within about 1.5 seconds of each other, as they battled for third place. Sipes continued to put in a strong ride, running alone in fifth place. Russell was still mired in sixth place, ahead of Bel Ray Husqvarna factory rider Andrew DeLong.
Whibley, who won the GNCC title in 2012, retook the lead with a pass on Mullins just before the two returned to the scoring checkpoint at the end of lap four, but their battle was far from over, as the race was just past its halfway point. Sipes turned in a 22-minute, 57-second lap time to make his way back into third place.
Mullins then began to really put the pressure on Whibley, and when the factory KTM rider retook the lead on lap six he really began to stretch his advantage over Whibley. As it turns out, Whibley, who celebrated the birth of a son just before the season opener, had a few brake issues of his own.
“It has been a pretty busy start to the season for me, but everything is going good” Whibley said. “The bike is great, and I am stoked to be here for another year. I was having a good race with Charlie, but I damaged my back brake in the last two laps, so he started to inch away. But everything is good.”
Meanwhile, Russell’s day went from bad to worse, as his KTM gave up at the three-mile marker on lap seven, and he lost 15 minutes to the leaders before he could back into the race. Russell would ultimately finish 14th overall. It was a tough break for the reigning AMSOIL GNCC Champion, who starts his title defense in a deep hole in the series points standings. Nevertheless, Russell put together an amazing come-from-behind charge to win the 2013 championship after failing to score points at one of the early rounds. Time will tell if he can pull it off in 2014 against a competitive field that has clearly stepped up its game.
“I had some bad luck today,” Russell said. “I had a few crashes in the beginning of the race and then some trouble with my bike in that second pit. Luckily, I was able to salvage some points at this round. Now I just need to get some wins moving forward to close the point gap.”
Strang had an excellent race with Duvall for the entire distance, and he managed to hold Duvall off right at the finish to claim the final podium spot.
“I just got in front of him there [Duvall] at the start of the last lap, and I figured if I could stay in front of him in the woods, I was pretty good here,” Strang said. “I felt comfortable in the grass section all day. The track was really fun. There were some mud holes, but it was fun. Unfortunately I lost the gap on these two boys early on, but I battled with Thad and managed a podium, I’ll take it. I was worn out with about two laps to go, and I was probably lucky I was riding with Thad. It was a good day.”
Winner Mullins said that the Mud Mucker was less like the typical Florida race and more like the type of GNCC conditions that most of the riders are used to.
“Just mud everywhere,” Mullins said. “You had to be smart on your lines. I really didn’t make any mistakes today. I had two crashes in one lap, and one of them was actually in the field section. It was pretty high-speed, high-side get-off, but other than that I felt pretty good.”
Mullins said he feels as if he is well prepared to take the title away from Russell in 2014.
“My conditioning is good,” he said. “I feel good, and I am in one piece and healthy for Georgia [round two]. I’ve just got to carry the momentum now. It’s three hours with 12 races to go, so there’s a lot of racing left. You’ve just got to focus on the big picture, one race at a time.”
The series next stop will be the General GNCC in Washington, Georgia, March 15 and 16.
Mud Mucker GNCC
Bunnell, Florida
Results: March 9, 2014 (Round 1 of 13)
Overall
1. Charlie Mullins-KTM
2. Paul Whibley-Yam
3. Josh Strang-Yam
4. Thad Duvall-Hon
5. Andrew DeLong-Hus
6. Steward Baylor-KTM
7. Jordan Ashburn-Yam
8. Rory Mead-KTM
9. Ricky Russell-Yam
10. Shane Hufford-KTM
AMSOIL GNCC Championship Standings (After 1 of 13 rounds)
1. Charlie Mullins-30/1 win
2. Paul Whibley-25
3. Josh Strang-21
4. Thad DuVall-18
5. Andrew Delong-16
6. Steward Baylor-15
7. Jordan Ashburn-14
8. Rory Mead-13
9. Ricky Russell-12
10. Shane Hufford-11
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