Mullins Wins VP Racing Fuels Mountain Ridge GNCC

Somerset, Pa. (September 25, 2011)
-Charlie Mullins claimed his second win in a row and fourth of the year
with an impressive runaway performance at the VP Racing Fuels Mountain
Ridge GNCC in Somerset, Pennsylvania on Sunday.

After
the start, the 11th round of the 2011 Can-Am Grand National Cross
Series appeared to be a five-man affair as Mullins battled with his
FMF/KTM teammate Kailub Russell, FMF/Makita Suzuki's Josh Strang, WMR
Racing/Clockwork/Planet Fitness KTM's Nate Kanney and Am Pro Racing/FMF
Yamaha's Paul Whibley. However, heading into the second lap, Mullins,
Russell and Strang made a break from the pack - with Russell holding the
upper hand.

Near the halfway point of the race, Mullins took the
lead from Russell and then later pulled a considerable gap when Russell
took a hard fall in the rocks. After that, it was all Mullins, as the
Ohio rider decided it was time to check out.

"Me,
Kailub and Strang had our own little battle going," said Mullins. "One
of us would fall down and someone else would get the lead, and it was
kind of like that for most of the day. But I kind of broke away during
the next-to-last lap and I came through the barrels and looked back and I
didn't see anyone so I figured I had a good lead so I just dropped my
head and was pushing pretty hard... I didn't take any chances but I rode
hard."

Indeed, Mullins rode hard enough to extend his lead to nearly a minute and a half by the end of the race.

But
while Mullins rode solo out front, a wild battle for second took place
further back between Kanney, Strang (who was battling issues with his
rear brakes) and Whibley. Kanney had managed to put himself in the
runner-up position by the final lap, but gave way to Whibley a few turns
from the finish when Whibley came barging through on the inside line in
what he admitted later was a "forceful pass". Kanney was having nothing
of it and tried to retaliate heading into the turn leading into the
finish, but the New York rider carried too much speed into the corner
and slid into the banners, leaving Whibley a clear path to second and
allowing Strang to slip by for third.

Kanney rebounded for fourth, while Russell limped in for fifth, still feeling the effects of his crash.

Eight-time
National Enduro Champion Michael Lafferty rode a 250 two-stroke
Husaberg to a sixth place finish, beating JG Off-road/GEICO Powersports
Honda's Rory Mead by nearly seven minutes.

Jedediah Haines was
eighth on a Kawasaki, while XC2 competitor Jesse Robinson made the jump
to the XC1 class to finish ninth on Chris Bach's factory Beta, while
Bach recovers from knee surgery.

In the meantime, Eric Bailey finished 10thon a Kawasaki.

With the win, Mullins extended his lead in the series standings to 17 points over Strang, while Whibley, who also won the $250 Motosport.com Holeshot Award to start the race, sits third in the standings another eight points back.

Obermeyer/Am-Pro/FMF/Yamaha's
Jordan Ashburn claimed his third win in a row in the XC2 class, edging
Pennsylvania KTM rider Andrew DeLong by nearly three seconds.

FAR Husqvarna's Jason Thomas, who led the race until hitting a stump in the grass, rounded out the podium in third.

New
Hampshire KTM rider Jake Korn made his first GNCC of the year a
memorable one with a fourth place finish, while series points leader
Steward Baylor Jr. finished fifth, losing a bit of ground in the
standings to Thomas and Ashburn.

Sixth place went to Yamaha rider
Ryan Lojak, while Nick Davis (KTM), Morgan Moss (Hsq), AJ Stewart (Yam)
and Steven Squire (Yam) rounded out the top 10.

Cody Gragg, who won the $100Motosport.com Holeshot Award, finished 14th.

WMR
Racing/Clockwork/Planet Fitness KTM rider Christopher Douglas turned in
an impressive race to claim the top "non-pro" honors with a solid 13th
overall finish and first in the Open A division.

In
the A.M. race, Randall Riggs took the overall win and first in the
Masters A (50+) class on a Yamaha. Meanwhile, KTM's Maria Forsberg
finished second overall and wrapped up the Women's title with her eighth
class win of the year. Third overall went to KTM rider Dalton Cross,
who also claimed the win in the 200 C Schoolboy (12-15) class.

In
the Youth race, Levi Keller and Anthony Stone battled back and forth
for the entire distance of the race with Keller getting the upper hand
at the finish to claim his third overall victory of the year and fifth
class win of the year in the Super Mini (14-15) division. Stone was
second overall and second in the Super Mini (14-15), while third overall
and first in the Super Mini (12-13) went to Austin Lee.

The 2011
Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series heads to St. Clairsville,
Ohio for the ITP Powerline Park GNCC on October 8 & 9. ATV racing
will take place on Saturday, followed by bike racing on Sunday. For
more information, please visit www.gnccracing.com.

XC1 Results:

1. Charlie Mullins (KTM)

2. Paul Whibley (Yam)

3. Josh Strang (Suz)

4. Nate Kanney (KTM)

5. Kailub Russell (KTM)

6. Mike Lafferty (Hsb)

7. Rory Mead (Hon)

8. Jedediah Haines (Kaw)

9. Jesse Robinson (Bet)

10. Eric Bailey (Kaw)

XC1 Standings:

1. Charlie Mullins (220/4 wins)

2. Josh Strang (203/2 wins)

3. Paul Whibley (195/3 wins)

4. Kailub Russell (150)

5. Nate Kanney (147)

6. Cory Buttrick (110)

7. Chris Bach (96)

8. Mike Lafferty (91)

9. Jimmy Jarrett (83)

10. Thad DuVall (75)

XC2 Results:

1. Jordan Ashburn (Yam)

2. Andrew DeLong (KTM)

3. Jason Thomas (Hsq)

4. Jake Korn (KTM)

5. Steward Baylor Jr. (KTM)

6. Ryan Lojak (Yam)

7. Nick Davis (KTM)

8. Morgan Moss (Hsq)

9. AJ Stewart (Yam)

10. Steven Squire (Yam)

XC2 Standings:

1. Steward Baylor Jr. (213/4 wins)

2. Jason Thomas (184/1 win)

3. Andrew DeLong (177)

4. Jordan Ashburn (171)

5. Jesse Robinson (146)

6. Scotty Watkins (125)

7. Morgan Moss (98)

8. AJ Stewart (95)

9. Zachery Smith (91)

10. Brad Bakken (90)

Motosport.com $250 XC1 holeshot - Paul Whibley

Motosport.com $100 XC2 holeshot - Cody Cragg

About GNCC Racing:

The
Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series is America's premier
off-road racing series. Founded in 1979, the 13-round championship is
produced exclusively by Racer Productions. Cross country racing is one
of the most physically demanding sports in the world. The grueling
three-hour GNCC races lead as many as 1,800 riders through tracks
ranging in length from eight to 12 miles, competing for more than $3
million in prizes. With varied terrain, including hills, woods, mud,
dirt, rocks and motocross sections, GNCC events are tests of both
survival and speed. For more information, please visit www.gnccracing.com.