Mullins Wins Can-Am Unadilla GNCC

New Berlin, NY (September 11, 2011)
-Charlie Mullins climbed back into contention for this year's XC1 title
with an impressive win at the Can-Am Unadilla GNCC in New Berlin, New
York - round 10 of the 2011 Can-Am Grand National Cross Series.

Mullins trailed FMF/Makita Suzuki's Josh Strang by 14 points in the
championship standings coming into the New York round. However, Strang
was involved in a first-lap crash with FMF/KTM's Cory Buttrick, which
left Strang's bike with a bent sprocket. It took three laps before the
defending series champ was able to rejoin the race and at the end of the
day he was only able to manage a 13th place finish. The combination of
Strang's 13th place finish and Mullins' victory amounted to a 22-point
swing in the title chase, and with five rounds remaining in the series
Mullins now holds an eight-point lead in the standings over Strang, 190
to 182.

With rain threatening overhead, Am Pro Yamaha's Paul Whibley kicked off the Unadilla race by grabbing the $250 Motosport.com
Holeshot Award at the start. Mullins was quickly into the lead before
the end of the lap followed closely by Kailub Russell as the FMF/KTM
teammates engaged in a fierce battle that carried then clear of the rest
of the field.

Mullins
and Russell traded the lead several times over the course of the first
few laps before Mullins picked up the pace at the midway point and broke
free of the XC1-class rookie. From that point on, Mullins rode a lonely
and solitary race out front while Russell did the same in second.

Behind the two front-runners, Beta rider Chris Bach settled into a
solid third after the start and held the position for most of the race.
However, just before the two-lap board came out, Bach came under fire
from WMR Racing/Clockwork/Planet Fitness KTM's Nate Kanney, who ended up
making a pass on Bach. Whibley also pulled within striking distance of
Bach and made a pass, before doing the same to Kanney to slip into
third.

At the finish, Mullins took the win with a little over a minute to
spare over Russell, while Whibley rounded out the podium ahead of Kanney
and Bach.

"A boring race is a fun race as long as I'm in the lead," said
Mullins. "Kailub passed me coming out of the pits and his pace was
pretty fast and I knew we were pulling away from everyone so I settled
in behind him and then when I decided to go I just made a pass and from
there I just kind of checked out and rode my own race."

Mullins had a bird's eye view of the Strang/Buttrick pass just after the start of the race.

"It
was unfortunate what happened to Strang and Buttrick," added Mullins.
"I saw it and it was the worst crash I've seen in a long time. I hate to
see that happen to anyone and I don't like to profit from things like
that but I was able to make up some points and with five races left it's
going to end up being a good battle."

Unadilla marked the second race in a row that Russell has claimed the
runner-up spot on the podium and it seems to be only a matter of time
before the two-time XC2 champ will get his first XC1 win.

"I got a pretty bad start and I worked my way up real fast, but I had
really bad arm-pump the first three laps," said Russell. "I was trying
my hardest to keep Charlie behind me because I knew as soon as he got
around me he was going to check out since my arm was so tight that I
couldn't hold on."

JG Off-road/GEICO Powersports Honda's Jimmy Jarrett, who won this
race last year, proved that he has recovered nicely from his mid-season
injury by taking a solid sixth place finish, his best performance of the
year.

Jedidiah
Haines also claimed his best finish of the year, the Kawasaki rider
ending the day in seventh ahead of JG Off-road/GEICO Powersports Honda's
Rory Mead.

Rounding out the top 10 was eight-time national enduro champ Mike Lafferty on his factory Husaberg, and KTM rider Kenny Gilbert.

Am-Pro/FMF/Yamaha's Jordan Ashburn made a last-second pass on FAR
Husqvarna's Jason Thomas to take the win in the XC2 division, Ashburn's
second victory of the year.

Thomas led most of the XC2 race after getting off to a good start.
However, Ashburn rode a steady pace and stayed within striking distance.
On the final lap, Thomas got caught up on a gnarly hill just before the
finish, and Ashburn was able to find a smooth line around it to make
the pass for the lead and take the win.

"I knew that hill might be a factor and on the last lap I didn't know
whether to go up it or go around it and I went straight up it and I
should have gone around," said Thomas.

"My strategy was to keep Thomas in sight all day and wait for a
mistake," said Ashburn. "I couldn't really catch him so I just hung out
behind him and things just fell my way."

Andrew DeLong rounded out the podium, making the third podium of the year for the Pennsylvania KTM rider.

XC2
points leader Steward Baylor Jr. had a rough day and had to come from
behind after crashing early in the race to finish fourth. Meanwhile, JG
Off-road/GEICO Powersports Honda's Scotty Watkins rode a steady race for
fifth.

Sixth place went to KTM rider Zack Nolan, with AJ Stewart (Yam),
Jesse Robinson (KTM), Ryan Lojak (Yam) and Steven Squire (Yam) rounding
out the top 10.

FAR Husqvarna rider won the $100Motosport.com Holeshot award in the XC2 class.

Jason Klammer was the top "non-pro" in the afternoon race, finishing 14th overall and winning the Open A class on a KTM.

In the A.M. race, Randall Riggs took the overall on a Yamaha, in
addition to winning the Masters A (50+) class. Suzuki rider Mark
Patterson was second overall and second in the Masters A (50+) class,
while Landon Wolfe was third overall and first in the Open C College
(14-21) division.

In the Youth race, Austin Lee edged fellow KTM rider Anthony Stone
for the overall win, with Lee also taking the win in the Super Mini
(12-13) class, while Stone won the Super Mini (14-15) division.

The 2011 Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series heads to
Somerset, Pennsylvania for the Mountain Ridge GNCC on September 24 &
25. 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. Kailub Russell (KTM)

3. Paul Whibley (Yam)

4. Nate Kanney (KTM)

5. Chris Bach (Beta)

6. Jimmy Jarrett (Hon)

7. Jedidiah Haines (Kaw)

8. Rory Mead (Hon)

9. Mike Lafferty (Hsb)

10. Kenny Gilbert (KTM)

XC1 Standings:

1. Charlie Mullins (190/3 wins)

2. Josh Strang (182/2 wins)

3. Paul Whibley (170/3 wins)

4. Kailub Russell (134)

5. Nate Kanney (129)

6. Cory Buttrick (110)

7. Chris Bach (96)

8. Mike Lafferty (76)

9. Jimmy Jarrett (75)

10. Kenny Gilbert (66)

XC2 Results:

1. Jordan Ashburn (Yam)

2. Jason Thomas (Hsq)

3. Andrew DeLong (KTM)

4. Steward Baylor Jr. (KTM)

5. Scotty Watkins (Hon)

6. Zack Nolan (KTM)

7. AJ Stewart (Yam)

8. Jesse Robinson (KTM)

9. Ryan Lojak (Yam)

10. Steven Squire (Yam)

XC2 Standings:

1. Steward Baylor Jr. (187/4 wins)

2. Jason Thomas (163/1 win)

3. Andrew DeLong (149)

4. Jordan Ashburn (141/2 wins)

5. Jesse Robinson (140)

6. Scotty Watkins (116)

7. Brad Bakken (90)

8. Morgan Moss (85)

9. AJ Stewart (83)

10. Zachery Smith (81)

Motosport.com $250 XC1 holeshot - Paul Whibley

Motosport.com $100 XC2 holeshot - Morgan Moss

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.