Tuesday Toolbox: Kailub Russell

Becoming top dog and staying top dog are two different battles. No one realizes this more right now than defending XC2 Pro Lites Champion and current points leader Kailub Russell. Russell has piloted his FMF KTM to 7 podiums including 5 straight race wins in 9 rounds of racing. Yet the championship is being threatened! What has Kailub Russell been up to over the break and how focused is he on his second XC2 Championship?

 

 

GNCCRacing.com: So what‘s going on in Kailub Russell‘s world?

Kailub Russell: Not much, just hanging out cooking some cheeseburgers taking the afternoon off. Things are kind of slow today, I rode a lot yesterday and today I am just having some fun. Unadilla is coming up pretty fast and I am getting pretty excited for that and to just get back into the swing of things.

What have you been doing this summer during the break?

A whole lot of nothing really! (Laughs) I have just been riding and working out and I started road biking every now and then. The next two weeks I will be stepping it up and riding even harder.

I hear you made your AMA Pro Motocross Racing debut at Red Bud this past Independence weekend?
Yea, that is something that I have been wanting to do and I really wanted to do Unadilla and Steel City but it's just not the right timing. I disappointed myself more than anyone at Red Bud with how I rode and everything. It just didn't pan out. I know I can ride better than that. But with the way everything is going in the GNCCs I just need to stay focused and forget about motocross right now and put my head down and do what I need to do, which is to win the GNCC XC2 Pro Lites Championship.

 

That is smart thinking! But it is fun to try new things occasionally. Now as far as the GNCC XC2 Pro Lites Class, you started the season stellar with a 3rd followed by 5 wins straight and then a 2nd place finish. After that though, it looks like the mud of your home soils of Ohio put  you in check a little bit with a 10th, that was rough day for a lot of people, how rough was it for you?

That was pretty much a worthless day. (Laughs) There really wasn't much to it. I was in good position and wasn‘t even struggling on the first lap and then on the second lap I got tangled up in barbed wire. That pretty much ended me, I was stuck there forever, it was pretty bad and it was all downhill after that. Then at Snowshoe I was in third and good position again to make some passes, I wasn't riding stellar or anything but it was acceptable and I was fine with it and then I broke off the shifter.

You have to be satisfied with your ride though considering your circumstances and the conditions. I heard everyone say it was one of the tougher courses in recent GNCC history and you got the breaks, didn't get the breaks, lost your brakes or just broke, so I guess finishing that one was an accomplishment in itself? (Laughs)

Yea! And especially to be able to stay in the points lead after the bad day I had at Snowshoe. It wasn't really a bad ride, I rode well, but racing is racing and things happen.

With the Championship points for the XC2 Pro Lites class tightening up, what is your strategy for the rest of the season?

Simply ride like I know how to ride and eliminate all the stupid mistakes and I should be fine. That is one thing I have been able to do every since I got off the mini's. After my first year in 200A I made a lot of stupid mistakes and I learned a lot. Every since then I really have eliminated most of the mistakes I've made and it made me a better rider. I know when to push and I know when to back it off and I just need to start putting the races together again like I know how.

 

 

Is the results from the past two rounds before the break going to be on your mind as you head into The Can Am Unadilla GNCC?

It's already behind me; it was behind me right after it happened. You have to ignore the past and remember there is a future. You have to ride in the moment and live in the moment.

You are working on capturing your second XC2 championship, but you have been so close to winning the overall from the second row a few times in the last couple of years, is that something you are striving for before you move up to the XC1 Pro Class next year?

I'd be lying to you if I told you I didn't want to do it. You know it's something everybody wants to do, but I have other goals to focus on right now and that is winning my class first. It's back to step one right now. I don't have a big points lead right now and I just want to focus on winning XC2 and then if an overall win comes then that's great but that's not really my focus.

 

The funny thing about that is that with the intensity that you top XC2 guys are running at seems to put you in contention without even realizing it.
Somehow I put myself in that position on the first or second lap. I am just pushing so hard to try and get away from everybody in my class. That's just how I ride. I try to get away from everybody on those first two laps and if it doesn't happen then I just kind of follow pace and just ride it out.

 

Kailub, good luck with the rest of the season and thanks for your time today, enjoy your cheeseburgers and I guess we will see you at Unadilla in less than two weeks!
Thank you Rodney! And I would also like to say thanks to my whole FMF KTM team and sponsors. Also a big thanks to my mechanic Hollywood, my girlfriend Chandler and her parents, my Mom and Dad and just everyone that supports me! Thank you!