McNabb certainly found himself right in the mix for such a finish, and although he came up just short of his ultimate goal he could be proud of the effort he put in at the Cessnock event.

The Bathurst rider finished fourth in the MX1 C grade category and could have got himself inside the top three if not for a minor slip up in the opening race.

McNabb remained upbeat about the result considering it was his first shot at the finals.

"I had a seventh in the opening race, which hurt a little bit. I had a few tip overs. If it wasn't for that I might have had a chance at the podium," he said.

"I'd been doing a fair bit of riding coming into it. The guys at Beard Brothers helped a lot and do a lot of work to make racing easier. It was a great lead up for the state titles, and the first time that I've had a proper crack at it.

"We'd done the qualifier three years ago but then didn't end up going to the finals. For the first time having a crack at the finals, finishing in fourth isn't something I can complain about."

Just getting to the King Of MX finals is an achievement in itself.

Riders had to secure 'golden tickets' at qualifying events February and May by finishing towards the top of their categories.

McNabb managed to get the valuable ticket but he had a new challenge ahead of him for the finals - getting to grips with a new bike.

However, he thrived on his new KTM 450 and looks forward to taking on more events in the future with it.

"That was my first time riding the new KTM at that race. Everyone was frowning on that decision because they say that you should put a couple of hours into the bike to break them in properly," he said.

"I had no other choice though with the circumstances that I was in, with things being do-or-die, so that made the result feel event better.

"I hadn't ridden the bike before so to go into something out of my comfort zone and still ride okay feels great.

"I was coming across from a Honda and it was similar in the way it feels. The chromoly frame definitely feels lighter and comfier overall."

McNabb will now chase more top results over the coming months.

"I've got a couple of East Coast MX Series rounds coming up, and outside of that we're just focusing on the local club stuff and looking to improve all the time," he said.

Jackson Mitchell, Jake Robb and Jayden Sharp were the three riders who narrowly edged out McNabb to the C grade podium.

Matt Moss took out the overall King Of MX crown.

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