Shelbyville, TN (8/30/2016) - As
students get ready to return to school, Team
UXC Racing’s drivers got ready to take on
both the Best In The Desert Vegas to Reno
event in Nevada and also the annual GBC Motorsports
Heartland Challenge in Iowa.
|
|
Team
UXC Racing's Michael Swift, Kevin Trantham
& Bryan Hulsey Take the 4x4 Pro
Heartland Challenge Win |
** Heartland Challenge **
The Heartland Challenge was originally designed
by a group of dedicated ATV enthusiasts. It
is the most challenging ATV and UTV event
in the US and this year was its 9th running.
ATVs race for 10 straight hours with an endurocross-type
‘challenge’ included for the brave. UTVs race
for 4 hours and Ace Single Seaters for 1.5
hours. The ATV and UTV race includes several
hours of darkness so great headlights are
a must! Team UXC would be going for 2 in a
row in the 10 hour ATV race after taking the
title last year.
Polaris Ace Single-Seater Race
The weekend kicked off with our UTVs. Andy
Kyner of the Iowa ATV Hare Scramble club had
set out a superb XC course for the Polaris
Ace Single Seaters. Team UXC ran both of their
900cc machines and it would be the super fast
Torey Rush who would take the lead off the
start and never need to look back; taking
the win for the overall and the class with
almost a lap ahead of the rest of the field.
Team UXC’s second driver, Becky Widdicombe,
was excited to be back behind the wheel after
a long summer break. She drove a sensible
race, bringing her Ace home 2nd in class and
3rd overall, giving the team a great result
for this fabulous machine.
|
Team
UXC Racing's Torey Rush Takes the Overall
ACE Win & Becky Widdicombe finished
3rd Overall |
Polaris RZR 1000XP UTV Race
The team would also run 2 Polaris RZR 1000
XPs in the 1000/Open class of the main 4 hour
UTV race. With a huge line up, the start was
guaranteed to be exciting. Rush, still fresh
from his Ace win, had Widdicombe as his co-pilot.
They had an excellent start to run in 3rd
at the end of lap 1. Our 2nd team of Kevin
Trantham, Michael Swift and Nic Snyckers,
had a tougher start with a machine stalling
in front of them. This would leave them with
work to do, but it was a long race.
An unfortunate flat tire dropped Rush and
Widdicombe back to 24th. However the pit crew
had the pair back out and climbing the field,
getting back up to 7th in class. Trantham
and his co-pilot, Snyckers, were also climbing
the field fast making it to 5th in class.
Unfortunately, it was not to be Rush’s day
as an unfortunate collision with an Iowan
tree while trying to avoid a stranded machine
would end their race after only 2 hours. Still
on the charge, Trantham pitted to change out
pilots. Swift held their position as darkness
fell. The Rigid Industries LED light bars
turned the sunlight on and allowed Swift to
maintain that position
all the way to the finish. An excellent result
for Team UXC Racing in a very competitive
field.
ATV 10 Hour Challenge
The main event of the 10-hour ATV race got
started with a Le Mans style start; where
riders had to run to their bikes. Swift would
start for his team of 3 4x4 Pro class riders;
Trantham and Bryan Hulsey. Jeff Wright would
run 2nd to Josh Day in A class and Nic Snyckers
and Graham Widdicombe would both take on the
course in the Ironman class, running the whole
10 hours on their own!
Swift ran his Polaris 1000cc Scrambler XP
head to head with Cody Miller on the CanAm.
The pair traded the lead throughout the first
few hours with just seconds between them.
Swift pitted to change rider to Trantham,
and dropped back behind 1st but there was
still barely a minute between the teams. A
mechanical issue early in the race with Hulsey
was on track dropped the team further back,
but knowing there were still several hours
left the team dug deep to chase for the win.
With all 3 top teams pushing hard and just
minutes between 1st and 2nd after over 8 hours
of racing, it would only take a simple problem
or mistake to change who would take the checkers
first. It would be Team UXC Racing’s Swift,
Trantham and Hulsey who would make it 2 in
a row and win the 10 hour Heartland Challenge
for 2016. Evans Coolant kept our Polaris Scrambler
1000 XP motors cool in the Iowa heat and Rigid
Industries LED lighting systems meant our
riders were putting down lap times comparable
to their daytime performance.
With our Pro 4x4 riders taking the win, our
other riders put in some great performances.
Wright and Day finished 4th in a very competitive
A class. In the Ironman class, Widdicombe
had some technical issues meaning after 8
hours of racing and a highest position of
4th, he wasn’t able to continue. This was
despite the very hard work of the pit crew
to get him back out on track. However, our
unsung hero of the day was Nic Snyckers, also
riding Ironman. After riding for 4 hours as
a passenger in the RZR on the Friday, he then
piloted his Polaris Scrambler XP 850 through
10 hours of riding on the Saturday. Crossing
the finish line, the team cheered him home.
He just needs to drive an Ace next year to
do all 3 classes!
Swift said that he was “proud of what the
team had achieved this weekend, both on the
track and in the pit, and is excited to have
gone 2 in a row for the Heartland Challenge
in 2016”.
** Best in the Desert: Vegas to
Reno **
The action continued in the desert as last
years’ Heartland Challenge Pro 4x4 rider,
Michael Burrows, partnered with seasoned desert
and GNCC rider, Don Higbee. Continuing the
Best in the Desert (BITD) Series, the team
rode Vegas to Reno hard and headed home with
a 3rd in Quad Pro class. Having overcome a
bad crash on day 1 and two blown rear tires
at the end of the race on day two, the pair
did well to bring home a 3rd. Don said that
“BITD did a great job with these races and
we appreciate them putting them on. Thanks
to our whole team for making it happen as
we could not have done this without them.
We will come out swinging at the last race
in Parker, AZ in October!”
Team UXC Racing thanks their sponsors for
all of their support in delivering competitive
results in 2 big US events. The team will
be back in action racing the GNCC series in
Unadilla in September.
You can learn more about Team UXC Racing by
visiting teamuxcracing.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/teamuxcracing
Team UXC Racing is sponsored by:
Polaris Factory, Maxxis Tires, Custom Axis, SSI Decals, Teixeira Tech, Evans Cooling, Fly Racing, DP Brakes, K/N Filters, Alco Cleaners, Polaris Engineered Lubricants, Polaris Power Generators, Scott Goggles, Fasst Co., Rox Speed FX, Leatt, STM, All Balls Racing, Ricochet Off Road, Quad Tech, Cool-It Thermo Tech, Spider Grips, Airdam, Rigid Industries, Night Krawlers Kustoms, Dirtworks Motorsports, America’s Motorsports, Driven Powersports, OMF Wheels, RCV Performance, Tire Balls.
New sponsors for 2016
Bair’s Powersports, Big Gun Exhaust, Carbo Rocket, FPS Racing, Hilliard, Quad Logic, TEAM.
New sponsors for 2016:
Bair’s Powersports, Big Gun Exhaust, Carbo Rocket, FPS Racing, Hilliard, Quad Logic, TEAM.
