Can-Am / Driven Powersports’
Take Third at UTVWC
Don Higbee & Bryan Buckhannon
BITD Pro ATV Race Report
Casper, WY (4/19/2017) - Can-Am
/ Driven Powersports’ Don Higbee teamed up with
Bryan Buckhannon to finish third in the UTV World
Championship Best in the Desert Series Pro ATV
race in Laughlin, NV. Riding a Can-Am Outlander
1000, the duo recorded another podium finish on
the only 4X4 utility quad in the class.
Running consistently on the relatively smooth,
fast and dusty course, Higbee and Buckhannon overcame
their speed differential with a smooth run, especially
in the 16-mile track’s proving ground section.
The podium finish allowed them to gain some points
in the championship race.
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Driven
Powersport's Don Higbee |
“We had a good run out there,” said Higbee. “We
didn’t get the greatest start and it was super
dusty for the first few laps. We put in the absolutely
the best effort we could and came away with third.
We’re right within striking distance of the championship.
Our game is to finish and we have a near perfect
record at doing that. That’s how you win championships:
you keep plugging away at it and we have a solid
team this year. We have a great game plan and
we’ll continue to capitalize on it.”
Higbee said the combination of Custom Axis Shocks,
Kenda Tires and Tire Spines were perfect here.
The proving grounds section was especially whooped
out, but their reliable Can-Am was up to the task.
“The proving grounds made it difficult to push
the 4X4 through than a sport quad, but the Custom
Axis Shocks worked great there,” said Higbee.
“The rest of the course was really fast, and the
speed of our quad was right there with the sport
quads. We’ve been through three races with the
Kenda Tires/Tire Spines combination and we’ve
had zero flats. Bryan has always run Kenda and
we switched to them this year for desert racing.
We’re loving the HTR Bearclaw 8-ply Tires”
Buckhannon has been racking up the frequent flier
miles this year. After running the Hunt the Wolf
race in Romania, Buckhannon arrived back in the
states the Tuesday before the race and was quickly
back on an airplane to Nevada. Buckhannon showed
his experience by his success two very different
disciplines of racing.
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Can-Am's
Bryan Buckhannon |
“We went from winching each other in the team
sport in Romania to wide open in the desert,”
said Buckhannon. “I felt really good at the start
and once we got into the dust, it was just still
air. I had to get out of the gas and the pack
really strung out. By the third or fourth lap,
the dust died down a little. It’s hard to make
up time when it’s that smooth and the guys are
so fast. We were fortunate enough to get third
at the end.”
Though they were at a disadvantage here, Buckhannon
rode strong. That attitude is playing to their
favor in the points chase.
“We never gave up and turned some negatives into
positives,” said Buckhannon. “It’s a points game
out there and we have the reliability of our Can-Am.
We’re looking forward to the longer races where
the reliability of our Can-Am will shine. We want
to be the first ones to win the championship with
a 4X4.”
The Can-Am Driven Powersports’ team will have
several months to wait till the next round of
Best in the Desert racing in August at the Vegas
to Reno, but they will also be heading to Mexico
for the SCORE BAJA 500 on June 3rd.
Driven Powersports
Racing 2017 Sponsors:
Can Am, Driven Powersports, Custom Axis, Tucker
Rocky, Dirtworks, Tire Spines, David Jesse Racing,
OMF, Dirtworks, Kenda, DP Brakes, Evans Coolant,
MSR, Arai, Team JDR, Airdam Clutches, Spider Graphix,
Cecco Racing
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