Root River Racing’s Josh Upperman Top Five at Daytona
Root River Racing Pro ATV SX Race Report

La Crosse, WI (3/17/2017) - Root River Racing’s Pro racers Josh Upperman and Dylan Tremellen competed at the 2017 AMA ATV Daytona Supercross in Daytona, FL. Upperman had a solid start to the season with a fifth place finish, and the Pro class rookie of Tremellen had a strong debut in twelfth place.

RRR's Josh Upperman had a solid start to the season with a fifth place finish

The man behind the successful Root River Racing team, Rich Gillette, changed pace this year by drastically decreasing the size of the team. Root River Racing now consists of four riders in total, two pro racers and two amateur racers. The transformation now allows him to devote more time and energy to the fewer riders he has, while decreasing stress on himself.

“The new team setup is a lot simpler. The last two years have put a lot of pressure on myself to coordinate and handle the amount of people in our pits. I just realized it was time to take some stress off of me. I can actually have time to relax and enjoy being at the race track now,” explained Gillette.

Root River Racing's Pro ATV Motocross Team (left to right) Josh Upperman & Dylan Tremellen

There is no doubt Gillette enjoyed his time at the track while watching Upperman grab the heat race holeshot and run away with win aboard his Root River Racing Honda. Upperman changed things up this season by going back to his former engine builder, Mark Baldwin with Baldwin Motorsports. The change seemed to suite him well.

Upperman was off to a great start and feeling good going into the main event. “It was definitely a confidence booster,” said Upperman. When the gate dropped for the main, Upperman shot off to another great start in second place, and eventually finished in fifth. “I made a couple little mistakes but all in all it was a good weekend,” stated Upperman.

Josh Upperman grabbed the heat race holeshot and ran away with win aboard his Root River Racing Honda

Dylan Tremellen ran the same heat race as his teammate Upperman, and worked his way up through the pack to a fourth place heat race finish, setting himself up well for the main event where he battled his way to twelfth. “It’s not quite where I want to be, but considering I didn’t get to ride much over the winter I am happy with it,” said Tremellen.

With the sandy track at Daytona, Tremellen’s Hoosier Tires were the key to his success. “The Hoosier Tires are awesome. This is the second year we are running them. They are all willing to do whatever we need,” explained Tremellen.

Dylan Tremellen ran the same heat race as his teammate Upperman, and worked his way up to a fourth place finish

Tremellen’s younger brother, Logan, also rides with Root River Racing in the amateur ranks, and the two are very grateful to have the support of Gillette and the Root River Racing team once again this season. “I can’t be more thankful to Rich. We are just really thankful for everything he does. We could never repay him for what he does for us,” stated Tremellen.

Gillette was proud of the opening round performance from both of his pro racers, saying, “I was very happy with all of my riders. I thought that they did very well. Coming into the race Josh Upperman informed me that he was absolutely ecstatic about his machine. He felt he was in tip-top shape to be right up there in the front, and he showed that. As for Dylan making his pro debut, I felt that he did a great job and put excellent effort in there.”

The Pro Root River Racing teammates will return to ATV Motocross National Championship racing action at the second round of the season. Racing will be held April 1-2 at Underground MX Park in Kemp, TX.