Hutchinson, MN (4/16/2009)
- When Polaris decided they wanted to go racing,
it was agreed to go racing! On any given weekend,
you will find the Polaris/Rath team successfully
tearing up multiple race tracks, in multiple
locations. This past weekend was spent racing
the GNCC in South Carolina, the ATVA MX National
in Kentucky, and the Southern ATVA TT in North
Carolina.
GNCC Racing
The weekend started off Saturday morning with
the cross country team at the Rd 4 Big Buck GNCC
Event in Union SC. Daryl Rath, Frank Batista and
Cody Anderson have been working hard putting the
new Sportsman 850XP in front of the pack. The
Sportsman 850XP may be new to the circuit this
season but it has shown it is right at home in
the highly competitive Utility 4x4 Class. Riding
on the momentum Rath and Batista continued to
finish in the top five of the class. Anderson
had some impressive lap times and was eyeing a
top spot as well when an unfortunate mishap set
him back to a sixth place finish. This was the
fourth round in the GNCC Series and all three
teammates find themselves in the top five of their
respective classes in the overall points standings.
Motocross Racing
Saturday afternoon, the Motocross team hit the
track for practice at Ballance MX Park in Bowling
Green, KY. Mitch Reynolds #137 and Landon Hurst
#179 are piloting the all-new Polaris Outlaw 450MXR
in the Pro and the Pro Am classes. Both riders
have been working at getting comfortable on the
new machine, along with doing some adjustments
to set-up to suit their riding styles. Hurst commented,
“I am very happy with how the bike is responding
to some of the changes the team has made. The
improved cornering and handling in rough terrain
has allowed me to run some pretty fast lap times.
I am really looking forward to Birch Creek.”
In Pro –Am Production Hurst was able to
claim a ninth place finish and Moto 1 and was
anxious to make a few changes and head back to
the line. As he charged from the starting pad
he was busy working his way through traffic and
had settled into a fifth place position. Two laps
to go and a minor crash with another rider caused
Hurst to be knocked from the bike, shaking the
dirt off and remounting his ride he pushed on
to the finish line.
Mitch Reynolds qualified for the main for the
first time is his rookie season as a Pro rider.
The weekend turned Mitch upside down when an extremely
rough spot on the track sent him tumbling in Moto
1. With determination and guts, Mitch headed back
to the starting gate for Moto 2 and rode a flawless
race from start to checkers. The challenges of
being a rookie rider on a brand new bike has been
testing Reynolds, but his talent and skills will
drive him to continue to work hard.
TT Racing
Rath and Batista who were both absent from the
ATVA Extreme Dirt Track Series last season have
been busy building Outlaw “Rockets”
as they are anxious to return to this fast paced
thrilling form of racing. Batista was the first
to unveil his machine this past weekend at the
Southern ATVA TT Series. With a successful first
outing, it looks as though they will be ready
when the Nationals start at the end of May. Batista
claimed second place in both Pro classes, at Robbins
Ridge Raceway, NC.
www.RathRacing.com
1459 Adams St. SE
Hutchinson MN 55350
