|
2016 GBC Heartland Challenge
ATV Endurance Racing
Carlisle, Iowa
August 20, 2016
|
|
GBC Heartland Challenge
ATV Race Report
::Continued::
In the Iron Man Class, Matt Lindle won his third
consecutive Heartland Challenge. It also may be
his last in the class as he is eying entering
a team in next year’s race.
|
| GBC
Heartland Challenge Ironman Podium (left
to right)
Shane Austin (2nd), Matt Lindle (1st), Brent
Benjegerdes (3rd)
|
“I love the challenge of this race; I just can’t
get away from it,” said Lindle. “The mental game
is important. I like being able to push it as
hard as I can as long as I can. It’s incredible
the amount of support I had this year. I had a
mechanical issue for a while and I had to run
without a steering stabilizer for six and a half
hours. It took a lot of effort to get where I
am. This is a little hard on the body so I don’t
know if I’m going to go for four.”
|
| For
the 3rd straight year, Matt Lindle claimed
the Ironman Win |
In the 30+ Class, Team THR ran a memorial race
for team member Chris Bennett’s brother Craig.
Known as “Nugget", Craig Bennett died five
weeks ago. Chris Bennett was joined by Rob Zimmerman
and Josh Schaner for the race.
|
| Team
THR's Chris Bennett raced in honor of his
brother, Craig, and ran the #33 |
“We ran number 33 in his honor this weekend,”
said Chris Bennett. “His number was 333. We couldn’t
go that high, so we named our team the Three Wiseman
to get to 333. It’s all dedicated to Craig. His
name was on our number plates and this was all
for him. He’s the one that gave us the perfect
day. He brought in just the right amount of rain
and it made the track perfect. My team was awesome;
I wouldn’t be here without them.”
Zimmerman entered the event simply to help Bennett
keep his mind off of his brother’s death. “Chris’
brother passed away and the only reason I’m doing
it is to try to take his mind off of his brother’s
death,” said Zimmerman. “We just started preparing
for this race a week ago. That rain was beautiful
and the track was awesome. This is the best I’ve
ever felt at the end of a Heartland Challenge.”
In the Schoolboy Class, Team BNK Racing with
riders Brock Kyner, Kayden Dyer and Nate Guthrie
carried the day. They ran consistent laps throughout
the event to earn the victory.
|
| Team
BNK Racing's Brock Kyner, Kayden Dyer and
Nate Guthrie took home the Schoolboy Class
Win |
“We started really well and went into the timber
and started picking off a few,” said Kyner. “The
other team blew an engine on the first lap, so
we had a good lead. So we ran some consistent
laps, I got on it at the end, I took it home.”
With the 2016 GBC Heartland Challenge in the
books, the only question now is which team will
try to knock Yamaha off the top of the podium
next year?
|
