2016 RMURA Round #1 - Grand Junction MTR SPWY Grand Junction CO May 15, 2016

This weekend’s event kicked off the 2016 RMURA season with practice on Saturday and racing Sunday. With hot and dry conditions on Saturday, dust was an issue, but a storm hit the facility early Sunday morning, making for a perfect racing surface. The A Class nearly doubled in size this year with seven riders taking the start.

Rocky Mountain UTV Racing Series - ATV A Podium (left to right) Austen Turner (2nd), Brian Barsh (1st)

Barsh snagged the holeshot and never looked back, leading every lap to the victory and earned the $200 top prize. Heil challenged Turner in the early stages of the race, but settled for third at the end

#28 Brian Barsh grabbed the holeshot

“That holeshot was a muddy mess,” said Barsh. “It was muddy at the start, but as soon as it got tacky, my ITP Tires really hooked up. The people here are awesome here and they have good payout. I can’t say enough good things about RMURA. It’s grown a lot. This year, it’s just going to continue to grow. I freshened up my motor and we’re still looking for sponsors, but right now I’m just blessed to be racing and having a good time.”

Brian Barsh held the lead from start to finish to secure the A class Win

Turner, who has been training with Barsh, ran second the entire race. “I had a pretty good start, but Brian got the jump on me,” said Turner. “It was fun, a little muddy in the beginning, but it beats the dust.”

Austen Turner held onto the 2nd place finish

Heil said she suffered arm pump late in the 50-minute race. She battled Turner hard before fading toward the end of the event. “I’m pretty proud of how I did,” said Heil. “My goal is to keep up with Austen Turner. He got some arm pump, then I got arm pump and he left me. I feel happy and confident. I like the track; the jumps and the swooping turns. I came out in third and just stayed there.”

Megan Heil challenged Austen Turner early on for the second spot before settling into third place

Chris Denton won the ATV B Class, ahead of Cordero Orona and Brittney Renzelman.

Rocky Mountain UTV Racing Series - ATV B Podium (left to right) Brittney Renzelman (3rd), Chris Denton (1st), Cordero Orona (2nd)

“It was a beautiful day and we put together a pretty good race. The track started out a little wet, but it came in nicely at the end. I hope to be able to race the whole season this year. I stalled the bike at the start, and had to catch up, but I settled into a groove, which is nice.”

Chris Denton took home the win in the B Class

The RMURA Series heads to the East side of the Rockies for the round two at IMI Motorsports Complex on July 9-10th, so if you missed out on the opening round, be sure not to miss round two.

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