2017
TORC Series
Round #3
Twin Cities Takedown
Elk River, MN
June 10, 2017 |
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Rodney VanEperen & CJ Greaves
Take TORC Pro Wins
2017 TORC Off-Road
Championship Round 3 Pro UTV Race Report
2017
TORC Series
Twin Cities Take Down
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Elk River, MN (06/12/2017) - Greaves
Motorsports teammates Rodney VanEperen and CJ Greaves
again carried the Yamaha banner high as the pair
won their respective UTV classes during the TORC
Off Road Championship presented by AMSOIL race at
ERX Motorpark. VanEperen won his second Pro Modified
race, while Greaves remains unbeaten in Pro Stock,
winning his third consecutive event.
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Rounds 3
& 4 of the TORC Series headed to ERX
Motorsports Park in Minnesota for the
Twin Cities Takedown
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The race was round three of the series and the
first of a planned doubleheader weekend at the
track just north west of Minneapolis. However,
severe thunderstorms on Sunday forced officials
to postpone Sunday’s events. That round will is
now scheduled to run as part of the season finale
at ERX, scheduled for September 23-24.
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The TORC
doubleheader was cut short after a severe
storm hit Sunday Morning with 70+ MPH
Winds, which knocked out power, tilted
over the control center, blew down trees
and shredded dozens of awnings.
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Abnormally hot conditions at purpose-built off-road
facility on Saturday made for challenging racing
on the combined dirt, clay and sand racing surface.
The track featured several tight turns, a unique
split-lane section, several jumps and technical
whoops sections. With 14 laps on tap for the events,
the races on the high-speed track thrilled the
large crowd on hand, despite windy conditions
and temperatures in the mid-90s.
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TORC Pro
Mod SxS / UTV Podium (left to right)
Kyle Chaney (2nd), Rodney VanEperen (1st),
Zach Szymik (3rd)
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In Pro Mod, Tim Farr took the lead at the start
in his Can-Am and looked destined to repeat his
victory in round two. But VanEperen quickly moved
in behind Farr. Pulling off a spectacular three-wide
pass, VanEperen took the lead on lap three and
began checking out, while Farr pitted with tire
issues.
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JB Racing's
Tim Farr grabbed the early lead with Rodney
VanEperen is chase for several laps
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After the midway competition caution, VanEperen
was strong on the restart, but the Can-Am of Kyle
Chaney dogged him through the final seven laps.
After a near crash on the final lap in a whoops
section, VanEperen held on for the victory. Chaney
was second, ahead of the Yamaha Zach Szymik. Zac
Zakowski was fourth in a Yamaha, ahead of the
Can-Am of Thomas Reiner.
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Yamaha's
Rodney VanEperen held off Can-Am's Kyle
Chaney late charge for the lead
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“Farr had some issues and we took advantage of
them,” said VanEperen. “We had no radio communications,
but I gave myself a mental note in staging that
I was going to win, whether the radio worked or
not.”
VanEperen recovered from a mechanical issue in
the last race to get the emotional victory. Finding
perfect lines during the last three laps, VanEperen
held off the charging Chaney to secure the finish.
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Yamaha's
Rodney VanEperen held on to claim his
second win of the season in the TORC Pro
Mod UTV class
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“I could hear someone back there and I knew I
had no room to breath,” said VanEperen. “I don’t
get emotional very often, but we were up to midnight
last night and my crew deserves this one. This
is the type of track all of us want to race on.
This track isn’t just about going wide open and
drifting it in. It’s about picking lines and being
smart; it’s a racer’s dream.”
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