Can-Am Racing Report: GNCC Round 6, TQRA Round 5, WORCS Round 5

Lucas Cooney
by Lucas Cooney
Clifton Beasley

Can-Am X-Team racers had a very busy weekend in three different racing series, picking up wins on two of them. Competing at the inaugural Limestone 100 GNCC, Can-Am X-Team racers earned four 4×4 class overall wins. As well, Can-Am pilots won both the Pro and Pro-Am classes at round five of the Texhoma Quad Racing Association (TQRA) series. Can-Am ATV and Commander side-by-side racers also went to work in the World Off-Road Championship Series in Southern California.

“Can-Am racers had a busy weekend with mixed results. We competed in three different racing series in three different states. Chris Bithell put in a good effort to finish fourth after he started the Pro class race at the back of the pack at the Limestone GNCC,” says Jimmie O’Dell, race manager, Can-Am. “Our Can-Am 4×4 racers tamed the new course, as Bryan Buckhannon, Cliff Beasley and Forrest Whorton each posted convincing wins their classes. In the WORCS series, Dillon Zimmerman put in another top-five performance on his Can-Am DS 450 while Josh Frederick salvaged a top-10 finish and still sits second in the points chase. And in Texas, Hunter Miller had a great weekend in the TQRA series winning two classes and finishing third on the UTV Pro class podium.”

Can-Am / GNCC Racing

Bryan Buckhannon

Round six of the Can-Am / GNCC series made its first stop to The Limestone 100 outside of Springville, Ind. Bryan Buckhannon edged Team UXC / Can-Am X-Team racer Michael Swift to win the 4×4 Open class and finish second overall on the morning podium.

“It feels good to have a little more cushion in the points lead. I can’t say I’m going to relax though, because the competition is still really tough and I want to win as many rounds as I can,” said Buckhannon.

Cliff Beasley remained perfect on his Team UXC Racing / Can-Am Renegade 800R X xc in 2012, winning the U2 class by more than three minutes. Tanner Bowles won his fifth in a row, taking the 4×4 Novice class victory. Forrest Whorton (Can-Am X-Team) earned his fifth victory in six rounds with a win in the 4×4 Senior 40+ class. Motoworks / Can-Am DS 450 pro racer Chris Bithell took fourth in Indiana. After a slow start, Bithell fought his way through traffic and into sixth place. He caught a break late in the race and moved up to fourth. He’s currently fifth in the XC1 Pro class point standings.

WORCS

Dillon Zimmerman

Racetown 395 in Adelanto, Calif., hosted round five of the 2012 WORCS schedule. Motoworks / Can-Am DS 450 racer Dillon ZImmerman finished fifth in the Pro class. Zimmerman started the race in sixth and rode steady, to post another top-five finish in 2012. He’s currently fourth in the Pro class point standings.

“The track was rough in some areas and wet in others, but my quad held up great, even with it being so hot.” said Zimmerman.

Josh Frederick finished ninth after battling the heat, dust and a mechanical issue. Frederick, who worked his way up to second place and started to pull away from the third-place rider, battled fuel issues and lost several positions as his team corrected the matter. Frederick was at the back of the pack, but rode hard to notch a top-10 finish. He’s currently second in the Pro class points race after five rounds of racing.

TQRA

Hunter Miller raced his Can-Am DS 450 ATV to wins in both the Open Expert and Pro-Am classes at round five of the TQRA motocross series held at Village Creek MX in Ft. Worth, Texas. Miller outran his Louis Powersports / Can-Am teammate Cody Miller and the rest of the field during his 1-1 moto sweep in the Open Expert class. In Pro-Am class action, Hunter took the win in the second moto to give him the overall. The Miller brothers each piloted a Commander 1000 X to a podium finish in the UTV Open class, as Cody finished second and Hunter was third.

Lucas Cooney
Lucas Cooney

I have been working exclusively in digital media since 1997. I started out with TSN.ca, spending nearly nine years creating and editing content on Canada's leading sports website. I left to join VerticalScope, Inc., one of the world's largest online publishers, to start a number of powersports publications. While at VerticalScope, I've helped create and oversee content for a wide variety of different publications, including ATV.com, Off-Road.com, ArcheryTalk.com, Tractor.com, RVGuide.com, and many more.

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