Yokley Clinches WORCS Side-by-Side Championship

Lucas Cooney
by Lucas Cooney

Just a few weeks after winning the GNCC “Open Modified” UTV Championship in his National Guard Polaris Coastal DragonFire Yokley Racing Ranger RZR XP 900, William Yokley took the WORCS Racing Side-by-Side 1 Championship his first year racing the series.

“We, once again, would like to congratulate William on another championship,” says Donna Beadle, race team manager for Polaris Racing. “Both William and teammate Scott Kiger have been very dedicated to developing and racing the Ranger RZR XP 900 and we couldn’t be happier with the result.”

The last side-by-side WORCS race of the season was hosted at Speed World MX, in Surprise, Ariz. Yokley only needed to finish in the top eight to clinch the championship so he planned to be a little less aggressive than usual. It was a good thing he had a points cushion because his day did not go as planned and he ended up finishing ninth but was still able to earn the championship by, thanks to some help from Kiger.

On lap 2, Kiger came upon Yokley sitting on the side of the track. Like a loyal teammate, he stopped to see if he could help. They assessed the situation, and decided that he would tow Yokley back to the pit area for repairs.

Once back in the pits, the National Guard Polaris Coastal crew jumped in and changed the malfunctioning clutch in a matter of minutes. Kiger got back in the race, and a few minutes later, Yokley did as well. They were more than a lap down by now, but they soldiered on to the finish. By finishing ninth, Yokley was able to take the championship by just a few points. Kiger was running a great race, and looked like he would have his best finish of the season until he stopped to help Yokley. He would finish the day in seventh place.

Summary – XC1 Pro ATV

The Pro ATV race on Sunday looked like it was going to be a mudfest due to the rain all night and into the morning. A good start would be important in order to stay out of some of the roost. The race was started using the Pro Motocross starting gate, and when the gate dropped, McClure was running in seventh place. He was able to make a few passes, and worked his way up to fourth going into lap 2.

The course included the surrounding desert areas, as well as parts of the motocross course. The WORCS crew set up the usual obstacles of stacked logs and huge heavy equipment tires, just to make it interesting. The track started drying up a bit as the race progressed, and became really fast. McClure was running a strong pace, and the ATV was working well.

He came in for his fuel stop about half way through this 90 minute race. The crew took a little extra time to clean some of the mud off of the radiators to help with the cooling system. He re-entered the race in fifth place and attempted to make up some time. On the last lap of this 10 lap race, McClure’s machine started slowing down, and finally came to a stop. He could not get it restarted, and had to call it a day. He finished the race in eighth place, and finished seventh in the WORCS season points.

Yokley Racing Team Sponsors: The Army National Guard, Polaris Industries, Coastal Racing, DragonFire Racing, Kenda Tires, Monavie, EXIT Suspension, Roll Design, XC Bobs.com, Douglas Wheel Technology, HMF Exhaust Systems, Moto Pro Training, SHIFT Riding Gear, Tsubaki Chains, IMS/Roll, CV4 Hoses, ATVRiders.com, Tireballs, Precision Racing Products, G-4 Graphics, SCOTT USA Goggles, IMS, Hygh Octane Designs, Bowers Motorsports, TanTerra Wines, Tusk Off-Road, Baldwin Motorsports, K&N Filters, RPM Axles, KG Clutches, PowerMadd and Fluidyn Powersports.

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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