Strong rains and tornado warnings led to a muddy, messy race track for the fifth round of the ATV GNCC Series held at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. The FRE/KTM Team of Angel Atwell, Bryan Cook and Josh Kirkland were ready to tackle the challenge.

FRE/KTM rider Angel Atwell got to test the track first in the morning Women’s race. She grabbed the holeshot and led the majority of the first lap. Traci Cecco made a pass on Atwell on the motocross portion of the track at the end of the first lap but Atwell was able to pass her back at the end of the next lap. The third lap consisted of a few more lead changes with Atwell again taking the lead at the start of the final lap. With one mile to go Atwell had a three second lead on Cecco. On the final uphill Atwell got stuck behind a lapped rider and was forced to put her quad in reverse and find another line losing precious seconds. The two female riders came onto the motocross track wheel-to-wheel. Cecco was able to make a corner block pass and hold on for the lead. Angel finished right behind in second place.

With light rain falling and a muddy track, DRT/KTM’s Michael Pilotte got his season started in style, pulling the Pro moto holeshot on his KTM 450 SX ATV at Walden MX in New York. Pilotte never looked back, checking out and winning the Pro class in commanding fashion.

“I can’t say enough about Dave Therrien from DRT Racing and KTM,” says Pilotte. “DRT and KTM have put together a really competitive bike to race on this year. The quad handles and steers so great and it’s so light and powerful I feel like I can do whatever I want to do on the track.

“After I pulled the holeshot I started checking out. I’ve spent a lot of time training in Florida over the off-season so I’m in great racing shape. As long as I can stay mostly mistake free, I hope to finish on the box every round.”

National Guard Polaris Yokley Racing ATV Team rider Jarrod McClure completed only one lap and finished 123rd overall and 15th in the XC1 Pro ATV Class in Round 5 of the 2010 GNCC Series after submerging his machine in high water. There were 162 total entries with 15 XC1 Pro Riders.

Summary

The GNCC at Loretta Lynn’s is the oldest and longest running event on the schedule. This historic race course offers lots of hills, water crossings and rough terrain. Unfortunately, heavy rain all through Friday night and Saturday morning made for miserable conditions. There was mud and standing water everywhere. The bike was prepped the best it could be for running in lots of water and mud.

Jarrod got a good start and was running in fifth position through the first few turns. The first few bikes jammed up in a rut, and Jarrod tried to take a different rut around the outside of them. He clipped Adam McGill’s tire, and flipped over in a deep water hole. The ATV was upside down with just the wheels sticking out of the water. He quickly righted the machine, and fortunately it fired up! His goggles were covered in mud and water, and basically useless; and his gloves were covered in mud. Not the way you want to start a two-hour race!

The Polaris Outlaw was running, but the throttle was sticking, and the engine was misfiring. He continued on, and did manage to pass five riders, completing lap 1 in 10th position. He stopped in the pit area, the crew tried to correct the sticking throttle problem and the engine misfire. They found that the carburetor had mud and water inside, causing the slide to stick. The airbox was also full of muddy water and the engine had been damaged. There was really no way to keep things dry when the machine was submerged like it was. Jarrod was lucky to make it back to the pits.

Unfortunately, that was all she wrote, and he had to retire from the event. This was a real bummer, as the machine was handling well and the Kenda tires were hooking up great in the slick, muddy conditions.

The team remains very optimistic for the next event in Yadkinville, NC. Hopefully, it will not have so much water! See you there!

Yokley Racing Team Sponsors: The Army National Guard, Polaris Industries, DragonFire Racing, Kenda Tires, Monavie, EXIT Suspension, Roll Design, XC Bob’s, Douglas Wheel Technology, Motoworks Exhaust Systems, Moto Pro Training, SHIFT Riding Gear, Tsubaki Chains, IMS/Roll, CV4 Hoses, ATVRiders.com, Tireballs, Precision Racing Products, G-4 Graphics, Andrews Cycle, Powermadd, SCOTT USA Goggles, PURE Polaris Lubricants & Fuels, Intense Fabrication & Design, IMS, Hygh Octane Designs, Bowers Motorsports, TanTerra Wines and Tusk Off-Road.

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Yokley Racing featured at Thunder over Louisville

Polaris Industries saw a 16 percent increase in sales of off-road vehicles (ORVs) during the first quarter of 2010, compared to the first quarter of 2009. Polaris ORV sales totaled more than $250.4 million in the first three months of 2010, compared to $215.5 million in 2009.

According to Polaris, this increase reflects significant market share gains for both ATVs and Ranger side-by-sides driven by new product offerings, including the recently introduced Ranger RZR 4 – the company’s first four-seat sport side-by-side.

North American retail sales to consumers for ORVs increased nearly 20 percent for the 2010 first quarter from the first quarter last year, with side-by-side vehicle retail sales increasing significantly while core ATV retail sales were about flat. Polaris also reports that retail sales trends improved sequentially each month during the first quarter of 2010.

The Acerbis Loretta Lynn GNCC in Hurricane Mills, Tenn. was wet and muddy after an all-day rain pummeled central Tennessee; however, the racing couldn’t have been more exciting, as Chris Borich emerged from a four-rider battle to make a last-lap pass to claim his fourth win of this year’s Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series.

Borich grabbed the holeshot to start the race, putting his Yoshimura Suzuki at the front of a tightly-packed group that included Ballance Racing/ Yamaha‘s Taylor Kiser, Warnert Can-Am‘s Adam McGill and Yamaha rider Don Ockerman. For most of the first lap the front-runners played it safe, checking out lines and waiting for someone to make a mistake. McGill got tired of the game, however, and made a move near the end of the opening lap, taking the point and leading Borich, Kiser and teammate Chris Bithell across the finish line to complete the opening lap.

Dustin Wimmer, Josh Creamer, Bill Ballance, Taylor Kiser, Tim Shelman, Keith Little, and Jeremy Lawson are part of Pro Armor’s 2010 ATV race team.

Wimmer, Creamer, Little, and Lawson will be competing in the ATV MX Nationals while Balance and Kiser will be gunning for championships in the GNCC Series. Shelman, aka TPQ, races the WORCS series.

Team Pro Armor will be racing the 2010 season using the Revolution nerf bars.

“We have spent countless hours developing the best nerf bar for all applications and the Revolution has far exceeded our expectations” says Alex Danze, Pro Armor president and CEO.

Idol Speed, makers of the Quadshot, an ATV holeshot device, have chosen to sponsor the Pro Am holeshot award for the ITP/Moose Racing AMA ATV Motocross Championship.

“We decided to sponsor the Pro-Am guys because we thought it was a great place to start with the product and also to support that level of racing,” says Andy Smith, president of Idol Speed. “We’re really excited about this sponsorship.”

Idol Speed will contribute $100 per each moto holeshot winner. Pro-Am Production riders Joel Hetrick and Chase Snapp were both rewarded with checks during the Ballance Moto X in Bowling Green, Ky., April 18, the first event since Idol Speed came on board.

For more information about the Quadshot Holeshot device, check out IdolSpeed.com.

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Rath Racing is on a roll! The weekend after Daryl Rath and his Sportsman 850 XP EPS took the “4×4 Open” points lead in GNCC, Casey Martin and his Outlaw 450 hit the podium with a second place overall in the “Pro Am Production” class, at the AMA National MX series’ Ballance Moto X, at Bowling Green, Ky.

“I knew this is where we would get this bike, it has been great working with Rath Racing and Polaris in putting together a winning program,” says Martin. “Every weekend I feel better and faster on this Outlaw and I am looking forward to being up here again. I also want to thank all the sponsors behind us that have put in the effort with their support to get us here.”

Martin’s weekend showed promise from the beginning, where he laid down some nice lap times and qualifying motos. The Pro Am Production classes are stacked with more than double the riders contending in the Pro Class and with time qualifying only putting 18 into the main event, a last chance qualifier (LCQ) was needed to fill the gate. Martin’s time in his practice session moved him into the main events.

The National Guard Polaris Yokley Racing Team was featured in the National Guard display on April 17 in Louisville, Ky. at the Thunder over Louisville event. This one day event held in the downtown Louisville riverfront is the kickoff for Kentucky Derby Festival activities leading up to the Kentucky Derby on May 1.

Yokley Racing was the featured race team in the National Guard display area, right next to an Apache and Blackhawk helicopter. Included in the display were a race prepared Polaris Outlaw 450 ATV and RZR UTV, as well as a military version provided by Polaris Defense, the RZR-SW, used by the Special Forces.

Thunder over Louisville is the largest annual fireworks show in the United States, with more than 50,000 shells exploded in the 30 minute fireworks display. The attendance was estimated at more than 700,000. There was also an air show over the Ohio river featuring 90 military and specialty aircraft. All branches of the military had displays as well as 130 vendors.

With a brand new Tilted Kilt/Weller Racing color scheme on her SR1, and a few new features such as Unisteer power steering and a new Walker Evans/Maxxis wheel and tire combo, Corry Weller came out swinging at rounds three and four of the Lucas Oil Off Road Race Series this past weekend, which was held in her own backyard at Speedworld Offroad Park in Surprise, Ariz.

Determined to be a familiar face on the podium for 2010, Weller’s weekend was not without incident as she lost power during Friday’s qualifying session due to a faulty fuel pressure regulator, putting her in the back for Saturday’s main race. With a few laps behind her to adjust to her new steering set-up and a new fuel rail to solve her power issues, Weller layered on the tear offs and prepared to do battle with the thick mud and very fast competition.

“I have started in the back lots of times, unfortunately,” Weller says. “I knew I had to really hustle to get to the front before the end of the race, especially when our race was only eight laps. It’s tricky coming up through traffic, but I seem to be able to anticipate people’s reactions pretty well, and was hoping to get through pretty clean.”

Rockstar Makita Suzuki newcomer Josh Creamer took his first overall win for the team at the Ballance Moto X in Bowling Green, Ky., round two of the ITP Tires/Moose Racing AMA ATV MX Championship presented by Parts Unlimited.

The Suzuki rider took the win over teammate and Defending Champion Dustin Wimmer and Joe Byrd Quad Racing School’s Joe Byrd, in optimum track and weather conditions.

“The race went really well,” says Creamer. “Practice wasn’t that great for me, we were only about top five or six in practice. Once we started racing, I got great holeshots and the Rockstar Makita Suzuki was working fantastic. It had plenty of power, and it was handling was good. The second moto we just checked out. It just worked out really well. I’d like to thank my whole team under the Rockstar Makita Suzuki tent, and Yoshimura and all the sponsors we have. Everything’s just going really well this year.”

Pro Armor has recently releases its all new doors for the Polaris Ranger RZR 4.

The doors are all aluminum construction and can be bolted directly on to the RZR 4 without any drilling.

“The mounting system for these doors makes them the strongest and best design on the market period,” Pro Armor says in a release. “These doors not only make your ride look that much better with the state of the art design but also make it much easier to enter and exit your RZR.”

Available with nets or sheet metal skins (cut outs or solid), the doors are fully interchangeable and mount in minutes. Also, the doors are offered in brushed aluminum or powder coated black. A set of four doors costs $999.95 for brushed aluminum or $1,099.95 for powder coated black.

Long Haul Productions, in cooperation with MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc. and the ATVPG, announced the launch of a new reality television series about ATV racing called “ATV-24/7.”

Premiering May 15, 2010, each half-hour episode of “ATV-24/7” follows three racers – in real time — as they prepare for and race in the 2010 ITP Tires/Moose Racing AMA ATV Motocross Championships.

Two-time Defending Champion Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Dustin Wimmer, Motoworks Can-Am’s John Natalie Jr. and youth rider, Jordan Digby, will all share the spotlight in this new reality racing show that is being broadcast nationally on Direct TV, Dish Network and regional sports networks throughout the U.S.

More than 300 miles of designated trails on the Wayne National Forest has re-opened to the public for the 2010 trail season. Last year, the Forest sold 16,000 trail permits to recreation enthusiasts.

The Wayne National Forest (WNF) has approximately 120 miles of all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and off-highway motorcycle (OHM) trails, 80 miles of horse trails, and 210 miles of trails available to mountain bikers to enjoy. Many of these trails are shared with other types of trail users. They offer different levels of challenge for riders to enjoy from “easy” to “most difficult”.

All trail riders 16 years or older must purchase a WNF trail permit to use the trails. Trail permits are not required for those under 16 years of age. However, for motorized trail riders, youth under 16 years old must be accompanied by a licensed operator 18 years or older. All motorized trail riders must have a valid state driver’s license, register their ATVs and OHMs at the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) and purchase a WNF trail permit.

Adam McGill piloted his Team Warnert Racing-prepped Can-Am DS 450 EFI ATV to third-place overall in the XC1 Pro class at the Big Buck GNCC race this past weekend near Union, SC. Teammate Chris Bithell took fifth overall on his DS 450. Can-Am ATV racers also swept all five 4×4 classes in the morning race.

“Adam and Chris worked very hard despite the rough conditions today and the DS 450 delivered exactly what they both asked of their respective race machines,” says Jimmie O’Dell, racing manager for Can-Am ATVs at BRP. “Both were in the top five and in the hunt for the win when the white flag came out. Heading into the next race at Loretta Lynn’s, the team is very hungry; they’re ready to earn an afternoon overall win.”

Daryl Rath and his Polaris Sportsman 850 XP EPS have been lurking right off the lead since the beginning of the 2010 GNCC Racing Season and this past weekend, at Big Buck they pounced on the “4×4 Open” points lead.

Rath, who finished second at Big Buck, has been relentless racing the Sportsman 850 XP EPS. His first race of the season was the only race where he didn’t place and he currently has one second and two third-place finishes in the series. He holds the lead at 72 points and feels the best is yet to come.

“I was really excited coming into this season, we worked very hard last year to get a solid platform with the Sportsman 850 XP EPS. I was able to take all the information we gained and start making the little changes needed to put this ATV up front,” says Rath. “We have progressed this program from the learning, development and trial stages to a racing stage, and our results are showing that. The fine tuning changes we are making now just keep enhancing the performance of the Sportsman 850 XP EPS. I think it will continue to improve as the season goes on, we are a contender.”

All three FRE/KTM ATV GNCC riders earned holeshots in their respective classes which led to three top results at the Big Buck, round 4 of the GNCC Series.

Women’s class racer, Angel Atwell, was up first in the morning ATV class. She nailed the holeshot off the line and led the group around for the first lap. She held the lead for the first half of the race followed closely by Traci Cecco, Kristen Atwell and Lexie Coulter. Angel pit for gas on lap three and lost the lead briefly to Kristen Atwell. She quickly reeled her back in and regained the lead before the end of the third lap. She went on to pull a five-second lead and took the win.

The next holeshot went to XC-1 FRE/KTM rider Bryan Cook as he rounded the first turn in front and battled it out for the lead the duration of the first lap. He was passed by a hard charging Taylor Kiser at the end of the first lap and then embarked on a battle with Chris Borich, Chris Bithell and Adam McGill for a top three spot. Unfortunately, he was passed by all three riders but was able to maintain their pace. On the final lap he was able to get back around Bithell and finished a hard fought fourth overall.

Defending Champion Chris Borich continues to dominate the Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series, claiming his third win in four races at the Pirelli Big Buck GNCC in Union, SC on Saturday, April 10.

Borich’s M.O. this year has been to come from behind, and today was no different, as the Yoshimura Suzuki rider got off to a so-so start and then carved his way to the front, passing Ballance Racing/ Yamaha‘s Taylor Kiser with less than a lap to go to take the win.

“I worked hard for this one,” says Borich. “I saw the white flag and I decided it was time to go, but there was not much room for passing out there and Taylor was going really well.”

For the final two laps, Kiser and Borich were never more than a few lengths apart, and their fierce battle carried them to a healthy cushion over third place, which at first was held by FRE KTM’s Bryan Cook, and then later by Can-Am‘s Adam McGill. Kiser might have held on for the win had Borich not saved an ace up his sleeve for the final lap.

As the Championship Mud Racing (CMR) series gets underway, so does the support of the only ATV manufacturer bringing competition mud-ready ATVs to the track.

Arctic Cat’s potent 650, 700 or 1000 Mud Pros have the ultimate power, ground clearance, snorkels and mud tires on the market. They also have a race contingency program during this summer’s CMR series.

This is second straight year Arctic Cat has offered contingency for the CMR series. The Minnesota-based manufacturer also sponsored this year’s Mud Nationals.

On Monday, April 5, Yamaha sponsored ATV racer Bill Ballance had an ATV crash while practicing near his home in Kentucky. Ballance suffered multiple injuries and since has received treatment including surgery on one wrist at the Norton Hospital in Louisville, Ky., to assist with his recovery. Following his surgery, Bill was released from the hospital and is now recovering at home. No additional surgeries are known to be scheduled at this time.

“Bill and his family appreciate all of the well wishes, thoughts and prayers from their many friends and fans,” says Steve Nessl, Yamaha’s ATV Group marketing manager. “Many details are still outstanding, but we remain hopeful that Bill will have a quick and full recovery. So far, the news we’ve received from Bill’s family has been positive. At this time, we hope everyone will continue to respect the family’s privacy and need for some quiet time at home.”

Ballance is a nine-time pro champion of the Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) ATV racing series and a veteran of the Yamaha ATV race team, as well as owner and manager of Ballance Racing.

Every year around the beginning of spring in a sleepy little Texas town, a few guys come together for a week of mud racing, crawfish eatin’, and good times. Keep in mind that this is Texas, so a few means more like 10,000 people visiting the mudding paradise known as Mud Creek Off-Road Park in Jacksonville, Tex. for the 2010 High Lifter Mud Nationals.

Attendance numbers are a conservative estimate – it has been sais that as many as 15,000 could walk through the gate by week’s end. These guys are not your normal Utility mud riders, though. More like fierce competitors looking to become king of the Pit in an all-out brawl to be the best of the best in ATV mud racing. Starting on Wednesday evening the crowd begins to grow. By Saturday the park is like downtown New York at rush hour as it is filled with the sounds of four stroke thumpers roaring into the wooded acres of Mud Creek. This will continue into the night as well with lights and faint sounds of a cheering crowd echoing through the trees.

The 2010 racing season is still in its infancy, but Suzuki ATVs and motorcycles are off to an impressive start.

The ATV MX season opener in Alabama showed why back-to-back champion Dustin Wimmer and his QuadRacer R450 have won more ATV MX races than anyone in recent history. Wimmer is leading the points chase, and he is looking to put in many great performances in 2010. Also aboard the QuadRacer R450 is 2009 GNCC champion Chris Borich. Borich has two wins in the GNCC series so far this season, and he shows no sign of slowing down.

In the AMA Supercross series, Ryan Dungey is taking his fuel-injected RM-Z450 to the top. Dungey currently owns the Supercross series points with a solid lead that will be tough for competitors on other bikes to overcome. Dungey has scored four wins, captured many holeshots, and has led a ton of laps. In the Eastern Regional Lites Class, Austin Stroupe and his all-new, fuel-injected RM-Z250 have been at the front of the pack all season. Stroupe has a firm grasp on the second spot in overall points in the class.

ATV riders in the Northeast will have more to explore in the near future as new trails are being developed near Millinocket, Maine and north of the border in Newfoundland, Canada.

In a bid to attract more ATV riders and the tourism dollars they bring, town officials in Millinocket have completed part one of a two-phase project – a 13-mile trail just outside of town. The rest of the project is slated to be completed by summer of 2012.

“It will help with your motels and hotels…your restaurants, your convenience stores and some of your merchants in the area,” Town Manager Gene Conlogue told WCSH 6. “So we think that there is a potential that ATVs could give anywhere from two to three times the volume of visitors dollars in this area as simply snowmobiles provide today.”

Up in southern Newfoundland, the first phase of what is being called a “Supertrail” has been completed that will connect the Burin Peninsula to the Newfoundland trailway.

The new trail runs about 37 miles and connects trails in Boat Harbour to Garnish. The entire trail system is expected to take about five years to complete. Once it’s finished it will loop around the entire peninsula. Completing the entire trail system would take a rider about a week to do and organizers are confident it will bring tourism dollars to the area.

“We’ve got scenery people would pay to see,” Trail organizer Elroy Grandy told CBC.ca.

Polaris’ new Ranger RZR 4 has only been out a short time, but the aftermarket has quickly jumped on board. The latest product comes from Dirt Performance, Inc., which has released a skid plate system for the four-seat RZR.

“You will not find a higher quality, better designed, or more protective skid plate system for the RZR 4, period,” Dirt Performance says in a release.

The entire RZR 4 skid plate package is constructed of 3/16” thick aluminum. It features recessed bolt holes, so there are no factory washers to bend, break, or cover the bolt heads. Also, the system boasts no abrupt edges, which means there is that much less to hang up on when sliding over obstacles.

Polaris Industries Inc. has been awarded a new competitively solicited contract with Educational and Institutional Cooperative Purchasing (E&I). The contract makes Polaris vehicles available to all E&I Cooperative members comprised of more than 1,700 colleges, universities, prep schools and other institutions.

E&I is the largest member-owned buying cooperative for higher education. According to Polaris, E&I delivers value to educational institutions by providing high quality, cost-effective and timely solutions through a diverse portfolio of competitive contracts and value-added services. Polaris sees benefit of being part of that portfolio due to the increasing demand for its products by colleges, universities and schools.

“Polaris offers a broad range of work utility vehicles that will enable enhanced productivity and value for school groundskeepers, security and event management,” says Dave Huguelet, director of business development for Polaris. “This contract is an efficient and effective way to showcase our products to the education business customer and will streamline their purchasing process.”

The contract went into effect March 1, 2010 and the offering will consist of a full catalog of ATVs, Ranger Side-by-Sides, snowmobiles and the Polaris EV LSV, as well as Polaris parts and accessories.

Chad Wienen of the Motoworks / Can-Am ATV race team powered his Can-Am DS 450 EFI ATV to second overall in the Pro 450 class at this past weekend’s AMA ATV Motocross Championship opening round near Pell City, Ala. Teammate John Natalie narrowly missed joining Wienen on the podium, finishing fourth overall. In all, Can-Am racers put three DS 450 ATVs in the top 10.

“Both Chad and John looked extremely impressive at this track,” says Jimmie O’Dell, racing manager for Can-Am ATVs at BRP. “We are really looking forward to the next round as everyone on the team is confident after seeing the results from the hard work the team put in during the off-season on the DS 450 program.”

Team BCS Performance / Can-Am racer, Cody Miller, raced to a tenth-place overall finish on his DS 450 in the Pro class. The third Motoworks racer, Jeremie Warnia, took eleventh overall in the class after experiencing sickness before and during the second moto.

Two-time defending champion Dustin Wimmer opened the 2010 ITP Tires/Moose Racing AMA ATV Motocross Championship season with an almost effortless campaign to the top of the podium, with 1-1 moto wins at the Millcreek Raceway in Pell City, Alabama.

“I really love this track,” says Rockstar Makita Suzuki‘s Wimmer. “Millcreek is great. I think this is my sixth-straight moto win here. I’m out here to win, what can I say?”

The day started with ominous clouds in the distance that threatened a serious downpour, and just as the Pro-Am Production gate was loaded for the first moto, the rain came down hard for several minutes. While Chase Snapp roared to a first-place finish over Honda rider Jeremy Tulenchik and Marc Winchester, the downpour turned to a light sprinkle for the first moto for the Pros.

On March 6, 2010, the Grand National Cross Country Series (GNCC) stopped at Washington, Georgia for the two-day event known as “The General.” And when the red clay dust settled, Bradley Caldwell had piloted his Kymco Maxxer 375 to a third-place finish in the 4×4 Lites Class.

The Maxxer is a new 2010 addition to the Kymco ATV line, and the two-hour race over grueling terrain was a real test of reliability and performance that the KYMCO machine passed with zero mechanical problems.

This notable accomplishment was quickly followed up two weeks later at the next GNCC event with another great finish from Caldwell on the same Kymco Maxxer 375. Caldwell upped the ante by finishing second in the 4×4 Lites Class in Morganton, NC at the Steele Creek GNCC. That’s two straight podiums for the Maxxer, which puts Caldwell in second place overall in the stadings.

The Matlock Racing team has been the team to beat at the SCORE International races. At the most recent event – the Mastercraft Safety Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 – things were no different.

Wayne Matlock and the #1A team walked away with its third consecutive win at this race and earned its seventh consecutive win in the Open Pro ATV class. The team as won every SCORE race entered for the last three years.

The team was also the only Open Pro ATV to finish the race with no penalties, finishing 23 minutes ahead of second place and 29 minutes ahead of third place.

The San Felipe 250 was a great race for the team. After drawing the first place starting position and
prerunning each section of the course, the team was ready to take on the challenge. The competition
would be tough and the local San Felipe team of Javier Robles would start in the second place spot as #2A just behind the Matlock Racing team.

Mud Creek Offroad Park, near Jacksonville, Texas will once again host over 10,000 mud riding and racing ATV enthusiasts from across the Unites States and Canada March 24-28.

Arctic Cat is the only manufacturer to offer factory-built mud racing ATVs with the ultimate power, ground clearance, snorkels and mud tires via Arctic Cat’s potent 650, 700 or 1000 Mud Pros.

In support of the largest mud racing event in the world, Arctic Cat announces the following contingency payouts for the premier MuddaCross and Mud Bog events.

Round Three of both Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) series and World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS) took place this past weekend and Can-Am riders earned a total of seven class wins.

At the GNCC event near Morganton, NC, Can-Am ATV racers would walk away with an impressive six class wins, including a sweep of the 4×4 classes.

“It was a solid weekend for our Can-Am ATV racers,” says Jimmie O’Dell, racing manager for Can-Am ATVs at BRP. “We took some good lessons away from Steele Creek and are looking forward to even better results at Big Buck!”

Team Warnert / Can-Am racer Bryan Buckhannon showed why he is the racer to beat in the 4×4 Open class as he powered his Can-Am Outlander 800R XT EFI ATV to the class win.

The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) has announced the 2010 schedule for the AMA Racing ATV Extreme Dirt Track National Championship Series. Kicking off on May 8 in Burnsville, N.C., the series features the country’s top ATV dirt-track racers and will award national titles in a number of age-, skill- and machine-based classes.

“ATV dirt-track racing is of the most extreme motorsports in the country — high speeds, monster rooster tails and bar-to-bar action,” says AMA Director of Racing Joe Bromley. “For our racers and fans, this year’s schedule offers a number of venues that will not only test rider skill but take the series to a wide range of locations.”

The initial round will be at Robbins Ridge Motorsports Park in Burnsville, N.C., on May 8. The series will then make stops in Missouri, New York, Virginia, Ohio and South Dakota before returning to Ohio for the series finale on Aug. 28.

Chris Borich claimed his second win of the 2010 Can-Am Grand National Cross Country season and extended his lead in the championship standings with a gritty performance at round three of the series at Steele Creek in Morganton, NC.

The Yoshimura Suzuki rider trailed Yamaha teammates Bill Ballance and Taylor Kiser on the narrow and undulating 11.2-mile circuit, the three riders running nose-to-tail for much of the race. Borich finally found his way into the lead on the final lap, beating Kiser to the finish by just over a second after two hours of racing. Ballance held on for third ahead of FRE KTM’s Bryan Cook and Yamaha rider Jeffrey Pickens.

Ballance grabbed the holeshot by narrowly edging Yamaha-mounted Don Ockerman across the holeshot stripe to start the day’s premier race. Kiser moved into formation with Ballance midway into the opening lap, and the duo extended their lead over the field until lappers held them up on lap two, allowing Borich and Can-Am‘s Adam McGill to close in.

Kymco USA, in conjunction with the IZOD IndyCar Series, Andretti Autosport Team IZOD driver Ryan Hunter-Reay and Team IZOD sponsor AirTran Airways, is launching the “Live Like an IZOD IndyCar Series Driver” sweepstakes, giving fans the opportunity to win a trip to the IZOD IndyCar Series season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The sweepstakes launch will coincide with the IZOD IndyCar Series race on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. on March 28, 2010. During the six month sweepstakes period, fans will have the opportunity to pick up a free entry coupon at IZOD IndyCar Series events by visiting the IZOD IndyCar Series Fan Zone and at participating Kymco dealerships. After entering their information and code on the sweepstakes website, the winners will be notified by September 15, 2010.

The Grand Prize is a weekend trip for two to the season finale race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, including airfare provided by AirTran Airways, hotel and race tickets along with VIP credentials so they can truly “Live Like an IZOD IndyCar Series Driver.” First Prize is a Kymco UXV 500 Side X Side off-road vehicle and there are two Second Prizes: Kymco Driver Autographed Super 8 49cc scooters.

The FRE/KTM ATV GNCC team had its share of ups and downs at the third round of the GNCC Series, but still managed to walk away with a season best finish for XC1 rider Bryan Cook.

Cook got a decent jump off the start line of the XC1 class and came around the first turn in fifth position. At the end of lap one he had already climbed up to 3rd place behind Bill Ballance and Taylor Kiser. He held his position until the end of lap two where he was passed by Adam McGill and Chris Borich and dropped back to fifth. Cook was able to follow their lines and stay close to the front group. On lap four, McGill suffered a mechanical problem and Cook was able to move past him and into fourth place. Cook held that position through the end of the race and finished in fourth overall for his best finish this season.

National Guard Polaris Yokley Racing ATV Team Rider Jarrod McClure finished 12th Overall and 9th in the XC1 Pro ATV Class in Round 3 of the 2010 GNCC Series. There were 219 total entries with 15 XC1 Pro Riders.

Yokley Race Summary

Sunny and warm conditions greeted the racers as the series moved to the picturesque Steel Creek area in North Carolina. This race is usually run in wet conditions, but this year it was very dry, hot and dusty. Jarrod got a decent start and got into the woods in eighth place. After a few turns in the woods, there was a bottleneck caused by some ATVs getting tangled up. After this was sorted out, Jarrod was back toward the rear of the Pro class at the end of the first lap.

Jarrod finished lap one in 12th place, and worked his way up to 9th place in the XC1 Pro class by the fifth lap. He finished up about one second out of 6th place, so it was a very competitive race. The track deteriorated very much throughout the race, which made the conditions pretty brutal. The Polaris 450 Outlaw ran flawlessly throughout the day.

The team has some testing planned for next week and will work on fine tuning everything. We look forward to the next race in Union, SC in two weeks. Jarrod will be on the ATV, and William Yokley will be racing the National Guard Polaris Dragonfire Yokley Racing UTV there as well. See you there!

Yokley Racing Team Sponsors: The Army National Guard, Polaris Industries, Dragonfire Racing, Kenda Tires, Monavie, EXIT Suspension, Roll Design, XC Bob’s, Douglas Wheel Technology, Motoworks Exhaust Systems, Moto Pro Training, SHIFT Riding Gear, Tsubaki Chains, IMS/Roll, CV4 Hoses, ATVRiders.com, Tireballs, Precision Racing Products, G-4 Graphics, Andrews Cycle, Powermadd, SCOTT USA Goggles, PURE Polaris Lubricants & Fuels, Intense Fabrication & Design, IMS, Hygh Octane Designs, Bowers Motorsports and TanTerra Wines.

ITP’s BajaCross tires have earned another victory – this time at the SCORE San Felipe 250 in northern Baja, Mexico.

Drivers Bob Viau Sr. and Chris Koch piloted the ITP-backed, DragonFire Racing-prepped Kawasaki Teryx to a decisive Sportsman UTV class victory. The Minnesota-based duo used BajaCross tires mounted to ITP T-9 Pro Mod wheels fitted with T7 Beadlock rings to complete the course in just under nine hours, at an average speed of 27.9 mph. Their margin of victory was almost a half hour.

The only issue the team experienced on an otherwise perfect day of racing was being nerfed from behind by a bigger race vehicle in a deep silt bed, which knocked off the spare tire and jack. Luckily they didn’t need it, as the tires and wheels went the distance with no problem – just like they did on the way to winning the most recent Baja 1000.

ATVs and other off-highway vehicles (OHVs) have recently won a fight over land usage in the Lewis and Clark National Forest in Montana.

At issue was the 2007 Travel Management Plan issued by the Forest. The plan reduced access for OHVs by over 50 percent and placed more of the Forest off-limits to OHVs than any alternative that had been proposed.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Montana ruled on March 10 that the Plan violated both the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Montana Wilderness Study Act (MWSA).

“We are pleased with the ruling,” says Specialty Vehicle Institute (SVIA) and Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) general counsel, Paul Vitrano. “It shows that when agencies overstep their legal authority OHV enthusiasts and industry can not only get our voices heard, but we can impact the process.”

The plan was a violation because NEPA requires that all reasonable alternatives be presented in a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS).

“The [Forest’s] final decision was not discussed in the DEIS as an alternative and was not a blend of DEIS alternatives,” the Court wrote in its opinion. “Rather, it created a unique and separate alternative. Not only was the unexamined alternative viable and reasonable in the eyes of the Forest, it was chosen as the final agency decision.”

The Court also found that the travel plan, which would have eliminated two-thirds of the previously available motorized routes in the Middle Fork Wilderness Study Area, violated the MWSA. The MWSA directed the Forest to maintain the wilderness character of the study area as it existed when the Act was enacted, 1977.

“We believe the Court made the correct ruling in this case; however, it is important to note that the industry continues to support the Travel Management Rule, as well as efforts by the Forest Service to effectively manage OHV use,” says MIC and SVIA senior vice president, Kathy Van Kleeck. “In every case we hope that collaborative processes will result in equitable plans, but in some cases, like the Lewis and Clark, it is necessary to take additional measures.”

The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) told a key U.S. House committee that it opposes a bill to designate 850,000 acres in Colorado as federally protected Wilderness because, among other reasons, the public land contains dams, power lines, bridges and other structures.

The AMA noted its opposition in a formal letter dated March 10 to the U.S. House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands that will be part of the committee report for the bill. The AMA also complained that the measure would designate the land as Wilderness without any input from local elected officials and affected user groups.

“By designating these public lands Wilderness, the legislation will close off responsible motorized access to hundreds of thousands of acres,” said Ed Moreland, AMA vice president for government relations, in the letter.

A group of businesses from Mena, Ark. held a rally on Saturday, Mar. 13 to raise money to appeal a ruling from the National Forest Service that restricts ATV use in the Ouachita National Forest.

The new rules in the forest would restrict ATV use by 90 percent – including closing the popular Wolf Pen Gap area in Mena for much of the year. Wolf Pen Gap draws thousands of visitors to the area every year, bringing much needed tourism dollars to local businesses.

“All we’ve ever asked the forest service from the get go is just give us the opportunity to fix it,” area business owner Jeff Cunningham told 5 News. “Don’t shut us down, give us a chance to fix it.”

According to Tom Kiser, who owns an ATV dealership in Mena, the closing of the trails would affect the whole city.

“Tourism is the only thing we have because we don’t have a lot of industry,” Kiser tells 5 News. “We have probably in the neighborhood of 45 to 47 businesses that are directly impacted by this.”

Investigators in Georgia claim to have broken up an ATV theft ring that was operating in several counties south of Macon.

The break in the case came when the Dooly County Sheriff’s Office found an ATV that matched one stolen from a hunting camp in Laurens County. This discovery led officers to Houston County where three more stolen ATVs were found. Several more stolen vehicles were discovered in Dodge County.

Officers have arrested 30-year-old Jerry Brown and 23-year-old James Matthew McCrainie.

The 2010 Lucas Off Road Side-by-Side short course season kicked off with a bang this past weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with Polaris team driver RJ Anderson taking first in Saturday’s Round 1.

Anderson, had a tight battle with the leader until the last lap when the leader’s engine let go, letting Anderson cruise to victory with a 19 second margin over second place. Tyler Parks finished third, also in a Ranger RZR.

“I had so much fun out there today,” says Anderson. “This is the first time we raced at this track and it took me a while to determine the best lines, but by half way mark I had it figured out.”

Sunday’s Round 2 started off with a soggy track after heavy rain the night before. The “Unlimited UTVs” were lined up along with an experimental class that featured Side-by-Side’s fitted with 150 horsepower motorcycle engines. But despite stiff competition, the combination of driving skill, Kroyer power and the Ranger RZR’s four wheel drive allowed Anderson to again take the top spot on the podium on Sunday.

FRE/KTM rider Angel Atwell took the win in the Women’s class at the second round of the GNCC Series passing for the lead with three turns to go after a two-hour battle.

At the start of the morning race, Atwell muscled her way into a third place starting position around the first corner. Atwell took the lead for a brief moment on the first lap battling back and forth with her niece and fellow competitor, Kristen Atwell. She lost the lead and dropped back to fifth on the second lap after getting hung up in the woods. A quick pit at the end of the third lap helped Atwell climb back into third and pull Kristen Atwell and Tracy Cecco back into sight.

At the end of the fourth lap Atwell overtook Cecco for second position and began to close in on Kristen Atwell. The two riders battled for the entirety of the final lap going wheel to wheel into the final woods section. Three turns before the finish Atwell made a bold move through the trees and was able to make the pass and take home the victory winning the race by a mere one second.

Jeremy Lawson, Rick Cecco, Keith Little, Santo Derisi, and Wayne Matlock are all part of Big Gun Exhaust’s 2010 race team.

Lawson and Little will be competing in the ATV MX Nationals, while Cecco and Derisi will be gunning for championships in the GNCC Series and Wayne Matlock who, races the Baja and various desert races, will be defending his title.

“We have spent countless hours developing the best pipe for all applications and the EVO R Series exhaust is no different” says President and CEO Paul Rivera.

“I’m very excited to be running the Big Gun Utility series exhaust on my Can-Am,” says Cecco. “They’ve definitely done their homework when it comes to performance and power.”

Lawson will contest the 2010 ATV MX Nationals aboard his Big Gun powered Suzuki LT-R450.

“I am excited to be part of the Big Gun team for 2010,” says Lawson. “The EVO R series exhaust has one of the best bottom ends off the gate and performs perfectly throughout my entire moto.”

“We are excited for all of our racers as we head into the 2010 race season,” says Rivera. “We are here because we love the sport and look forward to supporting all racers anyway we can.”

To find out more about the products Big Gun has developed for all ATVs, visit BigGunExhaust.com.

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Big Gun launches ECO Exhaust Series

After an exciting opening round last weekend in Florida, the Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series moved north to Washington, Ga., for the Maxxis General GNCC, where Taylor Kiser took advantage of a mistake by early leader Chris Bithell to claim a solid win in the XC1 division.

Last week’s winner, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Chris Borich, finished the day in second, while ATV legend Bill Ballance rounded out the podium. After two rounds, Kiser and Borich share the lead in the series standings, with 55 points each, while Adam McGill (39), Ballance (37) and Bithell (34) round out the top five.

For the second week in a row Don Ockerman got out of the gate first, leading fellow Yamaha riders Kiser, Ballance, and Jeffrey Pickens through the first turn. However it was Can-Am’s Bithell with the lead when the front-runners came through the finish line area to complete the first lap. For the next two laps Bithell maintained a slight lead while Borich, Ballance and Kiser fought over second. That order changed drastically when Bithell hit a tree at speed, collecting both Ballance and Borich in his wake, and handing Kiser the lead. From there it was Kiser’s show, with the Floridian cruising home with an eight-second cushion over second.

An ATV symposium has been added to the roster of events to be held at EICMA China – The Motorcycle Show, in Beijing, China, June 11-13, 2010. The ATV symposium will be facilitated by the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) in partnership with the organizers of EICMA (Esposizione Internazionale del Ciclo e Motociclo), and Chinese Chamber of Commerce for Motorcycle (CCCM).

“We’d like to express our appreciation to Costantino Ruggiero, managing director of EICMA, who paved the way for MIC’s participation at this exciting new motorcycle exhibition in China,” says MIC President Tim Buche. “The ATV symposium will provide a tremendous opportunity to exchange information and ideas on ATV issues around the world with government regulators, industry, and other stakeholders.”

Topics to be covered at the three-hour ATV symposium include market dynamics, consumer use, safety and training, vehicle standards, technical issues, and regulatory issues such as mandatory standards, youth vehicle requirements, and testing and certification. EICMA China – The Motorcycle Show is the result of a historic joint venture – CIME / China – Italy Motorcycle Exhibition Co., Ltd. – that was established by three entities: the Chinese Chamber of Commerce for Motorcycle, Genertec International Advertising & Exhibition Co. Ltd, and EICMA Spa, the executive arm of the Italian Manufacturers Association (Confindustria Ancma) and organizers of the EICMA in Milan, Italy since 1914.

In addition to writing for ATV.com, I also operate a graphics company called Santor Design Co. Each year SDC puts together an ATV project for the International Powersports Dealer Expo. In fact, it was at the 2008 Dealer Expo where I first met ATV.com’s editorial staff.

When we put together an ATV for the show, we feature a theme that is unique and different than just a regular race ATV you see throughout the show. For the 2008 show we designed a “Whisky Runner” YFZ, which you can read about here. A year later we were given space in the Maier Plastic booth and designed a YFZ450 with a “ Stripper kit” that featured two girls on the gas tank with fish nets wrapped around the plastic.

This year at SDC we decided to start with a different base model. Instead of using a YFZ as our canvas we choose not one, but two Suzuki LT-R450s. These two quads belong to two Team Santor riders, Landon and Derek Glass. Both of these LTRs were ridden before we started the build, which was a new experience for us. It would have been nice to bring home two new ATVs and strip them down the first few minutes we had our hands on them, but we decided to save a little money and literally get our hands dirty with this build. One LTR was built to be featured in the Kenda Tires booth and the other was destined for Blingstar’s booth. Both will be ridden hard throughout the 2010 race season.

Team Motoworks / Can-Am DS 450 pilot Josh Frederick narrowly missed taking the WORCS round-one and was determined to make up for it. During the weeks between the race, Frederick trained harder and the team changed some suspension settings. It worked. Round two saw Frederick battle to the front during the race and once he had the lead, he didn’t look back. Frederick won the race by almost a minute on second place; he is now tied for the points lead.

“It felt good to be back on top of the podium,” says Frederick. “We were working with a new suspension set up and it worked incredibly well. I kind of paced myself until about the midway point and then I started to push it. I passed a couple of people and then caught up to the leader and I got around him.”

“Even though it is only round two, Team Motoworks already has a championship-battle mentality,” says Jimmie O’Dell, racing manager for Can-Am ATVs at BRP. “Everyone is committed to giving each of the team riders a chance at championships this season; they are focused on putting the DS 450 at the top.”

The Matlock Racing team is prepared to head south to Baja once again and will be riding to defend its San Felipe Overall win title for the third consecutive year on March 13.

Fresh off an Overall win at the 2009 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, the team is eager to get the 2010 SCORE season started off right. This year’s team will consist of Wayne Matlock, Josh Caster and Wes Miller aboard the Matlock Racing Honda TRX700XX. Matlock and Caster are part of last year’s San Felipe winning team while this will be Miller’s first San Felipe race.

With the #1A race prep by Rich Morel racing motors and the Matlock Racing team, the race quad is ready for the extremely rough deserts of San Felipe, Baja. Each member of the team is excited to begin prerunning their sections of the course and ready themselves for the tough competition and course conditions they will face on race day.

FRE/KTM ATV GNCC riders Angel Atwell and Josh Kirkland got off to a great start both landing on the podium at the opening round of the GNCC Series.

Atwell, the defending Women’s Pro Champion, hit the course first in the 2-hour morning race. She nailed the holeshot and led the pack around the first two laps. Atwell pitted at the tail end of the second lap just a little over an hour into the race. While she pitted she was passed by three of the women riders behind her. Now, nearly three-quarters of the way into the race, lappers began to play a roll in the outcome. Atwell managed to pass one of the competitors but was held up by a few lappers and lost precious time to the top two riders. After a tough race through the Florida sand whoops she was happy to finish third for the day.

In the XC-2 Pro Am class Josh Kirkland followed the lead of his teammate, Atwell, and pulled the holeshot and led the first part of the race. Unfortunately, he went too wide on a turn early into the first lap and lost the lead to Brian Wolf. Kirkland remained in 2nd position until the second lap when he got held up by a rider who hit a tree and was passed dropping to 4th. Over the course of the final two laps Kirkland moved back into 2nd where he finished for the day.

Yokley Racing National Guard Polaris Team Rider Jarrod McClure finished 7th Overall and 6th in the XC1 Pro Class Sunday in Round 1 of the 2010 GNCC Series. There were 169 total entries with 16 XC1 Pro Riders.

Summary

Yokley Racing began the 2010 season on a high note with Team Rider Jarrod McClure finishing strong despite some delays on the course today. Jarrod signed with the team in the off-season, and has spent the winter getting his new Polaris Outlaw 450 dialed in. Team owner William Yokley has worked with EXIT Suspension and Roll Design the past several months in making the 2010 450 Outlaw a legitimate contender in the series.

Jarrod got a great start and went into the woods in 4th place. He kept pace with the leaders until a stick kicked up under the machine and derailed the chain. The chain was jammed up in the engine cases by the countershaft sprocket. After a lengthy delay, he was able to get the chain back on the sprockets. The chain was stretched and came off again down the trail. Jarrod nursed the machine to the finish without losing very many places.

“The bike worked great today, and other than the chain getting knocked off, I had no problems,” says McClure. “I felt strong and can’t wait for the next race!”

“The Polaris is working really well, and Jarrod rode a smart race today,” says Yokley. “I’m very optimistic about our chances this year!”

The team heads to Washington Georgia for Round 2 this next weekend. McClure will compete in the ATV XC1 Pro class and Yokley will compete in the UTV side by side class driving his Polaris RZR.

Yokley Racing Team Sponsors: The Army National Guard, Polaris Industries, Kenda Tires, Dragonfire Racing, Monavie, EXIT Suspension, XC Bobs.com, Roll Design, Motoworks Exhaust Systems, IMS/Roll, PURE Polaris Lubricants & Fuels, Intense Fabrication & Design, Douglas Wheel Technology, Moto Pro Training, Tire Balls, Andrews Cycle, Tsubaki Chains, IMS, Shift Apparel, CV4 Hoses, Hygh Octane Design, G-4 Graphics, Scott Goggles, ATVRiders.com, Powermadd, Precision Steering Stabilizers, and Bowers Motorsports.

Related Reading
Defending Champ Borich wins GNCC Opener

The 2010 ATV race season started in spectacular fashion for many of the Can-Am X-Team racers Sunday at the Grand National Cross Country opening round near Lake Wells, Fla.

Team Warnert Racing / Can-Am rider, Adam McGill, had a great debut on the Can-Am DS 450 EFI ATV taking third overall in the afternoon in XC1 Pro class. He and his teammate, Chris Bithell, had their DS 450 ATVs up front for the entire two-hour race with McGill leading for two of the five laps. Bithell finished fourth overall.

“It was amazing to go out there and be on the podium for the first race of the season,” says McGill. “The bike was running awesome. I really have to give a big thank you to the team! I plan to be number one at Georgia.”

ATV riders in Tennessee may soon be able to ride on locally approved roads.

State Rep. Tony Shipley has sponsored the legislation, currently making its way through the Tennessee General Assembly. Shipley believes the bill could bring ATV-related tourism to the state and generate other state revenue.

“We’ve got people who want to ride but no place to ride,” Shipley told Times-News.net. “The win-win for the state is you have to be licensed and have a tag.”

The proposed bill would require ATVs to be registered and have license plates – each costing $14.50. Additionally, local governments could charge ATV riders a fee (up to $25 per year) to use the roads. The bill would also make it possible for areas to have designated “ATV Days,” which would limit ATV use to those specific days.

The Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series kicked off its 2010 schedule in grand style as riders from nearly 25 states attended the opening round at the Westgate River Ranch in Lake Wales, Fla. on Sunday, Feb. 28.

Chris Borich came into the Parts Unlimited River Ranch GNCC as the heavy favorite after dominating last year’s series, and the Yoshimura Suzuki rider backed it up by coming from behind to take a thrilling win in the XC1 final. Meanwhile, Honda-mounted Brian Wolf took the win in the highly competitive XC2 division, also turning in a come-from-behind performance.

Yamaha‘s Don Ockerman grabbed the holeshot, leading fellow Yamaha riders Taylor Kiser and Bill Ballance through the first turn to start the four-lap XC1 race. Warnert Can Am‘s Adam McGill and Borich were not far behind, with McGill taking the lead when the front-runners ducked into the woods for the first time. Kiser, Borich, and Warnert Can Am’s Chris Bithell followed McGill, running second, third and fourth at the two-mile mark.

Can-Am has signed on as the title sponsor of the 13-stop Grand National Cross Country series for another three years.

“Our relationship with GNCC racing is quite important for BRP,” says Yves Leduc, vice president and general manager, North American division for BRP. “BRP’s Can-Am ATV brand conveys a strong performance and passion message in the off-road world and we see both those attributes out on the race course at each Grand National Cross Country Series event. We are excited to continue to be a part of the GNCC racer community.”

GNCC racing has seen exceptional growth in both the number of racer entries and fan base during the past three years with the Can-Am title sponsorship. From the opening round in Florida to the concluding race in Indiana, race fans and racers actively support the series.

Justin Noss gave ITP’s new QuadCross XC tires another important victory by capturing the 2010 Adelanto Grand Prix, an hour-long, rough, demanding test of endurance.

Noss put his Golden West Cycles-backed Yamaha YFZ450R into the lead of the Pro Quad class shortly after the dead-engine start and led for the entire four laps on a cool, windy mid-February day in the high desert northeast of Los Angeles.

“I felt these tires worked great for the high-speed, choppy track,” says Noss. ”I’m pleased to say everything worked perfect.”

This was the 30th anniversary for the event, drawing over 1,800 entries. Unfortunately, the promoting club Desert Vipers have said that 2010 will be the final year for the legendary race.

Bennche, based in Texas, is a new factory-direct distributor for motorcycles, ATVs, UTVs and neighborhood vehicles.

Headlining Bennche’s off-road lineup is the Spire 800 UTV, which features a water-cooled, fuel injected, 800cc V-Twin engine. Also, Bennche boasts a four-seat UTV called the Bighorn 700X, which features a water-cooled 686cc engine. Rounding out its UTV lineup, Bennche also offers the Bighorn 700 and Bighorn 500.

In addition to the UTVs, Bennche also has two utility ATVs and one sport quad. The Gray Wolf 500 and Gray Wolf 700 are geared toward rugged off-road riding and each unit comes with a winch and independent suspension front and rear. The sporty XSR 350 comes with a manual transmission and is powered by a 348cc single cylinder engine.

Our ride review for the Tarantula Performance Racing project Yamaha YFZ450R took place over the span of two days, at two different test tracks and with two test riders. The quad performed well for both riders, one of whom competed in 2009 in the Pro ranks of the NEATV-MX series, while the other is a novice rider who has competed locally in Ohio.

If you missed it, check out ATV.com’s first story detailing the months-long process of building the TPR project YFZ450R. For this story, we’ll skip most of the product details by jumping right in and explaining how they improved the new Yamaha’s stock performance.

Saddle Up!

The ergonomics and controls on a race quad are more important than most people think. A lot of riders ignore the angle of their levers, handlebar pitch and foot peg height to their own detriment. Comfort is one key to riding fast and avoiding fatigue.

Polaris Defense has been awarded a new contract with the General Services Administration (GSA) to sell the Polaris all electric, on-road and off-road Low Speed Vehicle (LSV), known as the Polaris EV LSV, to government customers.

Polaris Defense currently sells a portfolio of vehicles via GSA, but under the new contract, the company can sell its EV LSV under Schedule 23V which is specifically for vehicles that meet the LSV requirements. According to Polaris, the EV LSV is the only four-wheel drive vehicle on GSA Schedule 23V.

“The award of this GSA contract allows Polaris Defense to provide an innovative, leap-ahead four-wheel drive, electric vehicle to our government customers, while giving them a centralized purchasing point to buy our products,” says Mark McCormick, managing director of Polaris Defense. “Using electric LSV vehicles such as the Polaris EV LSV directly supports the US Government initiative to ‘Go Green’ on its installations and facilities.”

It may have been a little smaller this year, but the Indianapolis Dealer Expo is still far and away the industry’s largest ATV and UTV trade show and the place to find all the latest and greatest aftermarket accessories.

In past years the Indy Dealer Expo filled the Indianapolis Convention Center, Lucas Oil Stadium, and some surrounding hotels. For 2010 it was confined to the Convention Center. It’s unfortunate that some aftermarket manufacturers either couldn’t afford to go or aren’t in business anymore, but those who did attend unleashed a heap of cool new products that you’ll be seeing in dealerships shortly.

If you were tuned in to ATV.com over the weekend of the Expo you noticed we were blogging about some of our favorite products. With 19 blog posts in all, it may have been hard to keep up, so we’ve decided to showcase all the products we blogged about in this article so everything is easy to find.

ATV and UTV Projects

Instead of merely showing you their latest products by themselves, most of the aftermarket manufacturers instead choose to display their wares by incorporating them into the vehicles they are designed for. We decided to compile a photo gallery of all the best sport quads, utility quads and side-by-sides we could find at the Expo. ( Read More)