#Worcs

GBC Motorsports racers RJ Anderson and Mitch Guthrie Jr. won their respective classes at WORCS Round 5.

With temperatures breaking into triple digits, WORCS Racing descended on the small town of Taft, Calif. RJ Anderson took the holeshot and the early lead in the hotly contested SXS Pro class, as fellow GBC racers James Hill and Tommy Scranton followed behind in third and fourth. Anderson seems to be back to form as he controlled the entire race and finished with his second straight victory aboard his GBC Dirt Commanders.

Despite running in the top five for most of the race, last-lap mechanical issues dropped both James Hill to 12th place and Scranton to 16th on the day. Tim Wyatt finished ninth and Wesley Barker finished 14th.

Can-Am ATV and UTV racers were competing across the country in three different series this past weekend, earning 25 podiums.

Can-Am X-Team member Mathieu Deroy won the ATV Pro class at the New England ATV Motocross series in New Hampshire. Can-Am DS 450 racers scored three class victories and eight podiums at round four of the 2013 Mtn. Dew ATV Motocross National Championship series in Indiana. At the World Off-Road Championship Series in Taft, Calif., Can-Am racers earned three podiums.

“The Can-Am racing team and amateur support riders had another successful weekend of racing, earning roughly two dozen podiums. It was good to see Canadian Pro Mathieu Deroy get his first Pro class win,” says Jimmie O’Dell, Race Manager, Can-Am. “We had some challenges this weekend in the AMA ATV MX Pro class and WORCS SxS Pro Production, by just narrowly missing two podium finishes, but our teams are more determined than ever to earn a spot back up on the box as soon as possible.”

Team ITP racers earned numerous class victories as they competed in round four of the 2013 Mtn. Dew ATV Motocross National Championship series and round five of the World Off-Road Championship Series.

In Indiana at round four of the ATV MX series, ITP supported racers earned a total of 17 podiums, winning seven classes. The West Coast WORCS UTV racers tallied three podium finishes, including the SxS Production 850 class victory, using ITP tires at the Taft, Calif. event.

“Our Team ITP racers had a wonderful time at the inaugural visit to Wildcat Creek MX in Indiana. Winning seven classes is a great accomplishment, especially at an all-new motocross track. Pro class racer Josh Creamer just missed another podium finish and continues to impress using ITP tires,” says Pat McGuire, public relations / race support. “Our WORCS UTV racers did a great job as well, winning the 850 production class and earning a spot on the highly competitive SxS Pro Production class.”

Polaris RZR vehicles thoroughly trounced the competition this past weekend at Honolulu Hills in Taft, Calif. for WORCS Round Five – and we do mean trounced.

Polaris Factory Racers and Holz Racers, RJ Anderson and Beau Baron finished 1-2 in the “SxS Pro Production” class. In fact, RZRs would take the top five spots in the class as well. Anderson, after a tough start to the racing season, has gotten himself to the sixth position in points with Baron sitting in first.

The “SxS Production 1000” class would be all RZR with Holz Racing’s Mitch Guthrie Jr. finishing first. RZRs would also finish in the top six places. Guthrie is leading the class in points with four first place finishes and one fourth.

The Can-Am Maverick 1000R X rs continues to find success in its first racing, earning two more podiums in recent weeks. James Hill finished second in the SxS Pro Production class at round three of the World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS) in Arizona, while bothers Derek and Jason Murray also earned a podium finish with their Maverick 1000R X rs, racing to a third-place finish in the Best In The Desert (BITD) Mint 400 outside of Las Vegas.

Not to be outdone, BCS Performance / Can-Am pro Josh Creamer let everybody Can-Am DS 450 ATVs are still a force to be reckoned with, finishing second in the Pro class at the 2013 Mtn. Dew AMA ATV Motocross Nationals opening round in Georgia.

“I was thrilled that Can-Am racers earned hard-fought podium finishes in three different series, and in very difficult conditions,” says Jimmie O’Dell, race manager, Can-Am. “James Hill overcame a challenging WORCS course to earn his second podium behind the wheel of the Maverick. The Murray Motorsports team had a spectacular podium finish at the Mint 400 and narrowly missing second-place by only two seconds. Josh Creamer — despite a first-turn crash in the first moto and very wet, muddy conditions — won a Pro class moto and notched an impressive second-place finish overall at round one of the AMA ATV MX series.”

Motoworks / Can-Am pro racer Josh Frederick suffered a serious back injury after crashing during the Pro ATV race Sunday at round three of the World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS) in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. Medical crews were on the scene quickly and, after complaining of the loss of feeling to his legs, he was transported to a local hospital for evaluation. Further examination revealed that Frederick’s T-5 vertebrae was fractured during the violent crash. Frederick was then flown to a level-one trauma center in Las Vegas for additional examinations and surgery.

Frederick underwent surgery Sunday evening to remove the piece of bone lodged in his spine and his back was fused. The surgery was successful and Frederick is now resting comfortably at the hospital. He did not regain feeling to his legs after the surgery and due to the amount of swelling it is not currently possible to determine a time frame for potential recovery or paralysis. Josh has been fitted with a back brace and on Tuesday he will start therapy.

“Josh is such a wonderful person, a devoted father and husband and a dedicated professional racer. While it deeply saddens me to learn of the severity of this injury, I also know that Josh is an extremely hard worker, a fighter and a true champion, I pray that he will persevere and overcome this challenge,” says Jimmie O’Dell, race manager, Can-Am. “Josh and his family are in the thoughts and prayers of everyone at BRP and the entire Can-Am racing family.”

With the 2013 ATV and Side-by-Side racing season upon us, Polaris has announced its race teams and contingency program.

Polaris will have teams competing in the Grand National Cross Country series (GNCC), World Off-Road Championship series (WORCS), Best in the Desert (BITD), SCORE International and Mud racing. Polaris also will continue to offer its ATV racing contingency program and has expanded its Side-by-Side contingency, which now includes both the BITD and SCORE series.

“After a successful 2012, Polaris decided to expand its factory race team for 2013,” says Donna Beadle, race team manager for Polaris’ Off-Road Division. “We look forward to another exciting and successful race season.”

GNCC

Polaris will continue to support National Guard/Polaris/Coastal racing for 2013. William Yokley took the GNCC championship in his National Guard RZR XP 900 and will look to five-peat in the GNCC series this year. Yokley’s teammate, Scott Kiger finished second in the GNCC Open Modified class in his RZR XP 900 and is back for 2013.

Polaris has provided support to the Muscle Milk/Blingstar team for 2013, and the team has signed Adam McGill to race a RZR XP 900 in the Open Modified class. The Muscle Milk/Blingstar team also will run the WORCS with RZR XP 900s.

Polaris Racing/Holz Racing’s Beau Baron picked up his second straight win to start the season at WORCS Round 2 in Primm, Nev. Baron piloted his Polaris RZR XP 900 to the finish line in front of every other Side-by-Side in the field, winning the Pro Production class. Second would go to Ryan Piplic, also in a RZR XP 900. Baron and Piplic sit one-two in the series standings after two races.

The Production 1000 class saw 16 RZRs line up and Mitch Guthrie Jr. in his Holz Racing RZR XP 900 again took the checkered flag. He also placed third overall behind Baron and Piplic. Jacob Shaw and Holz Racing’s Jake Greco in their RZRs finished second and third.

The Production 700 Class saw a majority of RZR 570s entered. Polaris Racer Cody Rahders would take second place to Holz Racing’s David Haagsma in another RZR 570 with round-one winner Michael Bunyea’s Holz Racing RZR 570 finishing third.

Team Motoworks / Can-Am Pro Josh Frederick had a busy but successful weekend at the second round of the World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS) in Primm, Nev. He piloted his Can-Am Maverick 1000R X rs Side-by-Side to a third-place podium finish and his DS 450 ATV to second overall. Fellow SxS Pro Production side-by-side class and Can-Am Maverick racer Pablo Veglia finished fifth.

“We were very pleased with how round two turned out, having Josh Frederick reach both Pro class podiums with the Maverick and DS 450. I was definitely happy with how Josh raced and finished with the Maverick 1000R X rs in just his second WORCS event. Coming from the fifth row at the start, and as far back as 20th, to earn a top-three finish shows just how skilled both he and the Maverick are,” says Jimmie O’Dell, race manager, Can-Am. “To have two of the five Maverick side-by-side vehicles entered, finish in the top five of the highly competitive Pro Production 1000 class is great and definitely the momentum that we were looking for which we can build upon.”

For Frederick and the Maverick 1000R, round two, held at Buffalo Bill’s, just outside of Las Vegas, served as redemption for an unlucky series opener a few weeks prior when he failed to finish. In Primm, Frederick was determined to move forward from his fifth-row starting spot during the six-lap Pro race. After lap one, Frederick was in 15th, but on the move. One lap later he had picked off five racers and cracked the top 10. By the fourth lap, the Nevada resident had pushed his Maverick 1000R X rs to fourth overall. He cracked into the top three on lap five and held it all the way to the finish for the first-ever WORCS podium finish for the new Can-Am Maverick. Frederick had a similar climb in the Pro ATV class, as he came from eighth place to eventually put his Motoworks-tuned DS 450 on the podium.

James Hill rode his Can-Am Maverick 1000R X rs to a sixth place finish in the SxS Pro Production class.

The opening round of the 2013 WORCS series at Canyon MX in Peoria, Ariz. marked the competitive debut of the Can-Am Maverick 1000R X rs.

Dismal track conditions, which included deep mud, standing water and wet sand in additional to the normal desert obstacles, made for a challenging start to the 2013 season. Two Can-Am racers, James Hill and David Martinez, posted top 10 finishes in the SxS Pro Production class in their Maverick 1000R X rs vehicles.

Josh Frederick was sitting in the top five before a mechanical issue ended his race.

“Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and the overall event became a real race for survival in the mud and deep, standing water. In its competition debut, the Can-Am Maverick 1000R side-by-side vehicle’s top finish was sixth, though we competed in the lead pack early on,” says Jimmie O’Dell, race manager, Can-Am. “We are very optimistic for the upcoming events, as all the drivers are thrilled with the performance and handling of the Maverick on the race course. We all realize that it is a long season and we are carrying a positive attitude about the eight rounds of WORCS racing that remain.”

Hill (IMG Racing) finished in sixth place out of 23 competitors in the side-by-side Pro ranks. He battled through the muck, coming from 19th after the first lap to find a spot in the top 10 by lap five. He picked up two more spot on the final lap. Martinez, of Del Amo Motorsports / Murray Motorsports, finished the day in 10th.

A flood of Polaris RZRs converged on Canyon MX Park in Peoria, Ariz. this past weekend for the season opener of the 2013 WORCS series. With a track that looked more like a mud bog, RZRs took wins in Pro Production, Production 1000, Production 850, Production 700, and Production 600 classes, including four podium sweeps.

Polaris Racing/Holz Racing’s Beau Baron in his new RZR XP 900 led the new Pro Production class from holeshot to checkered flag. Second would go to Ken Benson and third to Greg Row, both in RZR XP 900s. Polaris Racing/Holz Racing/Loan Mart/Walker Evans RJ Anderson had an unfortunate run that led to a DNF, but he will be back up and running for the next race.

STI Tire & Wheel will be an official WORCS sponsor for 2013 and will also offer considerable support to its customers throughout the nine-round series, which begins January 25-27 at Canyon Raceway in Peoria, Ariz.

STI has posted a contingency program valued at $78,000 to be spread among all ATV and SxS class winners in all classes – from Beginners to Pros, Youth to Adult – competing with minis, UTVs and the entire range of quad classes. Use STI Tech 4 XCs, Black Diamonds, or new Roctane XD tires on the way to the top of the results sheet, and you will earn credits toward future STI product purchases.

GBC Motorsports decided to celebrate its successful year in ATV and UTV racing by looking back at the performance of its sponsored riders in 2012.

WORCS Series

Kayla Smith made her mark in 2012 with impressive performances throughout the year. Kicking off the WORCS season with a third place finish in the SXS Production 700 class, Smith would go on to land on the podium five more times in six races. With class wins at Race Town 395 and the Honolulu Hills finale, Kayla proved that she is capable of racing at a high level for any racer. The fact that she is 16 years old (and that some of her competitors have been racing since before she was born) makes her talent and vision behind the wheel even more remarkable. Smith finished the series in third place in her class aboard her GBC Dirt Commanders.

Yamaha Quad-X Racing Series

Dylan Dixon was one of the most talked-about up-and-comers on the West Coast racing scene, and his strong performances in the Quad-X Racing Series have something to do with that. Finding the podium in seven out of ten races, Dixon’s run through the Pro-Am class was highlighted by a Round 8 class win at Speedworld MX. Dixon improved on his second place 2011 finish by winning the Pro-Am class in 2012, and is on the verge of breaking into the Pro ranks.

Lone Star Racing has teamed up with Murray Motorsports, who is racing its Can-Am Commander in the 2012-13 World Off Road Championship Series (WORCS).

Lone Star will be providing suspension components and support for the team. Lone Star has more than a few championship titles under its belts in the WORCS series with racers like Doug Eichner, Chris Ward and Jeff Stambaugh all winning championships piloting LSR suspended UTVs in the WORCS series. Murray Motorsports will be running LSR’s line of long-travel suspension kits on their newly built Can-Am Commander 800 and 1000 specifically for the WORCS series.

Murray Motorsports has some very impressive results under its belts as well, like winning the 2012 Mint 400, the Henderson Desert Challenge, Silver State 300 and finishing second place in the Baja 500. The team is currently on a 17-consecutive desert finishing streak with over 4,000 miles of desert racing behind it and is currently in the points lead in the BITD 1900 pro UTV class.

Polaris RZRs dominated WORCS Round 7 at Cahuilla Creek in Anza, Calif. last weekend.

RJ Anderson took the checkered flag in the Production 1000 class in his RZR XP 900, with Ryan Piplic and Beau Baron taking second and third. RZRs currently hold the top five spots in the series point standings for the class with Anderson and Piplic tied for the class lead with one race to go.