OTSFF Sports Marketing Group has announced the signing of a two-year venture with Polaris Industries, to run the manufacturers' snowmobile and all-terrain vehicles snocross program in Canada.
The team, which will campaign the CSRA Snowcross Championship series as Polaris OTSFF Racing, will feature Iain Hayden and Lee Butler at the controls of the potent new 2011 Polaris sleds. In addition to the national points chase, the team will also contest the CSRA's regional tour to assure maximum exposure for Medina, MN-based Polaris.
Hayden, who has won three CSRA Pro National Championship titles, will be joined on the team by his archrival in the 2010 Pro Open Championship Lee Butler. Like Hayden, Butler is also a three-time Pro champ. His most recent title win was in the CSRA Pro Open division this year.
"We're very excited to be representing the Polaris brand again and we will be putting all our efforts into the Canadian program," OTSFF Sports Marketing Group president Andre Laurin, said. "We're also very pleased to have Lee Butler back on our team. Lee won a CSRA championship for Polaris a few years ago and we want to bring the manufacturer back to a point where they will be in contention for another Canadian title."
Butler is no stranger to the OTSFF Racing paddock. The Northbrooke, ON, native raced snowmobiles for the team in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and belongs to the elite of Canada's snocross racing community.
"I'm very happy to be returning to the OTSFF Racing family," Butler said. "OTSFF is without question one of the premiere racing teams in North America and Polaris is a winning brand, something we have already proven together in the past. Having Iain as my teammate is a bonus. He is not only my main rival on the track but a good friend when we're not banging handlebars."
Espanola, Ontario's Hayden has been an OTSFF Racing stalwart for the past 10 years both in snocross and motocross. In the 2010 CSRA series, Hayden was in contention for the title along with Butler till the bitter end. When all was said and done at the final race of the season, he and Butler were tied in the points standings. The title went to Butler, as he had one more event win to his credit.
Hayden commented, "It's great to be with OTSFF Racing for another season. I know I can depend on the team's topnotch technicians to supply me with topnotch racing sleds. I'm also looking forward to racing on Polaris and I'm convinced that with Lee we'll be putting their sleds in the winners circle in 2011."
Although Polaris OTSFF Racing's main focus will be on the CSRA Championship, the team will also attend selected ISOC events south of the border. The 2011 snocross season kicks of in mid-December and runs until April 2011.