yamaha snowmobile grass drag wins

Yamaha snowmobiles stole the show with 9 pro wins at three different grass-drag events in Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 20-21. Most importantly, Hauck Power Sports driver Jim Jones gave the new 2009 FX Nytro XTX its first pro-racing victory at the third round of the 2008 NSRA grass-drag series in Douglas, Minn., then added three more victories on Apex and Nytro machines. Greg Omasta also contributed three wins for Yamaha on his Apex and modified SRX sleds in Ohio, N.Y., while Bryan Eckel racked up a pair of wins on his Apex and RS Vector in Presque Isle, Penn.

After scoring a third and a red-light DNF in two previous attempts on the new FX Nytro XTX, Jones found the third time was most definitely the charm when he took Sunday afternoon's 600 Single Pipe final at the 14th Annual Great Southern Grass Drag Nationals in rural Minnesota. Empowered by this victory, he went on to score a win in 600 Stock aboard his Apex, and now remains undefeated in the class this year. Before the afternoon was over he had also added wins in 600 Improved on a modified Apex and in 500 Stock aboard a RS Nytro. As well as being the defending champion in all four classes, Jones now leads the NSRA points in each of them this year.

Eleven hundred miles due east in Ohio, N.Y., the annual Ohio Ridge Riders Club event was in full swing, with racing on both Saturday and Sunday. 17-year old Chris Omasta made his pro class racing debut by putting the hammer down on his dad's modified Omasta Racing SRX on Saturday, taking wins in Open Mod 700 and Heavy Mod 700 as well as a second in Pro Mod 700. Chris then returned on Sunday with his Apex to win Stock 600 and take a close second in Stock 700. Of course, Chris' dad Greg was proud of his son's driving, but Greg also had good things to say about the Yamaha Apex. "The big Apex really launches hard and it's got extremely long legs on the top," he said. "If we come out of the gate strongly it's all over, and even if we come out late it runs 'em down on the other end."

Down in Pennsylvania on Sunday, the Presque Isle Snowmobile Club offered racers a chance to do what many have dreamt about - race on a golf course. Configured especially for snowmobile drags every summer, the Mound Grove Golf Course pulled in a huge crowd excited to see snowmobiles run - and to test-ride Yamaha ATVs at a factory display. In the finals, Bryan Eckel's Apex dominated the 700 Stock event and finished a tantalizingly close second in 600 Stock. The Eckel Racing driver likewise finished a tight second in 600 Single Pipe on his FX Nytro before taking a convincing final win in 500 Stock on his RS Vector. "The Apex is so smooth - it's just wonderful to run down the track," he praised. "There's also no load-up problems like in the 2-strokes, and it's very forgiving when there's heat in the motor."

NSRA Grass Drag race results - Rochester, Minn.

Pro classes:

Stock 600
1st: Jim Jones/Yamaha Apex
2nd: L. Hauck
3rd: C. Erhart
4th: M. Golaski

Stock 600S (Single Pipe)
1st: Jim Jones/Yamaha FX Nytro XTX
2nd: M. Golaski
3rd: A. Phelps
4th: D. Parcel

Stock 500
1St: Jim Jones/Yamaha RS Nytro
2nd: L. Hauck
3rd: M. Lamire
4th: J. Hurley Jr.

Improved Stock 600cc
1st: Jimmy Jones/Yamaha Apex
2nd: Jerry Fix/Yamaha Apex
3rd: D. Hodges-Larson
4th: S. Hartung

Semi-Pro classes:

Semi Pro 600
1st: D. Parcel
2nd: Matt Thies/Yamaha RX-1
3rd: A. Phelps

Semi Pro 500
1st: Ron Bureinski/Yamaha Vector
2nd: Matt Thies/Yamaha RS Nytro
3rd: R. Krueger