Medina, Minn. – Polaris snocross racer Ryan Springer (Carlson Motorsports) won the Pro Lite final on Friday night, Feb. 20, to extend his streak to four straight wins and Pro Open racer Kyle Pallin (Team LaVallee) reached the podium twice with a pair of third-place finishes during ISOC National snocross racing Feb. 20-21 in Chicago.
As a result, Springer remained atop the points standings in Pro Lite, where Polaris racers rank first through fourth. Pallin is third in Pro Open points with five rounds of ISOC National racing to go.
Pro Open: Pallin Battling For Top 3 Points Finish
Pallin finished third in Friday night’s Pro Open final and Ross Martin (Judnick Motorsports) was fourth. That ended a streak of seven straight finals in which Martin had earned a top-three finish. In Saturday’s final, Pallin finished third again to return to the podium, while Andrew Lieders (Team LaVallee) was sixth and Jake Scott (Team LaVallee) took seventh.
Pallin left Chicago in third place in Pro Open points, just 17 points out of second (419-402) with five rounds of Pro Open racing to go. Martin is fourth in points, Justin Broberg (Hentges Racing) is seventh, Corin Todd (Leighton Motorsports) is eighth and Scott is 10th.
Pro Lite: Polaris Racers Dominate In Chicago
Polaris Pro Lite racers demonstrated true Terrain Domination in Chicago, sweeping the top five spots in Friday’s final and earning two more podium spots with a win and a third on Saturday.
In Friday’s final, Springer won for the fourth straight time this season and was joined on the podium by teammate Andrew Carlson (Carlson Motorsports), who finished second, and Travis Muller (Cottew Motorsports) in third. Trevor Leighton (Leighton Motorsports) finished fourth and James Johnstad (Judnick Motorsports) was fifth.
In Saturday’s final, Travis Muller earned the victory and Johnstad finished third. Springer was fourth, Leighton was fifth, and Andrew Carlson was sixth. Polaris racers now fill the top four spots in the Pro Lite points standings. Springer is the points leader, Leighton is in second, Muller is third, Carlson is in fourth, and Johnstad is in sixth.
Sport & Amateur: Polaris Racers Sweep Four Finals
In the weekend’s Sport class racing, Cole Cottew (Cottew Motorsports) won both finals as Polaris racers claimed five of six podium spots. Cottew won and Jacob Yurk (Team Vermillion) took second on Friday night, and in Saturday’s final, Cottew won, Durk Roper (Roper Racing) took second, and Nickolas Lorenz (Lorenz Racing) was third.
Cottew is second in Sport points, just two points behind the leader. Yurk is third, Evan Daudt (Daudt Racing) is fourth, and Roper is fifth.
In the Amateur class, Mitchell Thelen (Cottew Motorsports) won both of the weekend’s finals, and in Saturday’s final, Adam Peterson (Peterson Racing) took second and Devin Katzman (Eagle Disposal Racing) was third.
The next stop on the ISOC National tour is in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, Feb. 27-28.
Polaris Team Blu Racing Wins Second Straight Michigan Cat 500 Snowmobile Enduro in Lincoln, MI
The Polaris snowmobile enduro racing team of James Hicks and Cardell Potter—Team Blu Racing—outran the competition and won the Michigan Cat 500 race at Lincoln, MI, on Saturday, Feb. 21. The Team Blu drivers had their sled out in front when the race scheduled for 500 laps was called after 357 laps due to darkness. It was their second straight win in the annual enduro at Lincoln.
Like the Soo I-500 and all the enduro races on the Midwest International Racing Assn. (MIRA) circuit, Polaris sleds dominated the field at Lincoln, and 15 of the top 20 finishers at Lincoln were on Polaris sleds.
The R&R Racing team of Josh Ware and Jon Giffel finished third at Lincoln and other Polaris teams in the top 10 were: 4. Beard Motorsports; 5. XLT Performance; 6. Wuppet Racing; 7. Piche Performance; 8. Bunke Racing (sled No. 74); and 10. Yovich Racing.
With its win, Team Blu finished second in the No Bull Triple Crown, a bonus purse program based on three of this season’s snowmobile enduro races. Hicks and Potter had finished second in the Kinross [Mich.] Enduro and sixth in the Soo I-500, so the Lincoln win earned them second-place money in the Triple Crown competition.
The No. 74 Bunke Racing sled piloted by Gabe Bunke and Aaron Christensen finished third in No Bull Triple Crown points. The Bunke team won at Kinross and finished third in the Soo I-500 before finishing eighth at Lincoln.