Detroit Lakes, MN (January 4, 2014) – Fast ice and clear skies made for some hot competition on historic Big Detroit Lake Saturday as the J&K Beach Bar 200 wrapped-up round two of USXC Racing competition. After a few surprises in round one at Pine Lake, some familiar faces were back in the winning circle this weekend.
The sidebar to this second season of USXC action has, unfortunately, been the weather and this past weekend was no exception. As riders and teams descended on the pit area Friday, temperatures were well into the 20s above, but a gusty south wind had created blizzard conditions throughout the area. Then the rain came, freezing on windshields and goggles starting in the late afternoon. USXC owner Brian Nelson was concerned, “When I went to bed Friday night, I was wondering if we were even going to have a race Saturday.” In a streak of luck, Saturday dawned clear and chilly, with enough wind to keep down the snow dust. As luck would have it, the blue skies persisted and temps remained cold, but tolerable.
Lap times for pro and semi-pro riders continued to shrink as the day progressed, as riders dialed in their sleds to attack the 10-mile lemans-style track. Round one winner of the Pro Stock class, Zach Herfindahl (Cat), bested Ryan Faust (Pol) in the Pro Open class. Herfindahl then grabbed an early lead in Pro Stock, but that was before teammate Brian Dick started picking off riders, coming up from the back of the pack. As has been typical with Dick, he got faster as the Pro Stock race progressed, posting a 9 minute 42 second best time on the final lap.
After some trouble at Pine Lake, Dick was glad to be back in the hunt. “We made some suspension and clutching changes and it made a big difference,” Dick said. With his sled running almost a 100% ice setup, Dick was absolutely flying in the late laps of the Pro Stock race. Dick started in the back of the pack due to missing the qualifier earlier in the day, but admitted that can be an advantage sometimes. “Starting in the front can make it hard to tell how fast you’re going. From the back, I have to charge hard to catch guys,” admitted Dick.
Dick’s margin of victory in the 8-lap, 80-mile race was 17.6 seconds over fellow Cat racer Herfindahl, with Ryan Faust 37 seconds back. Aaron Christiansen and Jordan Torgerson rounded out the top 5.
Other familiar faces winning at D.L. included Woman’s champ Jolene Bute (Cat), Corey Davidson (Yam) with a first in the Masters 40+, and 14 year old Ean Voigt (Cat) taking home the metal in the Junior 14-17 class. Coming off last year’s points championship in the Junior 10-13 class, Voigt had hoped to simply finish races and learn to run with the faster 17 year olds. So much for that plan. With an economy of words, Voigt described the D.L. course simply as, “fast.”
Up next, the Willmar Area Lakes 100 in Willmar, Minnesota, January 18.
The complete recap of winners from Big Detroit Lake include: Yamaha Pro Stock: Brian Dick (Cat); Speedwerx Pro Open: Zach Herfindahl (Cat); Energy Release Semi Pro: Casey Pries (Cat); AMSOIL Semi Pro Improved: Casey Pries (Cat); Drift Racing Super Stock: Cole Nymann (Cat); Polaris Expert 85: Brett Lessman (Yam); FOX Expert 85 Improved: Parker Thilmony (Cat); Ski-Doo Masters 40+: Corey Davidson (Yam); Action Graphics Sport 600 Improved: Dylan Parsons; Red Lake Outdoors Legends 50+: Erik Nymann (Cat); Carver Performance Sport 85: Ryan Weidemann (Cat); Woody’s Sport 600 Stock: Dylan Parsons; C&A Pro Trail: Kevin Tinjum (Cat); FLY Racing Vintage: Gary Tintes (Cat); Arctic Cat Vintage Legends 50+: Gary Tintes (Cat); TEAM Industries Classic IFS 18-50: Brad Naplin (Cat); On Snow Magazine Women’s: Jolene Bute (Cat); Seven Clans Casinos Junior 10-13: David Brown (Cat); Mattracks Junior 14-17: Ean Voigt (Cat); Applied High Performance Products Junior Girls 14-17: Kelsey Pladson (Pol).