Minneapolis, March 10, 2014-The 2014 ATV Racing series has officially started and Polaris’ new ATV factory racing teams were out in full force.
The Texas Off-Road Nationals (TORN) Round 1 were held in Boyd, Texas the first weekend in March. UXC Rider Chris Robinson piloted his Scrambler XP 1000 to a first-place finish. The course was a 5.5 mile loop consisting of whooped out sand sections, a few tight wooded areas, some dry creek beds and a few rocky hill climb sections.
“The Polaris Scrambler XP 1000 EPS left the line hard and pulled strong all the way up the 50 plus foot hill. As we headed for the first tight wooded section I noticed passing lines were few and far between, so I settled in for the first few miles until I found a good line,” said Robinson. “At the four mile marker I made a pass for second place and by the beginning of lap two I had made the pass for first. By the end of lap two, I had a comfortable lead and rode smart while keeping a quick pace all the way to the checkered flag. I couldn’t be happier with the performance of this machine. The Scrambler felt light and nimble through the tight sections and very stable at high speeds.”
The first round of GNCC, the Mud Mucker, was this past weekend and Polaris Factory Racing had Rick Cecco and UXC Racing’s Michael Swift line up with their Scrambler XP 850s for the Pro 4x4 Class. Swift took the lead by the end of the first lap with Cecco in fourth. With the lead swapping various times and all racers battling for the lead, Swift’s Scrambler would suffer a belt failure. Cecco, after pitting, would fall back to fourth and battle his way back to finish third for his first podium of the season.
"Today’s season opener in the 4x4 Pro Class was one step in a 13 step process for the GNCC Championship,” said Cecco. “With all 13 races counting and the level of competition this year my goals are to simply finish the race in the top three and celebrate with my team and sponsors on the podium while ultimately capturing those valuable GNCC Championship points. Today's race, with swamps being 80 percent of the race track, it was evident to make sure the engine kept running cool and air filter stayed dry just to survive. The Scrambler’s AWD and EPS systems worked flawlessly as I navigated through multiple lines of stuck racers in the swamps while the 850 engine ran cool & strong - never missing a beat.”
“I was pleased to see so many Polaris Scramblers on the starting line this morning. It is a testament to the confidence that riders have in this machine, said Swift. “I am especially proud of how well the Polaris Scrambler XP 850 performed today. This race proves that the Scrambler is up to the challenge. We are going to take it as a learning experience and come back ready in Georgia next weekend,” stated Swift.
Cecco Racing is sponsored by Polaris, Pure Polaris, Coldcock Whiskey, Maxxis, Big Gun, DBP Perfomance, Moose Offroad, Keizer, Custom Axis, Powermadd, Rox Speedfx, Fasstco, DP Brakes, Spider, PNP Supplements, Riccochet, SuperATV, KN Engineering, Bike Trikes and Quads, STM Powersports, ATV Fourplay, All Balls, Zdobinski Allstate Insurance, Tire Balls, Vanilla Gorrilla
Team UXC is sponsored by Polaris Factory Racing, Driven Powersports, Maxxis Tires, Fly, Evans Coolant, Axis, Hiper, ROX Speed FX, Dirtworks, SSI Decals, Thermo Tec, Leatt, Ricochet, DP Brakes, Spider, Moto Pro Training, Scott, Outerwears, FASST, Fourwerx Carbon Fiber, America’s Motorsports, Ams-Oil, Tire Balls, Ruralube, Rigid Industries, Holz Racing Products, Knight Krawlers Kustoms, Yoshimura, Finishes That Last, Rock Power Sports
PHOTO CREDIT for Chris Robinson: PD Mokry Photography, for Swift and Cecco, Harlen Foley
Polaris is a recognized leader in the powersports industry with annual 2013 sales of $3.8 billion. Polaris designs, engineers, manufactures and markets innovative, high quality off-road vehicles, including all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and the Polaris RANGER® and RZR® side-by-side vehicles, snowmobiles, motorcycles and on-road electric/hybrid powered vehicles.
Polaris is among the global sales leaders for both snowmobiles and off-road vehicles and has established a presence in the heavyweight cruiser and touring motorcycle market with the Victory and Indian Motorcycle brands. Additionally, Polaris continues to invest in the global on-road small electric/hybrid powered vehicle industry with Global Electric Motorcars (GEM), Goupil Industrie SA, Aixam Mega S.A.S., and internally developed vehicles. Polaris enhances the riding experience with a complete line of Polaris Engineered parts, accessories and apparel and Klim branded apparel.
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