A winner at the USCC race in Munising, Mich., last season, Davis once again took advantage of a break in the National snocross season to focus on his family’s forte: cross-country. The result was the perfect blend of speed and conditioning, with Davis putting time into his rivals on each of the four laps of the Pro 600 class for a clear victory.
Davis’s Team Arctic/Christian Bros. Racing teammates Ryan Simons, D.J. Ekre and Brian Dick slotted into third, fourth and sixth. Add the strong rides by Chad Lian and Brian Carey, and Team Arctic notched six of the top-10.
“In 20 years of watching Team Arctic cross-country success, this ranks as one of the all-time great performances,” said Mike Kloety, Race Manager. “Better yet, Grafton was also the debut of our Sno Pro 500, which proved even better than we expected.”
How successful was the new Sno Pro 500 in its first cross-country? Bryce Buchanan led a Team Arctic sweep of the top-nine in Expert 85; Chris Klie led a top-14 sweep of Sport 85 and C.J. VandePutte led a top-8 sweep of Jr. 14-17, all aboard Sno Pro 500s. Just as impressive, Buchanan and second-place finisher Dave Dirkman clocked times aboard their Sno Pro 500s that would have won the Semi Pro 600 class!
“The Sno Pro 500 has transformed the 85-hp classes this year,” said Pat Mach, Race Director for USCC. “The sleds are easy to race for all abilities and are manageable, which brought new racers to the circuit and helped make our largest-ever event.
“Even better, there were 10 guys in the Sport 85 class that finished within one minute of fourth place. The racing was so close and enjoyable that most of these guys laughed and shared stories with each other post-race. That’s what cross-country is all about.”
While Team Arctic cross-country racers were crushing the Grafton course, the snocross contingent delivered a nine-win weekend at the ISOC Regional race at ERX Motorpark in Elk River, Minn. Factory Arctic Cat racers Dan Ebert and Cody Thomsen won a Pro class each; Andrew Carlson took Semi Pro Open, Britt Anderson won Sport Women and Tyler Riewer won Sport Stock, putting Arctic Cat on top of all race categories.
The next USCC cross-country race is the I-500 in Thief River Falls on Jan. 15-17. The next ISOC National is Jan. 8-9 in Sandy, Utah. Go to www.usccracing.com and www.isocracing.com for more info.
Team Arctic Podium Results from the USCC Cross-Country in Grafton, ND:
Pro 600
1. Cory Davis
3. Ryan Simons
Pro Open
1. Cory Davis
2. D.J. Ekre
Semi Pro 600
1. Chad Kyllo
3. Jeremy Tulenchik
Semi Pro Improved
2. Cole Nymann
3. Mike Dirkman
Women
1. Jolene Bute
3. April Moritz
Expert 85
1. Bryce Buchanan
2. Dave Dirkman
3. Jason Kangas
Sport 85
1. Chris Klie
2. Marty Feil
3. Timmy Kallock
Expert 85 Improved
1. Bryce Buchanan
2. Logan Christian
Masters
2. Bill Slominski
Sport 600
2. Brandon Bonham
3. Chris Hoff
Jr. 10-13
2. Adam Mach
Jr. 14-17
1. C.J. VandePutte
2. Chris Klie
3. Timmy Kallock
Trail
1. Luke Perreault
3. Casey Clement
120 Stock
1. Nathan Lorenz
2. Noah Arneson
3. Sara Larson
120 Improved
1. Scott McCoil
2. Sara Larson
3. Nathan Lorenz
