ATR's
Zakowski Motorsports Wins Heartland Challenge
Endurace Race
3rd Annual Heartland Challenge
- Carlisle, Iowa
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| ATR's
Sponsored Zakowski Motorsports Team (Zach
Zakowski, Scott Kilby, Kevin Trantham) Takes
the Utility Class Win |
Tyler, TX (8/29/2010) - In a
true underdog story, the Zakowski Motorsports/All
Terrain Research team has walked away with the
Pro-Utility win at the 3rd annual GBC Motorsports
Heartland 10-Hour Challenge. After soaring temperatures
in the mid nineties and almost 100 percent humidity,
the trio of GNCC championship chasers Zac Zakowski,
Kevin Tranthem, and Scott Kilby sacrificed everything
they had in order to pull off the win, finishing
an amazing 36m: 26s ahead of 2 time Heartland
Challenge champs.
The day started off decent with team head, Zac
Zakowski, performing the le-mans style start and
heading into the woods 3rd. After a mere mile
or two Zakowski had overtaken the lead and continued
to put some distance between him and 2nd.
After falling victim to the intense heat and
exhaustion, Zakowski stepped off the bike giving
multi GNCC champ Scott Kilby his first go at it
in an attempt to make up the little bit of time
lost. Currently sitting in 2nd place, Kilby laid
down some smooth laps before handing the bike
over to current 4×4 Lights points’
leader Kevin Tranthem. After a few laps Kevin,
who keep in mind is used to riding a Can-am Outlander
500Efi, had used the high Horse powered Janssen
Motorsports/Can-am 800 engine to overtake 1st
place while hitting the 2-hour mark.
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|
ATR's
SponsoredZach Zakowski |
The riders tried to remain consistent while attempting
to hold the bikes together for 10 hours. Slightly
after we regained the lead, Warnert Racing had
run into belt problems giving Zakowski Motorsports
a 5-minute cushion over 2nd place. The trio of
Can-am backed privateers was sure to keep them
from closing the gap between us. The last thing
we wanted was for them to catch us over the course
of the next 8 hours. The next five and a half
hours Zakowski Motorsports did not let them gain
any ground by consistently laying down faster
lap times, putting a total of just under 8-minutes
between us. “We knew that we could keep
running faster then them but just had to stay
smart. In the meantime we hoped for a break between
us and 2nd place so that we could back it down
a notch or two.” said Zakowski.
Luckily hope came when radio confirmation came
through that second place Team Warnert had gotten
buried in a mud hole on lap 28, extending our
lead to 2 laps and a little over a half hour.
With that in mind, Zakowski Motorsports riders
finally got the break they were asking for as
they set the bikes into cruise mode until the
finish. With the last session coming up and Scott
Kilby throwing a leg over the bike, we all headed
to the finish to watch as our dream unfolded.
After the long day was said and done, Zakowski
Motorsports in conjunction with All Terrain Research
had come out on top. The riders and everyone involved
with the Zakowski Motorsports and All Terrain
Research team were extremely happy. Everyone has
worked very hard for the past 2 weeks and it feels
great to get the win.
“I just can’t believe we did it!
We ran a smooth race and had the determination
to make something happen. We just went out there
and did what we had to do. I’d just like
to give a huge thanks to everyone at Zakowski
Motorsports and All Terrain Research for making
it all happen. For our first attempt at this race
I think we did fairly well and definitely will
be back next year.”-Zac Zakowski 990
“Zac, Kevin, and I were pumped going into
this race and new we had a shot at this thing.
Warnert has been on top of this race for a while
and we really wanted to show that we could do
it at a privateer level. Big thanks to Zakowski
Motorsports and ATR”-Scott Kilby
“I think it is just great that we were
able to pull it off without a problem. We kept
our heads on straight and fought through the pain.
The big check was nice too! Just like to say thanks
to All Terrain Research for believing in us.”-Kevin
Tranthem
For more information visit ATR's website at allterrainresearch.net
or call them at 903-581-0008
atrpowersports.com
4504-A Candy Ln
Tyler Texas 75703
Phone: 877-581-0041
Fax: 877-824-7380
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