2015 GBC Heartland Challenge ATV Endurance Racing Carlisle, Iowa August 21, 2015

In the Pro 4x4 Class, Kevin Trantham and Michael Swift took their Team UXC Polaris home first, pocketing the $3500 paycheck. Zac Zakowski and GNCC National Champion Bryan Buckhannon teamed up to finish second in the class on the Team Midwest Performance Can-Am. Cody Miller, Cody Taylor and Chris Robinson finished third on a Can-Am.

GBC Heartland Challenge 4x4 Pro Class Podium (left to right) Team ZMS (2nd), Team UXC (1st), Team Can-Am (3rd)

The victory gave Polaris its first Heartland crown. “This is our first race up here at the 10 hour with the Polaris and couldn’t be happier,” said Swift. “We had been watching the weather and we knew this might happen, so we put the hammer down early. We didn’t want to be sitting back and hoping to make up the last three hours. We wanted to be in front.

Team UXC Racing's Michael Swift lead the early charge for the team

“We ran pretty much the whole race on one machine,” added Swift. “We only ran one lap on the second quad.”

Team UXC's Kevin Trantham & Michael Swift completed 23 laps to secure the 4x4 Pro GBC Heartland Challenge Win

Buckhannon and Zakowski struggled with the setup in each other’s ATVs: “I was really struggling on Bryan’s quad at the beginning,” said Zakowski. “He runs a completely different setup than I do. Too bad it started raining; we didn’t get a chance to challenge for the win. This event is great. It’s like a big family get together. Whether you win or lose, it’s fun to see everybody and you still go home happy.”

Team ZMS's Zac Zakowski

Buckhannon agreed that the team’s victory charge was cut short by the weather: “If it hadn’t have rained, we would have won this one, but it was definitely the right thing to call the race,” said Buckhannon. “The starts are always fun here. It’s different than anything else. I’m not the fastest runner. I’ll stick to racing four wheelers and side-by-sides.”

Team ZMS's Bryan Buckhannon

Miller actually passed a sport ATV on his Can-Am Maverick at the start to take the holeshot: “It always puts a big smile on your face to pass a sport quad on a straightaway,” said Miller. “I’ve seen every kind of ATV racing in this country and without a doubt this is the best run race out there.”

Team Can-Am rounded out the top three on the 4x4 Pro Podium