2015 GBC Heartland Challenge SxS / UTV Endurance Racing Carlisle, Iowa August 21, 2015

The Bikeman Performance / rOtation Motorsports Team of Andy Ives raced a brand new 2016 Polaris RZR S 1000 for this event. The narrower 60” wide UTV was pretty much bone stock, making the victory that much sweeter for the Minnesota-based team. The team took second when the Team Cody Miller car got stuck on the final lap. Driver Andy Ives said the rough conditions made for a challenging race.

Andy Ives raced a near stock 2016 Polaris RZR 1000 S at the GBC Heartland Challenge

“Traction was really the key today,” said Ives. “The ruts were getting really bad late in the race. This is probably the roughest this track has been. My co-driver Dan was telling me to slow down a little bit. We both got a little bit worn out toward the end.”

GBC Motorsport's Andy Ives charged his way to a 2nd place finish at the 2015 GBC Heartland Challenge in the UTV 1000 class

Ives said a lot of credit goes to his new Polaris. “The ruts were really getting gnarly at the end; they were so deep tree roots were showing,” said Ives,” but this RZR is super durable. We only came into the pits to get fuel. We had no other problems. So that’s really a testament to how great the RZR is. A lot of people were crashing and getting stuck. We didn’t have those problems today.”

Can-Am’s Cody Miller came into the race with a conservative strategy. A crash on the first lap forced him to change that plan after his pit crew had to change an A-arm, putting him a lap down to the leaders.

Can-Am's Cody Miller rebounded from a broken A-Arm in the first lap to claim the final spot on the UTV 1000 class Podium

“We were trying to cruise easy on the first lap, but we got hit on the front end and that took out an A-arm,” said Miller. “I came out here with a plan to drive really conservatively. I ended up having to go “full wood” the entire race and the Can-Am held up.”

Miller credited the Can-Am Maverick’s Elka Suspension combined with DWT Tires for getting him through the rough course here. “Elka really has the suspension dialed in,” said Miller. “We were just floating over the rough stuff today. My back doesn’t even hurt. We’re running a pretty small DWT tire compared to everyone else. Those combined with the suspension really make this thing handle great.”