2016 GBC Heartland Challenge SxS / UTV Endurance Racing Carlisle, Iowa August 19, 2016

Jason Luburgh joined Bikeman teammate Treavis Poynter. The pair took a detour from dominating TORC’s new UTV class to race here. While they had planned to share driving duties, Luburgh was doing so well that he drove the entire race.

Bikeman Performance's Jason Luburgh is better known for his UTV racing success as a 2 Time Terracross Championship & current TORC UTV Points leaders

“I pitted for fuel and Treavis talked me into staying in,” said Luburgh. “It was rough and I am definitely spent. We found some good lines and stayed out of the ruts. It was really survival, finding a pace and staying with it. The Bikeman Turbo worked really well today and The GBC Tires allowed me to go anywhere I wanted to.”

GBC's Jason Luburgh drove the entire 4 hour race to claim the 2nd spot on the GBC Heartland Challenge Podium

Matt Burton is a retired X Games and flat track competitor. He won the 900 Class last year and decided to put it all on the line in the top class this year. He came away with a third in his bone stock Polaris RZR.

Matt Burton claimed the UTV 900 class win in 2015, so he decided to make the move to the UTV 1000 class this year & claimed the final spot on the podium

“This machine is completely stock; I don’t even have an aftermarket exhaust,” said Burton. “It was exciting, but it got really rough at the end. We had to come through the pack. I’m retired now, so this is what I’m doing. I wish I had a little more power. These guys really packed a punch. It was really tough. We really started rolling the laps at the end because I knew Hunter Miller was coming.”

Hunter Miller was pleased to finish fourth after leading several laps. A broken axle and getting stuck in a bottleneck slowed his charge in the end.

Maxxis' #90 Hunter Miller held the lead before dropping back to a 4th place finish

“I had broken a front axle at around two hours and was running in two-wheel drive,” said Miller. “I was getting it done, but I came up on a bottleneck and got high centered. I came back up to fourth, and then I got stuck again. It was all good, considering. This is the best I’ve ever done here and since I’ve only finished one GNCC this year, it felt good to just finish this one. This the toughest race we do all year, so to nearly finish on the podium is pretty solid.”

Kevin Trantham was held up at the start of the race and had to climb through the pack to fifth. After pitting, Swift took over and held the position until the end.

Team UXC Racing's Michael Swift & Kevin Trantham rounded out the UTV Open Top Five

“We had to line up on the second row at the start and we got stuck behind a car that wouldn’t fire,” said Trantham. “We were a ways back, but we put our heads down and charged forward. We moved up quite a few places. We had a good night. We would have liked to get a podium, but it’s still a good night.”

Though disappointed by not making the podium, Swift enjoyed his ninth Heartland Challenge. He has always relished the camaraderie of the event and its competitors.

“It got a little rough at the end, but it had some good lines to get around so it was good,” said Swift. “We’ve come out here since it started. We like to come out for the race, but we also like to hang out these people.”