2016
GBC Heartland Challenge
SxS / UTV Endurance Racing
Carlisle, Iowa
August 19, 2016
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GBC Heartland Challenge
UTV Race Report
::Continued::
Kyle Chaney proved the oft quoted adage of endurance
racing: “To finish first, one first must finish.”
Though dominant early in the race, his furious
pace took a toll on his machine and he dropped
out of the race in the final hour.
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Can-Am's
Kyle Chaney grabbed the Holeshot & early
lead before a belt issue took him out of
the race in the final hour |
“I tried to keep my pace the whole race, but
my car kept overheating,” said Chaney. “A fan
wouldn’t kick on. I had to stop and rewire the
fan, and by that time we had bunched up. It was
a pretty good race there for a couple of laps,
but my swaybar broke. It put so much pressure
on the rear end, that I toasted a belt.”
In UTV 900, 57-year-old Chris Brockway won, ahead
of the Brent Vanderford and Jared Nelson. All
were driving Polaris RZRs.
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GMZ's
Chris Brockway secured the UTV 900 class
win |
“We started second and began moving through the
1000 class,” said Brockway. “Then, all of the
sudden, we had no brakes. We overheated the brakes
and had to let them cool off. We also bent a tie
rod, but we kept going. The course was great.
It was challenging, but not too tight. I’m glad
to be here and I’ll be here next year.”
Brent Vanderford was running is second Heartland
Challenge in three years. Interestingly, he finished
second in his last race here. “I got back up to
third on the fourth lap and then we lost our brakes,”
said Vanderford. “So to run two-and-a-half hours
and finish second with no brakes is pretty good,
but I really came here to win. This race is fun.
It’s a good long race and I like racing at night.
Everyone is great here and they help each other
out. The whole Iowa series is a really great series.”
Jared Nelson made his Heartland Challenge debut
pay off, finishing on the final spot on the podium.
His team had to change out a secondary clutch
halfway through the race to keep him charging.
“We got back out there and salvaged a podium,”
said Nelson. “We ended up two minutes behind second.
This is my first Heartland Challenge race. It
was fun. It is an awesome event and I was happy
to be a part of it.”
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#93
Jared Nelson rounded out the UTV 900 Top
Three |
In UTV 800, Jeremy Thompson won in an Arctic
Cat Sport Limited, marking the top finish for
the Thief River Falls manufacturer here. Tyler
Furman finished second in a Kawaski TRX, ahead
of the Team Townsend Polaris.
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Jeremy
Thompson claimed the UTV 800 class win in
the Arctic Cat Sport |
“Last year we had some problems, so it was nice
to get this win,” said Thompson. “This is a 2015
Arctic Cat and it has won every race it’s been
in this year. The RT Pro section was so much faster.
It wasn’t too bad at all. We were talking the
whole way through and we’re happy to take the
win.”
Tyler Furman and his co-driver Brian Butler are
development engineers for Kawasaki new SXS program.
They were pleased with their machine’s durability
and even had some fun at the event. “We led most
of the race, but we had some bad luck at the end
after we did our driver change,” said Furman.
“We’re pretty happy with the second place. The
big point about the TRX is the durability and
this race is a perfect showcase for it. As long
as we avoid driver errors, it continues to turn
laps. Development is a big part of it. We want
to know what modifications affect durability.
Plus, this is a chance for us to get out of the
office, enjoy it and have a little fun.”
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For
the second year in a row, the Kawasaki Teryx
Team brought home a 2nd place finish in
the UTV 800 class |
With record turnout and exemplary racing, this
year’s GBC Heartland Challenge is certain to be
one for the record books.
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