Christian Brothers Racing’s Zach Herfindahl won his third Pro Stock race of the season at Warroad, Minn.
Last week’s champ, Aaron Christensen (Pol), kept up his late season surge landing in the runner-up spot.
Mother Nature has not cast a favorable glance on USXC events, except, of course, for the ample snow cover. With temps forecast in the -20 range, USXC officials decided late in the week to push the start time of the Warroad race back to 10 AM.
“In the end you have to worry about safety, not only for the racers, but also for the race crew. Cross country racing is about battling the elements, but everything has its limits,” USXC owner Brian Nelson said.
Wesley Selby was able to crank out a nice third place Pro Stock finish, albeit in a limited field of racers. Absent were pros Brian Dick (Cat), Ryan Simons (Cat), and Ross Erdman (Doo). Trying to make a return to competition, Bobby Menne (Pol) was not able to finish the Speedwerx Pro Open class. Menne suffered a broken foot at the Duluth National Snocross and, as a result, his season has turned out to be almost a complete washout.
The Semi-Pro and Amsoil Semi-Pro classes have been a battleground all season, as well. In the constant buffet of winners in the class, Alex Hetteen (Pol) was able to snatch a close-to-home victory, besting Timmy Kallock (Cat) in Semi-Pro and Dillan Dohrn (Doo) in the Open class. Always right there, Cale Anseeuw (Doo) logged a third place finish in Semi-Pro, while Lance Efteland (Cat) grabbed the same in the Open. Hetteen’s first decides nothing in the Semi-Pro points battle, as one point separates Hetteen from Anseeuw and Casey Pries (Cat) and Jon Arneson (Cat) are only 15 and 18 points back of first. That should make for an exciting final weekend for the Semi-Pro competitors.
Running away with all but round one, Jolene Bute (Cat) felt a little heat in the On Snow Magazine Women’s class, with Jill Tangen and Anne Pladson within 18 seconds of the top finishing Bute. Another revolving door, the Drift Super Stock class has been largely a matter of who shows up at any given race. Saturday, yet another winner, Joseph Wood (Cat), had his name recorded in the books. That brings the Super Stock total to six different winners in seven rounds of competition, with only Jon Arneson posting more than one win in the class.
The USXC season finale is up next in Walker, MN with the Moondance Jam 100, March 8. The race will be followed by the year-end awards banquet. Also on the schedule for the final weekend is round two of the mini 120 races, with the Mini-250. Visit www.usxcracing.com for more information.