Finley, ND – (November 29, 2016)
Although Mother Nature kept us guessing, the 25th Annual Duluth National was held over Thanksgiving weekend. Timely snowfall allowed for racing to happen Friday & Saturday, however sketchy fog Sunday brought racing to a halt, disappointing racers and fans.
The weather didn’t dampen the mood for KC Motorsports, as they debuted their racers on new Polaris race buggies. After practicing much of last week in Aurora, MN, racers Evan Christian #333, Jay Lura #217, and James Johnstad #14 were stoked for the first race of the Amsoil Championship Snocross series. Here is a recap of the weekend…
Evan Christian #333:
Friday – Class-Jr. 14-15: Finished 1st in round 1, 2nd in round 2, but after a poor start in the final, managed to finish in 3rd. Evan is currently 3rd in Jr. 14-15 National points.
Class-Jr. 16-17: finished 2nd in round 1, 6th in round 2, and had to qualify for the final via the LCQ where he finished 2nd. In the final, Evan had a mishap with another sled in one of the corners, and ended up finishing 9th. Evan is now 10th in Jr. 16-17 National points.
Saturday – Class-Sport Lite: This new class is huge, with 7 heats of 8 riders! Evan managed a 2nd in round 1 and a 5th in round 2, sending him to the LCQ. Only the top 5 of the 15 riders made the Sport Lite final…Evan finished in 11th.
Evan said, “I’m really loving the Polaris sled and felt really comfortable racing it for the first time this weekend. I hope to continue to improve in my finishes from race to race, and I can’t thank Polaris enough in all the support they’ve given me so far. It’s really been impressive.
Jay Lura #217:
Class-Sport: Another big class of 6 heats of 9-10 riders each.
Friday – The first race jitters got the best of Jay when he jumped the start in round 1, but managed to work his way to finish in 3rd after having to start from the back row; he finished 2nd in the 2nd round. A poor start in the final had Jay in the 11th spot when the checkers flew.
Saturday – A 2nd in round 1 and 7th in round 2 landed Jay in the LCQ, where he finished in 11th. Only the top 5 made the final.
From Jay…”Duluth was not the weekend that I wanted. It’s time to work on some stuff and get ready for Colorado. I’ve got the best sponsors and support. I’m just working on putting it all together.”
James Johnstad #14:
Class-Pro Lite: Due to heavy fog, races were cancelled Sunday.
Saturday – James had a great day battling it out for a 2nd place finish in round 1 and a 3rd in round 2. James’ start in the final had him in the top 5 out of the gate, where he settled into 4th and held that spot throughout most of the race. This finish has put James 4th in Pro Lite National points.
James: “It’s really disappointing that we were unable to race on Sunday. I had a lot of fun out there on Saturday and wish I’d have gotten on the box. It just makes me work that much harder for the next race.”
KC Motorsports would like to thank our sponsors:
Polaris, FLY, WPS, Triple 9 Optics, Divas SnowGear, Rox SpeedFX, Studboy Traction Products, Walker Evans Shocks Finley Motors, Christian Brothers Ford, Finley Motorsports, 139 Designs