Can-Am
4x4 ATV racers swept all five 4x4 classes and placed two riders on the overall
morning podium at round two of the 2013 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country
(GNCC) series in Washington, GA, March 16. In the first round of side-by-side vehicle
racing in Georgia,
a total of 11 Can-Am Maverick 1000R racers competed with four Can-Am vehicles
earning a podium finish in each of the four GNCC UTV classes.
"Having
Can-Am ATV racers dominate their morning 4x4 classes and to see Kevin Trantham
and Robert Smith on the morning podium was great," said Can-Am race manager Jimmie
O'Dell. "It was a good weekend in Georgia overall, as we had numerous podiums,
including two for the new Can-Am Maverick 1000R in its GNCC side-by-side racing
debut. It was a close finish for Kyle Chaney and his Maverick 1000R X rs in its
first GNCC side-by-side event, as he narrowly missed taking the overall race
win. This was a good debut for the Maverick and we fully expect to improve our
results at round two in late April."
ATV
Trantham,
the reigning 4x4 Lites class champion, took the holeshot and raced away to a
victory aboard his new 2013 Can-Am Outlander 500. He won the class by more than
seven minutes, earned the top spot on the 4x4 podium and also earned second on
the overall morning podium. Rounding out the 4x4 Lites podium were Can-Am riders
Andrew Langston and Scott Day.
"I
got a good start and my Can-Am Outlander worked awesome," said Trantham. "It
sure was good to have a good race today after a bad race in Florida."
Smith
raced his Can-Am Renegade to the U2 class win and third overall in the morning.
It was Smith's second consecutive class win and trip to the overall morning
podium. He was joined on the U2 class podium by fellow Renegade ATV racers
Jordan Phillips and third-place racer Danny Jessee.
Bryan
Buckhannon earned his second win in a row in the 4x4 Open class aboard his
Can-Am Outlander 800R. Buckhannon, who was sixth overall in the morning,
grabbed the early lead and went on to win by almost 50 seconds. Bo Jones and
Sam Williams, were second and third, respectively. Other Can-Am ATV racers to
notch class wins were 4x4 Senior (40+) racer Terry Whiteside and 4x4 Novice
class racer Ryan Smith.
Side-By-Side
Chaney
was the top finishing Can-Am Maverick 1000R pilot in the XC1 Modified class in Georgia.
Chaney (JB Racing/Can-Am) started on line two and had to race against time to
catch the leaders. Early in the race, Chaney was in the top three, but fell to
sixth at the midpoint due to a large amount of lapped traffic. However, by lap
five Chaney raced to the overall lead based on his adjusted time. However, lapped
traffic continued to be a factor and pushed Chaney back to third place by lap
seven. He finished the eight-lap race in third place less than six seconds back
from first.
"Can-Am
got it right. The Maverick is the best side-by-side I've driven," said Chaney.
"I am really picky about my machine and my team worked all night to get it the
way I wanted it. I can't thank them enough."
In
the XC2 Limited class, Can-Am racer Mike Penland put in his best ride in a
side-by-side by earning second in the Maverick 1000R X rs. Two other Can-Am
side-by-side teams earned podium spots in their class. Team Travalena took
second in the XC3 Lites class in its Commander side-by-side. Team Burkey
finished third in the UTV Novice Limited class in its Can-Am Commander 1000.
