Marietta, Ga. – Yamaha Motor Corp., USA announces several side-by-side (SxS) and ATV bLU cRU racers are leading the way in the 2019 racing season, including locking in another championship at the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series (LOORRS) at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, AZ, and more podiums at the Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) finale at Ironman Raceway in Crawfordsville, IN, Oct. 26.
In SxS racing, bLU cRU driver Robert Stout earned the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series championship in the Production 1000 class with his Magic Dry/Yawpower/Yamaha YXZ1000R, earning the $15,000 bLU cRU racing bonus. Trailing by only four points, bLU cRU racer and two-time Production 1000 champion, Brock Heger, finished second in the series, securing six first place finishes in the season in his BH Motorsports/Yamaha/Weller Racing/Maxxis-backed YXZ1000R.
In September, fellow YXZ racer CJ Greaves captured the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Midwest championship Pro Stock class and $15,000 bLU cRU bonus in his Monster Energy/Maxxis/Yamalube/GYTR/Greaves Motorsports/Yamaha YXZ1000R. In the Lucas Oil Regional Off-Road Racing Series (LORORS) in Southern California, Dustin Nelson won the Production 1000 championship and $5,000 bLU cRU championship bonus in his YXZ1000R on Sept. 22 at the San Bernardino County Fairgrounds in California. In the LORORS Arizona series, YXZ1000R racers Dallas Nord and Will Munns lead the pack, separated by only four points as they head into the final round at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park on Nov. 16, competing for the $5,000 bLU cRU championship bonus.
With Yamaha as the presenting sponsor of the Pro Stock class in the world-debut Chasing the Triple series by SXS Sports, featuring ice, short course and cross-country SxS racing, the YXZ1000R was the official pace vehicle for the year, and continued to lead the way in the Pro Stock and Sportsman SxS classes. In Pro Stock, Scott Wasz took the number one plate with his Dirt Syndicates/Yamaha YXZ1000R, followed by Rodney Van Eperen in his Powersports 1/Yamalube/GYTR/Beyond Redline/Bayland Building/Yamaha YXZ1000R. For the Sportsman class, the podium-proven YXZ1000R was the vehicle of choice by 24 of the 30 racers, additionally taking the top 11 spots.
In ATV racing, reigning GNCC XC1 Pro ATV champion, Walker Fowler earned his fifth-straight title and the $10,000 bLU cRU championship bonus in his WFR/GBC/Fly Racing-backed Yamaha YFZ450R, earning a 79-point lead with nine first place finishes. Fellow YFZ450R racer Brycen Neal rounded out the year in second place overall. Traci Pickens added to her all-time leading women’s ATV racing record with her 12th GNCC WXC championship aboard her GBC Motorsports/Fly Racing/Yamaha YFZ450R, with seven first-place finishes this season. While officially crowned champions at the GNCC finale at Ironman Raceway on Oct. 26, Fowler and Pickens both clinched their respective championships in September. In the GNCC XC2 Pro-Am ATV class, Yamaha’s YFZ450R swept the podium for the year, with John Glauda Jr., Drew Landers, and Jordan Poplaskie finishing first, second, and third respectively.
In support of GNCC’s annual breast cancer awareness and fundraising efforts at the Ironman round in Indiana, Yamaha committed $50 for each Yamaha win, and an additional $50 for each Yamaha championship claimed at the series finale. With 27 Yamaha racers claiming championships and 30 races winning with Yamaha vehicles in the weekend finale, Yamaha donated a total of $2,850 supporting local breast cancer care and research for the Montgomery County Community Foundation, FAITH Alliance Fund.
Yamaha bLU cRU ATV racers, Chad Wienen and Thomas Brown represented Team USA at the 2019 Quadcross of Nations on Oct. 5-6 in Schwedt, Germany, where they won their third straight championship for the United States. Wienen and Brown also represented Yamaha earlier this year in the AMA Pro ATV MX series, where they finished the series on the podium in second and third, respectively, riding the Yamaha YFZ450R. Wienen and Brown also took first and second, respectively, in the series’ inaugural Production Stock Premier Class.
Every Yamaha SxS and full-size ATV is proudly Assembled in the USA at Yamaha’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Newnan, GA, for worldwide distribution.
For more information on the bLU cRU program, including all guidelines and requirements for ATV and SxS racing, visit YamahabLUcRU.com.
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