UTV RACING MID-SEASON REPORT

— LATEST HAPPENINGS IN THE WORCS SERIES —

Utah’s Sand Hollow State Park hosted the fifth round of the nine-round World Championship Off-Road Series (WORCS) for UTV, ATV and dirt bike racers. Dubbed the “most beautiful off-road race in America,” Sand Hollow boasts red sand dunes, desert and red-rock formations that make the mid-series round as challenging as it is scenic. Going into the midway point of the WORCS series, the two Pro UTV-class points were as follows:

WORCS PRO UTV POINTS/WINS

After 4 of 8 rounds:

SxS Pros

1. Davi Haagsma/Pol…63/1

2. Nic Granlund/Yam…53

3. Beau Baron/Pol…52/1

4. Randy Romo/Pol…50

5. Cody Bradbury/Pol…44

12. Ronnie Anderson/Pol…25/1

Cody Bradbury clocked the fastest UTV lap of the weekend in his Holz/WER/GBC RZR Turbo, and he won the UTV Pro class by four seconds over Ryan Piplic with points leader Davi Haagsma third.

SxS Pro Stock

1. Beau Baron/Pol…61/1

2. Nic Granlund/Yam…52/1

3. Randy Romo/Pol…52

4. Corbin Leaverton/Pol…51

5. Linkon Leaverton/Pol…48

11. Ronnie Anderson/Pol…25/1

Aztlan Sedillo scored his fourth 900 Production win and has a perfect 120 point total; the Havasu rounds were split between Pro and Amateur/Youth classes, so there are actually seven UTV rounds.

Hot weather and a lack of spring showers had the Sand Hollow dunes dry and wind-swept, with solid rock hiding under the red sand. As the UTVs dug deep into the soft sand, rock was exposed in many areas, but the rocks were the same color as the sand. Many racers suffered flats and worse, and attrition took its toll in many classes. The top five for Pro UTV (Turbo) and Pro Stock (1000) were:

WORCS PRO UTV RESULTS

Rd 5: Hurricane, UT

SxS Pros

1. Cody Bradbury…Pol

2. Ryan Piplic…Pol

3. Davi Haagsma…Pol

4. Nic Granlund…Yam

5. Randy Romo…Pol

Emily Green won the Women UTV class on Saturday and was eighth 1000 UTV on Sunday. Women points leader Giuliana Flowers didn’t race Sand Hollow and dropped to second behind Laura Cole.

SxS Pro Stock

1. Ray Bulloch…Tex

2. Beau Baron…Pol

3. Randy Romo…Pol

4. Nic Granlund…Yam

5. Corbin Leaverton…Pol

With a second at Sand Hollow, Jacob Peter keeps the Youth 250 Production points lead.

While former teammates and current champions Davi Haagsma and Beau Baron retained their Pro points leads with podium finishes, attrition scrambled the series points standings for the other top contenders with four UTV rounds to go. The fast Iron Mine round is at Cedar City, Utah, May 25-27; SoCal’s Glen Helen Raceway tests moto skills September 14-16; Nevada’s Mesquite MX hosts UTVs October 26-28; Buffalo Bill’s Casino hosts the UTV World Finals November 2-4.

Randal Nix scored his third 1000 UTV win of the season, winning by a minute 24 seconds over Bryan Carr.

WORCS PRO UTV POINTS/WINS

After 5 of 8 rounds:

SxS Pros

1. Davi Haagsma/Pol…83/1

2. Nic Granlund/Yam…71

3. Cody Bradbury/Pol…69/1

4. Beau Baron/Pol…66/1

5. Randy Romo/Pol…66

12. Ronnie Anderson/Pol…25/1

The wildest looking UTV was Michael McBride’s Indecent Motorsports Ford Raptor truck body kit ($2,999.99) for the maverick X3 Turbo. He dug in for sixth Production 1000 Turbo.

SxS Pro Stock

1. Beau Baron/Pol…83/1

3. Nic Granlund/Yam…70/1

2. Randy Romo/Pol…72

4. Corbin Leaverton/Pol…67

5. Matt Hancock/Pol…58

14. Ronnie Anderson/Pol…25/1

15. Ray Bulloch/Tex…25/1

In his first WORCS race of 2018, Ray Bulloch DNF the UTV Pro (Turbo) race. The next day, Bulloch started on the third UTV Pro row and worked his Textron Wildcat XX through the field of 1000s. Bulloch’s fastest lap (of five) was almost 10 seconds faster than points leader Beau Baron’s fast lap.