Story & Photos: Emily Wicklund
Aerial Photo: Tony Smith
The USXC racing series wrapped up their season by taking riders to Andes Tower Hills in Alexandria, Minnesota, trying something new with a short-course layout on their multiple ski runs.
Friday Night Shootout
On Friday night, racers of all ages competed in a shootout set up with an A-B-C main format. Riders were split up into 7 heats, the first 2 consisting of only juniors, to qualify for main events. Based on their best lap time out of 3, the top 10 riders transferred to the A, next 10 to the B, and 10 more to the C. With excellent turn out, the competition was tight. Zach Herfindahl, Wes Selby, Aaron Christensen and snocross rider Logan Christian were the top 4 sleds separated by .400 seconds. Andy Pake, Dan Revering, Taylor Bunke, Ed Neubauer, David Brown, and Tyler Oettinger also qualified for the A main. Selby unfortunately had an off in his heat and only completed 1 lap but was still 2nd quick. The C main went under way and Jon Arneson came out with the quick lead with Cole Manning and Travis Faust in tow.
The B main was stacked with multiple Pro riders which made for really good racing. Mitchell Gross came out with a big whole shot on his snocross sled and led sleds into the 10 lap event. Gross had an off at the beginning of lap 2 and fell to the back of the field.
As skies started to get dark, the A main hit the slopes. Logan Christian got the early hole shot and dominated the race. Ed Neubauer was running 2nd most of the race with Herfindahl making up positions after a bad start. Herfindahl managed to get Christians tail light in sight but ran out of time.
USXC Round 7 – Saturday
Dense fog and light precipitation welcomed riders to the slopes for the last race of the USXC season.
Annie Olson took the win in girls 10-13 but fell short in season points to Danika Diessen. Makenna Cloose took the win in girls 14-17 but Hannah Diessen was consistent all season and took home the season points. Pro open riders took on the slopes next. David Brown came out with the early lead but went off into the trees early in the race. Aaron Christensen took over the lead and put his Polaris at the top of the podium. Justin Tate took home 2nd and Logan Christian was able to take 3rd in the open class. Herfindahl blew a belt on the last lap while running 3rd but was able to hand onto the Pro Open points championship. Justin Tate claimed 2nd in points with Wes Selby taking 3rd.
David Brown and the Revering brothers have dominated the Semi Pro class all season and nothing changed this weekend.
Vintage, Classic, Sport 600 Limited, and Women classes were next. The Womens class has suffered multiple injuries this year with 3 top riders out for parts of the season. Alicia Martin was able to win by 5 seconds over Lydia Sobeck. Martin also awarded “2019 Rookie of the Year”. Lydia Sobeck took home the Womens points championship this year. In the Sport 600 Limited class, Cooper Kangas came in 1st. Lucas Burnside, who finished 2nd, won the points championship for this class. Jon Arneson won in Master 50+ with Mark Nyquist winning the championship. In Semi Pro Imp. Cole Manning took the win on his Ski-doo. In season points, there was a tie so it came down to most wins this season. Wolter took the championship with Grzadzielewski in 2nd and Joe Wood in 3rd. Thomas Junglen won Sport 600 class with Jesse Hallstrom in 2nd and and Rory Beckman in 3rd in his first ever race on snow. Thomas Junglen took home the season points championship. In Expert 600 Limited, Abe Olson took the win with Paul Brown winning the points championship. Joe Cornellius claimed the master 40 class. In Sport 600 Imp. Boe Bunke took the win after coming back from a broken ankle. Lydia Sobek won another points championship this year for this class.
After the first corner at the top of the hill, it was all Polaris up front. Aaron Christensen lead the pack and raced his own race with no one able to catch him. Taylor Bunke ran 2nd and Ed Neubauer was running a strong 3rd. After a couple of laps, Herfindahl worked his way into 3rd after a bad start. Herfindahl eventually passed Bunke and had his eyes set on Christensen. Time ran short for the current points leader and Christensen took home the win and swept the Pro classes in round 7 with Herfindahl coming in 2nd.
The race left all in wonder who was going to win the Championship. Each rider gets to drop 1 race from both ice and ditch at the end of the season. After calculations, Christensen and Herfindahl were tied for the championship. The first tie breaker is who won the most races in 2019. Both won 3 so the next tie breaker is the best finish at the I-500.
