Story & photos: Emily Wicklund

Cor Powersports dropped the green flag for the first time in 2021 at Cable, Wisconsin this weekend. It was also the first green flag since Cor Powersports’ owners Todd and Andrea Myers took over the former USXC cross country series. This event was ran over the course of two days with amateur classes running both days and placing based on the two day merge. The Semi Pro and Pro classes were set to run a qualifier and final each day; Semi Pro Improved and Pro Open on day one and Semi Pro and Pro Stock on day two. Races got off to a late start on Saturday due to fog and visibility issues. 

The first race of the day was the Semi Pro Improved qualifier. Paul Brown picked up where he left up last winter earning himself the top spot in the three lap Qualifier.

The next race on the line was the Pro Open qualifier. Zach Herfindahl started his weekend with a bang running nose-to-tail with Wes Selby during the three lap qualifier. Herfindahl earned the top spot with Selby and Brown behind him.

With fog continuing to increase and visibility plummeting, the DNR shut down the races for the remainder of the day right before the Semi Pro Improved and Pro Open finals. The two races were pushed to the beginning of the program on Sunday.

The fog cleared Sunday morning and the eight lap Semi Pro Improved final was the first on the line. Paul Brown did just as he did the day before. He landed himself at the top of the podium with his Arctic Cat. Polaris rider Marshall Busse in second and Arctic Cat’s Dustin Schwandt in third.

The second race of the day was the ten lap Pro Open final with Herfindahl and Selby first off the line. Selby led laps one and two with Herfindahl holding second. On lap three Herfendahl edged ahead of Selby with pro rookie Dylan Stevens in third. Selby took the lead again on lap four and the order remained the same through lap seven. But on the final lap the tables turned.

Arctic Cat’s Dylan Stevens jumped from third to first in his Pro debut race. Stevens clenched the win with Selby 0.8 seconds back and Herfindahl 4 seconds behind in third. Erdman and Brown came through forth and fifth giving the top five positions to Arctic Cat.

Next race on the line was the three Semi Pro Factory 600 qualifier which was supposed to be the first race of the day.

Arctic Cat took the top three qualifying spots with Abe Olson coming in first, Dustin Schwandt in second, and Paul Brown taking third.

Next on the line was the three lap Pro Stock qualifier. At this point in the weekend, water was starting to surface in some corners on the course so it was turning into a very wet track.

After three laps, Taylor Bunke finished as the top qualifier with his Polaris machine. One second behind Bunke was Herfindahl with Stevens 3.7 seconds behind Bunke.

The eight lap Semi Pro Factory 600 final was the second to last race of the weekend. The race was ran by time instead of the usual heads up final. Twenty-two sleds were set to do battle. Arctic Cat riders Paul Brown, Abe Olson, and Dustin Schwandt had a quick start claiming the top three sports yearly swapping on track positions consistently. By lap seven Polaris rider Marshall Busse took the lead from the Arctic Cat bunch.

After chasing down the top three Arctic Cat sleds the entire race, Marshall Busse made up enough time to claim the Semi Pro Factory 600 win. Paul brown timed in second and Dustin Schwandt in third.
Semi Pro Factory 600 podium

The 15 lap Pro Stock final was changed to a 10 lap final due to day light running low. Bunke and Herfindahl were the first two off the line with Stevens and Brown chasing them down. After lap one pro rookie Stevens had the early lead with Herfindahl and Brown timing in behind him. The order stayed consistent through lap nine with Herfindahl taking the lead and pulling away from Stevens in second and Brown in third.

Zach Herfindahl pulled away from the pack and took home the win in the Pro Stock 600 class. Dylan Stevens showed his potential in the pro class for 2021 taking second place. On the final lap Bunke, who was running fourth the entire race, made up some time edged out Brown for the final spot on the podium.

Cor Powersports is headed to Okoboji, Iowa January 23-24 for round two of the 2021 season.