Home-state hero Nathan Ferderer took down over 20 of the Midwest’s heaviest-hitters to win the AA class at the first-ever Frostbuster Grand Prix. The opening round of the new Timbersled Border Battle XC series presented by Custom Outfitters, the Frostbuster lived up to its name with 22” of snow covering the eight mile hare scramble loop just 10 days prior to race day.
Event staff worked feverishly to remove snow from the single track using snow blowers and shovels to clear miles of uphill and downhill trail. And while slick frost remained a concern, Mother Nature made good on her earlier transgressions, delivering sun and seventy degree temps the week of the race, leaving trails in near perfect condition.
Airgroup/Enduro Engineering/Husqvarna rider Drew Higgins made the trek north from Texas and grabbed the holeshot on the two hour race and proceeded to battle with Sterling, Illinois’ Cody Barnes at the front of the field in the early going. Higgins had a fall near the end of lap one setting up a race-long dual between Barnes and Ferderer.
Barnes would finish second overall with local supercross ace Jerry Robin rounding out the podium in third. Higgins would recover and finish fourth, followed by GasGas-mounted Nick Swenson in fifth. Swenson had a big get off of his own on the moto portion of the course when he cased a double and Supermaned into the sand exiting the track.
Andrew Smith was one of several riders who came up from Missouri. Smith, racing in the Vet A class, cracked the top 10 overall and took home a Squatch trophy of his own for winning the A Overall. Multi-time Pro snowmobile XC champions Zach Herfindahl was seventh. Herfindahl just finished up his snow season last week and was putting his first hours on a new GasGas.
Promoter RideX365 brought a big-time feel to the weekend with a massive vendor row and cross-promotion between well-known woods racers and some of the top snowmobile racers from the region who often cross-train on bikes. The event was held at ERX Motor Park, a 400 acre multi-sport racing facility that hosts regional snocross, short-course truck and UTV racing, Monster trucks, concerts and rodeos. The addition of off-road motorcycles was a perfect fit with their existing amenities and close proximity to the Twin Cities metro which is home to a large percentage of D23 racers.
Overall Results
1. Nathan Ferderer MN KTM 2. Cody Barnes IL YAM 3. Jerry Robin MN YAM 4. Drew Higgins TX HUS 5. Nick Swenson MN GG 6. Matt Stavish MN KTM 7. Zach Herfindahl WI GG 8. Chaz Herzog MN YAM 9. Andrew Smith MO KTM 10. Matt Lindberg MN KAW
For more information, go to: BorderBattleXC.com
Series sponsors: Timbersled, Custom Outfitters, RideX365.com, Klim, Enduro Engineering, Northway Sports, Muddy Bikes, Bell, Fasstco, Woodies Racing/Sunoco Race Fuel, AMSOIL, Action Graphics, Kenda, Schilleman Bus Service, American Metalcraft Inc.
Series Schedule
August 19 – Sugar Camp, WI
October 7 – ERX Motor Park Elk River, MN
Media Contact: Gary Walton – gary@ridex365.com
