Story & Photos: Emily Wicklund
Round five of the USXC tour brought clear skies and sunshine for the first time this season. Teams made their way to the little town of Manvel, North Dakota, 10 miles northwest of Grand Forks. Racing action started at 10 AM Saturday morning with this event only being one day of racing. This was a heat format race with riders starting in groups of two, 10 seconds apart.
The first heat race of the weekend consisted of Pro Open, Semi-Pro Improved, and Masters 40 racing 50 miles (4 laps). Dustin Dohrn and Aaron Christensen were the first two sleds off the line. Shortly after the start of heat race one, Christensen (sitting second in Pro Open points) idled his sled back to the pits due to a back injury from the I-500. We talked to him after the race and his back wasn’t feeling good at all so he didn’t want to risk injuring it more.
Justin Tate and Taylor Bunke rounded out the podium in the Pro Open class. Nick Roehl takes the win in the Master 40 class and Abe Olson with the victory in the Semi Pro Imp. class.
Heat race two was made up of the Classic, Vintage and Junior classes running three laps (40 miles). Jesse Hallstrom started out front of the Junior 14-17 class and dominated the race. He separated himself from the pack early and won with a minute and a half lead. The Junior 14-17 girls race was a tight battle all the way until the end. Makenna Cloose took the win over Danika Diesen by only 10 seconds.
Heat race three was the Semi Pro, Sport 600 Improved, and Womens classes. Matt Feil and Abe Olson were the first two sleds off the line in the Semi Pro class on their Arctic Cat machines. Semi Pro points leader Marshall Busse injured himself while testing on Friday and was unable to compete in round five. That makes both the Pro and Semi-Pro points leaders out on the injured list.
Thomas Junglen had another good race this weekend after coming off the podium at the I-500 two weekends ago. He landed himself on the second step of the podium this weekend. Nick Roehl had an impressive run in the Semi-Pro class earning himself the third place spot after winning the Masters 40 class in heat one.
In the Womens class, Savannah Landrus took the win over Lydia Sobeck who placed second.
In heat race four, the Masters 50+, Sport 600, and Expert 600 Limited classes battled it out. Evan Peppel showed talent in the rough ditches by winning the Sport 600 class after starting 19th. Neil Jakubowski took second after he had a DNF at the I-500 last round. Cole Boyd rounded out the podium from the 18th starting spot.
The last race of the Turtle River Rough Rider 100 was the Pro Stock Final running eight laps. Dillan Dohrn and Taylor Bunke were the first two sleds off the line for the main event. Two season favorites, Springer and Herfindahl started side by side in seventh and eight. Consistant podium finisher this year, Justin Tate started 10th and Christensen, who was supposed to start 11th, pulled off to end his weekend in a DNF.
Defending Rough Rider 100 champion, Zach Herfindahl, quickly made his way through the pack and up to the lead by lap two. Ryan Springer was now in second and Justin Tate in third.
As the track continued to become more and more rough throughout the race, riders continued to cowboy up and hold on. During the middle portion of the race, Dan Revering blew a belt and lost his breaks while running third. The running order stayed consistant after the first couple laps with Herfindahl in first, Tate in second, and Spinger in third. Riders also had to take a mandetory fuel stop before the last lap which ads some strategy on the crew members end.
Justin Tate took over the Pro Stock points lead ahead of Herfindahl and Christensen. Despite Marshall Busse entering himself as a DNS this weekend, he still holds onto the Semi-Pro points lead by 10.
