Team Arctic XC hit the ditches and woods of Minnesota in full force for a successful first terrain race. After a quick week of changing sleds over from ice to terrain, the team worked hard to have top notch equipment going into the weekend. Nisswa brought many challenges in different forms. Some of those included tight twisty trails, very rough ditch sections with many different conditions across the 54 mile course. Saturday consisted of a 108 mile Pro open final with Sunday consisting of a 108 mile Pro Stock final.
SATURDAY – PRO OPEN
Zach pulled first position for Saturdays pro open final, with the green flag dropping at 10:45am. After a lap one crash into the trees, Zach came into the fuel stop 35 seconds ahead of teammate David Brown. Going into lap two, Zach ran a flawless lap on his Arctic Cat crossing the finish line in first place, almost two minutes ahead of second place.
SUNDAY – PRO STOCK
The Pro Stock final brought a little more work for Zach as he drew the last place starting position. About half way through lap one, Zach had passed every Pro except for the two front runners. Charging from 14th place to 3rd came with adversity though. During an early lap one pass, Zach rear ended another rider in a rough section causing major hood and intake damage causing run quality issues and a sticking throttle throughout the rest of the race. The 312 came into the fuel stop 2.2 seconds ahead of second place and after the second lap, Zach finish 25 seconds out of first, finishing with a solid second place performance.
“Overall, I am happy with our teams effort and performance this weekend. I personally was extremely frustrated with my second place performance Sunday as I felt we were capable of sweeping the weekend but a major mistake on my part early in the race caused some major unneeded issues. It felt great to be back in the terrain and our Arctic Cat race sleds handling outstanding through some unbelievable rough terrain. Next up for us is Eagle River, WI for our first attempt at sprint oval racing for the World Championship FIII race.” – Zach Herfindahl
Pro Open Final: 1st place
Pro Stock Final: 2nd place
