Dirt Riot, Mountain Round 2, Sturgis, SD

Race Report

The Sturgis race weekend was dynamic and lined with a vast field of competitors from varying backgrounds; our heat, Pro UTV, consisted of twelve racers. On the morning of our arrival into South Dakota, we noticed an incredible presence of humidity and an above average temperature. Pre-race tuning of the clutch was performed on the expectation of cool, dry weather: given the actual conditions of the race, however, this miscalculation led to a lower RPM clutch engagement. Regardless, we swapped belts prior to pre-running and learned the flow of the Buffalo Chip Motorsports course as quickly as we could. While jump sections proved minimal, the predominant feature of the track was flat, broad turns. A wide vehicle track, low COG, and sway bars were central contributors toward our success and mitigated the rollover risk associated with these type of turns. Near the end of the race, the body-roll absorption by our factory sway bars was so great that the heat effectively obliterated the sway bar stiffness. This energy-induced elasticity was so prevalent that we assumed our links snapped and that the front sway bar was inoperative for the last several laps of the race. Even with this consideration in mind, we raced as fast as we could and worked to keep the X3 in one-piece to finish. Ultimately our work payed off and we finished the final round of the Dirt Riot Mountain Series with a third place finish. We took many lessons from this course, such as the need for aftermarket sway bars, and got to work immediately in preparation for the St. Johns, AZ Dirt Riot race shortly after.