Rockville, IN (11/11/18) Polaris RZR Factory Racing/Yokley Racing/Elka Suspension driver, John Barnes raced the final cross country event of the year at the IXCR on Saturday. Barnes would conclude the race on the podium with a second place finish. Piloting a Polaris RZR XP Turbo, this makes 2 back to back podiums for Barnes and the Polaris RZR team.
At the start, the Polaris team did not get the jump they would have liked, going into the woods 9th. By the end of the 1st lap, the team had moved up a few positions, but passing was difficult. Barnes commented, “At the end of the 1st lap, we experienced a bent rotor and lost our brakes. To stop, we had to pump the brakes 5 times to get anything. I adapted to it the best I could and held the pace. By lap 2, I was getting comfortable and moved into second.”
The team encountered a very steep hill. On the final lap, it looked liked the hill would be the end of the day for the team. Barnes added, “There was a really steep hill coming out of creek. It was getting chewed up worse and worse each lap. On the final lap, we climbed it and came up to the top with our front wheels off the ground almost flipping backwards. We must have said the right prayers.”
Barnes had a great 2018 season. The team managed podiums in several series including Grand National Cross Country, IXCR, Mid West Cross Country, and Mid South Cross Country. With momentum from 2018 getting hot, Barnes looks to carry it on into 2019.
Starting in January, the team will begin work on 2019 Polaris RZR’s taking what they learned in 2018 and applying it forward. Look for Barnes to be piloting 2 cars in 2019, the Polaris RZR XP Turbo and the Polaris RZR S 1000. All sponsors plan to return in 2019. The team can’t thank them enough.
