2020 is a historical year for the ages. A virus that swept the United States from nowhere froze the racing nation across all motorsports. Many UTV series and riding areas remain closed. With less than a week notice, the American Cross Country Championship Series season opener was changed again from Loretta Lynn Dude Ranch in Tennessee to Cameron, OK. All race series on the East Coast have been forced to make changes to their events per each states governor’s order. For Yokley Racing, Memorial Day weekend is what cranked racing back up for 2020 for the team. Polaris RZR/Yokley Racing Driver, John Barnes headed to Cameron, Ok for an all day and night drive to the Midwest from Tennessee.
At the Fox Run Off Road facility, a person would not know there was a pandemic. Spectators were having epic rides while enjoying the days racing. A lake in the property was the sight of people on personal watercraft, and lifted RZR’s with booming sound systems taking their shot to drive through the lake.
In Cameron, the race day was set with a high of 85 degrees and the air was muggy. Significant rainfall and major thunderstorm occurred the day before leaving fields saturated in water. The storm left tents and event setup in disarray. The afternoon Pro race was pushed back 2 hours from 4:30PM to 6:30 PM.
Barnes started Saturday Pro 1000 racing with a 4th place start into the woods. The shorter wheel base of his S 1000 took some getting used to in the mud, but worked great in the woods.
Barnes commented, “The XP 1000 would have been a better selection for the slimy parts of the track today. We’d be tracking hard forward down a straight away. The next you know we were doing an insane James Bond style high speed 180 degrees going backwards then whipping back forward into a 360. I’m sure it looked cool, but it wasn’t the fastest way around the track.” Can you find Waldo (aka John’s RZR) in the photo below? Barnes made his way into the lead about 30 minutes in but lost it in a line choice in the mud. He maintained second and held it for a strong podium finish.
As 2020 continues, Barnes and Yokley Racing are planning plan a go at all models of the Polaris RZR in a combination of series. For the AXCC series this year, the team will compete in Pro 1000 NA on a RZR S 1000 and a RZR XP 1000.
Yokley Racing will compete again on June 6, 2020 at the IXCR in Indiana pending the Governor of Indiana’s approval. The team will compete in Pro Turbo racing on a Polaris RZR Pro XP. The team wants to give a special appreciation to mechanic, Jeffrey Woodard for getting us to and from Oklahoma. Also, thank you to Jeff’s daughter and co-pilot, Mary Woodard. It was Mary’s first race, and she had a blast.
A big thanks goes out to the 2020 Sponsors: Polaris RZR, Yokley Racing, Super ATV, Big Country Powersports, STI Tire & Wheel, RT Pro, Elka Suspension, Dynojet Research, Millennium Technologies, VP Racing Fuels, Double E Racing, Trinity Racing Exhaust, SSI Decals, CP Carrillo, Epowersteering.com, IMS, MTNTK Performance, Coffman Custom Machine, Longhorn Fab Shop, PRP Seats, Hot Cams, Razorback Technology, Mid TN Off-Road, STM, RZR Extreme, Alba Racing, Hess Motorsports, Tire Balls East, Monster Energy, Priority Enterprise, 5 Bucks Enterprise
