Sullivan, IN (June 13, 2020) Polaris RZR/Yokley Racing Driver, John Barnes successfully completed three straight events on the podium this past weekend. Three weekends, three different series, and three off-road venues, the team has had success at each. Starting in Oklahoma a month ago at the American Cross Country Championship round 1, he finished on a naturally aspirated, Polaris RZR S 1000 placing second. Three weeks later, it was at round 2 of the Indiana Cross Country Racing on the Pro XP finishing third, and this past weekend, on a Pro XP again, finishing second barely missing a win at the Mid West Cross Country (MWXC). (Photo by: Calista Porter Photography) This past Saturday was a scorching hot one with no rain in recent days making for tremendous dusty conditions. The team was able to mountain bike the trail before the race and discovered the property had been recently logged and beside the trail there were stumps that could total a machine with one mishap. Passing was going to be difficult with the dust and the land mines (stumps) hidden in the dust. At the starting line all the drivers had to draw a number from a hat.
Unfortunately for Barnes, he drew a row 2 starting position. This meant he would be racing on time adjustment for the win and would have to eat the entire row 1 dust. The race started at 5. Barnes was seventh off the start not getting the machine to fire from the dead engine start promptly. He would have to get by seventeen pro turbos to get clean air.
Conditions were miserable. Barnes commented, “The conditions on the first lap were so difficult. I was forced to drive behind the driver in front of me for most of the first lap. I was afraid to get out of his tracks due to the stumps. Finally, that guy hit a tree, and I got around him and got behind the next guy to dust me out. He hit a tree as well.” Barnes continued to drive smart and made it up to physically second on the track by the middle of lap 3 about 32 minutes into the hour race. Finally, he had some clear vision but was over 2 minutes off the lead. He put in an insane charge to the front. On the white flag, Barnes was in the lead on time adjustment, but had not physically caught the leader at that point. Barnes added, “I knew I was close to the leader, and we caught him on the last lap. When we were about 40 feet from leader, he was getting by three lappers in which I got stuck behind. The three guys would not move and dusted me out. I eventually got around them.”
At the end, Barnes was 36 seconds from the leader at the finish and with the time adjustment, he was six seconds from the win. (Photo by: Calista Porter Photography) The team is excited about the successful race and keeping the Pro XP together. The goal was to finish on the podium and hopefully resolve a power steering failure that had plagued a win the weekend before. The team accomplished both. With a month off, the Yokley Racing team will head to Louisiana for suspension testing with Double E Racing putting ideas together with some of the best minds on suspension in the industry.
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, LLP, 5 Bucks Enterprises, LLP
