Madison, IN (10/29/2017) – Yokley Racing/Polaris RZR Factory Racing driver John Barnes finished sixth in the GNCC season finale at Ironman Raceway in Crawfordsville, IN. Driving the Polaris in the XC1 Pro UTV class, Barnes finished seventh in the points championship.
Barnes came out of the start second and put in a hard charge early. As the track began to rut up, he pushed his STI Tires to the limit to finish just outside of the top five.
“The first lap or two it was relatively smooth, but there seems to be no bottom to this dirt here in Indiana,” explained Barnes. “As the race went on, you had to be selective about your line choices in the woods. In the fields, we did pretty well and pushed forward. We had a pretty good day. We just tried to keep the car together and get a finish.”
Barnes overcome early season mechanical issues and came on strong in the final four rounds with four straight top ten overall finishes, which boosted him to seventh in the XC1 class points championship.
“We started off the season with some mechanical difficulties, but we created our own parts and we began finishing races,” said Barnes. “Without those two DNFs, we would have definitely been in the top five in points. Any time you have a brand new car, you’ll have development issues, but it’s been a good year.”
GNCC announced recently that it will allow turbocharged UTVs in the XC1 class next season, and Barnes will be ready. “We weren’t sure what direction they were going to go, but now that we know, we’ll be ready,” said Barnes. “We plan on making the switch to the Polaris RZR Turbos next year.”
Barnes will have plenty of time to prepare for the 2018 GNCC season, which should kick off in March for GNCC UTV racers.