Christian Brothers Racing Report: Feb. 22-23

A jam-packed race calendar saw the Christian Brothers Racing team spread across three states and just as many time zones as riders competed in National snocross in Michigan, cross-country in Minnesota and a 2,000-mile race in Alaska. The results were combination of triumph and heartbreak.

Christian Brothers Racing snocross riders competed in the Soaring Eagle’s Snocross in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. After two events that featured ultra-small bullring-style tracks, Mt. Pleasant got the riders back onto a longer, more spread-out track layout.

DRIFT Racing/Troy Lee Designs/Arctic Cat rider Logan Christian was a model of consistency all weekend, finishing in the Top 4 in heats and taking two fifth place finishes on the weekend. It was enough to move him up a spot in Pro Open season points to sixth place.

Royal Distributing/Arctic Cat rider Dave Joanis mirrored his teammate Logan Christian’s performance in Pro Open, placing Top 4 in heat racing and landing two seventh place finishes on the weekend.

Marica Renheim was again the model of perfection at Mt. Pleasant. The Polarbear Boots/Arctic Cat rider won both her heats on the way to taking the win in the Pro Am Women’s class. The Swedish rider has a commanding points lead headed into the final two events.

Top Sport class rider Tyler Adams was having a stellar weekend with two second place heat finishes and one win before heading into the second final of the weekend. A crash in the opening laps left Adams with some internal bruising and he was unable to finish the race, but still holds a Top 3 spot in Sport class season points.

Finley Motors/Arctic Cat rider Evan Christian narrowly missed two podium finishes at Mt. Pleasant, taking fourth in Jr. Novice 10-13 in the National class and the MXR Regional class. He never finished lower than second place in heat racing so it’s only a matter of time before he brings it to the final.

Iron Dog

The Iron Dog route covers over 2,000-miles of rugged Alaskan wilderness and is perhaps the most grueling cross-country snowmobile race on the planet. It starts in Big Lake, Alaska, just outside of Wasilla, and heads to Nome where riders turn around and head back East to the finish line in Fairbanks. This year’s event started February 16 and ended February 22.

Two-man teams compete in the Iron Dog and this year Brian Dick teamed up with Eric Quam to make another run at the event. After nearly winning the race last year, the pair fought an uphill battle the entire race after a crash on the first day dropped them in the race standings. The crash was a result of Brian avoiding a recreational rider who had wandered onto the course. The pair were able to net a fifth place finish overall.

Fresh off a silver medal in the long jump at the Winter X Games, Cory Davis was teamed with last year’s I-500 winner and USXC points champion Ryan Simons. Davis was classified as a veteran having run the race before, but this was Simons’ first Iron Dog. The pair set a blistering pace and had worked their way into second place as they left Nome. A blown track on Davis’ sled, likely the result of 100-miles of low-snow running, dropped them back in the standings on the final push into Fairbanks. They finished ninth overall.

USXC Park Rapids

Zach Herfindahl was the sole CBR rider at the USXC cross-country race in Park Rapids, Minn. A two-day event, the second day would feature a 100-mile woods race that promised to be one of the most challenging of the season. After winning the 50-mile Pro Open race on Day 1, Herfindahl came off his sled in the closing miles of the 100-mile Pro Stock race and suffered a broken left thumb. He remounted the sled and finished the race in fourth place. On Sunday Herfindahl got back on the sled again and finished second in the challenging woods race despite his injured thumb.