Border Battle XC – Round 2, Battle By The Bluffs
Presented by Custom Outfitters
The Border Battle XC series made it’s first-ever stop at the picturesque Meadow Valley MX Park in Lake City, Minnesota for a Father’s Day throw down. Meadow Valley is a popular practice track that also features miles of single track and two-track trails in the bluff country that borders the Mississippi River in Southeastern Minnesota.
The annual hare scramble event hosted by the Straight Arrow Enduro Riders club is the only race event at the facility and despite heavy and persistent rain the afternoon before the race, nearly 300 riders and a record number of overall gate entries turned for what would be a challenging but awesome day of racing in the mud.
Minnesota’s Nathan Ferderer, the 2018 series Champion, scored his first victory of the season over rising star Logan Kittock and 2017 District 23 off-road Champ Nick Swenson. Ferderer is racing a Checkpoint Off-Road backed Suzuki this season and appears to be quite comfortable on the striking yellow machine, as he paced Kittock throughout the day and then turned it up in the closing stages.
Kittock now has a pair of second place finishes in the series and his consistency has placed him at the top of the AA points standings, two points up on Ferderer and eight up on the equally consistent Swenson, who has a pair of thirds to start the summer.
The A class overall featured a battle of two of the best young riders in the Midwest, with 14 year-old Troy Horbaty making a last corner pass on Jayme French to get the advantage. For Horbaty, it was his first series win in 200 A after rapidly advancing through the Junior and B ranks. French did get the win in 250 A and is now tied for the lead in that division with round one winner Jeremy Schmidt.
Meadow Valley features a heavy clay base and rocky, technical woods, which presented a big challenge for all riders, but especially the kids battling in the 65/85cc classes which were the first race of the day. The little rippers were the talk of the morning, as they completed the dirty work on the moto track, clearing the way for the big bike classes.
On Saturday, the facility hosted an open ride day on the moto track with the GasGas crew on hand conducting demo rides on their 250 and 300 XC bikes.
The BBXC series is off for the month of July but will resume action at another new venue, Byron Motorsports Park, in Byron, Illinois on August 4. There is much anticipation for the Pro/AA race at this event as Beta factory rider, and local hero, Cody Barnes is slated to attend and defend his Greg Moss Memorial trophy. There has also been talk that Josh Strang and the factory Kawasaki team will take advantage of the open weekend on the national scene to compete for a win at the first-ever Midwest Meltdown presented by Checkpoint Off-Road.
Round three is the second stop of the Timbersled Triple Crown, one of three races in the BBXC series that qualifies participants for a random drawing for a Timbersled snow bike kit valued at over $5,000.
Hoosier tire equipped racers captured three of the top five positions in the AA race and six of the top 10 spots overall. Hoosier paid over $2,000 in cash contingency among 11 riders at Meadow Valley, along with over $300 in Roost Factory support trailer bucks to riders in the B, C and Youth classes. To learn more about how you can qualify for Hoosier contingency click HERE
For details about the BBXC series and Timbersled Triple Crown, go to BorderBattleXC.com
Media Contact: Gary Walton gary@ridex365.com
- Nathan Ferderer – H
- Logan Kittock –H
- Nick Swenson
- Devon Jirik –H
- Matt Lindeberg
- Robert Lane IV
- Ryan Moss
- Peter Laubmeier –H
- Mat Herrington –H
- Kevin Plzak
AA podium finishers Kittock, Ferderer and Swenson
