UTV/ATV Racers on Team UXC Put a Lot Into Preparing for Each Race in Order to Win
- Sep 15, 2017
“We have a personal trainer who sets up a routine that some of our UTV/ATV racers follow,” explained Swift. “We have certain days of the week when they practice driving, but during the week we also focus on hydration and food intake. Our drivers also walk the entire course a day before an event. A UTV/ATV course ranges from 10-miles to 12-miles long and a UTV course ranges from 4-miles to 6-miles long. People don’t understand how much goes into cross country racing.” With nine drivers and 25 to 30 staff, it takes a lot to keep the team in prime condition to race. Team History Team UXC Racing was created as a factory team in 2006. “In the beginning, we raced for a BRP factory team called Warnert Racing out of Minnesota,” explained Swift. “We raced for them for eight years until it was disbanded and we went out as our own team for BRP in 2012. At that time we had only two drivers. In 2014, we signed with Polaris and we started racing Polaris RZR UTVs and Polaris Ace and Scrambler ATVs and we’ve been racing for Polaris ever since.”
Later, as the team’s popularity continued to grow, they received correspondence from drivers from all over the country who wanted to race in a GNCC event on one of the team’s machines. So they started taking on some drivers. Once they raced in a few events they wanted to stay around and continue with UXC because of their reputation and to be part of the family. As a result, Team UXC Racing now has nine drivers, but only three of them – Swift, Trantham, and Jesse Straham - drive directly for Polaris. Team UXC Racing sponsors the other drivers, who fund themselves with a little help from the team. Between 2012 and 2017 the team has won 11 National Championships, one Best In The Desert Championship, one SCORE Championship, and an Ironman and first place finish in the 2013 Baja 1000. Team UXC Racing chalked up some major achievements in the 2016 season that included a second place finish for Trantham in the Snowshoe GNCC, a win for Trantham in the Cannonball GNCC, and a first place finish for Swift and second place finish for Trantham at the Wild Boar GNCC.
“I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t work, train or ride. The doctors didn’t release me from treatment and my cast wasn’t removed until one week before the start of the first round of races for the 2017 season,” said Swift. 2017 Season Team UXC Racing has competed in 10 races so far this year and has four more events left. “Halloween weekend is the final round of the year,” said Swift. To no one’s surprise, they experienced a slow start this year. “I started out finishing sixth and seventh for the first couple of rounds until I was able to work my way back to the lower end of the podium as of just before summer break,” said Swift. “We recently got back from Iowa with a win and I have finished on the podium and won one race so far this year. I am just now getting back to feeling 100 percent again.” The Iowa event resulted in a third place for Trantham, a second place finish and second place result in the Ironman for Becky Widdicombe, who was racing a Polaris Ace 900 XC, and wins in the Pro 4x4 ATV 10 hour race for Swift and Trantham. Josh Day and Jeff Wright partnered to finish third in the 30+ class. Two Days To Prepare For Next Race Swift pointed out that it takes the team two days to prepare for a race.
1. We pressure wash with the machine off 2. We pull the plastic and wash again 3. We put the machine on a jack, pull the wheels and tires and wash again “We then bring the machines back into the shop and pull the wheels and tires back off, then do a four-point inspection that includes checking the frame for cracks, checking the brakes, checking the oil levels, and checking the hose connections. We replace the belts and other parts that need it and we check the tires and tire balls. We then put the machines back together and road test them for 30 minutes to an hour. The vehicles are then re-washed and then loaded onto trailers for transportation to the next race.” The team includes two part-time employees Cameron Griffin and Brian McCarty, who wash the ATVs and do minor mechanicals. Swift does most of the mechanical maintenance and repairs. The Offseason You may think that once the offseason arrives, the team members take a vacation. Nothing can be further from the truth. In fact, according to Swift, the offseason is actually busier than the racing season. “We are negotiating and re-signing sponsorship contracts, we get new machines in from Polaris, and we spend the winter building new race vehicles,” said Swift. “We build three to four ATVs (Ace and Scrambler vehicles) and four RZRs from scratch. We also go south to Florida to ride, train, and test parts.” Team UXC Racing also does research and development projects for most of their sponsors. For example, they helped design an exhaust system for Big Gun, assisted with some changes to the Polaris Scrambler ATV, helped build a completely new suspension for the Scrambler and Ace ATVs and for the RZR UTV, and helped build a complete suspension system for the Ace ATV. Sponsors Polaris is the team’s major sponsor. K&N has been sponsoring them for four years. “We worked with K&N filters in the past when we were part of Warnert Racing,” said Swift. “However, the sponsorship lapsed and we got involved with K&N again four years ago. We use their air filters on all our machines, oil filters on the Ace and RZR and pre-filters on all three machines. We also use K&N air filter lube that goes around the air filter air box to ensure a good seal and stops dust from getting into the box. The pre-filters shed off the dust, mud, and water to protect the air filters.
The K&N air filters are washable and reusable. So Team UXC Racing also uses the K&N filter cleaner after every race. “We clean the filters and rotate them out so we always have an inventory of clean filters ready to go,” continued Swift. “We wash them and let them air dry.” | |||||
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