The Yokley Racing Polaris Team Returns to GNCC With Top Five Finish at Season Opener
- Updated: March 15, 2017
The Yokley Racing Polaris Team will contest all six rounds of the GNCC SXS Championship this season. Photo: Ken Hill
After taking one season off the GNCC circuit, the Yokley Racing Polaris duo of William and Tina Yokley made its return to the Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series over the weekend to contest the 2017 Side-by-Side Championship. The five-time GNCC SXS Champions didn’t seem to lose a beat as they captured 5th overall at arguably the toughest track of the entire season in Florida.
The Yokley duo lined up on row four at the season opener due to lack of ranking from last season but they powered their Polaris RZR XP 1000 off the start right away. Yokley spent the opening lap climbing his way through the pack as he came through lap one in the 5th place position.
Yokley experienced a minor setback early in the race when his 4WD went out, causing him to slow down his pace in order to conserve the rest of the car for the remainder of the race. As a result, the duo dropped back a couple of positions on laps two and three.
With one lap to go, Yokley dropped the hammer to reclaim those positions as he moved back into 5th place. After one brutal hour of racing in the Florida sands, the Yokley Racing Team finished with a strong 5th place out of 20 total teams in the XC1 Pro class.
“The track was very rough and physically demanding with the Florida whoops and palmetto roots. After being out for the entire 2016 season I knew that it was going to be a chore at the first round with only three miles on the car and basically zero test time,” Yokley said. “It was a fairly smooth run with the exception of my 4WD breaking at the beginning. After that we slowed down a bit and tried be a little more conservative in order to finish the race and not break any other parts unnecessarily with only having the rear wheels pulling.”
Yokley added, “Overall the Polaris RZR XP 1000 withstood a very grueling race from a mechanical standpoint and proved once again that their machine is able withstand some serious punishment and keep on running strong. We are happy and thankful to be back at the races.”
The Yokley Racing Polaris Team would like to thank its 2017 sponsors for all that they do: Polaris Industries, RT Pro, Elka Suspension, STI, CP Carillo, Millennium Technologies, Ballistic Batteries, Hess Racing.
Wild Boar GNCC
Palatka, Florida
Saturday, March 11, 2017
XC1 Pro UTV Results
- Cohl Secoy
- Cody Miller
- Kyle Chaney
- Hunter Miller
- William Yokley (POL)
