Coastal Racing SXS Team Report: Powerline Park GNCC
- Updated: October 5, 2016
Round 12 of the Grand National Cross Country Series took place in St. Clairsville, Ohio on Saturday with the Powerline Park GNCC. Side-by-Side Racing returned to the schedule for the first time since May, where Coastal Racing Team Driver John Henry captured a podium finish in the XC2 Pro Sport SXS division.
In the XC1 Pro Class, Team Driver Sean Bogdan and his passenger Jade Kiger began on Row 2, where they powered their Coastal Racing/CST/OMF/Walker Evans/Racer Tech Polaris to the front of their line to capture the holeshot and early jump on the group. Bogdan maintained 6th place in the overall adjustment for the first two laps before making a jump to 5th place on lap three.
Bogdan continued to charge late in the race where he made a pass for 4th just before the white flag flew and from there he held a solid pace to finish with a season-best 4th place in the XC1 Pro class.
“We switched up cars this round to run Scott Kiger’s #808 car and the setup was perfect for the muddy and slick conditions,” Bogdan said. “Lappers were the only struggle of the race and I broke my front right axel on lap four, which lost some time, but I was able to keep pushing and hold on to my best finish of the season with 4th.”
Coastal Racing/Polaris/CST/OMF/Walker Evans/Racer Tech’s Bill Patterson and his passenger “Skinny Mike” powered their Polaris RZR 1000 into a great jump off the line where they settled into the top-ten on the opening lap. Due to the limited passing opportunities on the course, there was a lot of physical contact as Patterson worked his way through the pack. As a result, their front tire got hit very hard from another car which caused some damage to the tierod bolt. Patterson made a stop in the pits where the Coastal Racing crew made a repair in order to finish the final lap of the race.
Due to the extended pit stop, Patterson lost one full lap to ultimately finish 16th in the XC1 Pro class.
Despite a tough day, Patterson rode a strong race at Powerline Park. Photo: Ken Hill
“The track was very tight with no passing lanes so there ended up being a lot of contact between competitors out there,” Patterson said. “It was unfortunate that we had to come in for a repair but the team did a really good job at getting it fixed so we could salvage another lap.”
Coastal Racing/Racer Tech’s John Henry got off to a great start in the XC2 Pro Sport class where he jumped into the 3rd place position on the opening lap. Henry maintained a consistent top-five running all race and after dropping back to 5th around the midway point, Henry put on a big charge to overtake the 3rd place position with two laps to go in the race.
“The track was single lane with little to no passing areas so I had to be patient and wait for opportunities,” Henry said. “I was able to physically get up front but ran into heavy traffic and several crashes that nixed any chance to pull away and put down some good lap times. It was a very physical race due to the track setup and at times, it was pretty rough and tumble. I have to be happy with a 3rd place/10th overall with everything we ran into but it was a frustrating race for me.”
John Henry captured his second podium finish of the season. Photo: Ken Hill
With two podium finishes and one victory behind him, Henry now sits in 2nd place in the XC2 Championship Standings with one round remaining in the six-race series.
