Team UXC racing added one more race to the history books this past weekend at the Parts Unlimited Mountaineer Run in Masontown West Virginia. The heat and dry conditions made for a very interesting race but for the Shelbyville Tennessee race team victory was in the air! Walking the track on Friday has become a intricate part of the teams routine and mentally noting the rocky sections in particular.

Getting the day started off of the second row Team UXC racings Michael Swift was able to grab the holeshot off the start and led his class into the woods at the Masontown WV event. “We were rolling on the first lap and even caught the open class and were able to get around them before our first pass through the scoring tents.” Swift has found some amazing speed in the last few years and the determination to improve his performance every race has really began to show. Passing the lead back and forth with a fellow racer Swift would find a rock that stopped his Team UXC Can-Am Renegade right in its tracks on the third lap that sent him over the bars.

With his bell rung and slightly shaken Swift would mount up on the XXC Renegade once again to catch up to the leaders. This wouldn’t be the only problem during the final laps though as a lane choice left the Tennessee native turning around and playing catch up. As if that weren’t enough his hydration pack wasn’t working properly either. “After we managed to get back in line and rolling we were coming into the two mile marker on the last lap when a hill climb had many racers stuck and blocking the track. There was one seemingly small line and it was all or nothing at that point. Although we struggled past the sport quad racers with a little push from an open class utility we were able to get through.” stated Swift. Swift would go on to win the U2 Class on his Can-Am Renegade Xxc and even secure a third place spot on the podium for the overall of the morning. Swift had this to say about his machine, “I just want to recognize our Ricochet skid plates because they took a beating today in the rock filled sections of this track. Had it not been for them I know the 207 UXC Renegade would have suffered in big fashion. We worked hard for this win and that makes it even more special to me.” Only three points out of first place Swift hopes to keep steaming forward for the next round at Snowshoe.

Don Higbee also managed a fifth place finish in the rough West Virginia terrain. After a great start the Casper Wyoming Team UXC racer found himself in a bottleneck about two miles in. The line choices were slim and Higbee made a move that would complicate his run to the front. “The line I had taken to try and get around the pack of stalled riders turned out to be a dead end.  After turning around and battling the rest of the riders for a good break we managed to get within view of the second and third riders in my class. We managed to keep up our pace but a last lap crash around mile marker nine held us back into a fifth place finish.” says Higbee.  Still holding on to the second place points Don will go into Snowshoe prepared for the elevation and very competitive class of 4X4 Senior. “ I think it goes without saying that our Custom Axis suspension will be our saving grace at the next round.” exclaimed Higbee.

The Team UXC Maverick was again turned loose at the Mountaineer this past weekend. The XC2 Can-Am Maverick number 108 started on the second row of the XC2 class. Getting into the woods off the start in third place gave the driver Michael Swift and his co-pilot Kevin Trantham something to work towards. The duo managed to get up into second in their XC2 class and pressed forward to 9th overall when just in view of the white flag something went array in the steering of the machine. “As the race progressed we gained 20-30 seconds per lap on the leader and 4 of the six we posted fastest times of our class. Unfortunately we did not get to finish our last lap or the one before it, which was really disappointing. We are not sure what actually went wrong but have narrowed it down to the steering box. We have had so much fun learning the ins and outs of SXS racing and hope the next race will go smoother yet.” Says Swift. Team UXC Racings Can-Am Maverick sits a solid third in XC2 points to date!

Tayton Swift took on his class of 8-11 year old racers on his Can-Am DS90X and was able to grab a seventh place finish out of 12 riders.