FX Nytro Snowmobile Wins Grass Drags Debut at NSRA season opener.
Yamaha four-stroke snowmobiles put ten victories in the books against the two-stroke competition at the opening round of the 2008 National Snowmobile Racing Association’s grass drag-racing season in Princeton, Minn. on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 23-24.
Pro Class...- Jimmy Jones commanded 600 Stock on his Apex RTX, 600 Single Pipe on his FX Nytro and 500 Stock on his Nytro with back-to-back wins in all three classes on both days. But he wasn’t done there. Jones, along with fellow Yamaha pilots Jerry Fix and Jerry Hauck, added to the blue-and-white spoils by claiming seven more podium finishes on FX Nytro and Apex RTX sleds during the weekend. Jones’ dominance these classes, led him to win, hands down, the “Driver of the Day” award in the Pro-level stock classes.
The 500-foot grass strip featured a clay starting box for traction, allowing production sleds to rip off ETs well below six seconds. Drivers had to get through two elimination rounds in each class before squaring off for the final – and by then the competition was intense, with Jones taking the 600 Stock win over Fix by the slimmest of margins – just .050 sec. or the length of a three-inch ski loop – on Sunday. “It’s just so unbelievably close,” Jones confided. “If you saw a picture you wouldn’t believe it.” He was quick to credit the dependability of his Yamahas as instrumental in the wins. “I made 24 different runs on four different sleds over the weekend and they all performed perfectly,” he added. “The setups we put on them stay so consistent that it makes driving a lot easier.”
With a pair of seconds in 600 Stock and a pair of thirds in Improved Stock on his trusty Apexes, Fix (of Minnesota’s Fix Power Sports) was the next highest-scoring Yamaha Pro-level driver during the weekend – indelibly proving the strength of Yamaha’s four-stroke technology across a wide range of production classes. But he still had to fight plenty hard for the results. “In all three classes I compete in you’re battling two-strokes all the time,” he offered. “The Yamahas are easy to work with because they make great torque down low plus incredible horsepower on the top end. Fortunately the machines are also so bulletproof that all you have to do is tune them.”
Semi-Pro Class... Matt Thies and June Delveaux achieved a total of four wins and four more podium finishes. Matt raced his Nytro to first place in the semi-pro 500 both days, took first in the semi pro 600 Saturday with his RX-1, and third place in the semi pro 600 Sunday aboard the same sled. Delveaux racked up 4 podium finishes as well, including a win in the semi Pro 600S on her FX Nytro, two second place finishes in the Semi Pro 600 class on her Apex, and third in the semi-pro 500 on his 2005 Vector. Due to their success on Yamaha 4-strokes, both racers won the coveted “Driver of the Day” in the semi-pro class; Matt taking it Saturday and June on Sunday! Congrats to all our successful Yamaha racers.
Aug. 23 - Stock 600 |
| 1 |
Jim Jones - YAM |
Apex |
| 2 |
Jerry Fix - YAM |
Apex |
| 3 |
Jerry Hauck - YAM |
Apex |
| 4 |
Larry Hauck |
|
|
Aug. 23 - Stock 600S |
| 1 |
Jim Jones - YAM |
FX Nytro |
| 2 |
Jerry Hauck - YAM |
FX Nytro |
| 3 |
Larry Hauck |
|
| 4 |
Jerry Fix - YAM |
FX Nytro |
|
Aug. 23 - Stock 500 |
| 1 |
Jim Jones - YAM |
Nytro |
| 2 |
Matt Lemire |
|
| 3 |
John Hurley |
|
| 4 |
Jerry Hauck - YAM |
Vector |
|
Aug. 23 - Improved Srock 600cc |
| 1 |
Craig Marchbank |
|
| 2 |
Jim Jones - YAM |
Apex |
| 3 |
Jerry Fix - YAM |
Apex |
| 4 |
Deborah Hodges-Larson |
|
|
Aug. 23 - Semi Pro 600 |
| 1 |
Matt Thies - YAM |
RX-1 |
| 2 |
June Delveaux - YAM |
Apex |
| 3 |
Zach Schneidwend |
|
| 4 |
Zachery Schneidermend - YAM |
FX Nytro |
|
Aug. 23 - Semi Pro 600S |
| 1 |
June Delveaux - YAM |
FX Nytro |
| 2 |
Gil Rempel |
|
| 3 |
Dan Parcel |
|
|
Aug. 23 - Semi Pro 500 |
| 1 |
Matt Thies - YAM |
Nytro |
| 2 |
Rodney Burzinski - YAM |
Vector |
| 3 |
Mike Rempel |
|
|
Aug. 24 - Stock 600 |
| 1 |
Jim Jones - YAM |
Apex |
| 2 |
Jerry Fix - YAM |
Apex |
| 3 |
Jerry Hauck - YAM |
Apex |
|
Aug. 24 - Stock 600S |
| 1 |
Jim Jones - YAM |
FX Nytro |
| 2 |
Jerry Hauck - YAM |
FX Nytro |
| 3 |
Mike Rempel |
|
|
Aug. 24 - Stock 500 |
| 1 |
Jim Jones - YAM |
Nytro |
| 2 |
Larry Hauck |
|
| 3 |
Matt Lemire |
|
| 4 |
Jerry Hauck - YAM |
Vector |
|
Aug. 24 - Improved Stock 600cc |
| 1 |
Craig Marchbank |
|
| 2 |
Jim Jones - YAM |
Apex |
| 3 |
Jerry Fix - YAM |
Apex |
|
Aug. 24 - Semi Pro 600 |
| 1 |
Mike Rempel |
|
| 2 |
June Delveaux - YAM |
Apex |
| 3 |
Matt Thies - YAM |
RX-1 |
|
Aug. 24 - Semi Pro 500 |
| 1 |
Matt Thies - YAM |
Nytro |
| 2 |
Gil Rempel |
|
| 3 |
June Delveaux - YAM |
Vector |
|
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