Story & Photos: Emily Wicklund
Cor Powersport brought riders to Okoboji Iowa for round two of the 2021 racing season. Okoboji was a new venue on the schedule this year and the community did not disappoint. There were hundreds of spectators around the nine mile lake course (socially distanced in their own vehicles of course) to watch these cross country racers do battle for the Okoboji 100.
Saturday brought wind, snow, and cold temperatures. The first race of the weekend was the Pro Open and the Semi Pro Improved two-lap qualifier. This would give the riders 18 miles to clock in the best time to try and take a front row starting spot in their heads up final later in the day. First two sleds to get the green flag were Justin Tate on his Polaris and Dylan Stevens on his Arctic Cat. After two laps Wes Selby clocked in quickest on his Arctic Cat with a time of 14 minutes 31 second. Ryan Faust ran second (14:34) and Alex Hetteen in third (14:39) both on Polaris. Arctic Cat riders Zach Herfindahl and Ross Erdman came through next to round out the top five in qualifying. In the Semi Pro Improved class, Paul Brown was the top qualifier on his Arctic Cat with the time of 14:59. Second fastest was Luke VanSlyke on his Polaris at 15:02 and Arctic Cats Dustin Schwandt in third clocking in at 15:11.
The next four races were amateur heat races. These racer ran the their class once both days and merged both days for an overall place.
The sixth race of the day was the heads up Semi Pro Improved final. This race was not based on time like round one in Cable; for this final it’s whoever crosses the line after six laps first wins. Polaris rider, Vince VanSlyke took the early race lead over Arctic Cats Paul Brown and Abe Olson. The running order remained nearly the same out front up until the last lap.
There ended up being an error with lap count and the Semi Pro Improved class actually ran seven laps instead of six. Since VanSlyke was leading after six laps the crew decided to award both VanSlyke and Brown first place points along with the first place payout.
The sun decided to come out and the snow had stopped for the final race of day one; the Pro Open final. The top two qualifiers Selby and Faust battled for the early lead and after lap one, Ryan Faust had the lead on his Polaris. With this race being 10 laps it required a fuel stop and riders must take two gallons of fuel minimum. The first five laps remained the same race order with Faust leading and Selby and Alex Hetteen rounding out the top three. After lap five, Selby was the first sled in the top five to take fuel. He made it in and out before the third place sled came across the line. The following lap Faust decided to take fuel. Faust made it in and out of the stop seconds before Selby came through to hold onto the race lead. Third place runner Hetteen had mechanical issues on lap six which ended his Pro Open weekend. This moved Ross Erdman into the third spot. Laps seven through nine remained the same with the running order being Faust, Selby, and Erdman. However, the final lap looked very similar to what had just happened in the Semi Pro Improved final. Somewhere in the middle of the course, Selby made the pass on Faust taking the lead.
Day two brought much better weather for the final day of racing. The first race on the line was the Pro Stock and the Semi Pro Stock two lap qualifier. Polaris racers, Alex Hetteen and Taylor Bunke, were the first two to get the green flag. After two laps, round one Pro Open winner Dylan Stevens came out as the top qualifier on his four stroke. Behind him it was Selby, Bunke, Arlaud, and Herfindahl. In the Semi Pro Stock class Vince VanSlyke had the fastest time with Marshall Busse and Paul Brown rounding out the top three qualifying spots. The next four races were filled with the classes running the merged format. Then it was onto the two featured events of the weekend; the Semi Pro Stock and Pro Stock heads up finals.
The Semi Pro Stock final was first with riders running six laps heads up. Sleds took the green flag with Paul Brown jumping the start slightly and taking the early race lead. Due to jumping the start Brown was stopped at the start finish line after lap one and was held back two positions then started racing again. This put the Polaris sled of Vince VanSlyke in the lead with Marshall Busse on his Polaris in second. Paul Brown was now in third on his Arctic Cat chasing down the leaders. Abe Olson also jumped the start and was given the same penalty.
The final race of the day was the ten lap heads up Pro Stock final. With this race being ten laps there was also a mandatory fuel stop. Green flag dropped and the sleds were off. Dylan Stevens took the early race lead on his four stroke with Wes Selby and Taylor Bunke close behind. After the first nine-mile lap Bunke got around Selby for second. The race order remained the same the next couple laps with Stevens pulling away. On lap four, fourth place running Gunner Arlaud was the first top running sled to stop for fuel. Fifth place racer Herfindahl was able to get past him for fourth while Arlaud was in for fuel. On lap five both Selby and Herfindahl both went in for fuel. This allowed Hetteen to jump into the third spot. On lap six Hetteen made his fuel stop losing third place to Arlaud. On lap seven the top three sleds were Stevens, Bunke, and Arlaud with the top two still need fuel before they take the white flag. On lap eight both Stevens and Bunke pull in the fuel stop. Stevens pulled out of the fuel stop just ahead of Arlaud to keep the lead. Bunke made up some time in fueling but was just a second too late to get onto the track before Arlaud drove by putting Bunke in third. The racers made their final nine miles without a change in the order.
