Christian Brothers Racing Report: Blackjack National

Christian Brothers Racing competed this past weekend at the Blackjack National in Bessemer, Mich. for rounds 3-4 of the AMSOIL Championship Snocross series.

While Rounds 1-2 at at the Duluth National Snocross took place on a tiny, 22-second track, the highly-technical track at Blackjack boasted two uphill runs, a brutal downhill run and a challenging dogleg which made for lap times in the one-minute range.

Pro Open riders Garth Kaufman and Logan Christian posted top results in Friday’s qualifying and both cruised to a front row spot in the final. After a great start Christian was running in fifth spot but came off in the downhill section and pain in his ribs kept him from getting back on his sled. Kaufman put in a solid run and finished in the eighth spot.

A lot of ice, a night of rest and Christian was back at 100-percent for Saturday’s racing. He went 1-2 in heats, good enough to put him in the third qualifying spot for the final where he put in a good run and finished tenth. Kaufman had a tough round of heats and ended up in the LCQ where he got dealt a bad hand.

“I got hit by another rider on the uphill run and it spun me around,” says Kaufman. “There just weren’t enough laps to make up the time. It was a brutal track and you really had to pick your lines. Now I’m just looking ahead to the next race in Shakopee, Minn. – all the pieces are there for a podium I just need to put them together!”

“My heats went great and Saturday I qualified Top 3,” says Christian. “Then I had an off in the final on Friday and banged my ribs real hard, and Saturday I just got stuck in the pack. I thought I had what it took to get a podium but sometimes you need a little luck too and we didn’t have that in the finals.”

In the Sport class CBR rider Tyler Adams sliced his way through a highly-competitive field of riders, earned a spot in the final on Saturday and finished ninth. Adams sits in eighth place in Sport points among 117 riders.

Evan Christian was perfect in the Transition 8-12 class, winning both his heats and taking the top spot in the final. CBR rider Trent Wittwer was perfect in the Junior Novice 10-13 class where he won both his heats and took the win in the final. Even Christian went 2-2 in that class but ran into trouble in the final where he placed 13th.

“The team improved since the first race at Duluth and we’re moving forward,” says team co-owner Dwight Christian. “Evan and Trent rode great and Tyler did good in Sport. We just need to get Logan and Garth on the podium and I think that will come as long as we keep working hard.”

Next up for Christian Brothers Racing is the USXC Gerald Dyrdahl Memorial Pine Lake 200 race this coming December 15-16 in Gonvick, Minn.