Christian Brothers Racing Report: Winter X, USXC Oslo 100

They were in two different locations on two very different stages, but the results were the same: Christian Brothers Racing riders were on the podium. On the world stage that is the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo. Cory Davis flew the CBR colors claiming silver in the Long Jump competition. Logan Christian. About 1200 miles away in the ditches, rivers and fields of rural Northwestern Minnesota Zach Herfindahl claimed a Pro Stock win at the USXC Oslo 100 cross-country race.

Entered in Freestyle and Long Jump, Cory Davis went big in Long Jump, taking home the silver medal. Riders hit a modified freestyle ramp from a set distance attempting to outfly one another and score the longest distance from each run-in mark. In each round the rider with the shortest distance is eliminated. Davis was one of the final two riders, taking the silver behind a rider who holds the World Record for snowmobile distance jumping.

“I’m so stoked on winning Silver in the Long Jump. In the end I was just inches away from beating the world record distance jump holder – I’m pretty happy about that,” says Davis.

After running the fourth fastest lap of the day in seeding, Christian transfered to the Winter X Games snocross final with a second place finish in his heat. The DRIFT Racing/Arctic Cat rider lined up for the main and came out mid-pack off the start, then found himself tangled mid air with another rider just a few seconds into the race. He avoided being run over by oncoming racers and quickly re-mounted the sled, but it was too badly damaged for him to complete the race pace.

After a transfer to the main through the LCQ, Royal Distributing/Arctic Cat rider Dave Joanis rode a solid race finishing in 10th place. It was Joanis’ first time competing in the Winter X Games snocross event.

The Christian Brothers Racing cross-country team traveled to Oslo, Minnesota, to compete in the USXC Oslo 100. This race took the team from the one-dimensional lake races that made up the first three events into a multi-dimensional, terrain-oriented format that featured high-speed road ditches, twisting rivers and tight woods. Pro Stock points leader Zach Herfindahl was joined by 2013 USXC Pro Stock points champion Ryan Simons and long-time Christian Brothers Racing rider and multi-time cross-country Pro points champion D.J. Ekre.

After losing an engine in the 50-mile Pro Open race, the CBR crew discovered a punctured engine cooler on his snowmobile, likely from a rock that got thrown into the tunnel by the snowmobile’s track. Herfindahl is the current Pro Stock points leader so teammate Ryan Simons, who isn’t vying for points this season, donated his sled to Zach’s cause and he used to win the 100-mile Pro Stock race by over two minutes.

“I had a rock puncture my heat exchanger so Ryan let me borrow his sled for Pro Stock which was really awesome of him,” says Herfindahl. “I rode smooth and fast and never made a mistake. I went faster as the race went on and just had a blast – so fun to get on some real terrain after all the ice racing we’ve been doing.”

After sitting out the first three rounds, reigning Pro Stock point champion and Seven Clans I-500 winner Ryan Simons returned to competition at Oslo. Simons was able to claim a second place podium finish in the 50-mile Pro Open race, finishing just 32-seconds behind the winner.

A serious crash at last year’s Detroit Lakes race resulted in a broken pelvis and a ruined season for D.J. Ekre. One of the fastest cross-country riders in the world, Ekre was on hand to race the Oslo event but a bad crash in Pro Open tweaked his shoulder and ended his day.

Also competing this past weekend was Junior Novice 10-13 rider Evan Christian. Christian was at the ISOC Regional race at ERX Motor Park in Elk River, Minn., where he went undefeated in Junior Novice 10-13 Limited and Junior Novice 10-13 Combined on the weekend, winning all his heats and four mains on his way to a perfect weekend.