AZOP at Western Raceway

93 North Grand Prix

The round-four stop of Arizona Offroad Promotions championship series landed in White Hills, Arizona at Western Raceway over Easter weekend.

This is a race update provided by AZOP

Story By Jonathan Barrett | Photos by MotoCanon-Graham Buck

From March 31 to April 1, the round-four stop of Arizona Offroad Promotions championship series landed in White Hills, Arizona at Western Raceway. The 80-acre multi-track facility had the perfect variation of obstacles for an AZOP race. The race was held primarily on the main track and ventured off into the outer area of the raceway for some flat single-track action.

Quads

In the Pro Quad class, Mike Sloan demonstrated his untouchable WORCS experience, grabbing the holeshot and leading the entire race, finishing two and a half minutes ahead of second place on his Pointless Racing Yamaha. Pointless Racing teammates Erin and Andrew Simmons also had great days, finishing third and fourth respectively. Finishing the podium out was Ricardo Gonzalez taking a solid second place. In the stacked Sportsman Class, Francisco Lizarraga came off the line hot and led the first lap, with Nick Helton following close behind.

Many positions would switch in the following laps, most notably Austin Snyder coming from an eighth-place start to taking the lead on lap five, and holding on to take the win. Rounding out the podium in Sportsman would be Francisco Lizarraga in second and Michael Mack in third. Top 10 for Quads would be the four Pros of Mike Sloan, Ricardo Gonzalez, Erin Simmons, Andrew Simmons, followed by Todd Ellsworth (Expert), Michael Tsosie (Expert), Austin Snyder (Sportsman), Brandon Siewiyumptewa (Expert), Francisco Lizarraga (Expert) and David Ham (ATC 3 Wheelers).

UTVs

The UTV Pro race had a smaller turnout than usual, but that didn’t stop Codey Rowleg from taking his Polaris RZR and running away in first. Rowleg led every lap to the checkered flag.

Shawn Aksamit started third and battled with Tom Wilson for two laps before taking control of second place and keeping it for the rest of the race. Tom Wilson ran a strong rest of the race and took third. Calvin Matthews also ran a strong race, finishing fourth. In the 1000cc, Non-Turbo class, Barry Bennett took off and held onto first, followed by the Winiecki Motorsports Polaris of Kody Winiecki and the STI Off-Road Yamaha YXZ 1000 of Robert Olander. After four laps, Olander took the lead with Hailey Hein in second and Bennett in third.

As the checkered flag came out, it would be Robert Olander in first, followed by Hailey Hein and Barry Bennett. In the 1000cc Turbo class, Kali Kinsman would lead for two laps before falling to second behind Robert Slawson and keeping ahead of Neil Curse. The race would keep the podium the same until the finish, with Robert Slawson in first, Kali Kinsman in second, and Neil Curse finishing third. The Top 10 UTV results are Codey Rowleg (Pro), Shawn Aksamit (Pro), Robert Slawson (Turbo), Tom Wilson (Pro), Robert Olander (Non-Turbo), Chase Desousadias (900cc) Hailey Hein (Non-Turbo), Neil Curse (Turbo), Evan Striplin (900cc), and Calvin Matthews (Pro).

The UTV 170 class had a good turnout and lots of high-action racing. Ian Kowalski would drive his way to a first-place finish, followed by Vincent Riccitelli and Ashton Stewell rounding the podium out. A notable finish worth mentioning is Kaylee Federwisch in the Trophy Kart class.

Sunday the UTV 570s would have their turn on the track and Riley Hein would pull the victory, followed by Grace Vinagro in second and Kasyn Matthews in third.

The Mini Quads had some contenders show up to race, with Tyler Tsosie winning the 250-400cc class, Kolbie Lang winning the 91-300cc 10-15 Year-Old class, and Michael Owens finishing first in the 71-150cc 8-11 Year-Old class. The Peewee Quads had a huge turnout with some great racing. Colton Potkay won the 50-79cc 4-6 Year-Old class, Tavin Freeman won the 80cc+ Beginner class, and Gabriel Simmons won the 80cc+ Advanced class. Other notable finishes include Lane Johnson taking third in his class, Landen Johnson taking second in his class, and Brayden Earlewine taking a solid fourth in his class.

Overall, the 93 North Grand Prix was an incredible racing event on the beautiful tracks that Western Raceway has to offer. The next AZOP race is the Round 5 Winslow Grand Prix at the Thin Air Offroad Park in Winslow, Arizona on May 5-6.

93 North Grand Prix Video

Here is a video of the AZOP race at the Western Raceway track in White Hills, Arizona. It was a weekend full of fun, Easter egg hunts and, of course, lots of racing.