Rounds 9 & 10: Forget the Big Apple Welcome to Sioux Falls
February, 22nd 2021
The series moved to Sioux Falls, SD, a brand-new location for a National Snocross. The inaugural race had heavy snow, which led to big air and spectacular racing for the fans. Pelletier added to his precious metal collection with a little silver and more bronze.
The ISOC track crew worked their magic carving out a whooped out technical oval. This made the initial practice sessions enjoyable as the racers needed to confront the exaggerated jumps and extremely deep holes in the course. Both practice sessions saw Pelletier adapting his style quite well to the technical course. The first heat of the opening round saw the 220 mounted pilot with the last gate pick. Francis, not perfect on the trigger, found himself in 4th position on the opening lap. Methodically picking his lines and not putting a ski wrong, Frank worked RS600 up into 2nd position, pressuring for the lead. Time and laps go hand in hand, and unfortunately, they ran out simultaneously; the win was not to be. The second round and heat of qualifying saw the teal terror line up intently focused on the light. With some last-minute intelligence, Pelletier gathered and relayed on the start line carefully plotted his first lap in his mind. When the light went green, Frank stretched the throttle cable for a picture-perfect holeshot. Rounding the first corner in the lead with a clear track in front of him, he wicks the throttle wide open over the finish line tabletop jump to turning it into a triple. This proved to be an extremely fast line, boasting a ½ second advantage over the next fastest pro qualifier. Lining up for the final, as the number one qualifier Pelletier was full chocked-full of confidence. With a strong start rounding the first lap in second, the field jostled and prodded. Pelletier saw his position drop back further to 4th by the third lap. Calm, cool, and unrattled, Frank picked his lines carefully, capitalizing on others’ mishaps. By the tenth lap, he had piloted the Speedwerx tuned ski-doo into the second position. For the remaining 15 laps, Francis rode his race like a seasoned pro, never succumbing to the chaos happening behind him. With western pride, the “hi-ho silver” podium bound the rookie betters his best finish to date with a second.
Saturday afternoon practice came and went without much to learn, with only minor changes to the circuit. The snow conditions had changed from the previous day of racing, requiring a slight change in strategy. Lining up for the opening round in the initial heat, the light went green with a drag race to the first corner. Francis hugging the inside line’s advantage while turning into the first corner seems to have secured another good start. But then a fellow racer behind him pulls a ”Hail Mary” on the trigger tripling in, landing in the rear of Pelletier’s sled. The incident tangles up Pelletier until the rest of the field waves bye-bye. Frank regains his composure yet has no time to make up any positions in the short qualifying race. In the second round of qualifying in the second heat, Francis was faced with an ungroomed track. The course resembled more of a bomb test field than a racecourse. Francis stayed out of trouble finishing an eventual third. Lining up for the final, knowing it all came down to the start, Pelletier cut a good light and railed the outside of the first corner, looking like he was a shoo-in for the lead. He hit a nasty acceleration bump before the finish line jump killing his forward momentum. Crossing the line in third place, frank clicked off 25 laps in that position for his second podium of the weekend. Francis, very pleased with his weekend result, had a smile from ear to ear while congratulations circulated. Pelletier was quoted on his way to the podium “now I am hungry, someone picks a good place to go eat!”
Francis moves to the third position in the championship points race, a mere 5 points behind second. Dan Benham present in Sioux Falls supporting his teammate; knee rehabilitation is going well. Dan hopes to have a green light from his doctor later in the week to get back on his race sled. We should see Benham back in action at the next round taking place at ERX on March 5th & 6th.
Snocross – Sioux Falls, SD - Results
Friday
2nd - Francis Pelletier (Pro Class)
DNS – Daniel Benham (Pro Class)
Saturday
3rd - Francis Pelletier (Pro Class)
DNS - Daniel Benham (Pro Class)
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2021 Team Sponsors
Makita Tools, Rockstar Energy Drink, BRP Ski-Doo, FVP, GMC, XPS, Baja Jerky, onX Offroad, SSi Decals, KYB-Enzo, CA Pro Skis, Stud Boy, Bell, Scott, ROX Speed FX, Mechanix Wear, Hayes, Speedwerx USA, Crowell Machine, Quadna Mountain Park
About Warnert Racing
Hill City, Minnesota-based Warnert Racing is the premier team in professional snocross racing and one of the sport’s pioneering “superteams.” After the most successful auto racing operations, the team models, managing the day-to-day operations of two snocross racers, including sponsorship, transportation, marketing, sled set-up, driver development, and technology development.