It’s that time of year again when the temperatures start to drop at nights meaning winter is coming! People are already in the winter mood and thinking about snowmobiling, especially after the kick off to winter at Haydays this past weekend in Minnesota.
Normally this time of year the Byers Motorsports Team is in the midst of talking with sponsors and getting the back side of racing lined up. This year is different though. After a lot of thought since last seasons finale, Byers Motorsports has decided to take a step back with Pro Racer, Jamie Byers retiring from racing the CSRA National Circuit.
“It was a long hard decision to retire from full time racing after 11 years. It seems like all I’ve known for my winters since I was a young kid.” Jamie said reflecting on his decision. “It was tough pulling out of Horseshoe Resorts season finale last winter thinking that this may have been my last time racing at the event with the friends and family of the CSRA. It was time to step away from professional racing and start concentrating more on the future and am grateful that I am still healthy.”
Jamie started his racing career in 2003 at Horseshoe Valley Resort aboard a 2002 Polaris ProX 440 fan and was instantly hooked after that weekend. His first Full Season was 2006 where he battled for the Junior 2 Championship finishing 2nd overall.
The following year was a bad year for Jamie when he was landed on top of at the Season Opener luckily only breaking his jaw thanks to his TekVest. Jamie returned for the final two races finishing 2nd in Sport Open at both events before moving into the Semi-Pro (now Pro-Lite) class.
In 2009, Kyle Byers #109 joined the team to compete in the Sport classes finishing 2nd overall in Trail Sport his first year. Kyle competed for 3 years before retiring in 2011. In 2010, Jamie had a great season placing on the Podium at the end of the season, 3rd in Semi-Pro Regional Stock and Open classes.
Jamie’s breakout year was 2012 where he won multiple event finals, placing 2nd overall in the stock class at the Grand Prix de Valcourt, and to top it off, claiming the Pro-Lite Stock & Open class National Championships. In his inaugural Pro season, Jamie clinched a Podium finish at the Amsoil Kawartha Cup.
“Looking back on our past seasons we’ve had a pretty good go, had fun and enjoyed a lot of time with my family, friends and sponsors. I have some pretty great memories from my career that I will never forget.” Said Jamie. “I cant thank my family enough for their support over the years along with all of my sponsors that have stuck with us over the years and the ones that have recently joined our team the past couple years. Without our sponsors we would have likely had to make this decision a few years ago.”
Although the team is stepping away from racing, Rob and Jamie are staying involved in the snowmobile industry helping out with the Orillia & District snowmobile club which Rob is already an active member of.
Once again we’d like to personally thank all of our sponsors: Tom Jr, Sr, Ben, Brad and the late Bill Rader of the Polaris Racing Department for building great race sleds; The Lester Family from Supertrax Media; Bill, Brian & Betty from Dayco Belts; Rob, Casey & Butch from Amsoil; Jeff C & Jeff F of Gamma Sales who has been there for us from day 1; Mike & Larry from Woodys Traction; Don & Cam from Creecher’s Design for the killer graphics; Randy, Paul, Terry & Brad from Powermadd; Todd from EVS Sports protective gear; Eric of CV Tech/AAB; Dwayne & Natasha from Clean Media promotional; Steve from TekVest; Team Advanced for their help behind the scenes & the CSRA Family.
