Press Release –
Brett Bender Wins Pro Open and TJ Gulla Wins Pro Super Stock
Polaris snocross racers won both Pro classes in ISOC racing at Hayward, Wis., on March 6-8, and they head to the season finale poised to win points titles in both classes and possibly finish 1-2-3 in Pro Open points.
Points titles will be determined at the final race of the ISOC season, scheduled for March 20-22 at Lake Geneva, Wis.
PRO OPEN: Bender Wins & Teammates Stand 1-2-3
At Hayward, Brett Bender (Hentges Racing) continued to come on strong in his first full season as a Pro racer, earning his second-straight Pro Open victory and rising up to third in class points.
Matt Judnick (Judnick Motorsports) finished fourth at Hayward and TJ Gulla (Hentges Racing) was seventh, followed by Andrew Johnstad (Avalanche Racing) in ninth and Levi LaVallee (Hentges Racing) in 10th.
That sets the stage for what could be an historic performance by teammates: Heading into the final race of the season, three Hentges Racing racers stand 1-2-3 in Pro Open points. Gulla is in first with 198 points, LaVallee is second with 185 and Bender is third with 173 points.
Other Polaris racers in the top 10 in points are Judnick in ninth and Shaun Crapo (Amsoil/US Air Force) in 10th.
PRO SUPER STOCK: Gulla Wins Again
Gulla made it a Hentges Racing Pro-class victory sweep and solidified his place near the top of the standings by winning the Pro Super Stock class in Hayward. Crapo was third, Judnick was sixth and Johnstad was 10th.
Polaris racers are dominating the Pro Super Stock standings, and three of them are now solidly in the hunt for the class points title. LaVallee is currently second in the standings with 195 points, the same as the leader, who holds a tiebreaker advantage (best finish in the most recent race) over LaVallee.
Gulla is fourth in points, just one point out of third and only 11 behind the current leader, and Crapo is fifth in points, 10 behind Gulla and still within reach of the title.
Polaris racers hold five of the top 10 spots and eight of the top 13 places in the point standings. DJ Eckstrom (Amsoil/US Air Force) is eighth, Bender is 10th, and Johnstad, Judnick and Bobby LePage (Hentges Racing) are 11-13, respectively.
SEMI-PRO: LePage Puts on Charge for Open Title
In Semi-Pro Open racing at Hayward, Bobby LePage (Hentges Racing) finished fourth to put himself second in the points standings, just 11 behind the leader. Polaris racers Chris Kafka (Hentges Racing), Derek Ellis (Avalanche Racing) and Mike Bauer (Judnick Motorsports) hold positions 7-8-9, respectively, in the points race.
In Pro Women Super Stock, Kendra Daniel (CMR Racing) finished third at Hayward and is currently sixth in points. Kendra Dallmann (LePage Racing) finished second in Sport Women Super Stock and is solidly in second place in the class points standings.
Joe Fallen (Fallen Racing) took first in Sport Super Stock 2 and Andrew Lieders (Lieders Racing) finish fourth, which keeps him atop the points list and gives him a 20-point margin with one race remaining.
In the Junior classes at Hayward, James Johnstad (Avalanche Race Team) finished second in Jr. 14-15 and fourth in Jr. 16-17. He is the points leader in both classes. Brett Nastala (Redline Racing), who won Jr. 16-17 at Hayward, is second in class points.
About Polaris – With annual 2008 sales of $1.9 billion, Polaris designs, engineers, manufactures and markets off-road vehicles (ORVs), including all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and the Polaris RANGER™, snowmobiles and Victory Motorcycles for recreational and utility use. Polaris is a recognized leader in the snowmobile industry, and one of the largest manufacturers of ORVs in the world. Victory Motorcycles, established in 1998 and representing the first all-new American-made motorcycle from a major company in nearly 60 years, are rapidly making impressive in-roads into the cruiser and touring motorcycle marketplace. Polaris also enhances the riding experience with a complete line of Pure Polaris apparel, accessories and parts, available at Polaris dealerships. Polaris Industries Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “PII,” and the Company is included in the S&P Small-Cap 600 stock price index. Information about the complete line of Polaris products, apparel and vehicle accessories, is available from authorized Polaris dealers or anytime from the Polaris homepage at www.polarisindustries.com.
