Team Hytiva® Texplex SXS Race Weekend

Battling in the Texas Heat

Shawn Saxton is excited to represent Team Hytiva® for the first time while competing in the 6th Round of the Texplex SXS Race Series. Shawn won his first WORCS SXS World Finals race in 2020, and felt like this has given him the confidence to compete with the world's best closed circuit UTV racers.

Practice

Friday July 16
Open practice from 3pm - 4pm.

Practice started off great. We were making some changes getting faster on the track each time out. Shortly through we started to notice the 4wd disengaging which is a scary situation when you’re going 60mph and all of a sudden it breaks free and almost spins you around. So I went back to the pit to check everything out. Me and my brother decided to pull the diff and see if anything got damaged. After getting the diff out to inspect, everything looked normal inside. I swapped it out for a new one anyways to play it safe. We also put a new battery in it just in case the voltage was dropping too low. We managed to get the car all back together just in time for the final practice session that went great until I noticed the voltage dropping and then the diff disengaging. I continued practice trying some different things to combat the voltage issues and diagnose the diff. I noticed when I would turn my fans off there would be no issue with the diff. So I got a game plan together where I would put a bigger battery onboard and switch the fans on only when it would get hot enough.

Qualifying

Saturday July 17
7:30am - Pro Turbo Qualifier

At 7:30am it was time to go qualify and go through tech. I decided to go out towards the end of qualifying so the track would dry out and have better traction. With only having 2 laps to get a good time I had to give it my all. I struggled getting comfortable with the car since I was having issues the day before. I managed to put down a good finale lap time of 2:33.8 which put me in 7th place for qualifying. The racers out here are so fast that 2nd through 7th were all in the 2:33 lap time range.

After qualifying I looked over the car to make sure it was good for the first heat. With some tire pressure adjustments and a shock adjustment we were ready to race.

Race Results

Saturday July 17

Heat 1
I got a good jump off the start and was 4th in turn one. Coming through the next corner 3rd place spun out right in front of me. I just dodged him and settled in 3rd place. I followed 1st and 2nd as they battled waiting for a mistake I could capitalize on. Coming to the white flag I was starting to catch 2nd place. I pushed some more and made the pass coming to the finish. Finishing in 2nd put me in contention for a podium finish and a good starting position for the main.

Main Event
With a row of 22 other competitors at the infamous land rush start at texplex, it’s been known to get wild. They threw the flag and I took off. Coming into the first set of rollers I got a bad bounce the upset the car. Another car hit the front of my car and sent me right into another car. Almost spinning out into the fence I managed to save it but was now in 10th place. That battling was so close between the competition. There was cars flying and smashing into each other everywhere. I started making passes trying to keep the leaders in my sight. I got aggressive and attempted to make a pass on the inside, the other driver came down to block me and forced me to hit a hole and possibly damage my car. I still was able to make the pass but the car never felt right after that. I kept pushing being cautious about the front of my car. I settled in 4th trying to catch 3rd until my diff started to let go from all the contact from the start. I kept it straight to the finish and held onto a 4th place finish.

With the 2 moto format my 2nd and 4th place finish put me in 3rd place overall for the weekend. That podium marked me as the first Polaris driver to hit the turbo podium here at Texplex Park.

SXS Pro Turbo - Overall Finish Positions
1st - #3 - Cody Miller Greenville, TX - Canam - Heat (2nd - Heat 2), Moto 1 (2nd), Moto 2 (1st).
2nd - #191 - Kyle Chaney Millersport, OH - Canam - Heat (1st - Heat 1), Moto1 (1st), Moto 2 (3rd).
3rd - #18x - Shawn Saxton Henderson, NV - Polaris - Heat (2nd - Heat 1), Moto 1 (2nd), Moto 2 (4th).
4th - #1t - Hunter Miller Greenville, TX - Canam - Heat (1st - Heat 2), Moto 1 (1st), Moto 2 (5th).
5th - #48t - Cody Taylor Shreveport, LA - Canam - Heat (5th - Heat 1), Moto 1 (5th), Moto 2 (2nd).
6th - #13 - Curtis Kirchmeier Arlington, TX - Honda - Heat (6th - Heat 1), Moto 1 (6th), Moto 2 (6th).
7th - #17 - Kory Willis Kinder, LA - Canam - Heat (4th - Heat 1), Moto 1 (4th), Moto 2 (9th).
8th - #18 - Coby Caraway Blue Ridge, TX - Canam - Heat (7th - Heat 1), Moto 1 (7th), Moto 2 (7th).
9th - #44 - Jordan Berza Lake Charles, LA - Canam - Heat (4th - Heat 2), Moto 1 (4th), Moto 2 (10th).
10th - #52 - Ronnie Anderson Riverside, CA - Canam - Heat (3rd - Heat 1), Moto 1 (3rd), Moto 2 (12th).
11th - #64x - Robert Vanbeekum Queen Creek, AZ - Polaris - Heat (3rd - Heat 2), Moto 1 (3rd), Moto 2 (13th).
12th - #718 - Chance Haugen Prescott, AZ - Polaris - Heat (9th - Heat 1), Moto 1 (9th), Moto 2 (8th).
13th - #870 - Adam Reed Beallsville, OH - Canam - Heat (8th - Heat 1), Moto 1 (8th), Moto 2 (11th).
DNS - #22 - Cody Bradbury Nuevo, CA - Polaris - Heat (DNS - Heat 1), Moto 1 (DNS), Moto 2 (DNS).
DNS - #25 - Corbin Leaverton Nuevo, CA - Polaris - Heat (DNS - Heat 2), Moto 1 (DNS), Moto 2 (DNS).
DNS - #31 - Trevor Leighton Star, ID - Canam - Heat (DNS - Heat 2), Moto 1 (DNS), Moto 2 (DNS).
DNS - #19 - Collin Truett Nebo, NC - Polaris - Heat (DNS - Heat 2), Moto 1 (DNS), Moto 2 (DNS).