Big Country Powersports lined up on the front row with four of GNCC’s premier Side-by-Side teams for a dead engine start. As the green flag dropped, John Yokley powered his Polaris RZR 900 to a great start, engaging in a battle with Polaris teammate Scott Kiger right away. However, the two teams made a mistake on the opening lap and missed part of the trail.

“Scott and I had a good battle going but we must have missed part of the trail and had to turn around,” Yokley said. “Once we got back and going I just put my head down and started charging toward the front.”

Yokley clicked off faster lap times than any other driver on laps two, three and four as he clawed his way up to second place. As the two-lap card fell, Yokley was only 30 seconds behind the leader, Tim Farr. Meanwhile, points leader Kyle Chaney sat outside the top 10, increasing Yokley’s chances at going after the title.

“I knew if I didn’t win this race there would be no chance at the championship so I decided I was going for it, hoping to catch Tim out front,” Yokley added.

However, as he was running in the second place position on the second-to-last lap, Yokley got caught up in a deeply rutted section and caused a mechanical problem that ultimately ended his day. With only four laps complete out of six total, Big Country Powersports finished 20th for the day, which is no indication of the speed and effort put forth by the young driver.