Yamaha Announces 2020 bLU cRU Side-by-Side and ATV Racing Support

Yamaha Announces 2020 bLU cRU Side-by-Side and ATV Racing Support

Yamaha Factory-Supported Racers and $10,000 King of the Hammers Payout

MARIETTA, Ga. – January 9, 2020 – Yamaha Motor Corp., USA, pledges over $100,000 in Side-by-Side (SxS) and ATV bLU cRU championship racing bonuses for the 2020 season, including $10,000 for a first-place finish in a YXZ1000R or YXZ1000R SS (Sport Shift) at the 2020 King of the Hammers (KOH) race on February 2. All qualified and registered racers competing in select series with a YXZ1000R pure sport SxS or YFZ450R sport ATV are eligible for payout, including Yamaha’s factory-supported racers.

Yamaha’s bLU cRU program offers championship bonuses ranging from $2,500 to $15,000 – or even a new YFZ450R – for eligible racers competing in select classes with Yamaha’s 2019 or newer YXZ1000R, YXZ1000R SS, or YFZ450R models. Racers can register online at YamahabLUcRU.com and apply for the bLU cRU benefits. Once approved, racers will receive a reloadable Yamaha bLU cRU debit card and $45 credit on their bLUcRUswag.com account for bLU cRU apparel. These racers will be eligible to receive championship bonuses paid directly to their bLU cRU debit card.

“Yamaha welcomes all professional and amateur Side-by-Side and ATV racers to join the Yamaha family, compete under the bLU cRU banner, and potentially earn thousands of dollars – even a YFZ450R – as a championship bonus,” said Steve Nessl, Yamaha’s motorsports marketing manager. “Racing is in our DNA at Yamaha; we all share a passion for it and are excited to see the bLU cRU program expand and support our Proven Off-Road vehicles competing across the nation.”

*GNCC's Walker Fowler will defend his fifth-straight National Championship this year.* Courtesy Yamaha Motor Corp.

Starting the 2020 race season, Yamaha is offering $10,000 in potential bonuses at the grueling KOH Race. The top-finishing YXZ1000R in the UTV class will earn $5,000, plus an additional $5,000 with the overall win. The ULTRA4 Racing Series’ KOH competition is infamous for its punishing desert course through some of the roughest and most challenging rock and boulder sections of any timed event. Yamaha’s factory-supported race team competing alongside other YXZ bLU cRU challengers at this year’s KOH is Greaves Motorsports, comprised of the championship-winning drivers Johnny Greaves, CJ Greaves, and Brock Heger.

Along with KOH and select Best in the Desert rounds, Brock Heger will represent Yamaha in the 2020 Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series’ (LOORRS) Production 1000 UTV class. After a close 2019 season, finishing only 4 points behind fellow bLU cRU racer, Robert Stout, Heger will look to recapture the Production 1000 UTV championship to earn his third title and the $15,000 bLU cRU racing bonus in his BH Motorsports / Yamaha / Weller Racing / Maxxis YXZ1000R.

In addition to KOH, CJ Greaves and his Greaves Motorsports / Yamaha / Monster Energy / Maxxis YXZ1000R will contend in the all-new Championship Off-Road Tour at the legendary Crandon International Raceway, ERX Motor Park, Dirt City Motorplex, and Bark River International Raceway tracks. Greaves’ most recent SxS achievements include being the two-time Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Midwest champion, going undefeated in his YXZ.

Continuing a historic run in the Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) circuit, longtime Yamaha factory-supported racing veteran, Walker Fowler, will defend his fifth-straight XC1 Pro ATV championship and $10,000 bLU cRU racing bonus on his WFR / GBC / Fly Racing YFZ450R. Fowler brings more than a decade of success to the team, placing first or second in every ATV series he’s contended in, starting with his 2006 GNCC debut.

New bLU cRU support in the 2020 GNCC ATV race season, Yamaha will now offer payout and prize opportunities – including the chance to win a brand new YFZ450R – to eligible participants competing in the majority of the XC2, Junior A, College A, Junior B, and College B ATV class rounds. Yamaha’s bLU cRU contingency for the overall winners of these GNCC classes will be as follows:

XC2 ATV: First- $2,500, Second- $1,500, Third- $750, Fourth- $500, Fifth- $250
Junior A: First- $500 ShopYamaha.com gift card
Junior B: First- $500 ShopYamaha.com gift card
College A: First- $500 ShopYamaha.com gift card
College B: First- $500 ShopYamaha.com gift card
All above GNCC class bLU cRU racers: Entered to win a new YFZ450R

Heading up the American Motorcycle Association’s (AMA) ATV Motocross (ATV MX) bLU cRU effort for Yamaha is the second all-time winning, six-time Pro ATV MX champion, Chad Wienen, on his Wienen Motorsports / SSI / Fly Racing YFZ450R. In 2016, Wienen became the second racer in ATV MX history, and only racer in 25 years, to win five-straight AMA Pro ATV MX titles and an additional championship in 2018. Wienen continues to make history as he chases his seventh ATV MX championship, the $10,000 bLU cRU racing bonus, as well as defend the title in the second year of the Production Stock Premier class.

For the 2020 ATV MX season, Yamaha’s bLU cRU racer support program will offer payout and prize opportunities – including the chance to win a brand new YFZ450R – to eligible participants competing in the majority of the Production Stock rounds. Yamaha’s bLU cRU contingency for the overall winners of the 2020 ATV MX season’s Production Stock classes will be as follows:

Production Stock Premier: First- $2,500, Second- $1,500, Third- $750, Fourth- $500, Fifth- $250
Production Stock: First- $500 ShopYamaha.com gift card
Production Stock C: First- $500 ShopYamaha.com gift card
All above ATV MX class bLU cRU racers: Entered to win a new YFZ450R

Full bLU cRU national championship bonuses for 2020 include:

SxS Racing Series / YXZ1000R / YXZ1000R SS

Championship Off-Road Tour, Pro Stock UTV $15,000

Championship Off-Road Tour, Pro Mod UTV $10,000

Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing, Pro Production 1000 class: $15,000

SXS Sports Chasing the Triple, Pro Stock class: $10,000

King of the Hammers, UTV class (overall win): $5,000

King of the Hammers, UTV class (top-finishing YXZ1000R): $5,000

Best in the Desert (BITD), Production 1000 class: $5,000

World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS), SxS Pro Stock class: $5,000

ATV Racing Series / YFZ450R

GNCC, XC1 Pro ATV class: $10,000

AMA ATV MX, Pro class: $10,000

Every Yamaha SxS and full-size ATV is proudly Assembled in the USA at Yamaha’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Newnan, Georgia, for worldwide distribution.

For more information on the bLU cRU program, including all guidelines and requirements for ATV and SxS racing, visit YamahabLUcRU.com. To view the entire Proven Off-Road ATV and SxS lineup and learn more, visit YamahaOutdoors.com. Connect with Yamaha on social media via @YamahaOutdoors or search any of the following hashtags on all platforms: #Yamaha #YamahaRacing #REALizeYourPodium #REALizeYourAdventure #ProvenOffRoad #bLUcRU #AssembledInUSA #Yamaha10YearBelt #YXZ1000R #YFZ450R

About Yamaha Motor Corp., USA

Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA (YMUS), is a recognized leader in the powersports industry. The company's ever-expanding product offerings include Motorcycles and Scooters, ATV and Side-by-Side vehicles, Snowmobiles, WaveRunner Personal Watercraft, Boats, Outboard Motors, Outdoor Power Equipment, Power Assist Bicycles, Golf Cars, Power Assist Wheelchair Systems, Surface Mount Technology (SMT) Machines, Unmanned Helicopters, Accessories, Apparel, and much more. YMUS products are sold through a nationwide network of distributors and dealers in the United States. YMUS has a corporate office in California, two corporate offices in Georgia, facilities in Wisconsin and Alabama, and factory operations in Tennessee and Georgia. Additional U.S.-based subsidiaries include Yamaha Marine Systems Company (YMSC) with divisions Bennett Marine (Florida) and Kracor Systems (Wisconsin), Skeeter Boats (Texas), with division G3 Boats (Missouri), and Yamaha Precision Propeller (Indiana).