The pressure was really on for Ken and the DragonFire crew as they thrashed to get Ken’s car ready following a disappointing DNF caused by impact with a tree at the last round. In what seemed impossible, Ken and the crew at DragonFire where able to not only get him ready for the race, but also provide a podium-worthy car. Staying true to form, Ken kept the pedal down and was able to race to 2^nd place — showing everyone at WORCS that he is a force to be reckoned with! In fact, Benson’s elapsed time for the race was on pace with the 1000cc production class, where he would have finished 6^th with an 850cc machine!

Stolid Swede Nic Granlund put in another solid race at Cahuilla, finishing 4^th.  Big Nic has been consistently fast and moves into 3^rd place overall in the WORCS series. Meanwhile long-time team driver Kyle Melville showed what years behind the wheel can do as he battled the highly talented field throughout the race. Kyle is still getting used to his new Kawasaki Teryx, but he was turning some quick lap times, ultimately earning 5^th place overall. After the dust settled, Team DragonFire finds Nic Granlund in 3^rd and Kyle Melville sitting in 4^th in points for the season. Ken Benson continues to stay in the top 10, holding onto 7^th, which is very impressive given some of the bad luck he suffered throughout the season.

With only one round left in the 2012 WORCS Racing season, Nic, Kyle and Ken are all showing that they have what it takes to go out and take care of business.  The season finale is scheduled for September 14-16 at Honolulu Hills in Taft, CA.

One of our drivers, of course, is William Yokley who’s currently in first place in points in the Side By Side Class I standings, and from where we’re sitting, he’s showing no signs of letting up. In fact, this race is the only thing standing between him and another No. 1 plate.

Driver Kyle Melville will be out there as well, showing everyone he is a force with which to be reckoned. Kyle has been on fire this season and can’t wait to get in there and trade some paint with the fiercely competitive UTV race scene here is Arizona.

Ken Benson will be making his WORCS debut, and after some mixed racing this year, he’s quickly become one of the faster drivers on the track. With the improvement we’ve seen in each race, Ken might end up sending some of the season vets home empty handed.

You say you haven’t been out to see WORCS racing first hand? Do something about that because you’re missing out big time! With a hybrid mix of motocross track and tight trails, this form of competition is quickly becoming the premier UTV racing in the country.

What makes the upcoming race at Speed World MX Park especially exciting for those of us who work here at DragonFire is the fact that it’s somewhat of a hometown event for us, and we can’t wait to see our guys battle it out for the win. Come on out and catch some of this high-flying intensity this style of racing presents. And while you’re nearby, stop by and see us. We’ve got all the parts you need for a UTV.

And to get you in the mood for race day, take a gander at this video:

In the Class 1 competition, Yokley was first off the line, finding himself in the fourth position after the world-famous Talladega first turn. He showed all of us how well the DragonFire XP 955 Big Bore worked up the massive first hill, passing on the outside to take second position.

By keeping his head down and fighting it out, Yokley crossed the finish line in second place, which makes him the series points leader with a 36-point lead over second place holder Mark Holz and only two more rounds to go.

Over in Class 2, Melville put the power down and got himself a hole shot into Turn One. Starting in the second row of 12 UTVs in his class, he had his work cut out for him. But our racer chased down the field with nothing more than bolt-on DragonFire performance and suspension. Melville drove a great race, fighting his way through the pack to take a 1st place finish. The win puts him in eighth place in the series, edging out nine of the 16 Class 1 racers.

A good performance by both DFR team members! And with Round 8 just around the corner both racers and crews are already gearing up for the next WORCS competition at Race Town in Adelanto, Calif., Oct. 21-23, 2011.

The way we figure it, when Kyle wins, everybody wins. DFR-sponsored driver Kyle Melville took first place in the SuperStock UTV class at the 2011 Cal City 100 last month on DragonFire Racing suspension and we were so stoked, we decided to celebrate the win by offering that same suspension kit to all of you — our customers — for a huge discount.

Just how huge a discount, you ask? How about a $559.99 savings on our Black Magic Polaris Ranger RZR Suspension Plus-6 Long Travel? This is a state-of-the-art suspension system that features lightweight chromoly-plated boxed A-arms, 300M axles and Fox coilover shocks. The suspension travel is more than 13 inches per kit and this is a replacement kit. It uses remote rear and front shock towers to bring you the proper shock ratios and structural support that you’ll need for the increased travel.

So, thanks again Kyle — for providing us with some pretty exciting rain-soaked racing in mid-February. The Cal City competition, which was produced by Alta Vista Events and is part of the Super Course Series, was a 100-mile race made up of four 25-mile laps. The win firmly established Kyle as a top contender in 2011.

And if you’re interested in joining Kyle in the winner’s circle and pick up the RZR Long Travel Suspension Kit for nearly $560 off the regular price, you should know that the deal is only available by phone. Call us at 1-866-926-6169 and tell whoever answers the phone that you’re interested in the “Kyle Melville Special.”

DragonFire Racing-sponsored Driver, Kyle Melville

Following a successful 2010 campaign, DragonFire Racing is once again excited to be affiliated with WORCS series racer Kyle Melville. If you read our blog last year, you know we’re Kyle’s lead sponsor, providing him with all sorts of RZR parts and accessories, as well as cheering him on as he battled his way to a second-place finish overall in what was just his sophomore season.

The 2011 WORCS series championship promises to be just as exciting with Kyle once again stepping up as the mad man behind the wheel, jumping his RZR further and bigger than most drivers dare. And to help our teammate in that effort, we’ll continue to support Kyle with a long list of DFR parts and accessories (see below) and support:

• Long travel – http://www.dragonfireracing.com/suspension-and-lift-kits-4.aspx
• Intake – http://www.dragonfireracing.com/air-fuel-4.aspx
• Exhaust – http://www.dragonfireracing.com/exhaust-7.aspx
• G3 Fuel Controller - http://www.dragonfireracing.com/ignition-and-fuel-controllers-4.aspx
• Harnesses – http://www.dragonfireracing.com/polarisrangerrzr4pointseatbeltwithsternumstap.aspx

Good luck Kyle! We’re all looking forward to seeing how the 2011 season unfolds. In the meantime, check back next week when we’ll have a profile of another DragonFire Racing-sponsored rider, Cory Sappington.

Kyle Melville traversed a rough course of trees, bushes, rocks and other of nature’s delightful debris to follow the leader past the finish line in the World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS) at Cahuilla Creek in the California desert.

Melville tells us he maneuvered his DragonFire RZR UTV (Vehicle No. 661) on what was mostly a single trail barely wide enough for a stock-width RZR. He said the motocross track held a few good-sized jumps and was just about the only place where a pass could be made.

“The start went straight up a hill so horsepower was everything at the beginning of this race,” Melville said. “I entered the first turn in fifth position.” He made the pass on fourth in the motocross section of the first lap, then slowly picked the drivers off one by one until he ran out of time.

“I ran out of time to catch first, so I took a second-place finish,” he said, adding that Washington will be the round he needs to secure a comfortable point lead.

Meanwhile, William Yokley finished second overall and second in the UTV class at the John Penton GNCC ATV and UTV Race in Millfield, Ohio on June 5. For the uninitiated, the John Penton race is usually either dusty or muddy, but this year, it was a combo plate — dusty in the morning and, after an afternoon rainstorm delayed the race for an hour, muddy in the afternoon with parts of the motocross track under several feet of water.

Driving with his dad, Mike, as a guest passenger, it was a family affair when Yokley’s National Guard Polaris DragonFire UTV skidded off the track and over an embankment on the second turn. Somehow, Yokley still managed to maintain the lead, but a bottleneck enabled all the other UTVs to catch up, and the No. 10 UTV finished in second place.

Keep an eye on this spot for race updates on all of our DragonFire-sponsored drivers throughout the season.

Sitting behind the wheel of No. 661 — his Dragonfire RZR UTV — Melville now becomes the point leader in his UTV Class 2 series, targeting him as the man to catch in his division.

Melville and his RZR UTV arrived at Milford with a third-place standing, but within reach of the leaders. Due to a smaller field of competitors, the Class 2 and Class 3 UTVs all converged on the starting line, and Melville was in third place by the first turn.

“I quickly moved into second and battled with first place for the first lap,” Melville recalls. “Halfway through the second lap, I made a pass on first.”

From then on, Melville stretched his lead over the competition, winning the Class 2 race and the points lead. Melville races again in Round 6 this weekend (June 4-6) at Cahuilla Creek Motocross in Anza, California.