Barnes Moves into 2nd in the Red Bull National Points Standings

Decatur, Texas (April 1, 2023) Red Bull Round 3 of the Scramble Series made the “Ranch Scramble” stop this past weekend at the Oak Hill Raceway located just west of Dallas, Texas. The weekend was co-sanctioned with the Texas Outlaw Series, a series known for having the most competition in short course racing in the United States. Polaris RZR pilot, John Barnes has been racing the Red Bull series which had already made stops at the “Ice Scramble” in Iowa and the “Snow Scramble” in Michigan. In Texas, Barnes entered his first short course race with the most stacked pro short course racers in the country.

 

Details came late that the event would be only short course racing and zero ranch/crosscountry racing. Barnes had already prepped the car for a combination of both. There was no time to prepare a short course RZR, so the team ran the cross country car. The Polaris RZR Pro XP was equipped with Elka cross country suspension and Roctane T4 tires. What awaited the team was a world class short course facility overhauled by the Texas Outlaw management in the off season.

 

Barnes commented, “I knew it was going to be quite the challenge once we went through tech and was informed cross country racing would not be parts of the track. I kept the mindset to earn points, be competitive as possible, get through the weekend in one piece, and then, get back to terrain we excel at.”

 

Earning points is what the team did. Practice was Friday, qualifying was Saturday morning, followed by the heat race, and then, the last chance qualifier. Barnes made it through all of it to compete at the main event at 3:00 pm.

 

The start of the main event race was gnarly. A live engine start with 21 racers stacked into 3 rows took off at the same time headed into turn 1. Adding to the excitement, the sight and the sound of the Red Bull helicopter in the distance televised the event. A huge Texas crowd came out along with several members of the air force stationed nearby.

 

In the main, Barnes took off from row 3 not getting a great start and towards the end of the pack. He pushed hard and made several passes. He took the checkers on lap 7 with 14th place. He had made it through the weekend with the RZR in one piece.

 

Most importantly, the team moved into second in points just 16 points behind points leader, Johnny Greaves. (Several of the Texas Outlaw short course racers were there for that race only). Barnes will participate at round 4, the “Beach Scramble” in New Jersey on May 6 where he continues to fights for the championship.

 

The team would like to thank the 2023 sponsors:

Polaris RZR, Yokley Racing, Super ATV, Big Country Powersports, Highlifter Tire & Wheel, Elka Suspension, Millennium Technologies, Epowersteering.com, VP Racing Fuels, Double E Racing, Trinity Racing, SSI Decals, CP Carrillo, MTNTK Performance, IMS, PPEI, Coffman Custom Machine, Longhorn Fab Shop, PRP Seats, Razorback Technology, Mid TN Off-Road, STM, RZR Extreme, Alba Racing, Hess Motorsports, Tire Balls East, Barnes Off-Road Marketing, LLC