UTV racing in Kamloops

If UTV racing is exhilarating to watch, can you imagine what it’s like to compete?

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Photo of a guy in a UTV flying through the air.

Drivers get big air in the UTV races at Whispering Pines Raceway in Kamloops, B.C. Fat Kid Photography photo

Kamloops Off Road Racing - B.C. (KORRBC) is wrapping up another busy season of full-throttle race action. This year, the club’s UTV class, which was added to the event schedule in 2011, really took off. 

According to Jennifer Loucks, who is the director of registration for KORRBC, the club decided to get into UTV racing when they noticed how fast the sport was growing in the U.S.

“After we received a couple of inquiries from potential members, we decided to go for it, and haven’t looked back since,” said Loucks.

The UTV races take place on the club’s permanent, 1.3-kilometre track at Whispering Pines Raceway in Kamloops. With 75-foot tabletops, hard and soft corners and long straight stretches, racers fly through the air, jockey for position and let their wheels spin hard as they pin it to the finish line. Loucks said it is exhilarating to watch.

Throughout the 2012 season, Al McBeth and Tyler Backus have been vying for first place in the overall points standings. For Backus, this is his first year of racing UTVs but as a World Championship snowmobile racer, he fits right in when it comes to speed and adrenalin.

Backus races a 2012 Polaris RZR XP, equipped with a 995-cc big bore kit. Those who want to compete in the UTV class with KORRBC don’t have to spend big bucks on their machine though. Stock machines can compete as long as they meet the club’s safety requirements. Backus is the part owner of Backus Racing, a full-line Polaris dealership in Mara, B.C., and he said that next summer the shop will have full UTV race conversion kits available for $1,500.

About KORRBC

Formed in 2005, KORRBC is a non-profit organization with approximately 100 members, including racers, co-pilots, passengers and volunteers. In addition to the UTVs, the club hosts pro trucks, pro buggies, 1450 prerunners, sportsman trucks, sportsman buggies, outlaw rock crawlers and limited lite trucks at its events.

The KORRBC race season usually runs from May to October. See the club’s website for more information. 


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