Phil Blurton ‘Flawless’ in UTV World Championship
Laughlin, NV (4/9/2018) – Defending Best in the Desert Series champion Phil Blurton scored his first victory of the season, winning the Polaris UTV World Championship. Driving a Can-Am X3, Blurton finished first in the Turbo class, ahead of Ryan Holz, Dustin Jones, Jacob Carver and Bill Zemak. Dodge Poelman won the Production class, while Cody Bradbury finished first in Sportsman, and Australian racer Brett Comiskey won the Unlimited class.
The nine-lap race was held Saturday following the short course event, which was held on the same course. The earlier racing made for a rough surface with plenty of braking and acceleration bumps, long whoops through the Fox Proving Grounds, and plenty of carnage. Temperatures were in the high 90s, and a stiff breeze late in the event cut down on dust.
Blurton started on the front row and was fifth going into the first corner. About three quarters of the way through the first lap, he took the lead and dominated from there. He added a minute on his nearest competitor every lap and cruised the final go around for the win.
“Another flawless UTV World Championship for us,” exclaimed Blurton. “This car really excels here because the whoops are so big here and the chatter bumps are so rough. With all of the wheel travel it has, it just soaks it up. This put us back into a really good position in points right now. As long as we can stay on track, we should be in the hunt for another championship.”
Though he drives a Can-Am, Blurton won one of five Polaris RZRs Polaris Industries awarded for race winners. Polaris also awarded brand-new rides for the winners of the two Youth class races, the short course race, as well as both Production and Turbo in the desert race.
“I really appreciate the RZR and I think it’s awesome,” said Blurton. “The more competition makes us faster as drivers. It keeps us pushing to build faster cars and coming back for more wins.”
Holz finished second after driving the entire event with his father, Mark, as co-driver. It marked the second year in a row that Blurton and Holz finished first in second in the UTV World Championship. Despite having boost issues, Holz used the durability of his Polaris to his advantage and snagged second.