Arctic Cat unveiled its factory support of Rath Racing Saturday during the AMSOIL ATV Championship PowerSports ATV Championship Tour races at Wild Cat Creek MX. The team’s four riders (from left) Daryl Rath, Joe Duncan, Jesse West and Kevin Johnston, compete in the Tour’s QuadTerrain Challenge Pro Stock Class. (PowerSports ATV Tour Photo)

Rath Racing fields quads for QuadTerrain Pro Stock points leader Daryl Rath (No. 67 Rath Racing, Maxxis, Douglas Wheels/Arctic Cat), Joe Duncan (No. 220 Rath Racing, Park X, Hilltop Sports, Moose Racing/Arctic Cat), Kevin Johnston (No. 225 Maxxis, Douglas Wheels/Arctic Cat), as well as Jesse West (No. 888 Oil Boyz, Stud Boy/Arctic Cat), who won Saturday’s race in just his third Tour start.

Arctic Cat has the most victories this year of any other quad, with three wins. The company currently sits third in the Manufacturers’ Championship, just five points out of the lead.

“This started as an engineering development program,” said Kale Wainer, Artic Cat Media Relations Specialist. “Daryl Rath led that charge. Early on, our machines shined in the rocks, logs and the mud. That’s how we build our machines for our consumers—to be rugged. We’re still racing on the same frames with which we started, without gusseting or welds. That’s a testament of our machine’s ability.”

Wainer said the company’s racing engineering experience directly correlates to its consumer quads.

“The racing environment is an accelerated test environment,” said Wainer. “You find out quickly what the weak parts are in the machine. We found out a lot of the important parts of an ATV are our strong points. The frame, suspension and ground clearance are really strong on the Arctic Cat quads.

“It’s paying off,” added Wainer. “We’ve learned a lot about our machines. That knowledge will transfer down to our consumers in future models.”

Wainer said Arctic Cat is also using the Tour to spread the word about its products.

“We have a strong following, but there are still a lot of people that don’t about Arctic Cat; they’re used to the big four Japanese companies,” said Wainer. “We want to showcase we’re building consumer utility quads that can be considered race ready. That’s what’s so great about this stock class.”

“This Series is awesome,” added Wainer. “The tracks are great, it’s exciting to watch and the racers love it. Typically, in any other type of racing, there are three guys that dominate. In QuadTerrain Challenge, you really don’t who’s going to win until the checkered flag drops.”

About the PowerSports ATV Tour
The PowerSports ATV Championship Tour is North America’s newest ATV racing tour and features the greatest show on dirt. The Tour is North America’s premier form of ATV racing, with its jumps, gyrations and dirt-slinging racing action. The Tour is sanctioned by the World PowerSports Association, North America’s largest and most respected ATV and snowmobile sanctioning body, and promoter of ATV and snowmobile racing on both the regional and national level. For more information, please visit www.PowerSportsTour.com