Crandon, WI
Christopher Polvoorde has earned his way into an elite group of racers and has rewritten the history books. He won the Lucas Oil Midwest Short Course League Pro Lite Championship by sweeping the entire season. After clinching that championship, he celebrated by winning his 8th straight; the 50th Anniversary Crandon World Championship Off-Road Race. That’s 2 championship titles in the same weekend.
As you can imagine, Christopher and his STEEL-IT® team worked extremely hard to accomplish such an incredible feat. Their journey started in June at Crandon International Raceway, and wrapped up back in Crandon at the end of August. Crandon is the birthplace of short course racing, a fitting place to leave such an impressive mark on the sport.
“We are still in disbelief,” says Polvoorde. “When we got to Crandon everyone was asking if we could finish with a perfect season; the pressure was on. I’ve been working hard on reaction times, but just looking down that row of trucks waiting for the land rush start was scary. You charge down into turn one, a blind, off-camber turn, wide open. We got the holeshot so I thought ok, here we go.
After we won, I thought the pressure would be off, but then everyone was focused on the World Championship race. When we won that it was something I’d been dreaming of for years. I’ve been on the road since the first round in June. Living out of the trailer and doing our race prep at the track or in hotel parking lots was tough. My crew could not always be there, so it was not easy. One thing that definitely made the season easier was using STEEL-IT coatings to protect all of our metal parts from rusting. Before we had STEEL-IT, we had to take the truck apart and spend hours scrubbing the chassis down with abrasive pads. Now we just hose it off and inspect it.
With STEEL-IT we can find any cracks, and make repairs easily without having to remove the coating because you can weld directly on it. It’s saved so much time; we couldn’t have done this without such an amazing product.
This summer will be one I’ll never forget. The fans have been so cool. They are so passionate about racing, and so stoked that you are there. There were so many fans, so many racers, and so much history at the 50th anniversary. It’s going to be hard to top this.”
Michael Faigen, the President & CEO of the makers of STEEL-IT brand coatings, is obviously thrilled with Christopher’s outstanding performance. “We started working with Christopher and his team during the 2018 season. We saw in him not only a racer who had already made a mark in the sport, but a young man with the discipline and passion necessary to continue learning and improving. He hasn’t let us down for a minute!”
Usually racers who win championships do so by points racing. They strategize every move and hold something back in the name of consistency. There is no method for playing it safe when you win every race. Taking risks along the way, and winning every single round, requires preparation and execution that reaches perfection. Christopher Polvoorde and STEEL-IT have set themselves apart from the competition with their reliability and incredible performance.
Photography By: Bink Designs
