Story and photos by: Emily Wicklund and Aaron Kennedy

The 3rd stop on the 2019-2020 USXC tour is the Sevens Clans TRF 250 in Thief River Falls Minnesota. This will be the 5th consecutive year that the 250 race has been a stop for the circuit. Prior to this, the I-500 was held at the Seven Clans casino but recently have added a shorter 250-mile race to the schedule.

The Thief River Falls course is a mix of ditch, river, and woods which brings terrain riders from across the state. This will be a two-day event with racers making two 60 mile loops on Saturday and two 65 mile loops on Sunday equaling 250 miles of action. Junior 10-13 and vintage riders will be competing both days on the same course making only one lap each day. This will be a timed event with all racers riding in one heat. The start on Sunday will be inverted from the start on Saturday. There will be a mandatory fuel stop after the finish line of the first lap for all riders continuing for lap 2.

In the past 5 years of running this race, defending TRF 250 champion, Zach Herfindahl (Arctic Cat), has won 3 of those years. Herfindahl is currently sitting 3rd in Pro Stock points for the season. Another rider who has shown success in his hometown is Arctic Cat’s Wes Selby. In the past 5 years, Selby has landed himself on the podium 4 times. He won the event in 2015 and was the runner up in 2018 and 2016 and 3rd in 2019. Polaris rider Aaron Christensen has podiumed 3 times in the past 5 years winning in 2018 and being the runner up in 2019 and 2017. Selby and Christensen are currently tied for the lead in the season Pro Stock points running.

Racing starts up on Saturday at 10 A.M. with the headquarters being at the Seven Clans Casino which is 10 miles southwest on highway 59.