Posted: 1/26/2026
Park Rapids, MN, hosted Round 2 of the Cor PowerSports Race Series with what has become one of the racers' and fans' favorite events, the Heartland 200. One of the most unique aspects of this event is that it offers two race routes, depending on winter conditions. Plan A each year is the traditional 108-mile ditch-and-woods race, but Plan B is a lake race. Having these two options helps ensure that the thousands of hours that go into these events do not go to waste. Every year except 2024, the race has run as scheduled, shifting only the race route. In 2024, however, the winter was so unusually warm that neither the woods nor the lake routes were possible.
10 days prior to this year's event, the announcement was made that the 2026 Heartland 200 would have to move to Fish Hook Lake due to low snow conditions in the Paul Bunyan State Forest. With low snow, the Heartland 200 race committee and the two snowmobile clubs did not feel there was sufficient snow to groom the trail after each day's racing to return the public trail system to pre-race conditions.
In the days leading up to this year's event, a significant cold front moved across the entire nation. The Park Rapids area saw close to -30 overnight, with forecasted -45+ windchills. On Friday, race officials and the Heartland 200 committee met to discuss the weekend race schedule. Based on the information available at that time, the decision was made to delay the start to 11 am Saturday and run a condensed schedule. The condensed schedule eliminated the three qualifier races for the finals and switched those finals to a traditional timed cross-country event. Other classes had one lap cut, and, out of safety for our youngest racers, the Jr 8-12 and Jr 10-13 classes would not compete.
Saturday morning, there was definitely a bite when you stepped outside, but the racers did their best to be prepared for the challenge of the course and the cold weather when the green flag dropped.
The first race up Saturday was Vet 30+, Classic, All Junior 14-17 Classes, and Vintage, which ran as a two-day combined time for the overall winner. Being the first race, a lot of eyes were on this heat, as it was the first round on a newly updated 9.5-mile Heartland 200 race route on Fish Hook Lake that featured a flowing track instead of the tight, technical track we have seen in past events in Park Rapids.
JP Parker (2025 Cor PowerSports Rookie of the Year) led the field on his Polaris snowmobile and set a lap time that gave everyone an idea of how the course would race. JP finished first, 41 seconds ahead of the next-fastest competitor, Bryden Diesen, in Jr 14-17.
Second race on Saturday was Sport Improved Stock. At driver check-in, racers pulled chips for their starting order, and first off was Team Arctic racer Rielly Clark. Being out front in the snow dust was a big benefit for the Warren, MN racer, who set down quick laps and took the win. But behind him, the story was different. Hayden Hoffarth of Langdon, ND, on his Ski-Doo, and Polaris rider Carter Wark of Minnedosa, Manitoba, moved into second and third place behind Clark's Arctic Cat.
Race 3 was Semi Pro Improved Stock. It was a 5-lap race, and from the drop of the green flag, the 122 Polaris of Oliver Olson put in fast laps. The 77 Arctic Cat of Aiden Johnson finished second behind the Polaris of Olson, and the 786 Polaris of Tyler Brown rounded out the podium.
Race 4 was time for the big gun Pro Open sleds. Many of the racers have these purpose-built weapons, which, as always, are fan favorites. After an unfortunate mechanical in Ottertail, MN, last round, the 188 of Evan Peppel and his crew spent a lot of late nights in the shop during the off week, getting the white Polaris open sled prepped for Evan. From the start of the race, it was clear that Evan was on a mission to find the top spot, but the 874 Polaris of Boe Bunke was doing his best to keep the 188 in reach. Lap after lap, Evan and Boe kept clicking off fast laps. This was a 6-lap race, and every lap these two riders bested their previous fast lap. Behind these two, the older Bunke brother, Taylor Bunke, was giving chase on the number 14 Polaris, while the veteran and 2025 Pro Open champion, Aaron Christensen, was closing in. On the last lap, Evan Peppel found a burst of speed and set a low lap, besting the next fastest time by 3 seconds, securing him the win, followed by the Bunke Racing machines of 874 Boe Bunke and 14 Taylor Bunke.
Pro Women were up next, and again we saw a Polaris battle up front. The Ottertail 100 Pro Women winner, Unity Guasen, on her 144 Hetteen Heritage Racing Polaris, was chased by the 42 of McKenna Cloose. After two laps, Unity took the win with a little more than 2-second lead over McKenna.
The last race of the day was the Team Class, originally scheduled for seven teams, but due to a vehicle breakdown on the way to the event Friday, the team of Revering and LaVoie had to scratch. Hot off his Pro Open win, Evan Peppel teamed up this week with fellow Polaris rider Cooper Kangas for the team race. The Ottertail-winning team of Paul and Tyler Brown were also looking to repeat. At the drop of the green, the riders ran to their sleds, as this class uses a LeMans start. At the end of lap one, the Brown team had a 7-second lead over the Peppel/Kangas team. After completing the second lap, the riders did a driver exchange. As they entered the exchange, the Brown team had a 23-second lead over the Peppel/Kangas team, followed by the Arctic Cat team of Hallstrom/Wadena in third. With Evan now on course, he took what he learned from the Pro Open win and chipped 13 seconds off the lead in one lap! Through binoculars, fans watched the 188 of Peppel chasing down the Brown team's sled that was out front. With less than 3 miles to go, fans could see that Peppel was now in the snowdust and closing in on Brown. Less than a mile from the finish, Evan moved his sled into the lead and took the Team Class win ahead of the Brown Tech team and the Arctic Cat team of Hallstrom and Wadena.
Sunday, we returned to our normal schedule with qualifier races and heads-up finals, along with Day 2 of the combined time classes.
Sport Stock saw Rielly Clark (Arctic Cat) as the top qualifier, followed by Braden Sillerud (Arctic Cat), Hayden Hoffarth (Ski-Doo), Reese Novacek (Polaris), Carter Wark (Polaris), and Brady Wimpfheimer (Arctic Cat), who rounded out the front row. The top 6 qualifiers earned front-row starting spots. Clark shot out front, with Reese Novacek and Hayden Hoffarth in pursuit. After lap 1, the top 3 were Clark, Novacek, and Hoffarth. On lap 2, the top 2 stayed the same, but Braden Sillerud moved into second, passing Hoffarth. For two laps, the top 3 stayed the same, then on the final lap Sillerud moved around Novacek to snatch second place from her and Reese hung on to third to round out the podium.
Semi Pro Factory saw Elliot Clark (Arctic Cat) as the top qualifier, followed by Cooper Kangas (Polaris), Oliver Olson (Polaris), Brady Wadena (Arctic Cat), Keith Gainforth (Polaris), and Keagan Houser (Arctic Cat), who rounded out the front row of the 5-lap final. Cooper Kangas’ Polaris jumped out to an early lead, followed by Keagan Houser and Oliver Olson, rounding out the lead pack. On Lap 3, Brady Wadena made his presence known, moving into third ahead of Houser while the front two stayed the same. On Lap 4, Oliver Olson moved his Polaris around Cooper Kangas while Keith Gainforth was closing in on Brady Wadena for third. At the checkered flag, the lead two stayed the same, with Oliver Olson taking the win on his Polaris, followed by Cooper Kangas on his Polaris. But the action behind these two was fierce, as Keith Gainforth of Unionville, MI, moved his Polaris into the draft of Brady Wadena’s Arctic Cat as they closed in on the final 3 miles of the course. From the spectators’ viewpoint, you could have thrown a blanket over these two as they appeared to swap positions multiple times. Brady drove his Arctic Cat RXC hard into the corners to keep the Polaris behind him, but with four corners to go, Keith made his move to put his Polaris in third place and give Polaris a 1-2-3 for the Semi Pro Factory class.
The last race of the day was the premier-class Pro Factory, featuring the best, most well-rounded snowmobile racers in the United States. The front row saw 173 Paul Brown, fresh off his dominating win at Ottertail, as the top qualifier on his Polaris, with 188 (2025 Cor PowerSports Race Series Pro Factory champion) Evan Peppel .3 seconds off Paul's qualifying time as the #2 qualifier. Boe Bunke (Polaris), Marshal Busse (Polaris), Dan Revering (2025 Heartland 200 winner), and Aaron Christense (Polaris) rounded out an all-Polaris front row.
From the green light, the 173 Polaris of Paul Brown took the lead, just as he had last round in Ottertail, but this time the field kept him in sight. On lap 1, Paul Brown was out front, with Peppel 2.7 seconds back and Revering 3.5 seconds back. The 711 of Marshall Busse came across in fourth, but on lap 2 he had to stop to fix a part on his sled, which shuffled him back to eighth by the end of lap 2. Laps 3 through 5 saw the top 5 stay the same, Brown, Peppel, Revering, Christensen, and Boe Bunke. On lap 5, Peppel was still less than two seconds behind Paul Brown and pushing him, but as they came around for lap 6, the 188 of Peppel was missing. Then reports came in from course officials out on the course that the 188 was stopped and out due to a mechanical, which took the pressure off the 173 of Brown’s crew as he came in for his fuel stop. The final 3 laps saw the top 3 stay the same, with Paul Brown taking his second consecutive win this season, followed by Dan Revering and Aaron Christensen to round out the podium.
With the win, Paul not only won the coveted Heartland 200 neon sign for his Pro Factory but also set history! Since 2013, when the current rendition of the Heartland 200 began, there have been 10 different winners and two multiple winners; two wins for Aaron Christensen (2014 & 2020), three wins for Zach Herfindahl (2017, 2019, & 2023), but never brothers. In 2022, David Brown won the Heartland 200, and now, with Paul Brown’s win, they will go down in history as the first two brothers to win the Pro Factory premier class in the current generation of the Heartland 200!
Congratulations to all the winners, and huge thanks to the Heartland 200 race committee and the entire Park Rapids, MN, community for once again putting on an amazing event in 2026!
Next up in the series, we will cross the border into North Dakota, the first time for the Cor PowerSports series. But Manvel, ND, is no stranger to hosting great racing, and YES, we are going terrain racing!!
Full results and updated points posted at www.CorPowerSports.com
Heartland 200 Recap
Heartland 200 update
Heartland 200 race update
Heartland 200 update
Ottertail 100 Race Recap
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