The Kioti Armstrong Truck & Tractor American Woods Racing Championship Series (AWRCS), presented by Lojaks Cycle Sales and an AMA East Regional Championship, returned to racing for round nine at the Nik Resch Construction The Forest in Sigel, Pennsylvania, September 5-6. After a few weeks away from racing, AWRCS competitors were back in action for a weekend in the Pennsylvania woods.
Story & Photos by Kate Stiller
When the green flag flew for the Adult Bike race, Sawyer Carratura grabbed the XC-Pro holeshot and led the field into the woods. By the end of the opening lap, Liam Draper held the lead, while Keihin Rupp came through second and Carratura in third.
Draper suffered bike issues that ultimately ended his day early, making room for Rupp to take over the lead on the second lap. Easton Uplinger came through second overall and first in the XC-Pro Amateur class, using time adjustment to his advantage as he began to close the gap Rupp had created. Carratura followed Uplinger in third overall, with Shawn Myers Jr sitting fourth.
The running order continued to change on lap three as Myers worked his way into second overall. Uplinger dropped back to third overall, while Carratura found himself sitting fourth. Out front, Rupp continued to lead the way heading into the fourth and final lap.
Rupp held on to earn back-to-back overall wins and take over the series points lead with just two rounds remaining. Meanwhile, Carratura clawed his way back to second overall on the final lap, earning valuable points after finishing outside the top five at the previous round. Uplinger rounded out the overall podium in third and earned the XC-Pro Amateur class win.
Myers finished fourth overall after running as high as second, while Joe Schriver rounded out the top five overall.
In the XC-Women Open CC class, Sahara Robinson led through the first two laps, with Madison Harmon in second. However, Robinson was unable to complete the final lap, allowing Harmon to take the lead and secure her second win of the season. Giada Peluso rounded out the top three.
In the Youth Bike race, Derek Deal took control early, leading all four laps before crossing the finish line to earn his first Youth overall win of the season outside of the co-sanctioned GNNC round. Sahara Robinson remained second overall throughout the race to finish runner-up, while Ty Behrendt used the time adjustment from the YB-Supermini B class to his advantage to finish third overall and earn the class win.
Gatlin Riddle followed in fourth overall, while Karson Reese worked his way up from eighth on the opening lap to round out the top five.
In the PeeWee Bike race, Baron Evkovich used the time adjustment from the PWB-2 Stroke class to his advantage, moving from third overall on the opening lap to take the lead on lap four. Evkovich held on through the final lap to earn his first overall win of the season. Micah Oaks finished just 10 seconds behind to take second overall, while Audrey Petrilla earned the PeeWee Bike Mini A class win and rounded out the overall podium. Matthew Jewell finished fourth overall, with Mason Ostrowski rounding out the top five.
The AWRCS series heads into the final two rounds of the 2026 season. Racing returns at Ben Franklin Range in Templeton, Pennsylvania.CN
2026 AWRCS Round 9 Results
OVERALL (Top 10)
- Keihin Rupp (Kaw) 1:47:25
- Sawyer Carratura (KTM) 1:48:12
- Easton Uplinger (Bet) 1:48:49
- Shawn Myers Jr (Yam) 1:49:09
- Joe Schriver (Yam) 1:52:56
- Cian Conry (KTM) 1:53:40
- Colton Mochtyak (Hus) 1:54:43
- Seth Miller (Yam) 1:55:07
- Ethan Waddell (Kaw) 1:55:12
- Colton Barber (Kaw) 1:56:09
