Inside CFMOTO’s New Z10 Short Course Race Program

CFMOTO ZFORCE Z10 Shows Podium Pace in Crandon Debut

CFMOTO’s new ZFORCE Z10 short-course program left Crandon with something more useful than an easy debut story: proof of speed, two incomplete Saturday runs and a clear benchmark for what comes next.

Owen VanEperen finished fourth in Sunday’s non-points Pro SxS final, 8.638 seconds behind winner Jeb Bootle and only 0.720 seconds behind third-place Kolton Krajicek, according to official AMSOIL Championship Off-Road results. That near-podium run came one day after a points final in which Owen finished 17th and Rodney VanEperen 18th, both several laps down.

For a race program making its first competition start, those results tell a more valuable story than a single finishing position. The Z10-based cars already have enough pace to run near the front. They also haven’t shown they can deliver that pace through a full race weekend. CFMOTO’s original Pro SxS announcement

Sunday Rebound Followed a Difficult Saturday

CFMOTO announced the Crandon weekend as the competition debut of its new partnership with VanEperen Racing. The company said Owen qualified fourth and Rodney fifth in Pro SxS. CFMOTO also reported that Rodney finished fourth overall and second in class in Saturday night’s Ultra4 competition.

Those two claims could not be independently confirmed in the public timing material reviewed for this story, so they remain CFMOTO-reported results. The official Champ Off-Road Pro SxS final is less flattering but important: Owen completed seven laps fewer than the winner on Saturday, while Rodney finished 11 laps down. The available results do not explain whether mechanical problems, contact, or another issue caused either short race.

Sunday showed what the package could do when Owen stayed in contention. The team says he started from the rear and climbed as high as third before losing the position on the final lap. The official pre-race lineup listed him eighth, so the reason for the rear-of-field start needs clarification. The finishing result itself is clear: fourth in an 18-driver classified field. Rodney finished 12th, five laps down.

The VanEperens Give the Program Immediate Credibility

CFMOTO did not hand a new platform to an untested team. Rodney began racing Pro Light trucks in 2002, won the 2015 Pro Buggy championship, and later built a successful Yamaha-backed SxS program. Champ Off-Road identifies him as the 2021 Pro Turbo SxS champion.

Owen entered this project after winning both the Pro SxS and Pro Stock SxS championships in 2025. The series credited him with 10 wins and 14 podiums in Pro Stock that season. Their record doesn’t guarantee the CFMOTO effort will work, but it removes one major unknown: the people developing the car already know what a competitive short-course package should feel like.

Rodney’s description of the decision is clear. “The platform, the wheelbase, the way the Z10 is laid out, everything’s right about it,” he said in CFMOTO’s release. “We looked at all of that before we got too involved. We knew the Z10 was something that we could build into a real race car.”

The Crandon Cars Are Not Stock Z10S

That last phrase matters. The Crandon machines are production-derived race cars, not showroom Z10s with numbers on the doors.

The 2026 production ZFORCE Z10 uses a 998cc turbocharged three-cylinder engine rated at 154 horsepower by CFMOTO. CFMOTO hasn’t revealed the race cars’ output. Its All In video series shows custom fabrication and bodywork, revised suspension packaging, relocated shock mounts, upgraded intercooler ducting, hydraulic steering, an alternator installation, race communications, and repeated dyno calibration.

CFMOTO personnel said the 64-inch Z10 layout, driving position, chassis, and suspension made short-course racing a more natural development path than desert competition. The build schedule was aggressive. The VanEperens said they received the cars in late April or early May and had about 65 days to turn them into race vehicles. That timeline helps explain why Crandon should be judged as an early baseline, although it does not explain the specific Saturday problems.

That level of modification limits what owners should conclude from one weekend. Owen’s fourth-place result does not prove that a stock Z10 will survive race conditions, and Saturday’s attrition does not establish a production reliability defect. Race teams use specialized parts, inspect machines between sessions, and operate under loads that most trail vehicles will never see.

Why Racing Still Matters to Z10 Owners

The program can still produce useful information for riders. Short-course competition repeatedly loads the engine, CVT, cooling system, suspension mounts, steering, and driveline. Problems surface quickly, and a factory-backed team can send that feedback to engineers faster than scattered owner reports can.

If CFMOTO uses the data well, owners could eventually see better calibration guidance, cooling revisions, stronger service parts or clearer setup information. Racing can also encourage aftermarket companies to build protection, suspension and service components for a new platform. None of those benefits have been announced, however. For now, they are possibilities that should be measured against actual product changes and parts availability.

The missing technical detail is the bridge between the race car and the machine owners can buy. CFMOTO has not itemized which engine, transmission, frame, suspension pickup, or driveline components are unchanged. Until it does, the safest evidence of technology transfer will be concrete changes: revised production parts, service guidance, dealer training, or new factory specifications tied to track lessons.

The same caution applies to buyers watching the program as a test of the brand. A competitive race effort can improve CFMOTO’s performance reputation, but it cannot answer questions about dealer support, warranty handling, resale value or long-term trail durability. Those judgments require owner mileage and service history, not a fourth-place race finish.

Crandon Was a Baseline, Not a Verdict

CFMOTO and the VanEperens have described 2026 as development work ahead of a full 2027 championship effort. That makes the split Crandon results useful: Saturday showed the need for cleaner, longer runs, while Sunday showed that Owen’s pace is already close to the podium.

The next announced test is the CFMOTO Off-Road National at Glen Helen Raceway on October 2-3, the Champ Off-Road season finale. Key numbers to watch include completed laps, mechanical issues, qualifying position, best-lap pace, and the gap to the leaders. A cleaner weekend would matter more than another isolated fast run.

Crandon provides a useful timing reference. Owen’s best official lap improved from 1:05.976 in Saturday’s points final to 1:05.153 on Sunday. Rodney recorded a 1:05.906 best lap Sunday. Track conditions and race traffic can change between sessions, so those figures do not prove a setup gain on their own. They do give the team and readers numbers to compare with the next event, alongside the more important question of how many laps each car completes.

CFMOTO has not proven the Z10 program over a season. It has done enough to make the 2027 goal credible and to give riders a reason to follow the development. At Glen Helen, the job is simple: keep the speed and finish more of the race.

The CFMOTO ZFORCE Z10 Is Here – And the Value Argument Is Hard to Ignore

Sources

1. CFMOTO USA CFMOTO VanEperen Racing Makes Competition Debut at Crandon

Date: September 8, 2026. Supports: Partnership, debut framing, Rodney quote, qualifying and Ultra4 claims, 2026 production-engine claim and Glen Helen announcement. Source type: Primary.

2. CFMOTO USA CFMOTO Racing All In Episode 1 The Beginning

Date: September 2026. Supports: Program strategy, race-car build details, development timeline and 2027 objective. Source type: Primary.

3. CFMOTO USA CFMOTO Racing All In Episode 2 Proven Grounds

Date: September 2026. Supports: Pre-race testing and program context. Source type: Primary.

4. AMSOIL Championship Off-Road Official Pro SxS Saturday results data

Date: September 5, 2026. Supports: Saturday finishing positions, laps completed and best laps. Source type: Primary.

5. AMSOIL Championship Off-Road Official Pro SxS Sunday results data

Date: September 6, 2026. Supports: Sunday finishing positions, time gaps, classified field and best laps. Source type: Primary.

6. AMSOIL Championship Off-Road Official Pro SxS Sunday lineup data

Date: September 6, 2026. Supports: Published starting lineup and the discrepancy with the team’s rear-start account. Source type: Primary.

7. AMSOIL Championship Off-Road The Big House Delivers on Championship Saturday as Henderson Ricky G Lead Crandon Charge

Date: September 6, 2026. Supports: Saturday points-race and Sunday non-points event structure. Source type: Primary.

8. AMSOIL Championship Off-Road Race Results

Date: Accessed September 9, 2026. Supports: Crandon event structure and official results routing. Source type: Primary.

9. AMSOIL Championship Off-Road The Inside Line The VanEperens

Date: February 15, 2024. Supports: Rodney’s career, 2015 Pro Buggy title, family program and 2021 championship context. Source type: Primary.

10. AMSOIL Championship Off-Road Catching Up With 2021 Pro Turbo SxS Champ Rodney VanEperen

Date: May 19, 2022. Supports: Rodney’s 2021 Pro Turbo SxS championship. Source type: Primary.

11. AMSOIL Championship Off-Road 2026 Season Preview

Date: April 30, 2026. Supports: Owen’s 2025 Pro SxS and Pro Stock SxS championships, wins and podiums. Source type: Primary.

12. CFMOTO USA 2026 ZFORCE Z10 Build and Price

Date: Accessed September 9, 2026. Supports: Current production-model identity and specifications context. Source type: Primary.

13. AMSOIL Championship Off-Road Glen Helen Off-Road National

Date: Accessed September 9, 2026. Supports: October 2-3 date and season-finale status. Source type: Primary.

14. SXS Nation Can CFMOTO’s New Z10 Survive the Pro SXS Test?

Date: Date not displayed; accessed September 9, 2026. Supports: Confirmed internal-link target and older article requiring an update. Source type: Secondary.

15. SXS Nation The CFMOTO ZFORCE Z10 Is Here – And the Value Argument Is Hard to Ignore

Date: Date not displayed; accessed September 9, 2026. Supports: Confirmed internal-link target for production-model context. Source type: Secondary.

16. SXS Nation 154 HP for $19,999: Did CFMOTO Just Reset the Sport UTV Value Equation?

Date: Date not displayed; accessed September 9, 2026. Supports: Confirmed internal-link target for price and specification context. Source type: Secondary.