Rossville, IN (7/20/2006)
- The WPSA PowerSports ATV Championship
Tour will continue its march through the Midwest
this weekend, as it visits Wild Cat Creek MX
for the AMSOIL ATV Championship. The double
championship event, scheduled for Saturday and
Sunday, July 22-23, represents the sixth and
seventh rounds of the 10-race 2006 schedule.
Saturday's race will be telecast on ESPN2 on
Saturday, Aug. 5, while Sunday's events will
air on Saturday, Aug. 13. Both races are scheduled
to be telecast at noon EDT.
This weekend's events could very well determine who
is on track to win this year's Riders' Championships.
Leading that charge is QuadMX SuperQuad Pro 450 points
leader Dustin Wimmer (No. 191 East Coast ATV, Axis,
Sparks, Maxxis/Honda). After netting his first professional
victory two weeks ago in Illinois, the 19-year-old
Center Valley, Pa. rider took a commanding eight-point
lead in the title chase.
But "Digger" Doug Gust isn't likely to
allow Wimmer to just run away with the title. The
wiley veteran rider of the venerable No. 55 Team Suzuki,
Yoshimura/Suzuki had a rare mechanical problem in
the last round, but has demonstrated his experience
this year, with one win, and three additional podiums.
Sitting second in points, Gust will certainly be in
contention for the win, and the overall points lead
here.
The Suzuki brace is further strengthened by third-in-points
Jeremiah Jones and his No. 2 Team Suzuki, Yoshimura,
Fly/Suzuki. Though Jones missed the first race of
the season due to an injury in qualifying, the young
gun hasn't missed the podium since, earning two wins
and three second-place finishes in five starts.
All of the top runners benefited at the last race
from quad racing superstar John Natalie, Jr.'s misfortune.
The rider of the No. 13 Elka, HMF, Swift/Honda suffered
a severely broken left thumb prior to the last WPSA
event, sidelining his efforts. Though he isn't scheduled
to compete here, Natalie does plan to return for the
Tour's season finale at Raceway Park in New Jersey
at the end of August.
Meanwhile, the points race over in the QuadTerrain
Challenge Pro Stock class easily mirrors the dogfight
that usually takes on the track. Daryl Rath (No. 67
Rath Racing, Arctic Cat, Maxxis, Douglas Wheels/Arctic
Cat) has showcased his years of experience this season
with two wins, and holds point in the championship
standings.
However, just a scant three points back is William
Yokley (No. 23 Suzuki). Yokely, and his privateer
Suzuki effort, has shown competitiveness beyond his
budget this season. In fact, Yokley has finished on
the podium in all five races he entered this season,
and has two victories to his credit.
Scott Kilby (No. 227 Can-Am, Maxxis, OMF/Can-Am)
has led the charge for factory-backed Warnert Racing
squad this season. A win last weekend made for the
North Carolina native's fourth podium this season,
and placed him third in points.
The Manufacturers' Championships have also taken
on a fevered pitch as Suzuki now holds the lead in
both the QuadTerrain Challenge and SuperQuad Pro 450
standings. The company leads Honda by two points in
SuperQuad Pro 450, and is in a numerical tie with
Can-Am in QuadTerrain Challenge.
This weekend's races are sponsored by AMSOIL Synthetic
Lubricants. AMSOIL, which is universally recognized
as having introduced synthetic oils to the general
public, produces a wide range of lubricants and filtering
technologies for the street car, over-the-road trucking
and the high performance/racing industries. AMSOIL's
Interceptor and Dominator two-cycle racing oils are
engineered specifically for powersports racing applications,
both on and off the track.
Riders will be vying for one of the richest purses
in ATV racing here. The Tour will award $22,500 in
purse monies each day here, as it does for each race
this season. The purse, which will be awarded in the
Tour's Pro Classes, pays to 20th place in the QuadMX
Series and to 15th place in QuadTerrain Challenge.
The purse structure awards $4,000 to win in QuadMX
and $2,000 to win in QuadTerrain Challenge, with $15,000
and $7,500 available in each Series, respectively.
Additionally, Quad Magazine is sponsoring a "Holeshot
Award" in SuperQuad Pro 450, awarding $1,000
to the rider who wins the holeshot at the beginning
of the final. Over in QuadTerrain, ATVRiders.com is
sponsoring the "Rock'n'Roll Award" which
will give a $500 bonus to the rider leaving the course's
rock crawl first during the final.
The ATV Tour's two racing series: the "QuadMX
Series" and the "QuadTerrain Challenge Series"
compete at each event this season. QuadMX consists
of professional and pro-am sport MX racing on pro-style,
big-air MX racing circuits. The QuadTerrain Challenge
comprises professional and pro-am sport utility racing
on purpose-built all-terrain racing circuits. ATVs
allowed to compete will include stock, near-stock
utility-type, and modified.
The Wild Cat Creek track layout, like all circuits
on the Tour, is designed to optimize television coverage
and fan viewing for both racing disciplines. The QuadMX
course is central to the design and is tailored exclusively
for ATV racing. The QuadTerrain course is constructed
immediately adjacent to the MX track and incorporates
a small portion of the technical section of the MX
course, but excludes all big air MX sections. The
balance of the QuadTerrain course consists of specialized
terrain and obstacles. All obstacle sectors are raced
at speed. Races feature obstacles that demonstrate
the machine's and a rider's capabilities under race
conditions. However certain sections will require
careful maneuvering, or a deft high-speed touch. The
QuadTerrain courses are a half mile or less in length.
The AMSOIL ATV Championship kicks off Friday,
July 21 with open practice. Racing gets underway
Saturday, with a full card of qualifying and
finals for the Pro classes, as well as Amateur,
Pro-Am and Youth class qualifying. Sunday will
also feature a full show for the Pros, with
finals scheduled for the remaining classes.
Tickets, which start at $15 per day for adults
and $5 for kids 6-12, will be available at the
gate. A full race weekend schedule will be posted
at www.powersportstour.com.
About the PowerSports
ATV Tour
The PowerSports ATV Tour is North America's
newest ATV racing tour. The Tour is North America's
premier form of ATV racing, with its jumps,
gyrations and dirt-slinging racing action. The
Tour is organized by the World PowerSports Association,
North America's largest and most respected snowmobile
sanctioning body, and promoter of ATV and snowmobile
racing on both the regional and national level.
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