Maxxis / Elka’s
Joel Hetrick Takes 6th Win at Red Bed
Maxxis / Elka / Liquid Wrench / Honda AMA ATV MX Report
Buchanan, MI (8/1/2016) - Maxxis/Elka/Liquid
Wrench/ Honda’s Joel Hetrick turned heads at the
tenth round of the 2016 AMA ATV Motocross National
Championship in Buchanan, MI at RedBud Motocross
Park. Hetrick went 2-1 for his sixth overall win
of the season, followed by teammate David Haagsma
with fifth overall, and amateur rider Grayson
Eller taking third overall in both Open B and
College 16-24.
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Maxxis/Elka/Liquid Wrench/ Honda’s
Joel Hetrick went 2-1 for his 6th Overall
win of the season at Red Bud |
Hetrick’s performance was nothing short of impressive,
once again. Not only did he clinch the overall
win, Hetrick also scored both holeshots. In the
first moto, Hetrick was leading by eight seconds
on the fifth lap when he made a slight mistake.
“I had a little mishap and came off the bike in
front of the mechanics area. I lost traction,
then caught, and swapped back and forth. It kicked
me off and I planted my hand, so I had a little
trouble with that the second moto,” explained
Hetrick.
Hetrick jumped up and got going as quickly as
possible again, but was back to third place. He
pushed hard and managed to pass for second place
on the tenth lap.
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DASA
Racing's Joel Hetrick held off Chad Wienen
to claim his 2nd Holeshot of the weekend
in Moto 2 |
With a fire lit under him from the first moto
mistake, Hetrick was absolutely unstoppable in
the second moto. He ripped the holeshot and crushed
the competition, winning by a ten second gap.
“The Maxxis tires hooked up great and the DASA
motor pulled off the line for my holeshot, and
I never looked back. I was still heated from that
first moto spill. I had it in my head I needed
to win that race, and I needed to win by a couple
seconds to show everyone I could have won the
first one as well,” said Hetrick.
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Joel
Hetrick ran away with the Moto 2 win, but
he remains 22 points out of the ATV MX Pro
points lead |
Hetrick remains in second place, 22 points below
Chad Wienen in the national championship points
race. “Anything can still happen with this championship
battle. With a DNF from Wienen I could be back
up in it. I am just going to race each moto one
at a time,” said Hetrick.
Maxxis/Elka’s David Haagsma also had a phenomenal
weekend, taking a top five Pro overall class finish.
“First moto I had a battle with Musick and then
caught up to John Natalie, but just could not
put it together to get around him. He is a great
rider and knows the race lines,” said Haagsma
who took sixth that moto.
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David
Haagsma & the rest of the team was running
the brand new FLY racing gear at Red Bud
MX |
In moto two Haagsma was able to redeem himself
and make a pass on the very talented John Natalie.
“I definitely learned from the first moto, and
the second moto I was able to pass him and get
to fifth to take fifth place overall,” stated
Haagsma.
Overall, Haagsma is happy with his weekend and
aiming to improve his starts for the next round.
“It was a great weekend. I like the track, it
gets really gnarly but they do great work here
grooming it and it was a lot of fun. I just have
to get good starts so I can battle with those
front guys. The bike works great, I just have
to show everyone what the bike has, and what I
have,” explained Haagsma.
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Roll
Design's David Haagsma finished 5th Overall |
Amateur rider Grayson Eller took two podium finishes.
Eller took third overall in College and Open B,
and sixth overall in 450 B.
College is a difficult class filled with many
talented riders, including A class racers, but
Eller was able to battle with the best of them.
“I was put in a pretty difficult division with
a lot of fast people and had a bad start where
I almost crashed,” said Eller.
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#171
Grayson Eller claimed Podium finishes in
Open B & 450 B |
Shortly after, another incident with other riders
caused Eller to lose even more time. “Already
30 seconds down from everyone else, I pushed through
the whole moto.” Despite the lost time in the
beginning of the moto, Eller managed to work his
way all the way up to second place at the finish.
In the second moto of College, Eller took fifth
for third overall. “ I had another terrible start,
but I didn’t let it bother me. The track was rough
and towards the end everyone got tired, but The
Program helped me to keep my stamina and helped
me to pass a lot of people,” said Eller.
Eller’s speed is clearly where it needs to be,
all that is left now is working on starts, and
that is just what Eller plans to do before the
next round. “I am pretty excited on the weekend.
I still need to put in work on my starts. After
I figure that out, I think I will be right up
there to fight with Cody Ford, Noah Mickelson,
and Logan Stanfield,” stated Eller.
The Maxxis/Elka team riders will return to the
eleventh round of the series at the historic Loretta
Lynn’s Ranch in Hurricane Mills, TN August 13-14,
where they will be working to claim more wins
and podium finishes.
2016 Race Team Sponsors
Maxxis, Liquid Wrench, Elka, Fly, Scott, SSi Decals, DWT, Hinson, Bel Ray, Sunstar, Works Connection, Sandridge Foods, Impact Solutions, Fourwerx, Alpinestar, DC Designs, Precision Racing Products
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