RRR’s Josh Upperman
Sixth at High Point Raceway
Root River Racing’s Pro ATV MX Race Report
La Crosse, WI (5/25/2016) - Root River Racing’s Pro rider Josh Upperman captured a sixth place overall finish at the fifth round of the 2016 AMA ATV Motocross National Championship at High Point Raceway in Mount Morris, PA.
Mother Nature once again played a crucial role in track conditions for race day. “It started raining Friday night. We woke up and the track was pretty wet. The thing about it is everybody has to race the same track, so we just tried to focus on a good setup and focus on a top five position out of the gate,” explained Upperman.
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Josh Upperman went 7-4 to finish sixth overall
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Upperman succeeded in both the good mud setup and a top five start in both motos. “Moto one I got fifth out of the gate, made a couple bobbles, and fell back to seventh. I held seventh for the rest of the race.”
For the mud, Upperman focused on running the larger Hoosier tires to help him with starts and traction throughout the slippery track. “We went with bigger Hoosier mud tires to get better traction and get off the gate. The starts were about six inches of deep mud.”
The second moto is where Upperman’s most impressive performance came from, he had a great start and took a fourth place finish. “I came out of the gate in third. The track was a little better but still slimy and slick, we had a little bit of a rain mist. I was passed by one person but held on the rest of the race for fourth to give me sixth overall.”
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Josh Upperman currenty sits sixth in the Pro ATV Motocross Points
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Given the challenging track conditions Upperman put together a solid two motos, but still feels he can improve. “Overall I am not too happy about it, but it was a mud race and I was able to finish without a DNF so it is what it is. I was excited to get back on some dirt that I was familiar with like back home, but unfortunately had the mud.”
The whole team at Root River Racing and all of the sponsors supporting Upperman make a tremendous impact on his success. “I have to give a huge thanks to my mechanic Doug. By the end of the weekend he was pretty much soaked after prepping the bike and cleaning it up after the mud race. My Rage ATV motor made it through the whole race, which was a huge bonus. I cannot thank the whole Root River team enough, I could not do it without those guys.”
Upperman currently sits in sixth place in points, but is just one point shy of taking over fifth heading to Monster Mountain, which is a brand new track added to the series this year. “I am pretty excited to get there and see how it goes,” said Upperman.
The sixth round of the AMA ATV Motocross National Championship will be held at Monster Mountain MX Park in Tallassee, AL June 4-5.
Josh Upperman 2016
Sponsors:
Root River Racing, Hoosier Tires, Motowoz, Fly
Racing, Hinson, JB Racing, Rage ATV, DWT, Fasst
company, Sunstar, Powermadd, FTR, Fourwerx, Yoshimura,
Pepsi, DP Brakes, Rath, 100%, La Crescent Wine
and Spirit, Streamline, PT Welding, Works Connection,
RPM, Racing for Cancer, C&L Powder Coating,
Trimbles Cycle Center, Rods Powersports, Severson
Oil co
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