RRR’s Josh Upperman Takes Top Five at Sunset Ridge
Root River Racing’s Pro ATV MX Race Report

La Crosse, WI (6/23/2016) - Root River Racing’s Pro racers Josh Upperman and Sam Rowe made a statement at the seventh round of the 2016 AMA ATV Motocross National Championship at Sunset Ridge MX in Walnut, IL. Upperman clinched a fifth place overall Pro class finish. Rowe took 11th in Pro and fourth in Pro Am.

Upperman came into Sunset Ridge with full confidence in himself and his Root River Racing Honda. “My mechanic, Doug, and I had a pretty good game plan of a setup we wanted to use. We went out there and I tried to run a good lap time, we were really close with the top six riders,” explained Upperman.

Josh Upperman went 5-6 to finish fifth overall at Sunset Ridge MX

When the gates dropped on the first moto, Upperman was ready to go and gave it everything he had. “I did not have the best start, I was sixth or seventh, but I made a couple quick passes. I kept pushing and pushing trying to get up on David Haagsma, but time ran out and I just was not able to make the pass on him, so I settled in for fifth.”

The second moto went just as well for Upperman, he took sixth for a fifth place overall finish. “I had a little bit better of a start and had a really good moto. Once again, I followed Haagsma around but with the roughness of the track I was not able to make the pass.”

Upperman is happy with the top five finish but hungry for more. “ I am really happy with how things went. We are making progress with the bike. We are just going to keep pushing, that is the main thing. After this race, I am just 11 points out of third, so the next five races I am going to put my head down,” stated Upperman.

Rookie Pro class racer Sam Rowe also had a great weekend at Sunset Ridge. Rowe took 9-10 moto finishes respectively, but due to racers jumping around in finish positions of the two motos Rowe was awarded 11th overall.

Sam Rowe finished 9-10 at Sunset Ridge MX to finish 11th Overall

The weekend started off looking challenging for Rowe, but his team and mechanic jumped in and provided him with just the setup he needed to turn things around.

“The first qualifier I was really struggling with arm pump and the bike setup. We came back in and I worked with Doug, our shock guy. We made a huge adjustment, completely the opposite way we were, and it worked really well. Second qualifier the bike was on point. We made a couple more small clicks and that turned the bike around. We did not have to touch it all day then,” explained Rowe.

In the first moto, Rowe’s Hoosier tires hooked up and launched him to a great start. “I came out third in the start. It was really cool to get up there and get a taste of that speed.” Rowe eventually finished ninth.

In moto two, Rowe again took a great start and ran up front for a few laps before finishing tenth for eleventh overall.

Sunset Ridge is one of Rowe’s hometown tracks and he really enjoys the whole facility. “They changed it up and I thought it was a great track. There was passing everywhere and there were a lot of big jumps. It is an all around awesome track.”

Rowe competed in the Pro Am class on Sunday, where he went 3-4 for fourth overall. “First moto I came out second and ended up third. I was happy with that. Second moto I struggled for the first half of the moto. It took me a while to figure out lines on the track, but once that happened I went from sixth to fourth.”

Rowe is now enjoying some time at home before the upcoming race at Spring Creek, which is also close to home. “I finally got to go home for the first time since Christmas, so that is really cool. I am here with some buddies training,” said Rowe.

Root River Racing’s Pro riders will return to AMA ATV Motocross National Championship racing at the eighth round of the series. The event will be held at Spring Creek MX in Millville, MN July 2-3.

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