 |
Christian
Gagnon taking his Polaris ATV to the
sky |
Morgantown, WV (8/28/2007) -
The fans at Steel City are familiar with
freestyle ramps. After all, "Mad"
Mike Jones has a few ramps still sitting
on his property in Delmont, PA, the home
of Steel City. For the site of Round 10
in the AMA/Toyota Motocross Championships,
though, a new set of freestyle ramps arrived
on behalf of H-Bombs Films. These ramps
were freestyle quad-specific, and the Bomb
Squad showed the fans at Steel City that
seeing is believing.
Just two weeks prior to Steel City at the
ATV Dirt Days, fans witnessed the Bomb Squad
at the final round of the 2007 ATVA ITP/Moose
Racing National Motocross Series at Loretta
Lynn's Ranch in Tennessee.
Complementing the first-ever AMA Pro ATV
Open on Saturday August 25, the Bomb Squad
broke out on Sunday during Intermission,
giving many motocross fans their first-ever
look at ATV Freestyle. With rumors of the
ATV back flip about, quad and bike fans
alike gathered along the hillside to witness
this extra-bonus ATV extravaganza.
No one could predict what the Bomb Squad
would throw down in front of Steel City.
Two brothers, Caleb and Colten Moore of
Krum, Texas, with Canada's Christian Gagnon
made up the Bomb Squad.
The riders opened up with technical tricks
like a Superman or Stripper, Cliffhanger
and Lazy Boy combos before throwing tricks
right after the other. Christian crashed
here ahead of another rider in succession.
Then Caleb Moore rode up the landing ramp
to beckon the crowd to cheer on his back
flip.
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|
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Caleb
Moore's back flip brought fans to
their feet at Steel City |
Shock bowled over when nearly four-hundred-pounds
of the 450cc machine was four wheels upside
down, especially when Caleb landed spot
on each time. "It was a lot of fun,"
Caleb said after the flip. "We had
a good crowd, and it was a lot of fun."
Not everyone can be trusted to fine-tune
the ramp in ATV freestyle. Where the crew
dropped the ramp, there was Caleb preparing
the positions to his liking-such perfectionist
nature had him re-adjusting the ramps and
returning back; once he even hauled a broom
over to sweep gravel around the take-off
area.
Later, Caleb explained his reason for bringing
out the broom. "Yeah, we just try to
get everything the way we like it and we're
comfortable," Caleb said. "Traction
is a pretty big issue when you commit to
the ramps, so I didn't want anything messing
that up. I don't jump unless I got it the
way I want it-unless everything's pretty
much perfect because you can get hurt too
easy."
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Caleb
Moore gestured to the crowd; bring
it on! |
Caleb certainly finds a happy medium in
knowing who did the set up. "We're
not big time yet," he said. "We
have to do it ourselves. From folding out
the landing ramps, getting it out here,
to putting down the take-off ramp and all
that-which in a way, I'd rather do it and
know that it's right, then have somebody
else do it and come out and it's wrong."
After watching Caleb turn his quad upside-down
with ease, any fan of freestyle wonders
how he does it on a quad. "I've had
a lot of time doing it, and I've paid my
dues," Caleb said. "I've crashed
before on it. I got knocked out and messed
up my shoulder, but I've had a lot of time
doing it now, a lot of practice, and it
just gets easier and easier."
Caleb focuses on the future of ATV freestyle
and looks to continue pushing the sport
. "[The next thing is] back flip variations
and more crazy stuff," he said. "Natural
terrain back flip, long distance back flip-just
basically catching up with the dirt bikes."
Still, Caleb has even higher hopes for
the four-wheelers as he explains why ATV
freestyle is fundamentally different. "A
flat 360 is going to be pretty hard off
a normal ramp because you can't carve a
ramp like you can a bike, and you can't
lean it over," Caleb said, "But
I do think we're going to be doing some
tricks they can't do, because we're on a
quad. It goes both ways," he concluded.
For more information on the AMA Toyota
Motocross Championship, presented by FMF,
log on to www.amamotocross.com
for live timing and scoring at @theWireLIVE!.
For more information, contact Bellco at
304.284.0084 or visit www.atvmotocross.com.
For information about the Monster Energy/Kawasaki
National Motocross at Steel City, visit
the website at www.steelcitymx.com.
About Racer Productions:
A West Virginia based motorcycle and
ATV event production company, Racer Productions
has been a leader in the off-road racing
industry for over 30 years. It’s repertoire
of events includes the 13-round Can-Am Grand
National Cross Country Series, since 1973;
The Kawasaki/Monster Energy High Point National
in Mount Morris, PA, since 1977; The ATV
Dirt Days at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch
in Hurricane Mills, TN, since 1985; The
Monster Energy/Kawasaki Steel City National
in Delmont, PA, since 1988; The ATV Stampede
ATVA National Motocross at High Point Raceway,
since 1994; The Wrangler ATVA National Motocross
at Oak Hill Raceway in Decatur, TX, since
2006; as well as numerous amateur motocross
events, and a World Motocross Gran Prix
in 1987. In addition, the Racer Productions
staff is the same crew that brings you the
prestigious Air Nautique/AMA Amateur National
Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s
Ranch, since 1982.
For more information about
Racer Productions and the events they produce,
visit www.racerproductions.com.
For High Point National Motocross information,
visit www.highpointmx.com.
For Steel City National Motocross information,
visit www.steelcitymx.com.
For GNCC Racing information, visit www.gnccracing.com.
About the AMA ATV National
Motocross Championship Series:
Sanctioned by the AMA and ATVA, the nation's
premier amateur and professional ATV motocross
series is hosted by many of America 's premier
motocross facilities. The 12-round series approaches
its 21st season with the Pro class newly under
the wing of AMA Pro Racing. The 2006 series hosted
over 8,000 entrants, making it America 's largest,
as well as its longest running, ATV National Motocross
series. Series sponsors include title sponsors
ITP Tires and Moose, and presenting sponsor Parts
Unlimited. Premiere and Feature sponsors include
ATV Sport, Moto Tees, Scott USA, Maxxis Tires,
Elka Suspension and H-Bomb Films/Division Four.
Associate sponsors include Weekend Warrior Trailers,
Denton Racing, and Hinson Racing. Media partners
include ATV Insider, ATV Rider and ATVRiders.com.
About AMA Racing:
AMA Racing is the competition arm of the American
Motorcyclist Association and is the leading sanctioning
body for motorcycle sport in the United States
. Its professional properties include the Amp'd
Mobile AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Toyota Motocross
Championship presented by FMF, the AMA Superbike
Championship presented by Parts Unlimited, the
AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship,
the AMA Supermoto Championship and the AMA Pro
ATV Championship. In amateur and pro-am competition,
AMA Racing sanctions over 4000 events in 24 different
disciplines and supports over 110 thousand active
members. For more information about professional
racing, visit www.amaproracing.com.
Accredited media outlets can also access an on
line Press Room at www.amaproracing.com/pressroom.
For amateur racing information visit www.amadirectlink.com/amrace/amasports.asp.
About the ATVA:
The ATV Association ("ATVA") is
the official sanctioning body of the amateur divisions
of the ATVA ITP/Moose ATV National Motocross Championship
Series Presented by Parts Unlimited. The 9,000
member ATVA is the sister organization of the
260,000 member American Motorcyclist Association
("AMA"). ATV racing has experienced
phenomenal growth at the rate of 25% in the past
two years alone, and continues to gain momentum
and support, outselling off-road motorcycles annually.
Each round attracts 600-700 racers who compete
for bragging rights to one of 31 amateur national
titles. For more information about ATVA, visit
www.atvaonline.com.
About the ATVPG:
The ATVPG is comprised of the 12 individual
promoters that host the AMA ITP/Moose ATV National
Motocross Championships, presented by Parts Unlimited.
The goal of the ATVPG is to raise awareness of
ATV motocross through the production of professional
and amateur championship racing events. For more
information on the ATVPG and the ATV National
events they produce, go to www.atvmotocross.com.
