LONDON, KY (5/20/2006)
- John Natalie, Jr. and Daryl Rath
etched their names on the first page of the
WPSA PowerSports ATV Championship Tour history
book Saturday, winning their respective Pro
Class races at the ITP Daniel Boone ATV Championship
at Daniel Boone MX. Natalie (No. 67 Elka/Honda)
won the SuperQuad Pro 450 QuadMX Series event,
while Rath (No. 67 Rath Racing/Arctic Cat) topped
the QuadTerrain Challenge Pro Stock event.
Both races will be telecast on ESPN2 on Saturday,
June 3 at noon EDT.
Natalie nabbed the holeshot at the start of the QuadMX
final, earning the $1,000 Quad Magazine Holeshot award.
From there, he ran virtually untouched, beating Doug
Gust (No. 55 Team Suzuki-Yoshimura/Suzuki) and Dustin
Wimmer (No. 191 East Coast ATV/Honda).
"This is great to win the first race with this
Series," said Natalie. "We just got a new
sponsorship with Blue Rok Racing, and it's nice to
be able to deliver a win to them the first time out.
We hadn't planned on running the entire Series this
year, but now, with this win, we're going to run all
of the events.
"The Series is run very professionally,"
added Natalie. "We're looking forward to this
season."
Gust held onto second throughout the event.
"We had a good day, but John just rode a little
better than I did," said Gust. "I have no
complaints. I'm happy this Series is here and I'm
really happy to be on the podium. The Series is really
professional and I like all of things they're doing
here. Banners everywhere, radios (for the officials),
and the Hawaiian Tropic Girls made this a really professional
event."
Wimmer was pleased with his third-place finish.
"I won my first two heats and we got third in
the final, so I'm feeling pretty good," said
Wimmer. "WPSA really put on a very nice show
here. I was really impressed. I think it's going to
turn out pretty well. I'm planning on running all
of the races this season, and there is definitely
more of a push for this Series, overall."
Rath took a similar path to Natalie's in a grueling
QuadTerrain run, leading from the wave of the green
flag to the finish. Donny Banks (No. Capitol Cycle/Suzuki)
passed Adam Vaugh (No. 83 Honda) late in the event
and finished second. Vaugh held on for third.
"We worked really hard and we hope we can keep
building from here," said Rath. "The track
was very challenging. I really didn't know what to
expect, this being the first time I've ever ridden
a utility quad in competition. The course really challenged
all of the riders. There was some flat stuff, some
high-speed stuff, the rock sections, the mud, the
logs, and it all made it challenging. There are a
lot of decisions you can make every lap that will
affect the outcome.
"I think the Tour is doing a fantastic job,"
added Rath. "Everybody was a little apprehensive
to come here, but change is good and people shouldn't
be afraid of change (The riders that weren't here)
really missed out."
Banks, a longtime quad racer and well-known character,
responded to questions with a typical pithy tone.
"Second sucks," said a grinning Banks.
"I really wasn't prepared for this; I just drove
a bike off of the floor. This was a blast, but it
was brutal and rough. This is a brutal, rough sport,
but it's a lot of fun. These young pups are really
fighting for that $2,000.
"I think this an awesome show," added Banks.
"The television show will really give fans the
ability to see what this is all about."
Vaugh said the track was difficult, but he enjoyed
his first race with the Tour.
"This is a really challenging sport," said
Vaugh. "It's brutal to run out there. It was
a lot harder than I thought. Everything was great
this weekend."
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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