Walnut, IL (6/2/2014)
- Wienen Motorsports’ Thomas Brown and Chad Wienen swept to a 1-2 Yamaha finish at the fourth round of the 2014 AMA Pro ATV series at Sunset Ridge MX in Walnut, Ill. on Saturday, May 31. It was a magical weekend for the pair as Wienen won the first moto and Brown the second, with Brown’s 2-1 moto scores giving him the second AMA Pro ATV overall win of his career. As for Wienen, his 1-3 motos were plenty good enough for second place, and they also kept the points leader’s red plate on his YFZ450R for another round of the nine-event series. Wienen now leads the title chase by 28 points over rival John Natalie, while Brown’s win edges him closer to third in the standings.
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Thomas Brown finished second in Moto 1 & earned the win in Moto 2. Brown's 2-1 finishes gave him his second Pro ATV Motocross Career Oveall Win
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Conditions were warm at Sunset Ridge, but breezy conditions helped to clear any dust. Making the day even nicer, Wienen enjoyed a home-track advantage and a large fan base of family and friends onsite – who also enthusiastically supported Brown. When the gate dropped for the first moto on Saturday afternoon, Wienen and Brown both started outside the top five. They immediately
began working forward together, advancing to third and fourth, respectively, by the end of the first lap. The pair continued forward from there, passing rival Josh Upperman for the lead just before the halfway point. From there Wienen stretched out a gap on Brown, ultimately finishing four seconds ahead of his teammate.
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Chad Wienen finished second Overall on his Yamaha YFZ450R. Wienen still holds down the Pro ATV Motocross Points Lead
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Moto two was even more exciting – especially for Brown. Once again starting outside the top five, the pair battled forward in close formation for the majority of the moto, fighting over second place. Thomas put a move on Wienen for the position, and then set his sights on race leader Upperman. However his rival had other ideas, and kept inching away from Brown during the final laps of the race, expanding the advantage to 3.7 seconds on the seventh of 11 laps. But then Brown turned up the heat, stripping away three seconds of Upperman’s lead, and starting the final lap less than a second behind.
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Wienen Motorsports / Yamaha's Thomas Brown & Chad Wienen went 1-2 at Sunset Ridge Motocross in Wienen's Homestate of Illinois
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Three corners from the finish line, the Texan made a decisive pass to secure the moto victory and overall win. Brown said, “Everything worked well today and I’m so thankful for the cheering and support the fans gave us whenever we passed by.” Added Wienen, “I’m proud I was able to get on the podium and I’m even more proud to see Thomas take the win for the team.”
2014
ATV MX Racing Pro Points
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| Position |
Name |
Points |
| 1 |
Chad Wienen – Yamaha |
186 |
| 2 |
John Natalie |
158 |
| 3 |
Joel Hetrick |
157 |
| 4 |
Thomas Brown – Yamaha |
138 |
| 5 |
Josh Upperman |
132 |
