Chino, CA (8/16/2009) -
Team Rockstar / Makita / Suzuki / Yoshimura's
Dustin Wimmer clinched the 2009 Championship in
the first moto of the last round of the 2009 ITP/Moose
Racing AMA ATV Motocross Championship. The defending
champion's fourth place overall secured his second
crown in front of cheering fans at Loretta Lynn's
MX track in Hurricane Mills, TN.
Wimmer came into this final round 45 points
ahead of the competition after a season that
was full of drama. Wimmer had held a commanding
early lead only to become sidelined with a shoulder
injury a third of the way through the season.
Even with sitting out one race and painfully
making his way around the track for the next
two rounds, Wimmer was finally healthy enough
to take six moto wins in a row and regain many
of his lost points. He finished first in six
of the eleven rounds for a total of 419 points.
Teammate Doug Gust ended the year just 17 points
shy of third place. The veteran racer had a
consistent year with four podium finishes.
Wimmer was thrilled with the win. "This
was quite a year," Wimmer reflected. "I
had some bad luck getting hurt and it took everything
to get back those points. Luckily, I've got
a great team and a great quad. We really worked
hard for this championship and I feel really
great. Today, I had a lot of adrenalin going
so I had to work at just riding smart and safe."
Team Manager Kory Ellis was proud of Wimmer's
accomplishment. "Dustin coming back from
a serious shoulder injury was a brave thing,"
Ellis said. "For him to come back and dominate
racing and win the title was just incredible.
My hat is off to Dustin, the team and to Suzuki
for making such a great quad -- the QuadRacer
R450."
Yoshimura's Brant Russell was equally pleased
with the results. "That was an amazing
performance on the part of Dustin and the whole
team. It was a great series all year and at
any race any one of six or seven riders could
take the win. The AMA and Racer Productions
did a great job with the series and we can't
wait to come back next year."
