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AMA ATV Motocross Nationals
Round #2 - Mill Creek Raceway
Pell
City, Alabama
March 21-22, 2009
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AMA ATV Motocross -
Round 2 - Pro ATV Race Report & Videos
::Continued::
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| Joe
Byrd back on the Podium as he moves into
2nd place in points ahead of Josh Creamer |
Joe Byrd continued to show he has no intension
of letting Wimmer just walk away with another
championship. Byrd has been training hard and
was looking quite impressive as he made a big
charge from eighth to second place in the first
moto. “I didn’t quite get the start
I wanted, but I went as long and as hard as I
could and worked up to second,” said the
former champ. In moto two, Byrd faired much better
off the start coming off the line in fourth. Joe
charged his way past Clay Holmes and Josh Upperman
to take over the number two spot by the third
lap, where he held his position all the way to
the checkered flag. “Second isn’t
bad, but I’m not happy unless I win,”
said Byrd, who has plans on being on top of the
podium at round three.
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| Honda's
Josh Upperman's Podium finish moves him
into a tie with Yamaha's Thomas Brown for
4th place in points with 60 points each
& 1 point behind Josh Creamer |
While Wimmer and Byrd tore up the track with blistering
speed, it was actually Josh Upperman who laid down
the fastest lap time of the race with an amazing
01:50.509 in the fourth lap of moto one. “I
just felt really comfortable with the track and
my bike, said Upperman who hung on to take third
in the first moto. Upperman’s impressive speed
carried over to moto two where he flew off the gate
to take the holeshot. Upperman led for the first
lap but eventually fell back to fourth place. Upperman’s
3-4 finish was good enough to earn him a spot on
the podium, which is his first National Pro podium
finish. “It feels great to be up on the podium,
this has been a long time coming! I’ve been
taking things more seriously this year and I hope
to be in the top three regularly,” said Josh
excitedly.
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| Yamaha's
Thomas Brown once again finishes in 4th
Overall with an impressive start to his
Pro rookie year |
Rookie Pro Thomas Brown had another overall top
five finish. Brown made two incredible charges from
the back in both motos for 5-7 finishes that earned
him fourth overall. Jeremy Lawson rode strong and
stayed consistent to round out the top five. Doug
Gust who had was involved in the moto one pile up
redeemed himself in moto two to take a 10-5 finish
that earned him the number six spot. Can-Am Warnert
Racing’s John Natalie came on strong in moto
one working himself into second place, but unfortunately
motor problems sidelined his efforts. The Ironman
came back with a vengeance in moto two charging
his way to third place to end his day with 7th overall.
Greg Gee ran two consistent motos to finish in
eighth, while Nick DeNoble, who grabbed the moto
one holeshot, claimed ninth. Can-Am Motoworks’
Jeremie Warnia rounded out the top ten of the
pro class.
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| Yamaha's
#99 Pat Brown suffered a broken subframe
in Moto 2, which allowed his seat to fall
off during the race & he dropped out
after 4 laps, but he wasn't the only one
with issues, #10 Greg Gee rear shock bolt
fell out, but luckily he was able to finish
the Moto |
Can-Am's
John Natalie Jr & Kawasaki's Chad Wienen
have both had impressive Moto runs this
season, but neither have been able to get
in 2 back to back Moto finishes without
issues, but once either of them do, they
are a serious threat for the Podium |
Clay Holmes, who made an impressive Pro debut
at round number one, went off the track in moto
two, dashing his hopes of a repeat top five finish.
“I came into the corner a little too fast,
bounced off Chad and went off the edge of the
track on the other side of a cone,” said
a disappointed Holmes, who was black flagged for
going out of bounds. Cale Downen who took first
in the LCQ, was having a tough time of things,
and finished his day in 18th. Fan favorite, Chad
Weinen had his share of issues, breaking down
in both motos, putting him back to 16th in the
points race.
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| AMA
Pro ATV Motocross Podium - Mill Creek Racewa
(left to right)
Joe Byrd (2nd), Dustin Wimmer (1st), Josh
Upperman (3rd) |
Round number three of the AMA ATV Motocross Championship
series will travel to Bowling Green, KY on April
5th. Ballance MX will play host as racers hope
for good weather instead of a repeat of last year’s
wet conditions that caused problems for many.
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