ATV MX Championship Muddy Creek Raceway Blountville, TN June 3, 2017

Pro ATV Motocross Podium (left to right) Jeffrey Rastrelli (2nd), Joel Hetrick (1st), Chad Wienen (3rd)

When the pro riders took to the iconic track in the morning for practice and qualifying, not much changed between the first and second timed qualifying sessions. At the conclusion of the second session, Hetrick topped the charts and earned his third ATVriders.com Fastest Qualifier Award of the season.

Joel Hetrick claimed his third ATVriders.com Fastest Qualifier Award

Hetrick continued with his dominance grabbing the SSi Decals Holeshot Award in the first moto. He was accompanied by Ford Brother's Racing/Solo Pilot's Westley Wolfe in second, and his biggest competition, Wienen Motorsports/SSi Decals/Walsh Racecraft/Yamaha/Maxxis/7240's Chad Wienen was sitting inside a top-five position.

Joel Hetrick grabbed the Moto One Holeshot & went on to claim both moto wins for a 1-1 weekend, which boosted him to within 7 points of Chad Wienen in the points lead

Hetrick made quick work of the early lead and began running his own race, while Wienen found himself in a heated battle with JB Racing/Root River Racing's Jeffrey Rastrelli who had moved into second as the lead lap came to a close. After multiple attempts to take the position from Rastrelli, Wienen was able to put it together and move into second at the mid-way point of the race.

Jeffrey Rastrelli finally found his way to the second place spot on the box by holding off Chad Wienen

By that time, Hetrick was too far ahead for Wienen to catch. Rastrelli remained in tow of Wienen, and Root River Racing/CST Tires/Pro Motorsports' Thomas Brown rode comfortably in fourth as they crossed the finish line. Baldwin Motorsports/Ford Brother's Racing/Root River Racing's Ronnie Higgerson moved his way through the pack to round out the top-five in the first moto.

Ronnie Higgerson scored a 4th place overall finish at Muddy Creek

A new face emerged in the second moto holeshot where AMPED Vossman Motorsports-backed Sam Rowe claimed his first ever SSi Decals Holeshot Award. Hetrick wasn't too far behind and secured the lead position early on. Meanwhile, Brown found himself in an unfavorable situation where he went down on the start. This mistake would only fuel Brown to push himself to the limits for the remaining 15 minutes of the moto.

Sitting just inside the top-ten was Wienen, who quickly became a man-on-a-mission to return back to the front. With the first four laps complete, Wienen sat in fourth behind Higgerson. Rastrelli kept Hetrick honest, but the gap remained the same throughout the remainder of the moto.

#1 Chad Wienen finished in third overall at Muddy Creek Raceway

Wienen made the pass for the podium position after the halfway point of the race, and began to catch Rastrelli. The two found themselves racing wheel-to-wheel for the final two laps of the race, where Hetrick was the first to the checkered. Rastrelli held off Wienen for second and Wienen crossed the line in third.

The top three finishers in the second moto filled the overall podium with Hetrick, Rastrelli and Wienen taking the top three spots. Hetrick's performance earned him valuable points in the championship chase where he now sits just seven points behind the defending champion, Wienen.

"It's been awhile since I got a one-one so it feels awesome to come get it done here at Muddy Creek," said Hetrick. "It feels great to cut the points lead in half and I look forward to keeping the momentum rolling into the next round."

Higgerson finished just off the box with fourth overall, and GennUSA Racing's Nick Gennusa followed in fifth. Brown put in what could perhaps be named the best performance of the day where he recovered from the first turn crash to finish eighth in the second moto and sixth overall.

ATVMX continues in two weeks, June 17 and 18, at Sunset Ridge MX in Walnut, Illinois. A highlight show featuring today's event will air on MAVTV on Saturday, July 22.