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AMA ATV Motocross Nationals
Birch Creek Motosports
Danville, Virginia
April 26-27, 2008
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AMA ATV Motocross
Nationals Pro ATV Race Report
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ATV Motocross Nationals
Birch Creek Links |
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Danville,
VA – Honda’s
Joe Byrd was back on top of the podium for round
4 of the AMA ATV Pro Nationals this weekend at Birch
Creek. Byrd took a 1-1 win showing everyone why
he is the reigning champion. East Coast ATV’s
Jason Dunkelberger also made an amazing comeback,
from a disappointing round 3, to stand on the podium
for the first time in the AMA Pro ATV Nationals
and Suzuki’s Dustin Wimmer earned his fourth
straight podium finish and extends his points lead.
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| The
AMA ATV Motocross National autograph lines
continue to grow in length with each passing
round as more and more ATV race fans are
heading to Nationals to watch their favorite
racers go for the win |
Birch Creek in Danville, VA was the host for
this weekend’s races, which once again had
a remarkable increase in attendance even though
it started out with muddy conditions. “I’m
tired of the mud!” said Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s
Josh Creamer, who probably echoes the opinion
of many racers on that matter. The rain moved
in Saturday night after qualifiers and saturated
the track for Sunday morning practice and Moto
one. “The mud was really sticky,”
said Can-Am/Warnert Racing’s Cody Miller,
who qualified 9th. “When I came in from
practice I think I gained 100 pounds because of
all the mud stuck to me.”
The rain had been so heavy the night before that
track officials decided to delay the start of
Pro Moto one for an hour to allow the track to
dry out a bit. After much anticipation it was
finally time for Pro Moto one to start. When the
gate dropped it was Joe Byrd who grabbed the Holeshot,
followed closely by Dustin Wimmer, Jason Dunkelberger,
Doug Gust, John Natalie, and Josh Creamer.
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Energy / Kawasaki's Josh Creamer was the
Pro Top Qualifier on his KFX 450R ATV |
“I thought I had chosen a good line, but
they did some grooming before the first Moto which
catered more to an inside line instead of the
outside that I had picked, so I ended up with
6th in the Holeshot,” said Josh Creamer.
The #9 Kawasaki followed close behind the #13
Can-Am of John Natalie for several laps until
an opportunity to pass presented itself. “I
made the pass on Natalie, but right after that
he bumped me from behind and I ended up flipping,”
said Josh. His crash put him back to 18th place
but Creamer got back on his quad and made his
way back up to 13th before crossing the finish
line.
John Natalie was having a tough time of things on
the track this weekend and was literally almost
driving blind. John’s crash in round 3 at
Ballance MotoX caused an eye injury that lead to
a serious infection and a temporary loss of vision.
“I was only able to see out of one eye and
it really threw me off. I didn’t have any
depth perception so it was a little freaky out there
for me, especially on some of the jumps,”
said John, who is expected to make a full recovery
and have his vision back to 100% by round 5.
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| Warnert
Racing / Can-Am's John Natalie wore a patch
over his eye during practice on Saturday |
East
Coast ATV's Jason Dunkelberger secured a
3rd place finish in the 1st Moto, which
set the stage for a career first Pro Podium
finish |
Jason Dunkelberger, who had suffered catastrophic
failure in both Motos of round 3, came back with
a vengeance. Dunk came off the line in 3rd and despite
a lot of pressure, held off Doug Gust to claim 3rd
place in Moto 1. “I was so nervous being up
there with Byrd and Wimmer and having Gust right
there pressuring me,” said Jason, who kept
his focus in spite of the intense competition. The
privateer racer has been having an impressive season
so far, aside from his misfortune at round 3, and
hopes to finish the season somewhere in the top
5.
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