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AMA ATV Motocross
Nationals
Round #9 - Pleasure Valley
Johnstown,
Pennsylvania
July 12-13, 2008
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Heavy rain fell overnight on Saturday, which completed
saturated the track, which eliminated the dust for
Sunday, but it kept the Cernic's crew busy scraping
some of the mud off the track in sections of the
track. With the track mostly clay, the track was
real tacky by the start of the first Pro Moto, which
seemed to suit Josh Creamer quite well. As the gate
dropped for moto one, it was Creamer who grabbed
the holeshot. Creamer hit it hard and went into
the first turn on two wheels but held on to keep
the lead.
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Kawasaki
/ Monstery Energy's Josh Creamer grabbed
the Suspension System's Holeshot Award by
2 wheeling around the first turn with Doug
Gust & Greg Gee in hot pursuit |
The #9 Kawasaki was followed closely by Doug
Gust, Dustin Wimmer, and Can-Am’s John Natalie
and Greg Gee. “I got a good start. Being
able to set the pace was nice for a change,”
said Creamer, who held a strong lead for the entire
moto despite the pressure from Doug Gust and Dustin
Wimmer.
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| Suzuki's
Doug Gust & Dustin Wimmer battled wheel
to wheel for several laps for the 2nd spot
before Wimmer began to the settle in the
3rd spot while Gust charged after Josh Creamer
for the lead |
Kawasak's
Keith Little was also on the move behind
as he held down the 6th spot behind Natalie
& Gee with Harold Goodman running in
7th early in the race before dropping back
to 9th |
At the half-way point of moto one, there was
an intense battle for 2nd between Gust Wimmer
and Natalie, as they were all tire to tire, but
Gust kept his cool and held onto second. In the
mean time, Kawasaki’s Keith Little was all
over Can-Am’s Greg Gee and waiting for an
opportunity to pass. Keith wouldn’t have
to wait long before he got his chance. “My
bike started bogging a bit and Little got past
me,” Gee stated. Even though Little got
by, he wasn’t able to pull away as Gee stayed
right with him for the rest of the moto. In lap
eight, John Natalie, who had been running strong,
began to drop back. “I got a flat, which
slowed me down and then I had some mechanical
issues and fell back,” said Natalie.
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Warnert Racing's John Natalie applied
the pressure to Suzuki's Dustin Wimmer for
the 3rd spot till the 8th lap before Natalie
began experiencing issues & eventually
was sidelined by lap 12 |
With
Natalie sidelined, Greg Gee took over the
5th spot behind Keith Little, and Jeremy
Lawson was applying the pressure till the
checkered flag with Gee holding onto a season
best top 5 finish |
As they reached the finish line in moto one,
it was Josh Creamer taking his first ever National
Pro moto win. Doug Gust finished in a close second,
with Dustin Wimmer in 3rd. Keith Little had his
best moto finish of the season in 4th, and Greg
Gee, who also had his best finish this year, rounded
out the top five.
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| Kawasaki's
Josh Creamer earned a career first Pro Moto
Win for Kawasaki on the KFX 450R with a
huge crowd of spectators & media to
capture the moment |
Team Can-Am/Epic Racing’s Jeremy Lawson
had a slow start in moto one, but he made the
charge from the back and soon found himself in
6th place. Kawasaki’s Russell Shumaker ran
a consistent race in moto one finishing in 7th,
while Defending champ Joe Byrd claimed 8th. Harold
Goodman was able to hang on for 9th place and
Cody Miller, who had a slow start managed to work
his way into 10th place. All though he was running
strong on Saturday, Suzuki’s Chad Wienen
never even made it off the gate for moto one,
as his bike suffered an electrical issue during
the parade lap and he was unable to get the problem
sorted out and ended in last place for moto one.
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