|
AMA ATV Motocross
Nationals
Round # 11 - Loretta Lynn's
Hurricane
Mills, Tennessee
August 9-10, 2008
|
|
As the gate dropped in moto two, Doug Gust grabbed
the ATVriders.com holeshot award, with Josh Creamer
and Joe Byrd right behind him.
|
|
| Suzuki's
Doug Gust grabbed the 2nd Moto Holeshot
with Joe Byrd, Chad Wienen, and Josh Creamer
in chase |
John Natalie, Jason Dunkelberger and Jeremy Lawson
were involved in a big pile up in the second turn
where John Natalie was able to get free without
much problem, but Lawson and Dunkelberger were not
as fortunate as a mechanic had to come out on the
track and take a tire off one of the machines to
free them. “At that point I was down by about
two laps,” said Lawson who has made the podium
twice this season. Lawson’s tangle up pretty
much killed his chances at the number four points
position, but he was now in a close battle for 5th
in points with John Natalie, Chad Wienen and Harold
Goodman who were all within striking distance of
being in the top five. “Even though I was
behind, I never quit and kept pushing to trying
and catch up,” said Lawson.
|
|
|
Can-Am's Jeremy Lawson & East Coast
ATV's Jason Dunkelberger locked wheels heading
into the 3rd turn, which left the pair spectating
for several laps |
Josh
Creamer did an impromptu belly pan inspection
several turns into the 1st lap, which sent
him back to 16th place and 20 seconds behind
leader after lap one
|
While Dunk and Lawson were tangled, Josh Creamer
also had issues when he was battling with Byrd
and Wienen just a few turns into the first lap.
At one point, tires connected and Creamer was
sent flipping off his quad. Fortunately, Josh
wasn’t seriously injured and was back on
his KFX450 in no time and making a big charge
to get back to the front. “I don’t
really know what happened when I crashed, but
I got back on the bike and took off. I knew I
had to get back up there, but I had no idea that
I was going to make the podium,” Josh said.
In the mean time, an intense battle was brewing
between Joe Byrd and Chad Wienen. The pair made
their way past Gust in the third lap, with Joe
in the lead and Chad right on his grab bar. Byrd
led for three laps before Wienen went for the
pass and got in front, but Byrd wasn’t about
to settle for second place and began pressuring
Wienen. The two of them battled aggressively for
two more laps before Byrd took back the lead and
began to pull away, securing his second place
in the points race.
| |
|
|
Honda's Joe Byrd & Suzuki's Chad Wienen
battle for the lead was intense the first
half of the race as the paired passed each
other back and forth several times before
Joe Byrd gained control of the lead for
good in lap eight with Wienen settling into
the 2nd spot, which was all he needed to
win his 1st Overall win of the season
|
Dustin Wimmer made his way past Gust to take over
the number three spot, in the eighth lap. “I
had some shock issues in the first moto, but in
the second moto I was back in it,” said Wimmer.
By falling back, Gust would not earn enough points
to compete with Byrd and would have to settle for
third in points. Despite being the oldest competitor
on the track, at 42 years of age, Gust has put on
an impressive show this year with two overall wins
and making it on the podium an additional two times.
|
|
|
|
Yamaha's Pat Brown was back in the hunt
this weekend as he battled with both Suzuki's
Doug Gust & Dustin Wimmer for several
laps to finish out the Moto in 4th |
The
2008 AMA Pro ATV Champion, Dustin Wimmer,
was determined to earn yet another Podium
finish as he charged his way past Pat Brown
into the 3rd spot |
Pat Brown, who has only made one podium appearance
this year, also came on strong in the second moto
taking 5th in the holeshot and held strong in
the top five for the entire moto, which put him
in a points tie for 10th place with Cody Miller.
|
