ATVA
ITP Moose Racing
National Motocross Series
Round #1 - Glen Helen
February 4-5, 2006
|
|
ATVA
Motocross Nationals
Round #1 - Links |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Devore, CA - The
start of the 2006 ATVA MX Nationals has generated more
excitement than ever with half the Pros receiving some
form of factory support for 2006, which was something
we only dreamed of several years ago. With so much on
the line and money up for grabs, the riders are more dedicated
and determined than ever to come out on top, and everyone
has their eyes on the 2005 Champion, John Natalie Jr.
The big question of the weekend was if Natalie Jr.
would be able to almost completely change his racing
program for 2006 and still come out on top especially
with Team Suzuki/Yoshimura’s Doug Gust and Jeremiah
Jones making the switch to the new LT-R450 QuadRacer,
which has been touted as the one of the most advanced
sport ATVs ever released. Also, Yamaha’s Travis
Spader is back in full force as a Factory rider along
with Pat Brown and Kory Ellis on the redesigned YFZ450.
After a calm and beautiful sunny day of racing on Saturday,
the Glen Helen wind machine would fire up early Sunday
morning with gust well over 60mph, which shredded trackside
banners and sent canopies flipping through the pits
like tumble weed. With the racers and fans being sand
blasted by the whipping winds, goggles were being popping
up on everyone to protect their eyes from the sand.
The only saving grace was that no rain was in the forecast
and temperatures were expected to rise into the upper
seventies. Once again, the Pro Main Event was on Super
Bowl Sunday, which seemed to cut down on the number
of spectators, but it still didn’t deter many
racers as the entries were up ten percent to around
500 for the weekend.
|
|
|
The winds were reaching
tropical storm force which had flag poles bending
and many reaching for goggles just to save their
eyes from the flying sand
|
The Pro Class had over 30 riders signup, and with the
top 10 seeded, the remaining riders went to qualifiers
to narrow the gate down to 20 riders. Jason Luburgh
and Joe Haavisto won their respective qualifiers and
none of the upcoming Pro Am riders qualified for the
Pro Main, but two ITP Quadcross Racers Dana Creech &
Dustin Nelson both qualified to represent their West
Coast race series.
Pro Moto One
|
John Natalie Jr grabs the Holeshot followed by
Keith Little, Jeremiah Jones, and Tim Farr |
With the chain link fence lining the starting gate
swarmed with fans, the Pros made their way onto the
concrete starting pad to prepare for the start of the
first Pro Moto of the 2006 season. John Natalie Jr held
the first gate pick for winning the 2005 Championship
and he headed to the far inside leaving only two spaces
to his right, which were filled by Matt White and Jason
Luburgh. To his left were the remaining top five Pros
as the inside line was the hot spot on the gate. Kory
Ellis and Dustin Nelson with their last gate picks were
forced to lineup on the far outside in the only two
remaining spots.
With engines roaring, the gate dropped and the race
was underway. Keith Little would get the early jump
and held almost a quad length lead over most of the
pack as they charged down the straight-away toward the
Talladega turn. As they approached the turn, John Natalie
Jr’s Rage ATV engine powered him into the lead
with Keith Little dropping back into the second spot.
Natalie Jr glided his Honda around the bottom of the
bowl turn with the Holeshot followed by Keith Little,
Jeremiah Jones, Tim Farr, and Doug Gust.
|
Jeremiah
Jones dismount caused a chain reaction of riders
colliding leaving four pros temporarily stopped |
After another straight away, Natalie Jr. lead the way
around a left hand turn and into an uphill section of
whoops. Little maintained the second spot while Jones
and Farr battled for the third spot as they crested
the hill and around a sweeping turn when disaster struck
when Farr collided into the rear of Jones with enough
force to throw him off the side of his Suzuki and into
the path of traffic, which created a pileup of riders
trying to avoid Jones and his R450. Jeremy Lawson barely
avoided Jones as he darted off the track on the inside
while Dustin Wimmer went wide clipping Jones rear wheel
spinning him around with Dustin Nelson locking wheels
with Wimmer. Travis Spader would stall his Yamaha avoiding
the pileup, which left Tavis Cain and Kory Ellis scrambling
to get out from behind Spader. When the dust settled,
four pros (Jones, Wimmer, Nelson, Spader) were left
with their quads sitting motionless, as they tried to
remount and fire up their quads to resume the race several
seconds down.
At the end of the first lap, John Natalie Jr. continued
his lead Little with Byrd in chase. Doug Gust held the
fourth spot with Tim Farr rounding out the top five.
Farr’s run near the front would be short lived
as he began to experience engine problems when his kick
starter began cranking itself down whenever he reached
high RPMs, which forced him to let off the throttle
and coast for the remainder of the Moto. With Farr off
the gas, it opened the door for Jerermy Lawson to take
over the fifth spot followed by Pat Brown, Dana Creech,
Jason Luburgh, and Jason Dunkelberger. Also, Harold
Goodman was already out of the race as he sat at the
finish line table top with his Honda waiting for the
checkered flag.
With the race half way over, Natalie Jr. stretched
his lead out to just under ten seconds over Keith Little
followed by Joe Byrd. Doug Gust maintained the fourth
spot with a comfortable lead over Jeremy Lawson. Pat
Brown’s charge in sixth place would come to an
end when he a rock damaged his wiring harness, which
brought his YFZ450 to a stop. Dana Creech moved up into
the sixth spot as him and good friend Luburgh were battling
for position followed by Dunk and Cain also running
side by side.
In the final laps of the race, the top five were settled
into their positions with a descent gap separating each
of them, with the rest of the pack still battling for
position. Jason Luburgh would take over the sixth spot
when Dana Creech’s would begin to fade after dislocating
his pointer finger and dropping back to eighth place
after also being passed by Tavis Cain. Jason Dunkelberger
would circum to Joe Haavisto, and Kory Ellis would make
an incredible charge from near a last place start to
finish out the race in tenth place after passing both
Dunk and White in the final lap of the race.
|
|
|
Dustin
Wimmer, Pat Brown, and Travis Spader wait for
the checkered flag |
|
#13
John Natalie Jr Points to the fans as he launches
over the finish line table top |
John Natalie Jr would cruise his way to the easy first
Moto win in front of a cheering crowd as he pointed
to the crowd over the finish line table top. Keith Little
rode his way to a flawless first moto on his new Honda
ride followed by Joe Byrd, which gave Honda the top
three sweep followed by Doug Gust and Jeremy Lawson.
Pro Moto Two
|
Joe Byrd makes the pass on John Natalie Jr for
the lead, but Natalie would regain the lead in
lap two |
The hollowing winds finally began to settle down as
the Pros lined up for their second Moto. This time Jones
and Gust had the far inside line with Natalie Jr remaining
in the same spot as the first moto, and the result remained
the same as Natalie Jr would once again grab the Holeshot
around the Taladega Turn. Joe Byrd would sling shot
his way around the turn and make the pass on Natalie
Jr before they made the left hand turn up the uphill
whoops and take over the lead. The battle was on for
the third spot as Jones, Little, Haavisto, and Gust
all charged up the hill virtually side by side. At the
rear of the pack was Kory Ellis, Dustin Wimmer, Harold
Goodman, Travis Spader, and Jason Luburgh.
By the end of the first lap, Joe Byrd continued to
hold the lead with Natalie jr right on his rear tires
followed by Jones, Little, and Haavisto. Early in the
second lap, Natalie Jr would make his move on Byrd and
take over the lead as Jones began to apply the pressure
to Byrd for the second spot.
|
Jeremiah Jones applying the pressure to Joe Byrd
and eventually making the pass Byrd only be to
be sidelined. |
In the fourth lap, Jones would make the pass on Byrd
and set his sights on Natalie Jr. when bad luck would
strike once again. As Jones headed through the lower
whoops section after the finish line, his rear shock/linkage
would break and leave his fenders resting on his rear
tires as he forced to pull off the track and watch the
rest of the race from the sidelines. It was now up to
Doug Gust to put the new Suzuki LT-R450 up on the podium
in its debut race, and he was up to the task as he passed
both Little and Haavisto to move into the third spot
behind Byrd.
Meanwhile, several other riders were also dealing with
their share of problems. After an incredible charge
in Moto One, Jeremy Lawson would drop back to the back
of the pack in the second Moto. Dustin Wimmer would
was running with a flat rear tire, which dropped him
to the rear of the pack and wishing he had Tire Balls.
Also, Travis Spader and Harold Goodman were both experiencing
issues with their machines once again which sent them
to the rear of the pack.
The rough Glen Helen track also played havoc on front
runner, John Natalie Jr. After he built up an almost
ten second lead with only two laps to go, his seat would
come loose and after a few quick attempts of re-securing
the seat, Natalie Jr. decided to let it go, which he
would later regret. Natalie Jr. would let Byrd pass
him for the lead with hopes of holding off Gust to the
checkered to preserve his overall win, but riding without
the seat was too much for Natalie Jr. to handle. Natalie
Jr. was forced to allow Gust to pass as well, which
sent him back to third place finish followed by Little
and Haavisto.
|
|
|
Natalie
Jr seat falls off with two laps left, which costed
him the Overall Win. |
|
Joe
Byrd claims the season opener win along with his
wife Heather Byrd |
The second Moto win by Byrd was enough for him to win
the Overall and start the 2006 season where he left
off at 2005 season finale at Loretta Lynn’s. It
also marked the first time that Joe & Heather Byrd
both won in the same weekend. The second place finish
by Doug Gust was enough for him to squeeze out the final
podium spot over Keith Little, and give the Suzuki LT-R450
its first podium appearance in as many races, which
put a smile on the Suzuki camp, but you could still
tell that they were hungry for the win and the championship.
|
Pro Podium (1st Joe Byrd, 2nd John Natalie Jr,
3rd Doug Gust) |
John Natalie Jr’s third place finish dropped
him into the second overall spot, but he proved that
he still is the man to beat as he once again pulled
away to impressive leads in both Motos.
Round One of the ATVA MX Nationals is in the record
books, and the series is now heading to the Texas for
Round Two at the Oak Hill MX Park in Decatur, TX this
coming weekend, and the stage is set for another exciting
round of racing.
Also, don’t forget to make your Pro top 5 overall
predictions before Midnight Saturday Night, February
11th for your chance to win some really cool prizes
provided by ATVriders.com, Akraix, and ATV Insider.
Pro
ATV Race - Video Clip |
|
|
|
|