| ATVA
ITP / Moose Racing
National Motocross Series
Amateur Race Report
Round #1 - Glen Helen
February 4-5, 2006
|
|
| ATVA
Motocross Nationals
Round #1 - Links |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
San Bernardino, CA - Round one of
the 2006 ITP/Moose Racing ATVA National Motocross Championship
Series lifted off to a sunny Southern California start
at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California
on February 4th and 5th. After suffering through blistering
winds during the entire inaugural round at Glen Helen
in 2004 and some rather nasty, mud sliding rain the
second time the MX Nationals visited the facility in
2005, Mother Nature decided to cut the series some slack
in ‘06. Friday’s practice and Saturday’s
qualifiers took place under a Pacific blue sky with
temperatures hovering around the 80 degree mark. Sunday’s
racers awoke to face some pretty stiff, unexpected,
Santa Ana winds which gusted through the valley for
a few hours but true to So Cal form, these “breezes”,
as the locals describe them, calmed to a mild, somewhat
acceptable roar as the day’s racing wore on. Any
racer blaming their lack of performance on Mother Nature
at the opening round of this year’s ATV MX Nationals
could be treading on some very shaky ground with the
Great MX Goddess. The two ladies, Mother Nature and
The Great MX Goddess, are pretty tight, you know.
Pro Am Production & Unlimited
| |
|
Team Motosport Honda Support Rider, Josh Upperman,
put in impressive rides in both the Pro Am Unlimited
and Production |
Josh Upperman, a Team Motosport Honda sponsored racer,
had a fine California karma clicked in to the positive
side of his Ohio race game. Upperman, along with the backing
of Team Motorsport Honda’s founder and manager,
well known Factory Honda Pro, Tim Farr, netted 1-2 moto
scores to capture the Pro/Am Unlimited series opener win
by leading 2nd place finishing Cale Downing of Illinois
and 3rd place finishing Mike Machado of California across
the Glen Helen finish line table top. In the Pro/Am Production
class which was run on Saturday during the event, Upperman
found himself doing battle with Matt White, a Hetrick
racing Pro with a few pro seasons under his belt. Although
Upperman gave White all his Hetrick Yamaha could handle,
he couldn’t quiet pull down the win and had to settle
for second behind White when the checkers fell. In both
Production and Unlimited, Upperman’s teamamate Mark
Kendall would jump out front, but would gradually fade
back during the race. “The Team Baldwin Motosport
Honda powered me out to the front, but half way through
the race I started to fade out because living in Ohio
doesn’t provide the best weather for training yet,”
said Kendall. Up and coming Pro/Am racer, Clay Holmes,
a Joe Byrd Quad Riding School sponsored racer from Tennessee,
made his presence known and put out the word that he was
in it in ‘06 to do some damage. Holmes dogged White
and Upperman all weekend long to round out the top three
in the Pro/Am Production class.
Women Production
| |
| The
battle continues between Heather Byrd and Angela
Butler with Byrd taking the season opener |
For more years than you can shake a stick at, Heather
Byrd and Angela Butler have been carrying the Women’s
A class to the point of a down right cat fight. In 2005,
these two ladies of the National MX arena tied with 6
wins each at the end of the series and the championship
had to be decided by the number of 2nd and 3rd place finishes.
In the end, edging out Butler due to her 3rd place finish
during one round, Byrd walked away with a national championship
that was more than well deserved. As one of the changes
for the 2006 series, the Women’s A class which allowed
high dollar aftermarket quads was changed to only allow
Production Quads with legal mods. Both ladies chose a
Honda for their attire; Byrd riding for her husband, Joe
Byrd and his Joe Byrd Quad Riding School, and Bulter riding
for Jorge Cuartas and the Media All-stars. Did this matter?
Not really. Both women came out of the Glen Helen gates
on fire and ready to resume their battle for supremacy.
Byrd, who seemed to have been keeping herself in form
all winter long, led Butler in both motos by the skin
of her teeth to put her name in the winners column, capturing
the win over Butler in the runner up spot. When asked
about the race, Angela Bulter replied “I felt
like I was on Heather until the hills where she would
pull me, and it was like working double time everywhere
else. I have a new philosophy because in the past two
years, I have won the opening round and she has won the
championship, so it is her time to win the opening round
and my turn to win the championship.” The Yamaha
mounted Jamie Luburgh rounded out the podium with her
third place finish in her Women’s Production debut
race. Michelle Rieser raced with an injured knee and finished
in fourth. If this year’s opening round was any
indication of how the ladies of the ATV-MX Nationals are
going to go at each other for the remaining 13 rounds
of the ‘06 series, one would be highly recommended
to stay out of their way.
71-90cc Modified
| |
|
#104
Jake Brattain kicks the season off with the win
over Joel Hetrick |
They all say that “when you’re out front
and running you have a target on your back.” This
is true, regardless of which class you run. Hetrick
Racing’s Joel Hetrick is by far one of the best
youth racers in the world. In years past he has proven
himself over and over again. Coming off two national
championships in the 2005 series, the 90 Modified MX
national title and the 90 Modified Extreme Dirt Track
national title, Hetrick has seen his share of challenges.
In ‘05, Michael Blanchard took it down to the
wire with Hetrick in the last race of the last round
of the Extreme Dirt Track National Championship Series
but Hetrick prevailed. In the ‘05 MX National
Championship Series, Hetrick wiped them out by winning
9 out of the 12 rounds to hail as the 90 Modified National
MX Champion. This year his drive, desire and determination
could be challenged. Jake “The Snake” Brattain
came to California with fire in his eyes and a load
of venom in his Honda powered 90 Mod. After Hetrick
clicked off four laps in moto one in his usual place,
1st, Brattain kicked his game up more than one notch
and when moto 2 came off the line, one could tell that
“The Snake” was about to strike. He took
a four bike length lead over the other challengers,
Hetrick included, as they banked into Glen Helen’s
famed Talledaga holeshot turn. Brattain set his sights
on nothing but open track ahead of him. Hetrick managed
to dip and dodge past the other competitors but couldn’t
pull down Brattain. When the checkers waved on the 90
Mod class, Brattain with 2-1 moto scores had secured
to win over Hetrick who tallied 1-2 moto scores. Rounding
out the top three in the 90 Mod class was Jesse Skvarek
who’d made one heck of a treck from Jefferson,
Ohio to be a part of the 2006 ITP/Moose Racing ATVA
National Motocross Championship Series opening round
at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California.
4 Stroke Stock
| |
| ATV
Sport Test Rider, Cody Anderson took the win in
the 4 Stroke Stock Class on the new LT-R450 |
The 4 Stroke Stock class has been a premiere class in
the GNCC Series for several years, but not until this
year was there any such class at the ATVA MX Nationals,
and from the looks of signup, many still aren’t
aware this new exciting class. The class would have only
had one Honda rider, Nick Bailey, if it weren’t
for Suzuki inviting the press out to Glen Helen to race
the new LT-R450, which added five more entries. Among
the riders were several notable entries, Adam Campbell(ATVrider),
Cain Smead(Dirt Wheels), and Cody Anderson (ATV Sport).
The pressure was on for these editors, photographers,
and test riders, to put the Suzuki LT-R450 out front against
the sole Honda rider, and Cody Anderson was a man on a
mission. In the first Moto, Anderson started the race
in last place, but would make the last lap pass on Adam
Campbell to take win with Cain Smead finishing in third.
For the second Moto, Cody Anderson would take over the
early lead and cruise to the win with Cain Smead finishing
in second place followed by Darrin Hoeft, which gave the
QuadRacer the Podium sweep with Nick Bailey finishing
out the weekend in fourth place on the Honda TRX450R.
Adam Campbell reached for his camera instead of the handlebars
on Sunday and was disqualified from the event for sending
out another rider in his place as a stunt double.
As always that Amateur racing action was intense this
weekend with over 500 entries, and it should be even
better in Texas with even more riders expected to signup
for “The Wrangler.” See you in Texas
|
