| ATVA
ITP Moose Racing
National Motocross Series
Pigeon Forge, TN
Grand Hotel & Resort
November 11, 2006
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2006 ATVA National Motocross
Banquet
| ATVA
Motocross Nationals
Banquet - Links |
Top
10 Results |
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| Smoky
Mountains |
Pigeon Forge, TN - After one of the
longest seasons of ATVA Motocross racing ever with fourteen
rounds, it was finally time to honor those riders that
were up to the challenge of chasing after one or more
of the 30 championships up for grabs, and the final
pilgrimage of the year was the festive town of Pigeon
Forge, TN located at the base of the Great Smoky Mountains,
which are some of the largest mountains on the east
coast with peaks reaching well over 6,000 feet. This
was a brand new location for the ATVA MX banquet, which
was one of the many first this year. It also was the
first time that the Motocross and Extreme Dirt Track
banquets were split into two separate events even though
the series has been separated since 2002.
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| The
Christmas Lights between Pigeon Forge & Gatlinburg
are some of the nicest you will find anywhere
in the United States, and Dollywood also has a
huge light display as well
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The EDT banquet was held two weeks early in Columbus,
OH, and attracted well over 300, and the Motocross banquet
saw an even larger turnout with nearly 500 in attendance,
and the banquet hall was plenty big enough to accommodate
several hundred more, so everyone had plenty of room
to spread out at the Grand Resort Ball Room.
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| It
was a buffet Style diner with plenty of food to
choose from, and the cherry cobler was a little
too good for those on a diet. |
Jeremiah
Jones received a standing ovation when he went
up on stage, and he was very appreciative of all
the support he has received since his accident |
The banquet doors opened at 5PM and immediately following
diner, the awards ceremony began at 6:30PM and lasted
for several hours, which was longer than anticipated,
but every single rider in attendance in the top ten
had an opportunity to be recognized on stage and thank
their sponsors, which was something that was reserved
for only the top three in the past with both banquets
combined. Also, throughout the evening, twelve special
awards were presented to the top riders, crew, and sponsors,
which was voted on by the racers.
The Pro ATV National Champion, Joe Byrd, was presented
with a huge championship trophy, and also received a
$5,000 championship bonus check along with a first ever
diamond championship ring, which has been a long time
tradition in the GNCC series. Pro Am Unlimited &
Production Champion, Josh Upperman received two checks
for $2,500 each for winning both Pro Am Classes, which
had him smiling ear to ear on stage.
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| Only
four Pro Riders were attendance with (left to
right) Harold Goodman, Joe Haavisto, Jeremiah
Jones, and Joe Byrd |
ATVA
President, Doug Morris, Presents Pro Am Champion,
Josh Upperman his $2,500 Check for the Production
Class |
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Steve
Whitelock, AMA Supercross/Motocross Series Manager,
publicly announced these exciting Pro ATV changes
for 2007 at the ATVA Motocross Banquet in Pigeon
Forge, TN on Saturday |
The biggest news of the evening was Steve Whitelock
announcing the creation of a new professional ATV racing
championship set to begin in 2007, which is huge news
for our sport and long overdue. The pros will continue
to follow the ATVA motocross schedule, but will now
have their own set of rules and dedicated referee along
with transponder timing and scoring. Also, an indoor
series is slated to begin in 2008 along with the Pro
Class expanding to 450cc and 250cc classes, which will
surely provide a boost to manufacturers to produce performance
250cc machines over the next year.
One of the most special guests in attendance was none
other than Jeremiah Jones with what seemed to be his
entire family, and he was honored with the “Rider
of the Year” Award. Also, a special silent auction
was organized by Debi Bartosek, which raised several
thousand dollars for Jeremiah on top of the over $30,000
raised in the Jeremiah Jones LT-R450 Raffle. Jeremiah
drew the lucky winner on stage after the awards banquet,
and it was Ryan Powell of Greenwood, SC. Ryan purchased
his ticket online through www.88livetoride.com and never
expected to win the prize, so he went out and purchased
a brand new LT-R450 just a few weeks ago from his local
dealer Performance Cycles. When he received the phone
call that he was the lucky winner, he was quoted to
have about fell on the floor in amazement, and he will
be picking up his race ready ATV in just a few days.
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| Jeremiah
Jones announces Ryan Powell as the lucky winner
of the Suzuki / Yoshimura LT-R450 Race Ready ATV |
The
Silent Auction was a huge hit with tons items
donatedd by Fox, Walsh, IMS-Roll, Hiper, Hinson,
iShock, and more... |
The split banquet was a huge success, and it appeared
as if all those in attendance truly had a wonderful
time, and were pleasantly surprised by the abundance
of contingency prizes, which included tires, personalized
championship jackets and fleece pullovers along with
numerous other contingency prizes for the top five finishers.
The big winner of the evening was the 50cc Champion,
Jeffrey Dodson who took home the Weekend Warrior Trailer,
which had him jumping for joy when he found out the
news.
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| 50cc
Stock Limited Champion, Jeffrey Dodson, took home
the Weekend Warrior Trailer |
50cc
Production Auto (6-8), Tyler Peters, took home
a brand new DRX 50 |
For those of you that didn’t attend, you surely
missed out on a fun evening, which should be even bigger
and better next year.
Here are some of the highlights from the 2006 ATVA
Motocross Banquet.
| Rider,
Sponsor, and Mechanic of the Year Award Winners |
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| Jeremiah
Jones
Rider of the Year |
Adrienne
Cooper
Rookie of the Year |
Richard
Lindsay
Youth Rider of the Year |
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Ron
Laurine
Good Samaritian |
Debi
Bartosek
Sport Ambassador |
Tyler
Pittman
Hard Luck |
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| Eddie
Edmondson & Zach Griffin Received Tear-Drops
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Baldwin
Motorsports
Rough & Ready Pit Crew |
Weekend
Warrior
Sponsor of the Year |
| *Not
in Attendance - Greg Gee (Most Improved Rider)
Paul Turner (Knucklehead) |
| Top
Women Riders |
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Angela
Butler won her 6th Women's National Title |
Jamie
Jones plans to return to racing in 2007 |
Brittany
Snider and Kristy Laurine will be moving up to
the Women's Sport Class |
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Multi-Class
Champions |
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Matt
Shapaka
Production C & 265C
Class Champion |
Dane
Heilman
Plus 25 & Open A
Class Champion |
Matt
Bremer
Production B & 4 Stroke B
Class Champion |
| Youth
Riders |
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| Brandon
Tittle Claimed the 70cc Production Championship
and finished 2nd in 90cc Production Jr |
Jeffrey
Dodson was really enjoying his 50cc Limited Championship
number one plate while on stage |
Joel
Hetrick added yet another number one plate to
his collection with the 90 Modified Win |
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The
Slickest Dressed |
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| Mike
Walsh had it going on with his red shades, tie,
and shoes with his black suit & hat |
Aaron
Meyer and Casey Martin were also styling in the
Production A Lineup |
Cole
Sepesi was all slicked up to accept his 3rd place
award in 50cc Production |
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Baby
Photos of the Evening |
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| Jimmy
& Nathaniel Jones |
Joe Haavisto
Family |
Jamie
& Nathaniel Jones |
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Fighting for your
Rights
All Terrain Vehicle Association
P.O. Box 800
Pickerington, OH 43147-0800 |
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