Joel Hetrick
Makes History Again by Winning Loretta's Dirt
Days
AMA ATV MX Pro
Championships - Round 11 - Loretta Lynn's - August
13, 2011
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AMA ATV MX
Pro rookie Joel Hetrick was awarded ATVRiders.com's
Fastest Qualifier Award, SSI Decals Holeshot
Award, & took first place overall
at Loretta Lynn's Dirt Days
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Oil City, PA (8/16/2011)
- AMA ATV Motocross Pro rookie, Hetrick
Racing/Makson Construction's, Joel Hetrick continued
on his march to rewrite ATV racing history at the
final round of the 2011 AMA ATV Motocross Championship
series at Loretta Lynn's Dirt Days in Hurricane
Mills, TN on Saturday, August 13th.
At the beginning of the season, Hetrick set his
aspirations as a rookie Pro within the realm of
his expectations. Not wanting to pressure himself
or his team with unrealistic goals, he just wanted
to finish in the top five at a few events and
possibly pull down a top three podium finish.
His first top three finish came during Round 5
of the season at Sunset Ridge MX in Illinois.
Then came the moment he made ATV racing history.
At Unadilla Valley Sports Center in New Berlin,
NY on July 16th, Joel Hetrick became the first
ever rookie Pro to win an overall event.
With this pinnacle of achievement in his back
pocket, Hetrick headed for the Loretta's Dirt
Days event with one more aspiration in his book
of dreams, winning the most famous event of the
series, "The Grandaddy Of Them All...Loretta's",
a momentous feat never conquered by an ATV racing
Pro rookie.
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Hetrick finished
his Pro rookie season by taking fifth
in the points
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Hetrick made his first statement of the event
when he laid down the fastest qualifying time
during the morning practice runs. With his pick
of starting gate positions for moto one, he was
set to prove to himself that he had what it took
to make another mark in the chronicles of ATV
racing.
Around the moto one holeshot, Hetrick led the
pack of Pros. Twenty minutes, plus two laps, later,
he led the Pro class to the checkers, taking the
moto win ahead of veteran racer John Natalie.
In a post moto interview, Natalie, who finished
second behind Hetrick, commented, "I hung
back a little bit...Joel was riding really good
and I didn't want to take a chance of taking him
and myself out so I figured I would wait for him
to make a mistake...but he rode flawless."
Moto two found Hetrick behind veteran Pro Josh
Upperman at the holeshot, but not for long. Early
in the race, Hetrick gassed past Upperman to take
the lead. Holding onto the front runner spot for
the entire race, Joel Hetrick posted wins in both
motos to become the first ever Pro rookie to win
the Loretta Lynn's Dirt Days event.
In a post race podium statement, Hetrick had
this to say about his weekend, "It's great
to win here in the Pro class at Loretta's. A lot
of people came out here to watch us today and
I think it's pretty cool that the "Rookie
Won!"
Joel Hetrick's 2011
sponsor list included:
Hetrick Racing, Makson Construction, JB Racing,
Maximum RPM, Fly Racing, Elka Suspension, Walsh
Race Craft, MotoWorks, Easton, Maxxis, Lone Star
Racing, Tiger Racing, Pro Graph-X, Quad Tech,
Rage ATV, Rath Racing, Luke Nixon Racing, Precision
Racing Products, DWT, Oury ATV Grips, DP Brakes,
Fuel Customs, PowerMadd, Outerwears, Rebel Gears,
Kal-Gard, Intense Fabrication & Design, Hinson
Clutches, Pafford EMS, World Of Wheels and Guyer
the Mover.
www.hetrickracing.com
186 Oakwood Road
Oil City, PA 16301
814.676-0477 |
