Can-Am/ Motoworks's John Natalie & Joel Hetrick went 2-3 in the 2012 AMA ATV MX Pro Racing Seaason

Vista, CA (8/17/2012) – Can-Am / Motoworks’ John Natalie, Jr. ended his season on a high note with a win at Loretta Lynn’s season final in Hurricane Mills, TN and claimed second place in championship points, while Joel Hetrick followed Natalie to the podium in second place and scored an impressive third in series points.

Weather conditions were surprisingly mild for the final round of the season with temps in the 80’s and sunny skies. Track conditions were typical for the track and did get a bit rough as the day wore on, but that didn’t stop John, Natalie from taking the win, which was the first time he has ever won at Loretta Lynn’s.

Natalie was in the top five off the start and held his position for several laps before he got hung up in a berm for a short time. Natalie mounted a charge and worked his way back up to fourth place before crossing the finish line. “For moto one I was putting in some of the fastest lap times, but I was just in the wrong position,” he stated.

2011 AMA ATV MX Pro Champion John Natalie grabbed the final season win at Loretta Lynn's Round 10

For the second moto, Natalie was on a mission as he came off the line in seventh place. Natalie put the hammer down and charged his way into the top three by the end of the first lap. He then chased down the leaders and in the third lap, he took the lead. Natalie then began to pull away and recorded the fastest lap time of the moto in lap 10 with a time of 01:38.132. From here, Natalie continued to pull away and took the moto win and the top spot on the podium.

“It was a great way to end the season. This was the first time I have won at Loretta’s so it is almost like winning a championship for me. This has been a good season for us. We never had any DNF’s and we were on the podium at every round. I really want to thank Can-Am, Motoworks, my mechanic, my family and all my friends and fans for putting their faith in me and giving me the opportunity to do what I love to do,” Natalie stated.

DWT's Joel Hetrick grabbed the Pro ATV Moto 1 holeshot & placed second overall

Joel Hetrick was also on a mission to make the podium for the final round of the season and he did just that. Hetrick came off the line in the number two spot and took the lead early in the moto. Hetrick continued to pull away once out front and charged his way to the win with a 13 second lead. “I got a good holeshot in moto one and battled for the first half of the moto and then pulled a really good gap and took the win,” said Hetrick.

Moto two was intense for Hetrick as he battled it out with the competition all moto long. “Moto two was pretty intense. We were bumping a lot and I lucked out and got second overall. I won both motos last year and was hoping to do that again this year, but it didn’t happen,” said Hetrick who claimed a fifth place finish, which put him in second on the podium and third in series points.

“This was a great year and I am really happy to be up on the box as much as I was and I finished in the top three at the end. That’s what I was aiming for. Next year I will be going for a championship,” said Hetrick.

With a successful season at its end, the Can-Am/Motoworks team will not be taking it easy as they will be heading to the Montreal Supercross on September 29th at Montreal Olympic Stadium.