White Bear Lake, MN (7/5/2006)
- The WPSA PowerSports ATV Championship
Tour begins it sweep through the Midwest this
weekend with the Jack Link's Feed Your Wild
Side ATV Championship at Illinois' South Fork
Dirt Riders. The double championship event,
scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, July 8-9,
will pit the best of the best in ATV racing
against each other during rounds five and six
of the 2006 Tour. Saturday's events will be
telecast on ESPN2 on Saturday, July 15 at noon
EDT, while Sunday's race will air Saturday,
July 22, also at noon.
Leading the championship charge into Illinois in
the QuadMX SuperQuad Pro 450 class is legendary John
Natalie, Jr. (No. 12 Elka, HMF, Swift/Honda). Natalie,
with two wins, a third and a runner-up finish, hasn't
missed the podium yet this season and holds an eight-point
lead in the title chase.
However, a recent wrist injury may weigh on Natalie
this weekend, opening the door for second-in-points
Doug Gust (No. 55 Team Suzuki Yoshimura/Suzuki). With
a win and a third-place finish during the last two
events, Gust has climbed to second in points and is
hungry to win the inaugural Riders' Championship.
Gust also finished second during Round 1 of the Tour.
Hot on Gust's rear nerf bar is Dustin Wimmer (No.
191 East Coast ATV, Axis, Sparks, Maxxis/Honda). Wimmer
is seeking his first victory of the season this weekend,
though consistency has paid off for the Center Valley,
Pa. rider. Wimmer sits third in the standings, just
22 points out of the lead.
Jeremiah Jones (No. 2 Team Suzuki, Yoshimura, Fly/Suzuki)
has been on a hot streak of late; one he plans to
continue here. Jones won his first race of the season
at the last event, and has two runner-up finishes,
placing him fourth in the chase. However, an injury
in qualifying sidelined Jones in the season opener,
though he will attempt to overcome that rare miss
this
weekend.
Over in the rough-and-tumble QuadTerrain Challenge
Pro Stock ranks, longtime terrain rider Daryl Rath
(No. 67 Rath Racing/Arctic Cat) has put on a clinic
this season on how to be successful in QuadTerrain
racing. With two wins, and two fourth-place finishes
under his belt, Rath holds a commanding 16-point lead
in the title chase.
But it would be unwise to count out William Yokley
and his No. 23 Suzuki. Yokley comes into Taylorville
off of his first win of the season. That victory,
combined with two other podium finishes, places Yokley
squarely in the catbird seat, second in the standings.
Scott Kilby (No. 227 Can-Am, Maxxis, Moose/Can-Am)
led the charge of Can-Am's factory team, led by PowerSports
Snowmobile Tour veteran team Warnert Racing. With
two podiums, including a second-place finish in Round
3, Kilby now sits third, 27 points back.
Meanwhile, the Manufacturers' Championships have
taken on a life of their own. In QuadMX, Suzuki grabbed
the lead in the standings at the last race, and now
holds just a two-point gap over Honda. In QuadTerrain,
Arctic Cat is just nine points ahead of Can-Am.
This weekend's races are sponsored by Jack Link's
Beef Jerky. As part of its sponsorship, the company
will distribute samples of its popular meat snacks
on site. Jack Link's is also the "Official Meat
Snack" of the PowerSports ATV Tour.
Riders will be vying for one of the richest purses
in ATV racing here. The Tour will award $22,500 in
purse monies here, as it does for each race this season.
The purse, which will be awarded in the Tour's Pro
Classes, pays to 20th place in the QuadMX Series and
to 15th place in QuadTerrain Challenge. The purse
structure awards $4,000 to win in QuadMX and $2,000
to win in QuadTerrain Challenge, with $15,000 and
$7,500 available in each Series, respectively.
Additionally, Quad Magazine is sponsoring at "Holeshot
Award" in SuperQuad Pro 450, awarding $1,000
to the rider who grabs the holeshot at the beginning
of the final. Over in QuadTerrain, ATVRiders.com
is sponsoring the "Rock'n'Roll Award" which
will give a $500 bonus to the rider leaving the course's
rock crawl first during the final.
The ATV Tour's two racing series: the "QuadMX
Series" and the "QuadTerrain Challenge Series"
compete at each event this season. QuadMX consists
of professional and pro-am sport MX racing on pro-style,
big-air MX racing circuits. The QuadTerrain Challenge
comprises professional and pro-am sport utility racing
on purpose-built all-terrain racing circuits. ATVs
allowed to compete will include stock, near-stock
utility-type, and modified.
The Taylorville track layout, like all circuits on
the Tour, is designed to optimize television coverage
and fan viewing for both racing disciplines. The QuadMX
course is central to the design and is tailored exclusively
for ATV racing. The QuadTerrain course is constructed
immediately adjacent to the MX track and incorporates
a small portion of the technical section of the MX
course, but excludes all big air MX sections. The
balance of the QuadTerrain course consists of specialized
terrain and obstacles. All obstacle sectors are raced
at speed. Races feature obstacles that demonstrate
the machine's and a rider's capabilities under race
conditions. However certain sections will require
careful maneuvering, or a deft high-speed touch. The
QuadTerrain courses are a half mile or less in length.
The Jack Link's Feed Your Wild Side ATV Championship
kicks off Friday, July 7 with open practice.
Racing gets underway Saturday, with a full card
of qualifying and finals for the Pro classes,
as well as Amateur, Pro-Am and Youth class qualifying.
Sunday will also feature a full show for the
Pros, with finals scheduled for the remaining
classes. Tickets will be available at the gate.
A full race weekend schedule will be posted
at www.powersportstour.com
About the PowerSports
ATV Tour
The PowerSports ATV Tour is North America's
newest ATV racing tour. The Tour is North America's
premier form of ATV racing, with its jumps,
gyrations and dirt-slinging racing action. The
Tour is organized by the World PowerSports Association,
North America's largest and most respected snowmobile
sanctioning body, and promoter of ATV and snowmobile
racing on both the regional and national level.
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