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AMA ATV Motocross Nationals
Round #6 - High Point MX
Mt Morris, PA
June 16, 2012
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Can-Am's John Natalie
Takes Homestate Win at High Point ATV MX
Yamaha's Chad Wienen &
Thomas Brown Round out the Pro ATV Podium
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AMA Pro ATV Motocross
Round 6 - Hight Point |
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Mt. Morris, PA (6/16/2012) –
Just one week ago, Mount Morris, Pa. played host
to the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship and
this weekend thousands of Pennsylvania spectators
returned for Round 6 of the AMA ATV Motocross National
Championship Series at the historical High Point
Raceway. Local rider John Natalie shined through
his hometown roots as he took home a 1-1 sweep in
his home state of Pennsylvania.
It was 19-year-old Joel Hetrick, Seneca, Pa.,
who landed the ATVRiders.com Fastest Qualifier
Award during the morning qualifiers and put himself
into a prime first-place gate position heading
into Moto 1.
Motoworks/Can-Am’s John Natalie, Warrior’s
Mark, Pa., kicked off Moto 1 with the SSi Decals
Holeshot Award and held the early lead over Hetrick,
Thomas Brown and Nick DeNoble. Points leader Chad
Wienen got into a collision with Josh Upperman
off the start, causing both riders to fall behind
the pack. It wasn’t long before Hetrick
put the moves on his teammate Natalie, taking
control of the Moto 1 lead; but only for a couple
laps as he experienced mechanical issues that
forced the Motoworks/Can-Am rider to pull into
the mechanic’s area to readjust.
Natalie then inherited the lead on lap 5 but
Brown kept his TBROWN Yamaha Racing/Moto-X-Perts
Yamaha on the rear end of Natalie throughout the
entire first moto, even making his way past the
defending champ to take over the lead briefly
in the middle of the race. Natalie held Brown
off for the remainder of the race, taking home
the Moto 1 victory despite feeling under the weather
all week. Wienen caught back up to the lead pack
after hooking up with Upperman in the first corner,
salvaging points for his overall position.
“I just haven’t been feeling too
hot the past few days and I’m not going
to lie, there were times when I felt like giving
up out there,” Natalie said. “The
biggest thing that kept me going was hearing the
fans cheering as we went by. That was amazing
and I couldn’t have made it through without
them!”
Baldwin Motorports/PEP’s Josh Upperman
fought back to finish in the fifth place spot,
just behind Hetrick’s fourth place ride.
In Moto 2, Upperman shot out of the gate to grab
the SSi Decals Holeshot Award and led the early
part of the race until he lost control and went
off-track, causing him to lose four positions
right away. Meanwhile, Hetrick maneuvered his
way past Natalie for the lead by the third lap.
“I had a great jump off the start and
I felt really good on the first lap, but I may
have gotten too excited and just kind of went
off the track and lost the lead,” Upperman
said. “Things are really coming together
and I feel really comfortable with my bike set
up this year.”
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