| ATVA
ITP / Moose Racing
National Motocross Series
Amateur Race Report
Round #8 - Muddy Creek
May 27-28, 2006
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Motocross Nationals
Round #8 - Links |
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Blountville, TN -The Muddy Creek proved
to be a perfect Memorial Day weekend for ATV racing
with pleasantly warm temperatures approaching the 90’s
along with a few rain showers on Friday, which kept
the tacky for the rest of the weekend. The track was
run in the opposite direction for 2006, which leveled
the playing field as it was like racing at an entirely
new track.
Pro Am Production & Unlimited
Out of the first eight rounds of this year’s ATV
MX Nationals, Team Motorsport.com Honda’s Josh
Upperman has faltered only three times. Winning is the
name of his game. During round 8 at Muddy Creek, Saturday’s
Pro/Am Production competition didn’t go his way.
He seemed off his game and it showed in his fourth place
overall finish. Taking advantage of Upperman’s
misfortune, Joe Byrd Quad Racing School sponsored Clay
Holmes was definitely on his game. Holmes, a Lexington,
Tennessee based racer, held off the attack of Pro racer
Alba Yamaha’s Kory Ellis and another Yamaha mounted
Pro, Sage Baker, to take his first overall victory in
the class on the season. In a post race interview Holmes,
beaming with pride and soaked with Tennessee sweat,
thanked his sponsors, his mom and dad, and Joe Byrd
for giving him the opportunity to show the ATV racing
world that he had what it took to run with the best
of them. Holmes’ only other podium in the class
for the season came in California during round 1 where
he finished third behind Upperman and Pro racer Matt
White.
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#79
Clay Holmes |
#10
Greg Gee |
On Sunday, in the Pro/Am Unlimited class which features
basically the same Pro/Am racers as the Production class,
Josh Upperman came out blasting as expected, rekindling
his race game fires and sweeping both motos to take
his seventh overall victory in the class in the ATV
MX Nationals first eight rounds. Keeping his momentum
up, Clay Holmes took his Honda to a second place overall
finish and Canadian Greg Gee of Ontario, Canada slung
his yellow Yamaha around the Muddy Creek layout, charging
up through the pack to nail down the third place position
overall.
With eight rounds down and six to go in the ’06
ITP/Moose Racing ATVA National Motocross Series, Upperman
held down the top spot in the Pro/Am Production class
with 186 points while Matt White, out due to injuries
at round 7, held on to second place in the overall points
standings with 147 points. Rounding out the top three
in the Production standings was Mitch Reynolds of Arkansas
with 119 marks to his credit. In the Pro/Am Unlimited
class, Upperman continued to have the upper hand in
the overall standings with 231 points, leading Holmes
in second who had amassed 127 points and Cale Downen,
out due to injuries suffered during a practice session
in Kentucky, who, although injured held on to the third
place overall points position with 125 points.
Production A
There’s no quit in this Mississippian. Nathan
Commer continued to dominate the Production A class
by hooking his fifth overall win at Muddy Creek during
round 8. Commer, a Media All-Stars sponsored racer from
Philadelphia, MS not only continued to set the pace
in the Production A class but in the 265 A class as
well. After eight of fourteen rounds, he held down the
first place position in the overall points standings
in both classes. Many see Commer as the star of up and
comers in the amateur ranks and sense that he will be
making the move to the Pro/Am classes at the latter
stages of this year’s MX Nationals in preparation
for the 2007 season.
Benjamin Sumner of Sylva, North Carolina competed in
the Production A class in a few of the early rounds
where his finishes were less than stellar. That is,
until he pulled out of the series, regrouped and got
his race game in high gear. Coming on like a freight
train and making his presence known at Muddy Creek,
Sumner ran with Commer for a while but fell off the
top spot pace and led the pack to the checkers in second
place just ahead of Suzuki’s Russell Shumaker
who rounded out the top three in the class at the Eastern
Tennessee round 8 in Blountville.
At the conclusion of round 8, Commer continued to lead
the overall standings with 189 points with Casey Martin,
who finished 5th at Muddy Creek, holding down second
overall with 149 points and Aaron Meyer of Harrison,
Ohio clinging to third overall with 118 points. Capping
off the top five in the class were Caleb Moore of Texas
with 108 points and the rising ride of Shumaker with
107 points.
265 C
Tight, tight, tight would be an appropriate comment
when one spoke of the 265 C class overall standings
with eight rounds in the books in the 2006 ITP/Moose
Racing ATVA National Motocross series. Brandon Welp,
a Yamaha mounted racer out of Indiana held the top spot
with 125 points. Matt Shapaka of Ohio held the second
overall spot with 124 accumulated points. And, holding
down the third place overall was the Yamaha ride of
South Carolinian Tyler Lowe with 122 points. Three points
separated the three as they took to the East Tennessee
Muddy Creek circuit in late May. Shapaka took the win,
his first on the series with points leader Welp sliding
way back with an eleventh place finish and Lowe not
faring so well with a 5th place finish. If these three
keep this topsy-turvy finishing scenario going from
now until the end of the season, the MX Nationals may
witness a down to the wire, dog eat dog, battle royale
in the 265 C class for the national championship.
16-24 Age Class
Brian King came onboard in the 16-24 year old class
at round 5 of the ’06 MX Nationals and made a
statement of his intent from the very beginning. Finishing
third at round 5, King has since then put top podium
finishes in his back pocket at each subsequent round.
Riding out of Grindstone, Pennsylvania King and his
Honda took the overall win in the class at Muddy Creek
with Chris Williams of Florida netting second overall
and Michael Lehotay of Ohio taking third. Kings continued
charge to the front has put the top three in a points
battle to see who will stand tall on the 265 C heap
at the end of the season. With 8 of 14 rounds etched
in the overall points standings books, Williams led
the pack with 131 points, followed by Nick Denoble in
second with 118 points and King in third with 111 points.
Hanging tough and within striking distance of the championship
were Thomas Brown of Texas in fourth 2nd with 111 points
and Devin Heimes with 101 points.
Women ATV Racing
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Women's Production - Heather Byrd, Jamie Jones,
Melissa Kufel |
Although there have been only ten individual contestants
in the Womens class during the ’06 season up through
the eighth round, the action between these ladies of
the sport still captures the attention of fans at each
and every round. Still out front and running, the war
wages on between 2005 National champion Heather Byrd
and former champion Angela Butler. On the season, Byrd
has tallied five wins while Butler has finished on top
at a round three times. The latest three rounds have
seen a swap fest between the two with Butler taking
not only the Muddy Creek round win but the Birch Creek
win. Byrd, a fierce competitor and wife of Pro Joe Byrd,
slipped to a second place finish at round 8 in East
Tennessee but continue to hold on to the top points
position in the overalls with 225 points. Butler, on
the other hand, after missing round five, had a solid
second position in the overalls with 179 points. Rounding
out the top three was Michelle Reiser, John Natalie,
Jr.’s girlfriend and companion with 149 points.
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#2
Angela Butler |
#10
Jessica Doherty |
The Byrd vs. Butler Battle as it’s’ become
known is slated to wage on for the remaining six rounds.
Amateur classes have four throw outs which not only
tightens up the current points spread between Butler
and Byrd but makes for an interesting avenue of speculation
as to which of the two will reign supreme at the end
of the season.
Youth Production
Neal McGrath of Bradenton, Florida is hearing his name
more and more over the PA system at a national event.
McGrath, a Honda mounted Youth Production racer has
been on his game and off his game for the entire series,
finishing all the way from a tenth place finish to first.
This young gun of the youth classes took the win at
Muddy Creek and added to his ever growing points spread
over the second and third place overall places of Robert
Mazey and Richard Lindsay. Once the tallies were place
in the books after round 8, McGrath held down the first
place overall points position with 179 points over Mazey
with 126 points and Lindsay with 115.
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Neal McGrath |
#98
Daniel Cooper |
Two racers who hadn’t podiumed all season long
rose to the top of their ride at Muddy Creek’s
round 8. Bringing down his first ever podium in the
class was Daniel Cooper of Huntsville, Alabama with
a second place finish. Mirroring Cooper’s first
ever podium finish was also Yasmin Adams of Savannah,
Tennessee who put in a strong ride and finished third
overall.
50cc Limited
When he’s there, he’s a front runner. We’re
talking about Mike Gleason of Slidell, Louisiana who
laid waste to the other 50cc challengers as they navigated
a shortened version of the Muddy Creek layout in the
East Tennessee hills. Gleason led second place overall
finisher Nolan Cochran of Gastonia, North Carolina and
third place finisher Adam Szymborski of Holt, Michigan
to the checkers after a melee of a battle between the
three. Current points leader Jeffrey Dodson of Virginia
along with the current, after eight of fourteen rounds,
second and third place points position holders, Jordan
Digby and Conner Fuhman, in the overall standings didn’t
find Muddy Creek in their favor. Dodson, a DRR mounted
youngster finished 13th while Digby of Mississippi finished
4th and Fuhman of Michigan, another DRR racer, finished
5th. Despite their less than expected finishes at round
five, Dodson, Digby and Fuhman continued to top the
points standings in first, second and third, respectively
with Dodson showing 167 points, Digby 137 and Fuhman
136.
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| #717
Mike Gleason & #51 Adam Szymborski |
#44
Nolan Cochran |
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Fighting for your
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