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View Full Version : 2005 Extreme Dirt Track ATV Racing - RD#2 - Birch Creek - ATV Race Coverage



Admin
07-13-2005, 12:07 PM
Danville, VA - For the 2nd time this year the ATVA Nationals visited Birch Creek with the fourth Round of MX series held here in April and now EDT(Extreme Dirt Track) Series brings that fastest ATV riders back to Virginia for one last time this year.

Thursday Night as some of the racers began to arrive they were greeted with severe thunderstorms as the remnants of Hurricane Cindy pounded the area with heavy rain and lightning while Hurricane Dennis headed toward Florida where the ESPN Great Outdoor Games were being held at the Disney Complex with a $30,000 Purse.

Unfortunately, for several of the Top Pros, they were forced to make a decision whether to compete in Florida in one of the biggest television events for ATVs or compete for the FMF Extreme Dirt Track Championship.

All of those invited to the GOG declined their invitation and headed to Virginia to support the fans that were counting on them to show up at the ATVA Extreme Dirt Track National.

Fortunately, for the racers and the fans, the stormy weather moved out of the area by Friday, and the rest of the weekend was forecasted to be nothing but blue skies, but hot and humid. Ken Ferrell and track crew worked through out the day on Friday to clear the water from the track for Friday, and it was ready to go by Friday Night for a three hour practice session

Saturday, the Fans began arriving early to claim there spot in the stands or on the hill to watch all the racing action throughout the day and into the night for the main event, and it was good some arrived early because this years event attracted more spectators than ever and even the rider turnout was up over 20% over last year with 382 entries.

Admin
07-13-2005, 12:11 PM
The Birch Creek Motorsports Dirt Track - Known as "The Short Track" of the FMF Extreme Dirt Track ATVA Nationals is a basic horseshoe style of track with approximately 100 yard straight-a-way leading into a sweeping, mildly banked left hand corner turn which carries you onto the back stretch (about 100 yds.) At the end of backstretch there is a hard 180 degree left hand turn (high banked bowl turn, 3 line corner) which carries you into the infield. After the 180 turn, a short straight with a roller jump that leads into another high banked bowl turn, 3 line, 180 degree turn. Out of this turn there's a short straight with a roller jump which leads you into another 180 degree turn (this one is not banked) and back onto the front stretch straight-a-way.

The track is short and fast with the Pros running 25 to 27 second laptimes with speeds exceeding 85mph on the backstretch while many of the amateurs where recording 30 to 35 second lap times

Admin
07-13-2005, 12:21 PM
Pro Event

#708 Harold Goodman(JPMX) Won the opening round aboard his LTZ400 Suzuki in Arkansas holding off the defending Champion, Keith Little(Lonestar Racing), and Tim Farr (Baldwin Motorsports).

Admin
07-13-2005, 12:58 PM
The Pro Class only had 17 entries, which was below the full gate of 20 possible riders for the Main, so every entry advanced to the Main Event scheduled for the last race of the evening.

The Pros were split into three groups to compete for six laps which would determine the starting position for the Main Event, which is critical in EDT racing because of the small track size, the riders are started on two rows. The riders on the second row are at huge disadvantage.

Darin Ogden, Harold Goodman, and Lee J. Reineccius chat on the starting line before the first qualifier

1st Qualifier Lineup
Darin Ogden - Honda
Lee Reineccius - Yamaha
Harold Goodman-Suzuki
Kelsey Stamm-Honda
Scott Morris-Honda
Jerry Lauder-Kawasaki

Admin
07-13-2005, 01:01 PM
The start had #43 Scott Morris putting his Honda out to a slight lead on the outside headed toward turn one, but #708 Harold Goodman was able to put his Suzuki out front into turn one with #2 Darin Ogden right behind him.

Admin
07-13-2005, 01:06 PM
For five laps, Goodman and Ogden put on a tandom and syncronized display of EDT racing with side by side battles along with Goodman taking the Outside lines high on the banked corners and Ogden hanging low on the inside as these two battled for the lead.

Meanwhile, #43 Scott Morris followed in third place.

Admin
07-13-2005, 01:12 PM
In the final lap, Ogden is able to make the pass on Goodman to take the win with Morris finishing in 3rd.

1st Qualifier Results
1. Darin Ogden
2. Harold Goodman
3. Scott Morris
4. Jerry Lauder
5. Kelsey Stamm

Admin
07-13-2005, 01:17 PM
2nd Qualifier Lineup
Nathan Dallas-Yamaha
Brad Covington-Yamaha
Keith Little-Yamaha
Eric Jennings-Yamaha
Chad Lohr-Honda

#38 Eric Jennings(HB Racing) and #22 Brad Covington put the squeeze on #12 Keith Little off the start, but amazingly, Little was able to carve his way to the front and grabs the Holeshot with Covington and Jennings dropping in behind him.

Admin
07-13-2005, 01:38 PM
#12 Keith Little(2004 National Champion) pulls away to a 5-6 quad length lead over Covington and Jennings battling for the 2nd spot.

Little cruises his way to the Win, and looked strong and smooth as he used various lines in the corners during the qualifier to find his quickest time around the track.

Admin
07-13-2005, 01:42 PM
HB Racings, #38 Eric Jennings, makes the pass on Covington to finish in 2nd Place for an impressive Pro Racing debut aboard his Yamaha YFZ450.

2nd Qualifier Results
1. Keith Little
2. Eric Jennings
3. Brad Covington
4. Nathan Dallas
5. Chad Lohr

Admin
07-13-2005, 01:47 PM
3rd Qualifier Lineup
Brad Riley-Yamaha
Chuckie Creech-Honda
Daryl Rath-Honda
Shane Hitt-Suzuki
Tim Farr-Honda
Zac Willett-Honda

The six riders battled almost side by side down the stretch to turn one with Daryl Rath putting his new ride a Honda 450R out front with Tim Farr and Shane Hitt in chase.

Admin
07-13-2005, 01:49 PM
With Daryl Rath out front, Tim Farr and Shane Hitt were busy applying the pressure and looking to make their move.

Admin
07-13-2005, 01:51 PM
Farr was able to overtake Rath in the 2nd lap and began to stretch out his lead, and by the 3rd lap, Shane Hitt would overcome Rath by pushing his Suzuki deep into the corners and letting it slide to the very top edge of the high banked berms, which slingshoted him down the straights.

Admin
07-13-2005, 01:54 PM
#4 Tim Farr took the Win

Admin
07-13-2005, 01:55 PM
#5 Shane Hitt maintained second place to the checkered flag.

Team Suzuki's Shane Hitt appeared to be getting himself adjusted to his new Suzuki ride but it seems that his injury and several surgeries later have hampered his performance. He is fast, but not quite back to his old self where he could start on the back row and pass all of them before a heat or main was over.

He looked a lot stronger and more adapted to his Suzuki at Birch Creek than he did at the series' opener in Arkansas at Twin Creeks Raceway in mid-June.

Admin
07-13-2005, 01:57 PM
#67 Daryl Rath rode his way to a 3rd place finish

3rd Qualifier Results
1. Tim Farr
2. Shane Hitt
3. Daryl Rath
4. Zac Willett
5. Chuckie Creech
6. Brad Riley

Admin
07-13-2005, 02:05 PM
#4 Tim Farr (Team Honda and Baldwin Motorsports) blew an engine in the Pro/Am Production qualifier at the beginning of the Main show around 7p.m. By the time the Pro qualifiers went off the line at around 5 minutes till 8, Mark Baldwin had replaced his engine in his Honda and Farr was ready to go. Damn impressive to change an engine in that amount of time! Farr elected to sit out the Pro/Am Production main.

Admin
07-13-2005, 02:05 PM
Harold Goodman, Team Suzuki, chose not to run any Pro/Am classes at Birch Creek just as he had at Rd. 1 in Greenbrier, Arkansas at Twin Creeks Raceway. His reasoning, he's had about all the mechanical mis-haps he's wanted this year and his plan is to just run the Pro class so his equipment and himself will be in tip-top shape. Goodman won the first round at Twin Creeks and came into Round 2 the points leader.

Admin
07-13-2005, 02:12 PM
The Main Event didn't get started till 10PM after a horrific wreck in Production B involving several ATVs that stopped the event until everyone received medical attention

Admin
07-13-2005, 02:13 PM
The Aftermath wasn't pretty:(

Admin
07-13-2005, 02:25 PM
Main Event

Darin Ogden got first gate pick in the Pro main with the fatest qualifying time, and Tim Farr from qualifier #3 posted the second fastest qualifying time so he got second pick and Keith Little in qualifier #2 got third pick followed by Harold Goodman and Shane Hitt

Chad Lohr of Duncan Racing's GNC MX Team came to try his skills at Dirt Track racing since it was an off weekend for the GNC-MX series, but due to quad issues he decided not race in the Main.

The 16 Rider Main Event was underway shortly after 10:15PM with hillsides still filled with spectators anticipating some incredible racing action.

When they were all staged you could feel the rumble of the four stroke thunder resounding off the Virginia hills. Action time was just seconds away as the pit steward pointed the Pros down and pointed toward the lights.

The Start of the race had Goodman jumping out to the early lead followed by Hitt, Farr, Little, Rath, and Ogden

Admin
07-13-2005, 02:29 PM
Goodman pulled himself out to a 8 quad length lead early in the race utilizing the shorter, speed bumped, inside lines around the track instead of the outside high speed sweeping lines.

Admin
07-13-2005, 02:31 PM
Shane Hitt held the second spot early in the race with Tim Farr applying the pressure with Keith Little right behind the pair.

Admin
07-13-2005, 02:34 PM
Harold Goodman maintained the lead as Tim Farr worked on Shane Hitt and made the pass to take over second, which allowed him to start his charge to reel in Goodman out front

Keithl Little worked his way past Shane Hitt after the half way point in the race as Hitt and moved up into 3rd place.

Admin
07-13-2005, 02:37 PM
As Shane Hitt dropped off his earlier charge, Darin Ogden was also able to work his way past Hitt and move into 4th while Hitt dropped back yet another postion.

Admin
07-13-2005, 02:39 PM
Meanwhile Out front, Tim Farr closed the gap on Harold Goodman and began looking for his oppurtunity to make the pass.

Admin
07-13-2005, 02:43 PM
The battle for 3rd place was on between Little and Ogden as they pulled away from Hitt in 5th

Admin
07-13-2005, 02:44 PM
Last 4 laps, Goodman and Farr, side by side down straights, Farr going high in corners, Goodman staying low.

White flag lap, looks as if Goodman will pull off second win on the season, but, a lapper stalls in the 180 degree bowl turn at the end of the back stretch which brings out the caution. Goodman and Farr flying down back stretch, Goodman has to alter his preferred line, Farr takes advantage of the moment and by driving exceptionally hard into the bowl and not letting off, manages to squeak a wheel past Goodman on the infield. They're rubbing tires as they come out of the infield bowl turn and onto the short straight leading to the last corner before the checkers on the front stretch. At the checkers it's Farr by inches over Goodman.

Admin
07-13-2005, 02:47 PM
Keith Little was able to hold off the Darin Ogden to earn the final spot on the Podium with Shane Hitt holding onto finish in 5th place over Daryl Rath.

Admin
07-13-2005, 02:49 PM
HB Racing's Eric Jennings held on to finish 7th in his Pro racing debut

Admin
07-13-2005, 02:50 PM
Rounding out the Top 10 was Brad Covington, Nathan Dallas, and Chuckie Creech

Admin
07-13-2005, 02:52 PM
Tim Farr and Harold Goodman discussed their incredible battle to the finish

Admin
07-13-2005, 02:52 PM
Goodman stated that he was very pleased with the way his Suzuki was working since they'd had their problems during the MX season and that it was working great for them during the DT Nationals.

Farr stated that Goodman got out good and was using the best lines on the track. He also stated that once he caught Goodman he didn't know if he would be able to get by him. He was aware of the lapper stalled in the corner and took the chance to give it all and it paid off. He also, along with Goodman, admitted that the lapper incident on the last lap was "just racing". It happens. Farr went on to thank Mark Baldwin for doing an awesome job on replacing his engine in such a short period of time. That the engine he blew was their #1 engine for the race and that they had to go to their backup engine.

Admin
07-13-2005, 02:54 PM
Top Three Finishers (Harold Goodman, Tim Farr, Keith Little)

Pro Main Results
1 Timothy Farr
2 Harold L. Goodman
3 Keith B. Little
4 Darin R. Ogden
5 Shane Hitt
6 Daryl Rath
7 Eric Jennings
8 Brad Covington
9 Nathan G. Dallas
10 Chuckie C. Creech
11 Jerry L. Lauder
12 Kelsey Stamm
13 Brad Riley
14 Lee J. Reineccius
15 Zac Willett
16 Scott Morris
DNS Chad Lohr

Admin
07-13-2005, 02:58 PM
Special thanks to Matt Robertson(Blue Groove Photos) for the photos and David Screws and Mike from HB Racing for the race information.

TC426EX
07-16-2005, 12:20 PM
Great coverage! Its awesome when these races come down to the wire... So many TT specialists on the track this year with Goodman back, Hitt back, Rath on an actually competitive machine, and my favorite for the championship of course TIM FARR! Bring it home this time Timmy!

Cody_300ex
07-16-2005, 02:01 PM
Hey harlen are you going to be at the Paduacah TT and FT National?

snapdragon_49
07-18-2005, 08:42 AM
Hi Harlen...

I just wanted to thank you for the GREAT coverage you had on the Danville race.. I think it is a good thing when so many people contribute to the reports, and there accurate .. The pictures that are posted on this web site by so many members of this forum, are some of the best pictures you can ever see.. The action shots are fantastic Thanks to all.. Debbie Ogden