2005 ATVA ITP Moose GNC MX Round #12 - loretta Lynn's ATV Pro Race Coverage

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Hurricane Mills, TN - The final round of the GNC MX Season was greeted with a record number of 965 entries, and on Saturday almost every class was run with a staggered gate and the amateur Motos were shortened to narrow the field down to 20 riders for Sunday’s Main Event, and not surprising the experienced Racer Productions crew were able to handle the situation and were only left with a few LCQ events to run Sunday morning before the Main Event.

The Loretta Lynn facility provides a terrific race location with plenty of parking and even RV Hookups and showers, which is why it has been on the GNC & GNCC Schedule for so many years.

Each year before the GNC ATV MX Nationals, the AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships are held at the ranch with the best Amateur motorcycle riders from around the country converging on the ranch for a week of racing, and the sponsor for the series the past few years has been Air Nautigues, so a blue lagoon with dyed water and sand is added to the center of the track which makes for a cool display.

Unlike other National tracks, the Loretta Lynn’s track is completely flat with no elevation changes besides the huge air that the top riders get off some of the larger jumps and it loops around itself in the river valley.

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The Loretta Lynn's track has one of the longest straight aways before a sweeping right hand turned followed by several more turns and high speed straight aways before heading to the infamous "Ten Commandments”, which is a set of 10 deep whoops.

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Following the “Ten Commandments” the riders go through a series of turns before launching through a series of jumps which can be doubled or tripled which lead the riders to a the monster table top on the track immediately followed by tricky camel back triple jump and series of small leaps.

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The riders then go through a series of S-Turns followed by a huge sweeping turn around the Air Nautigues beach to another quick U-turn which lead to riders to a series of large doubles along spectator fence leading to the finish line.

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After the finish line, there is another tricky rhythm section which leads back to the 1st turn

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The track conditions were rough and dry, but what could be expected with nearly 1,000 riders signing up to race, and Racer Productions did everything they could to keep the track watered and dust was kept to a minimum.

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Almost the entire parameter of the track was lined with people trying to catch a glimpse of the racing action, and the athletes and family members were permitted to use the upper and lower balconies of one of the towers to watch the racing action which remained packed all weekend

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Luckily many sections of the track boarded the tree line which provided the spectators some relief from the heat, but the not the humidity

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Those not watching the racing action were busy checking out all the vendors and seeking autographs from their favorite pro riders as the pits remained packed with fans.

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The Moto Tees Trailer remained active with spectator looking to buy a piece of history with the purchase of an event t-shirt which featured, hometown favorite, #7 Joe Byrd and 2005 National Champion, #13 John Natalie Jr.

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Both #12 Keith Little's and #7 Joe Byrd's jersey were up for raffle to raise money for the mobile medical unit at only $1.00/chance. It was great to see many of the vendors pitching in with $50.00+ donations and giving the tickets away to the kids.

Also, there are still tickets available for the Super Raffle with the proceeds going to the purchase of a transport vehicle, and with three large prizes and the money going to a great cause please join in on the fun.

Super Raffle Details
150 tickets will be sold for $100.00 per ticket for a total collection of $15,000.00 and drawing will be held when all the tickets are sold or at the ATVA awards
Banquet which ever is sooner; they will give away three prizes with the remaining money going to the mobile medical unit fund.

1st Prize $3,000
2nd Prize $1,500
3rd Prize $500

You can get the tickets from Debi Bartosek or Cindi Hart by contacing them directly or on line through Paypal. There will be a $2.00 extra charge. For this option email cindihart88@cs.com

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Sponsorhouse.com also stuck around after the Amateur Motorcycle Nationals to inform ATV riders about their online sponsorship program

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It was also great to finally have the FMF Media Allstars Team Manager, #72 Jorge Cuartas, back at the track after a multiple surgeries and lengthy recovery and since his wreck at Red Bud MX.

He isn't back to racing, but he still kept busy all weekend with his team and distrubuting his 2004 Year in Review Book.

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(Right)Chris Harris, Fly Racing, helps out Paul Turner(Left) Prep Doug Gust's machine. Fly Racing sponsors team suzuki and several top pro riders including: Doug Gust, Jeremiah Jones, Pat Brown, and Jason Dunkelberger.

Fly just received in a limited quantity of 2006 Gear, which was distrubuted to a few of the Pros for the 2nd Moto because they only had limited amount of sizes.

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Mike Hallock the founder of Custom Axis sold the company to Penske Racing in 1998, but he continued to run the operation out of Northern California until this year, when Custom Axis was moved to Reading, PA the Headquarters for Penske Racing Shocks.

Mike decided he accomplished everything he could with Custom Axis and now is working for Sway-A-Way, which caters to the suspension needs of trucks. Mike also is still actively involved ATV component company Ars-FX, which produces A-arms and Swingarms used by some of the top pros in ATV racing.

More indepth interview with Mike Hallock to come...

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Also in attendance to watch the final round were (Left to Right) Doug Roll(Roll Design), Martin Lamoureux(Elka), Troy Chislock, William Yokley(GNCC Pro #2).

Loretta Lynn's is a great oppurtunity for Industry leaders to meet with their riders and check out potential riders for next season, and with over 965 entries, there were plenty of riders to watch.

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Both (Left to Right) Tom Carlson(TC Racing) and Dan Fisher(Lonestar Racing) are major sponsors for Pro #8 Jason Luburgh, but they also sponsor many other of top Pro riders and amateurs independently.

Dan Fisher, Lonestar Racing (http://www.lsracing.com) is also a major sponsor of ATVriders.com, which helps makes this coverage possible, so remember to support those that help support the sport.

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ATVinsider just released their lastest issue with Joe Byrd on the Cover, and (Left to Right) David Schloss and Marc Barilla made the long trip to Loretta Lynn's to hand out several hundred copies, so if you can't get enough ATV racing news, be sure to check out and subscribe to ATV Insider.

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Rath Racing, Daryl Rath, also made the trip down to Loretta Lynn's to show support for the Lost Creek Cycle team, which he sponsors.

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Australian, Luke Beechey looked to improve upon his 2nd Place finish in 4stk B and 3rd Place finish in Production B at Unadilla, but it wasn’t meant to be as he finished 3rd in 4stk B and after a 2nd Place finish in the first Moto of Production B, he DNFed the 2nd Moto.

Luke will be heading back to Australia with plenty to talk about after an extended stay in the United States with the Farr family and the support of Mark Baldwin, and I am sure that we will see Luke back again next year

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Dinli has finally released it high performance full size machine to the public after buying the design rights to the bankrupt Cannondale several years ago.

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A close up view of the engine

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nMotion also announced their YFZ450 big bore 500cc bolt on cylinder, which will be available soon with pricing similar there TRX450 kit in the $1,000 range.

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Hetrick Racing announced that they are planning on producing a Youth Machine to compete with the Cobra machines for next season, so Rich Hetrick and everyone involved will be busy from now till January producing the 100 units required to be an eligible production machine.

More details to be released shortly.

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With 21 Pros signed up, one rider would need to be eliminated before Sunday's Big Show with the Top 10 automatically advancing, the other 11 riders would need to qualify.

#13 John Natalie Jr, didn't have any pressure on him this weekend as he already wrapped up the Championship and spent most of Saturday greeting his fans with his "Peoples Champ" Belt.

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John Natalie Jr also celebrated his Championship by producing a very limited quantity of #1 shirts for his crew for the final round of the 2005 Season.

Michelle Reiser

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Pro Qualifiers

Jeff Robbins made the short trip from Fulton, MO to give it a try again in the Pro Class on his YFZ450. In 2003, Jeff Robbins competed in several GNC Events in the Pro Production class aboard a Cannondale finishing a season's best 7th place in Georgia.

Jeff's main focus in on the local Central America ATV Championship Series held in Missouri where he won the Championship in 2004.

Pro Qualifier Lineup
Harold Goodman
Jason Dunkelberger
Gil Attix
Matt White
Jason Luburgh
Joe Haavisto
Jeremy Lawson
Donald Lysinger
Pat Brown
Chad Wienen
Jeff Robbins

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#199 Pat Brown, put his K&K ATV YFZ450 out front early with the Holeshot with #708 Harold Goodman and #75 Joe Haavisto right behind him.

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Pat Brown maintained his lead with Goodman dropping in behind him keeping a close eye of Haavisto in 3rd as #19 Jason Dunkelberger and #8 Jason Luburgh rounded out the top 5

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Goodman's voodoo worked because Haavisto's charge ended early when his Honda 450R came to a stop in the 2nd lap, which moved Dunk up into 3rd.

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By the end of lap two, Harold Goodman would take over the lead sending Pat Brown back to 2nd place.

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Goodman maintained the lead into the 4th lap when he stalled his Suzuki, which allowed Pat Brown to regain the lead with Goodman dropping all the way back to 7th place

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Luburgh would move into 2nd place after passing Dunk in the 5th lap with Gil Attix maintaining the 4th spot ahead of Donald Lysinger.

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Both jeff Robbins and Chad Weinen would never complete the 5th lap as there quads left them sitting on the track, which meant all the remaining riders would be advancing to Sunday's Main.

Jeff Robbins with the hammer down!!!

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Lost Creek Cycles, Jason Dunkelberger, was able to hold onto the 3rd spot with Harold Goodman charging back up to 4th behind him.

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#309 Gil Attix rode smooth the entire race to earn himself a 5th place finish.

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#161 Jeremy Lawson earned a spot in the Main for the 4th consecutive race since his Pro debut at High Point.

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#411 Donald Lysinger, HB Racing, was once again heading to the Main after not qualifying for the 1st time all season at Unadilla after beind involved in a 2nd turn collision with John Mitchell in the LCQ.

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#32 Matt White just barely made it to the line for the Pro Qualifier and took the final advancing spot after three riders DNFed.

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Pro LCQ

The three remaining riders only had a couple of hours to get there machines fixed and ready for the LCQ with only two out of the three advancing.

Luckily, all three were able to make the necessary repairs in time for the gate to drop for the LCQ. Jeff Robbins had the inside position on gate and jumped out to the lead around the 1st turn.

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Jeff Robbin's lead would be short lived when he got twisted up on the double before the big table top which sent him sideways over the table as there wasn't enough time to slow down and he ended up wrecking hard, which took him out of the race.

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Chad Weinen moved into the lead with Joe Havisto right behind him.

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Joe Haavisto would eventually make the pass on Chad Weinen and the pair would slow down to conserve energy and their machines for Sunday because with Robbin's out they only needed to complete the laps to qualify.

This also marked the 4th consecutive time that another rookie Pro Chad Weinen has earned a spot in the Main Event since turning Pro as High Point.

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With the temperature approaching triple digits, the rivers was filled with people trying to keep cool

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These kids were having a blast and didn't mind the heat one bit.

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ATVriders.com Lolli2(Laura) brought out her freshly built Suzuki Z400, and it was the best looking Z that I have ever seen, and I have built some nice machines, but I still give her the top honors for her LTZ400.

Mod List:
Fullbore Silver Plastics
Fullbore Chrome Tank Cover
Trail Tech HID Billet Lights (Frame mounts, on handle bars & frame)
DAV Electronics LED Lights
SandPitATVShop Billet Taillights
Custom XGX Graphics
Custom Quad Tech Seat Cover
Custom Embroidered Shock Covers(2 Cherry Bomb, 1 See Ya Boys!)
LTE Ceramic Coated Dual Exhaust With Red Powdercoated Heat Shields & End Caps
Stock TRX450R Front Shocks Rebuilt By GT Thunder For LTZ
Stock Rear Shock Rebuilt by GT Thunder
PEP Rear Linkage
G-Force +2 +4 Adjustable Axle
A-Town Chrome +2 A-arms
ProTech Billet Tie Rods
Tucker Pro Arm With Billet Twin Row Bearing Carrier
Streamline Front Brake Line Clamps
Tucker Pro Billet Rear Brake Line Clamps & Parking Brake Cable Clamp
Sidewinder Tri-Metal Chain
Rebel Gear 39 Tooth Rear Sprocket
UM Chromed Aluminum Air Box
K&N Air Filter
Outerwears Pre-Filter
UM Air Box Filter Cover
UM Polished Air Scoops & Radiator Grill
JRD Chromed Aluminum Bumper
Alba Chromed Nerf Bars
RIS Designs Six Pack Rack
Fly Handlebars Anodized Red
Dr. D Reverse Lever
PowerMadd Chrome Handguards With Chromed Brackets
Alba Chrome Shifter & Brake Lever
RIS Designs Billet Sprocket Guard
ITP Holeshot HD Tires on ITP C-Series Polished Wheels With ITP C-Series Lug
Nuts & Chrome Valve Stems
Terry Cable Steel Braided Throttle Cable, Clutch Cable, Parking Brake Cable,
Primer(Choke) Cable, & Reverse Cable (Sweeeet!)
Streamline Steel Braided Front & Rear Brake Lines
Streamline brake line clamps - Anodized Red (x 4)
RIS Chromed Handlebar Clamp & Starter Cover
Chromed Engine Side Covers
Chromed Billet Throttle Cover & Brake Resevoir Cover
Billet Dip Stick
Project 321 Billet/Carbon Gas Cap With Modquad Billet Gas Cap Breather &
Fiber Insert
Modquad Chromed Billet Oil Filter Cover
Chromed Footpegs
UM Full Engine Skid - (Polished)
AC Racing SwingArm Skid Plate
Spider Grips
Billet Engine Coolers
Wave Rotors
Works Connection Frame Guards (Polished)
Pro Bolt Titanium A-Arm & Shock Bolts
Pro Bolt Anodized Red Z400 Engine Bolt Kit
Numorous Chrome & Stainless Steel Bolts
Stainless Swingarm Pivot Bolt
And of course...an Anti-Theft Alarm System Installed

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Here is a closeup of the Engine:D

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#30 Travis Spader also decided to add a little extra flair to his YFZ450 for the final Moto year with his Red Chrome Painted Fenders, which caught every ones attention.

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This was there first attempt at applying the paint to the fenders, and it looked awesome, but he knew it wouldn’t hold up during the race. They feel they figured out the problem with the bonding and will give it another try over the winter.

Regardless, I couldn’t wait to see it on the starting gate.

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You could tell it was the last race of the year by all the forsale signs around the pits on many Pro & Amateur machines including Doug Gust & Cindi Hart's Suzuki

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Unfortunately for some, there season ended well before the last race of the season due to injuries, but it didn't stop them from coming out to the race to support their teammates and fellow racers.

Leslie Ragon rode around on her dirt bike and excited to finally get her cast removed when she returned home from Loretta's. Leslie was well on her way to winning the Women's B Championship until her wreck at Daniel Boone, which sent her to the sidelines for the remainder of the season.

She finished out the season in 4th place with #25 Jamie Luburgh coming on strong to Claim the Championship over #88 Cindi Hart with Christa Watson rounding out the top 3, which will give Leslie another chance at winning the Championship in 2006 before advancing to Women's A Class.

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Pro Am Rider, Bobby Ross, was finally up and walking around after wrecking hard at High Point, which left him with leg and hip trauma and sidelined him for the rest of the season. Sadly, he wouldn’t be the last top Pro Am rider to go down as at the next round both Sage Baker and Mark Kendall would be injured and out for the season as well.

Hopefully all these riders and many more injured this year will fully recover and be ready to race next year.

Also, please keep Ryan Sowers in your prayers as he recovers from his face reconstructive surgery after his nasty spill at Loretta’s, and on a good note his surgery went well, and he is finally home. Also, thanks to all of those that kept us informed about his condition through this difficult time for him and his family.

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Sunday Morning

While the final LCQ events were being held for the Amateurs before the start of the 2nd Motos, the Pros gathered for their final riders meeting of the year to discuss the future of the sport and offer suggestions for next season.

Carrie Coombs wanted to hear how they felt about the season and what they would like to see for next year. Before the conclusion of the meeting, she asked the Pros to nominate atleast one Pro to represent them at the Promoters Group Meeting in the fall, and it was decided that actually both Doug Gust and John Natalie Jr would be attending the meeting to represent the Pros.

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Honda Riders, John Natalie Jr and Tim Farr shared different ideas back and forth during the meeting.

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After all the politics, it was finally time to draw spoons to determine the starting gate order with Wayne Hinson laughing with Jeremiah Jones about his 18th gate pick selection.

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Donald Lysinger was ecstatic about his #1 pick for the 1st Moto.

Gate Pick
1. Donald Lysinger
2. Tavis Cain
3. Matt White
4. Gil Attix
5. Jason Dunkelberger
6. Joe Byrd
7. Pat Brown
8. Chad Weinen
9. John Natalie Jr
10. Tim Far
11. Joe Haavisto
12. Doug Gust
13. Kory Ellis
14. Harold Goodman
15. Keith Little
16. Travis Spader
17. Dustin Wimmer
18. Jeremiah Jones
19. Jeremy Lawson
20. Jason Luburgh

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It was also decided that Rich Hetrick(Hetrick Racing) would be attending the Promoters Group Meeting to represent the Amateur riders because of his extensive contribution to the growth of Amateur ATV racing.