2006 ATVA MX Nationals Round #7 – Red Bud - Preview & Live Coverage

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Buchanan, MI - The ATVA Motocross Nationals have reached the half way point of the season with Round 7 of the 14 round series heading to Red Bud Track N Trail in Buchanan, Michigan on May 12-14th. After an exciting round of racing at Birch Creek with Jeremiah Jones claiming his second win in a row and Joe Byrd reclaiming the points lead as of now with a pending appeal on the second Moto results, which could turn the points lead back over to John Natalie Jr. Regardless of the final decision, the chase for the Pro ATV Championship is one of the most intense in years especially with Suzuki Yoshimura’s Doug Gust and Jeremiah Jones quickly adapting to their new Suzuki LT-R450 QuadRacers and beginning to reel in Byrd and Natalie Jr out front battling for the points lead.

In preparation for this weekend’s event, Red Bud track promoters, Tim & Amy Richie, have been busy make changes to big and youth track. A camel hump triple, step-up double, and tabletop have been added to the big track after the high flying ski jump, which will be an added bonus to the racers and fans. The youth track for the 50cc Stock Class has been expanded to include a sand pit, which will provide for a more challenging track for these up and coming racers. As a special treat, the defending National Champion, John Natalie Jr, will wave the checkered flag for these youngsters.

Unfortunately, the one thing no one can control is the weather, and the weather forecasted for this weekend's race is perfect only if your a duck because the area is expecting rain and more rain, and it has been raining since Wednesday, which has everything a sloppy mess.

Despite the rain several hundred riders still arrived on Friday and signed up to race.

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The parking lots were quickly filling up with trucks, and 4x4 vehicles are starting to be the best form of transportation as the ground is becoming saturated.

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If it weren't for the rain, the Red Bud facility was looking great as the Richie's did an excellent job preparing for the event.

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Due to the rain, Friday’s Practice was cancelled and the only foot traffic was allowed on the track as many reached for an umbrella to check out the track.

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Shortly after 4PM, Tech Inspection began with a few racers braving the rain and getting through tech before the rush tomorrow morning from all of those who decided to try and wait out the rain.

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Josh Upperman looks out the door of Tim Farr's Motosports Honda' Rig while others assemble a grill inside the trailer to cook up some diner.

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A new face at the ATVA MX Nationals this weekend was Romain Couprie arriving from France to compete at a few races in the USA. He raced at ITP Quadcross at Glen Helen last weekend, and he made the long trip to Michigan in hopes of qualifying for the Pro Main before returning to France.

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With the rain, everything was fairly quite at the track, so at 5PM, I headed out to the Red Bud Roadhouse for the autograph session, which is only a few miles down the road from the track right along the St. Joesph River.

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John Natalie jr, Michelle Reiser, and Dustin Wimmer attended to sign autographs for local race fans and ofcourse everyone wanted a photo of themselves with these top riders.

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For Saturday Race Results and Photos click the link below

Red Bud Saturday - Race Results & Photo Gallery Link

Pat Brown takes the Win in the Pro Qualifier and there wasn't any need to have a PRO LCQ because only 20 Pros after Richard Pelchat ran into problems with his Yamaha, which prevented him from making into to Sunday's event.