
Chad Wienen and Doug
Gust Podium in Englishtown WPSA ATV Race
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Gust
Dominates his Heat Races in Englishtown |
Brea, CA (9/20/2007) - Raceway Park in
Englishtown, NJ welcomed Team Rockstar/MSR/Suzuki/Yoshimura/Pro
Taper and the rest of the World PowerSports ATV Tour this
weekend. Last year, this track pitted Doug Gust and then
Honda rider Dustin Wimmer for the individual Riders Championship.
This year, with one more round of the series left, all
eyes were turned to John Natalie, Dustin Wimmer, and Chad
Wienen. With only two points separating Wimmer and Natalie,
things were coming down to the wire. Wienen was within
striking range as well. The stage was set for the last
few races of the title.
Suzuki has the Manufacturers Championship all but wrapped
up. Suzuki has all but clinched the coveted title, only
needing to start the next rounds competition to clinch.
The manufacturers title was almost expected with so
many Pro riders choosing Suzuki QuadRacers this season,
coupled with their consistent good results.
Friday afternoon dropped a couple of inches of rain
on the sandy track and flooded the pit area, but by
Saturday morning the skies were a beautiful blue and
the temperature a comfortable 76º. The first heat
race had Natalie and Wienen dicing through most of the
race with Natalie finishing just ahead of Chad.
The second heat race had Doug Gust and Dustin Wimmer
on the starting line. Doug had a strong start pulling
the holeshot with Wimmer getting held up in the first
turn and stuck in dead last place. Wimmer powered through
the pack to the front but couldn't come close to teammate
Gust who strolled easily for the win.
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Dustin
Wimmer gets on the Gas |
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Chad
Wienen Flying High in Englishtown |
Sunday threatened rain early but overcast skies kept
the well watered track in pretty good shape. The first
heat race was stacked with Suzuki riders Wimmer and
Wienen vs other top riders Natalie, Little, Creamer
and Goodman. Natalie pulled the holeshot with Wienen
and Wimmer moving into position behind him fairly quickly.
Wienen kept pushing Natalie until he finally passed
him for the lead. A miss-executed turn slowed him enough
that Natalie railed into him and sent him flying off
the track and kissing his lead goodbye. Natalie went
on to win the heat, with Wimmer in second and Wienen
still surviving in fifth.
The Main Event was pushed forward in the schedule as
the clouds threatened some serious Jersey weather. With
Wimmer coming in second both heats, the points difference
had expanded to 4 and the pressure was palpable. The
riders lined up under threatening skies – Natalie
lined up on the left, a Kawasaki in between and then
the three Suzuki QuadRacer R450s ready to take on the
challenge.
At the start, Natalie was about 4th and Wienen, Gust
and Wimmer behind. Natalie quickly moved to the lead
and was quickly trailed by the three QuadRacers. Wienen
kept the pressure on Natalie the whole race, but just
couldn't overtake him. Final – Natalie, Wienen,
Gust, Wimmer.
"John ran a good race," Chad said after the
event. "The track is narrow with little room for
passing. He was fast and I just couldn't get past him
today."
Even though the team didn't clinch the top spot, the
points race is still on. Last stop – Field of
Dreams MX in Boswell, PA, September 16th.
Team Rockstar MSR/Pro Taper/Suzuki/Yoshimura
Program Sponsors:
Maxxis –
Douglas – Repsol – Pro Aluminum –
AFAM – BMC Filters – Galfer – PowerMadd
– CV Products – Full Bore – Motion
Pro – Liquid Performance – Walsh –
Fox Shocks – NGK – Hinson Clutch –
Precision Racing Products – VP Fuels – Quad
Tech – RPM – Arai – Mechanix Wear
– One Industries
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