Englishtown, NJ (8/15/2006)
- It all comes down to the final double
championship race, as dirt-slinging ATVs invade
Old Bridge Raceway Park for this weekend's PowerSports
ATV Tour Grand Championship. The events, scheduled
for Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 19-20, will pit
the best of the best in ATV racing against each
other and the technical and challenging Old
Bridge circuit. As the dust clears, whomever
comes out on top will have the honor of being
the inaugural WPSA PowerSports ATV Tour Riders'
Champion, as just one point separates first
and second in both Pro classes.
Saturday's race will be telecast on ESPN2 on Sunday,
Aug. 27 at 1 a.m. EDT, while Saturday's race will
air on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 1 p.m. EDT.
In the high-flying SuperQuad 450 chase, it's a battle
between experience and rookie brilliance, as longtime
ATV motocross rider Doug Gust (No. 55 Team Suzuki,
Yoshimura/Suzuki) took the lead from 19-year-old Dustin
Wimmer (No. 191 East Coast ATV, Axis, Sparks, Maxxis/Honda)
at the most recent race in Indiana. Gust's 306 points
were earned from his two wins, including a victory
in the most recent race, and four additional podiums.
Wimmer, however, has shown the poise of a veteran
this season by never finishing out of the top five.
He has a victory, and four podiums this season.
Gust's teammate Jeremiah Jones (No. 2 Team Suzuki,
Yoshimura/Suzuki) sits third in points. However, the
Bowling Green, Kentucky native will not be competing
this weekend due to a back injury suffered several
weeks ago in a non-WPSA-affiliated race.
Local flavor will also abound this weekend as Patrick
Brown and Rocco Arno, Jr. prepare to represent the
Garden State. Arno (No. 101 NAC'S Racing, Curtis Sparks,
ITP, Custom Axis/Yamaha) is in his rookie year of
Pro competition, while Brown (No. 199 Factory Yamaha,
Golden West Cycles, Ohlins, ITP/Yamaha) sits fourth
in SuperQuad Pro 450 points.
John Natalie, Jr. is scheduled to return to competition
this weekend, after recovering from a severely broken
left thumb. The rider of the No. 13 Elka, HMF, Swift/Honda
dominated the early stages of the Tour, winning the
first two events and finished third and second, respectively,
in Rounds 3 and 4.
In the rough-and-tumble QuadTerrain Challenge Pro
Sock ranks, it's a three-way battle for the title,
as Daryl Rath (No. 67 Rath Racing, Maxxis/Arctic Cat)
remains atop the standings with two victories and
two additional podium finishes. However, close behind
is William Yokley and his privateer No. 23 Suzuki.
Though he missed the first race of the season,
Yokley's three wins and three podiums have placed
him just one marker behind Rath in points. Similarly,
factory Can-Am rider Scott Kilby (No. 227 Maxxis,
OMF/Can-Am) also missed the first race, but sits third,
just 18 points back.
The Manufacturers' Championships have also taken
on a fevered pitch. Suzuki leads Honda by eight points
in the SuperQuad Pro 450 Series, while Can-Am sits
first in the QuadTerrain standings, just two points
ahead of Suzuki.
Also featured during the race weekend is an invitation-only
Utility Terrain Challenge exhibition race. The events,
which will run both Saturday and Sunday of the race
weekend, will showcase four-wheel, two-seat utility
vehicles on the big-air MX course.
Riders will be vying for one of the richest purses
in ATV racing here. The Tour will award $22,500 in
purse monies each day here, as it does for each race
this season. The purse, which will be awarded in the
Tour's Pro Classes, pays to 20th place in the QuadMX
Series and to 15th place in QuadTerrain Challenge.
The purse structure awards $4,000 to win in QuadMX
and $2,000 to win in QuadTerrain Challenge, with $15,000
and $7,500 available in each Series, respectively.
Additionally, Quad Magazine is sponsoring a "Holeshot
Award" in SuperQuad Pro 450, awarding $1,000
to the rider who wins the holeshot at the beginning
of the final. Over in QuadTerrain, ATVRiders.com is
sponsoring the "Rock'n'Roll Award" which
will give a $500 bonus to the rider leaving the course's
rock crawl first during the final.
The ATV Tour's two racing series: the "QuadMX
Series" and the "QuadTerrain Challenge Series"
compete at each event this season. QuadMX consists
of professional and pro-am sport MX racing on pro-style,
big-air MX racing circuits. The QuadTerrain Challenge
comprises professional and pro-am sport utility racing
on purpose-built all-terrain racing circuits. ATVs
allowed to compete will include stock, near-stock
utility-type, and modified.
The Old Bridge Township Raceway Park track layout,
like all circuits on the Tour, is designed to optimize
television coverage and fan viewing for both racing
disciplines. The QuadMX course is central to the design
and is tailored exclusively for ATV racing. The QuadTerrain
course is constructed immediately adjacent to the
MX track and incorporates a small portion of the technical
section of the MX course, but excludes all big air
MX sections. The balance of the QuadTerrain course
consists of specialized terrain and obstacles. All
obstacle sectors are raced at speed. Races feature
obstacles that demonstrate the machine's and a rider's
capabilities under race conditions. However certain
sections will require careful
maneuvering, or a deft high-speed touch. The QuadTerrain
courses are a half mile or less in length.
The PowerSports ATV Tour Grand Championship
kicks off Thursday, Aug. 17 with a Promoter's
open practice. Friday, Aug. 18 will also feature
an open practice, while racing gets underway
Saturday, with a full card of qualifying and
finals for the Pro classes, as well as Amateur,
Pro-Am and Youth class qualifying. Sunday will
also feature a full show for the Pros, with
finals scheduled for the remaining classes.
Tickets, which start at $20 per day for adults
and $10 for kids 6-12, will be available at
the gate. A full race weekend schedule will
be posted at www.powersportstour.com
About the PowerSports
ATV Tour
The PowerSports ATV Tour is North America's
newest ATV racing tour. The Tour is North America's
premier form of ATV racing, with its jumps,
gyrations and dirt-slinging racing action. The
Tour is organized by the World PowerSports Association,
North America's largest and most respected snowmobile
sanctioning body, and promoter of ATV and snowmobile
racing on both the regional and national level.
