AMA ATV Motocross Nationals Round #2 - Mill Creek MX Pell City, Alabama March 19, 2011

Defending Champion Josh Creamer got off to a slow start in moto one but made his way through the pack for a sixth place finish. Although Creamer is used to running ahead of the pack, the now privateer rider put in a good ride all things considered. Motoworks JB Racing Fox Shox SSI Decals Can-Am rider Chase Snapp finished an impressive seventh right behind Creamer.

Ballance Racing's Thomas Brown has had bad luck with mechanicals so far this season. Brown had a pretty hard get-off after his bike locked up in moto one, luckily he stayed clear of the bike on the way down and walked away safe.

Joe Byrd grabbed the moto two holeshot aboard his JBR American Honda with Wienen and the rest of the pack close behind. Wienen had the whoops dialed in all day and used that to his advantage as he muscled past Byrd for the lead.

"I put my head down all last year and we finally got the bike fine-tuned this year, I started out front and that's the way you have to do it," Wienen said. "I mean this team is the total package, the bike is rollin'. It's going to be a long year and we're just going to take it race by race," the winner added.

Byrd, Upperman, Lawson, Natalie and Creamer were in freight train formation, leaving no room for mistakes. With few passing opportunities on the track, riders were taking advantage of sections like the whoops to go in for the kill. Upperman spotted that opportunity and blitzed through to take the second spot from Byrd.

As that was going on, John Natalie began his quest for the front of the pack. Natalie got past Lawson, Byrd and eventually Upperman to lock in the second spot behind Can-Am teammate Wienen. Byrd fell off pace a bit as Lawson and Creamer both got around, putting him back to sixth.

"This moto was a lot harder, it was tough to pass out there and a lot harder to get around these guys," Natalie said. "Obviously I want to be where Chad is but I have to go back and do my homework. I had some bad luck last year but the team fixed some things and definitely made a championship bike this year."

Chad Wienen is leading the point standings coming out of round two with teammate John Natalie just 12 points behind. Josh Upperman, Joe Byrd and Jeremy Lawson currently hold the third, fourth and fifth positions in overall points.

National Championship Series heads to Ballance MX in Oakland, KY April 2-3, with Pro class racing starting at 1 p.m. Saturday, supported by 37 amateur classes throughout Saturday and Sunday. For more information, please visit www.atvmotocross.com.

AMA Pro ATV Top 10 Race Results
1. Chad Wienen (CAN)
2. John Natalie (CAN)
3. Josh Upperman (HON)
4. Joe Byrd (HON)
5. Jeremy Lawson (HON)
6. Josh Creamer (HON)
7. Derek Swarfager (HON)
8. Chase Snapp (CAN)
9. Devin Heimes (SUZ)
10.Joel Hetrick (KAW)

AMA ATV Motocross Championship Top 10 Pro Point Standings
1. Chad Wienen (100) 2. John Natalie (88) 3. Josh Upperman (78) 4. Joe Byrd (69) 5. Jeremy Lawson (68) 6. Joel Hetrick (50) 7. Chase Snapp (48) 8. Nick Denoble (45) 9. Travis Moore (40) 10. Derek Swartfager (38)

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