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AMA ATV Motocross Nationals
Round #10 - RedBud
Buchanan,
MI
July 30, 2011
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John Natalie Extends
Points Lead at Red Bud ATV Motocross
Thomas Brown & Josh
Upperman Round Out Podium
Buchanan, MI (07/31/2011) –
As the AMA ATV Motocross National Championship Series
presented by DWT winds down, the action only seems
to heighten. Ballance Racing's Thomas Brown captured
his first moto win of the season Saturday at Red
Bud MX in Buchanan, Mich., becoming the seventh
unique rider to win a moto in this year's Pro ATV
class. Motoworks Can-Am's John Natalie answered
back with a moto two win, claiming the overall and
extending his lead in the championship point standings.
Walsh Race Craft Suzuki's Jeremy Lawson took
home the ATVRiders.com Fastest Qualifier Award,
with a 01:48.384. Lawson has put in several of
the fastest race lap times this season but claimed
his first-ever fastest qualifier award at RedBud.
As the gate dropped for moto one, it was the
Honda of Josh Upperman that grabbed the SSiDecals.com
Holeshot Award. "A huge thanks to Mark [Baldwin]
for giving me such a good motor to pull holeshots
out there," said Upperman.
Walsh Race Craft Suzuki's Jeremy Lawson and Hetrick
Motorsports Honda rider Joel Hetrick got tangled
up early in the moto, causing both riders to go
down pretty hard. Tough luck for Lawson, who posted
the fastest lap times in the qualifying sessions
and for Hetrick who swept both motos at Unadilla
just two weeks ago.
Motoworks Can-Am's John Natalie put in the fastest
lap of the race on the second lap, making his
way past Baldwin Motorsports PEP Honda's Josh
Upperman for second place and quickly finding
his way around the leader Brown soon after.
"Natalie ran me down - he had a few better
lines than me and passed me, but I found his lines
and tracked him for a few laps and I was able
to make the pass," Brown said. Brown got
back around Natalie through the whoops and laid
down a smooth race to the checkers.
Upperman settled into a comfortable pace behind
Natalie, keeping an almost thirty-second distance
over Can-Am's Chase Snapp by the end of the moto.
"I definitely want to be on the podium every
week, but I know staying consistent will keep
me in the championship contention," Upperman
said. "The track was pretty brutal and with
the big amount of sand, it got really whooped
out. I got pretty beat up through the whoops,
but I think everyone else did too," Upperman
added.
Mushin Racing/KG Clutch Factory/GBC Bomb Squad's
Travis Moore battled with Snapp at the beginning
of the race, eventually settling into the fifth
spot behind the rookie. "I've been working
really hard this year and I think it's finally
starting to pay off," Moore said. "I'm
finally starting to feel comfortable out there
and I'm excited for an even better year next year,"
Moore added.
Josh Upperman grabbed the SSiDecals.com Holeshot
Award in the second moto, leading the race for
the first few laps until Natalie made his move
to the lead. Brown got a top five start and diced
with Upperman and Hetrick before finally passing
Upperman to take over the second place spot. As
soon as Brown got around Upperman, he set his
sights on the leader Natalie, who was doing everything
in his power to hold Brown off for the lead.
"I tried to cruise and save my energy for
the end of the race but I think I slowed down
a little too much and let Thomas catch up,"
said Natalie. "He kind of got beside me going
through the whoops a little bit and I held him
off and then I pulled a little bit of a gap the
last lap."
Natalie took the overall win with a (2-1) finish,
while Brown went (1-2) for the second overall.
Upperman cruised on to take the third overall
with a consistent (3-3) on the day.
"I want to go to Loretta's, do well in both
motos and get the overall. I wish john and Jeremy
the best of luck, there's still a lot a that could
happen in two motos," Upperman said.
After qualifying first in practice, only to go
down hard in moto one, Jeremy Lawson now sits
a whopping fifty-three points back from the leader.
Brown and Wienen wrap up the top five in points,
while Chase Snapp is looking to break into the
top five after Loretta's. Can-Am now leads the
Manufacturer's Cup by forty-nine points over Honda
and Suzuki.
The AMA ATV Motocross Championship Series heads
to Loretta Lynn Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tenn.,
August 13 and 14, with Pro class racing starting
at 1 p.m. Saturday, supported by 37 amateur classes
throughout Saturday and Sunday.
AMA Pro ATV Top 10 Race Results
1. John Natalie (CAN)
2. Thomas Brown (YAM)
3. Josh Upperman (HON)
4. Travis Moore (HON)
5. Chase Snapp (CAN)
6. Joe Byrd (HON)
7. Devin Heimes (SUZ)
8. Joel Hetrick (HON)
9. Jeremy Lawson (SUZ)
10.Adam Clark (HON)
AMA ATV Motocross Championship Top 10
Pro Point Standings
1. John Natalie (392) 2. Josh Upperman (382) 3.
Jeremy Lawson (339) 4. Thomas Brown (308) 5. Chad
Wienen (297) 6. Chase Snapp (288) 7. Joel Hetrick
(269) 8. Nick DeNoble (255) 9. Travis Moore (240)
10. Joe Byrd (239)
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