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AMA ATV Motocross Nationals
Round #2 - Muddy Creek
Blountville, TN
April 21, 2012
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AMA Pro ATV Motocross
- Round 2 - Muddy Creek - Race Report
::Continued::
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| In
Moto One, Can-Am's #1 John Natalie scored
the fastest laptime of the moto with a time
of 01:38.504 & he held the lead for
12 laps, but a last lap pass by Wienen sent
Natalie back to 2nd place to end the Moto |
Can-Am/Motoworks’ John Natalie, Jr. got off
to a good start and immediately began to work his
way forward. Natalie picked off Harold Goodman and
Josh Upperman to take the lead in lap three. Natalie
began to pull away from the competition, but Chad
Wienen eventually caught up. Natalie held off Wienen
for almost the entire race until the final lap when
the slick conditions got the best of him and he
slid going into a turn. Natalie tried to remount
a charge but was unable to in the mud and settled
for second at the checkered flag.
Natalie was in fourth off the start in moto two
and put the hammer down. Natalie charged by the
competition and quickly caught up to Chad Wienen
in the second lap, but once Wienen got around
Upperman, Natalie had to battle his way past and
lost ground. Once Natalie got around Upperman
he closed in, but came under fire from his teammate
Joel Hetrick. Natalie held off Hetrick and remained
in the number two spot all the way to the checkered
flag.
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| The
track came around for Moto 2, & it was
an intense battle between #1 John Natalie
& #88 Joel Hetrick early on in the race
with the pair swapping the 2nd spot back
& forth as they charged after Wienen
in the lead, but in the end, Natalie held
off Hetrick for 2nd Overall on his Can-Am
DS450 ATV |
“We got out where we wanted to be for moto
one, but I didn’t get the start I wanted
and then got tied up, but I closed in on Chad
and took second, so not too bad,” said Natalie.
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For
the second straight race, DWT's #88 Joel
Hetrick scored the ATVriders.com Fastest
Qualifier Award |
Can-Am/Motoworks’ Joel Hetrick, who earned
the ATVRiders.com Fastest Qualifier Award, was
just outside of the top five in seventh on the
start and began picking off the competition right
away. Hetrick moved into the number three spot
after just a couple of laps and held his position
from start to finish.
“Qualifying was great, the track was dry.
I was hoping the rain would hold off and it would
stay that way, but it didn’t,” said
Hetrick.
In moto two, Hetrick was fifth off the start
and followed his teammate, Natalie, through the
pack. Hetrick challenged Natalie at the midway
point and at one point took over second place,
but dropped back to third after Natalie fought
back, giving Hetrick third in moto two and third
overall for the day.
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In
Moto 2, Motoworks' #88 Joel Hetrick applied
the pressure the entire moto to Natalie
& Hetrick recorded the fastest laptime
of the moto in lap 11 with a time of 01:39.310,
but it wasn't enough to make the pass on
Natalie as Hetrick finished 3-3 for the
final spot on the Podium |
“I learned a lot in the past year riding
with all these guys and I just laid low and just
tried to hold third place,” said Hetrick.
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Pro
ATV Motocross Podium (left to right)
Joel
Hetrick (3rd),
Chad Wienen (1st),
John
Natalie
(2nd)
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