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| #13
Can-Am's John Natalie Jr was able to
edge out #20 Josh Upperman for the 2nd
Moto Holeshot Award |
When the gate dropped for the 2nd moto, John
Natalie and Josh Upperman were neck and neck,
but Natalie managed get a slight edge on Upperman
to grab the holeshot, but Upperman slipped by
and led for a short time before falling back.
Once again Natalie and Byrd were engaged in
battle with Wimmer, Wienen, Doug Gust, Keith
Little and Josh Creamer right behind them. Wimmer,
who has been on fire this season slipped past
Byrd and was soon nipping at Natalie’s
heels, leaving Byrd, Wienen and Upperman to
battle it out. Wimmer soon slipped by Natalie
and never looked back. With Wimmer out front,
Byrd once again had his sights set on Natalie
and went for the pass. With Byrd in 2nd and
Natalie and Wienen on his tail, things became
more intense and soon Byrd found himself with
a flat tire.
|
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| Josh
Upperman was once again able to get
out front in Moto Two by passing John
Natalie Jr, and he secured a 4th place
overall finish for the day |
Severals
laps into the race the battle for the
2nd spot was on between John Natalie,
Joe Byrd, and Chad Wienen |
“I think with all the bumping and grinding
that was going on between us, it put a small
cut in my tire, which slowed me down so Doug
(Gust) able to get around me,” said
Byrd disappointedly. As Byrd was trying to
cope with a flat, Natalie and Wienen connected.
“Chad ran into me and it broke my tie
rod,” explained John. The impact also
caused Wienen’s quad to quit working,
earning both a DNF for moto two.
| |
| Doug
Gust took over the 2nd spot with Natalie
& Wienen out of the race, which
secured him the 3rd spot on the Podium |
With Natalie and Wienen out, Gust took over
2nd place, followed by Byrd, Upperman, Keith
Little and Jason Dunkelburger.
Absent from the top 10 this weekend was Josh
Creamer, who made the podium aboard his Kawasaki
KFX450 for the first time at the season opener.
An unknown engine issue was apparently the
problem. “I was working my way up and
all of a sudden the bike just lost power.
It happened in both motos and we aren’t
really sure what exactly the issue is yet,”
said Creamer, who is anxious for the next
round. “I really want to redeem myself
at Bowling Green. I rode good at practice
this weekend and the bike was running well.
It was just kind of a freak thing,”
Josh concluded.
Josh was not the only one with issues this
weekend, Greg Gee who was doing well in the
2nd moto, had issues with his battery box
coming loose, which allowed his battery to
fall out, ending things early for the Canadian
racer who is also looking forward to round
three. “ I really like the track at
Bowling Green, I’ve done well there
before and hope to again at the next round,”
said Greg.
