ATVA ITP Moose Racing National Motocross Series Round #7 - Red Bud May 13-14, 2006

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With the cloud blanket finally breaking up Sunday morning, the sun peaked out from behind the clouds and helped dry up some the mud, which provided a beautiful day for racing and attracted thousands of spectators out to Red Bud for Mother’s Day, and it was well worth it as the racing was some of the most intense of the year.

The lineup was set for the Pro Class with several Pros missing from the lineup this weekend including Tim Farr, Tavis Cain, and Matt White. Tim Farr has struggled this year completing both Motos due to ongoing back problems, and after taking the Pro win at the opening round of the Extreme Dirt Track Series the week prior at Bullet Speedway, It appears he has decided to focus his attention on defending his EDT Pro Championship. Tavis Cain was missing from the lineup for unknown reason, and Matt White is out with a shoulder injury from a wreck at Birch Creek, which opened the door for several new faces on the Pro starting gate. Pro Rookie, Trent Kendal along with Steve Runkel finally made it to the big show. They were joined by the French National Champion, Romain Couprie, who made the trip to the USA for a chance to test his skills against some of the fastest ATV racers in the World. Just last Sunday, Couprie prepared for his ATVA MX Nationals debut by competing in the ITP Quadcross at Glen Helen Speedway in California, and he made his presence known by winning the second Moto and finishing out the weekend in second overall behind Kory Ellis.

The French Champion, Romain Couprie, was greeted with open arms by all those in the Pro Class including defending American Champion, John Natalie Jr.	#285 Romain Couprie turned plenty of heads this weekend with his aggressive riding style and ability to hang with some of the fastest Pro racers in American

Pro Moto One

Joe Byrd launched his Honda out front with the Holeshot followed by Suzuk / Yoshimura's Doug Gust and Jeremiah Jones

With a full gate of 20 Pros on the line, it was time for the start of the first Moto, and picking just the right starting gate was especially critical because the start straight away was still extremely sloppy with easily 6-12 inches of mud covering much of the starting area. When the traffic light turned green, the hydraulic starting gate dropped, and it would be DASA Racing Engine’s Joe Byrd grabbing the Holeshot once again this year followed by Team Suzuki / Yoshimura’s Doug Gust and Jeremiah Jones with Keith Little and John Natalie Jr rounding out the top five.

By the end of the first lap, Joe Byrd continued to maintain the lead followed by Gust and Jones with Natalie Jr taking over the fourth spot from Little, and the top five riders were all over each other as they utilized any possible line in attempt to pass one another in an intense dog fight. In the second lap, Jones took over the runners-up spot from Gust and Natalie jr would also make the pass on Gust in the third lap. Pat Brown would get into the act in the fourth lap as he worked his way into the top five by passing Little and moving in behind Gust.

As the Moto approached the half way point, the action out front remained intense as Natalie Jr moved his way post Jones and then past Byrd to take over the lead as the top four Pros formed a train around the track. In just one lap, Byrd dropped out of lead and back to fourth when both Jones and Gust made their moves on Byrd. Just a few seconds behind the leaders, Pat Brown, Keith Little, Josh Creamer, and Dustin Wimmer were all over each other as they skated to the inside and outside looking for an opportunity to gain a position.

John Natalie Jr would work his way to the front of the pack in the sixth lap with Joe Byrd dropping quickly out of the lead and back to 4th place the same lap. Jeremiah Jones lead the charge with Gust and Byrd training behind just waiting for Natalie Jr to begin to fade or make a mistake	K&K Racing's Josh Creamer came on strong at Birch Creek before having engine problems, and he picked up where he left off this weekend at Red Bud with a great run in the first Moto and maintaining his first top ten finish in the Pro Class.

John Natalie Jr held the lead, but he wasn’t pulling away from anyone this race, and Jeremiah Jones was all over his grab bar until a rock lodged under his rear brake, which forced him to slow down his charge and allow Doug Gust to take over the second spot. Gust picked up where Jones left off and kept Natalie Jr with in striking distance while a small gap formed between the pair battling out front and Jones. Meanwhile, Lonestar Racing’s Keith Little moved back up into 5th place by making the pass on Pat Brown. Dustin Wimmer continued his charge from a 12th place start and was now up to 7th place after making the pass on Josh Creamer with Travis Spader and Jason Dunkelberger rounding out the top ten.

#199 Pat Brown and #12 Keith Little battled the entire Moto with the pair swapping positions back and forth a few times through out the race with Little winning the battle and claiming the 5th spot followed by Brown at the checkered Flag

In between Motos, the Pros head back to the pits, which give the fans a chance to snag an autograph from his/her favorite rider and this weekend the pits were packed with more people than I have ever seen, which was awesome. John Natalie Jr easily had over 100 people in line waiting for autographs and the same was true for Doug Gust and Jeremiah Jones, which is a great sign for the future of ATV racing

John Natalie jr holds off the hard charging Doug Gust and Jeremiah Jones to take the first Moto Win!	Romain Couprie just misses out on finishing in the top ten when Jeremy Lawson makes the pass on the final lap

By the time 2:30PM rolled around, the final race of the day besides the pros took the checkered flag, which provided a rare opportunity for the Red Bud crew to fix up the track prior to the start of the Pro second Moto scheduled to start at 3:00PM.

Pro Moto Two

Doug Gust launches his Suzuki / Yoshimura LT-R450 out front in Moto Two for the Holeshot

As the Pros headed to the starting gate, the blue skies once again disappeared and it light sprinkle of rain began to fall from the clouds, but fortunately, it was only a passing shower and stopped as quickly as it started. After Joe Byrd grabbed the Holeshot from the outside line in the first Moto, John Natalie Jr lined up in the same position for the start of Moto two with Byrd lining up to his right, and Doug Gust and Jeremiah Jones decided to stick with gate position on the inside, and the decision worked for Doug Gust as he launched his Suzuki LT-R450 out front with the Holeshot with Keith Little hot on his heels. John Natalie Jr and Joe Byrd slingshotted their way around the first turn from the outside with enough momentum to blast around Little in turn two and move in behind Gust followed by Travis Spader, Jeremiah Jones, Josh Creamer, and Dustin Wimmer.

Before the end of the first lap, Doug Gust would drop back to 9th place when John Natalie Jr came into the turn a little too hot and collided with Gust, which sent Gust off the track and out of the lead. Natalie Jr was able to recover from the collision and take over the lead closely followed by Byrd and Jones. Travis Spader was also off to a great start by passing Keith Little and moving into the fourth spot. On the other hand, Joe Haavisto was sidelined for nearly a lap when a rock locked up his wheel, and he was just able to return to the race before John Natalie jr came around to complete the second lap.

John Natalie Jr was able to pull away from the pack in the second Moto with Joe Byrd and Jeremiah Jones in chase	Jason Luburgh took to flight on a Yellow Suzuki LT-R450 this weekend, but he didn't have it dialed in for the race

Unlike the first Moto, with plenty of passing action among the front runners, the top four remained unchanged after the third lap for the remainder of the race with John Natalie Jr gradually extending his lead with each passing lap while Jeremiah Jones was applying the pressure to Joe Byrd, but he was unable to make pass. Keith Little maintained his fourth place position while an intense battle raged between Yamaha Factory Rider’s Pat Brown and Travis Spader with the pair swapping the fifth spot back and forth until the middle of the race when Gust moved in an passed the pair of them in the same lap, but the battle continued amongst the Yamaha riders until Brown went wide around a turn and was pitched off the track, which sent his tumbling down a steep bank. Brown remounted his YFZ450 and returned to the race back in 14th place.

As the race reached the final laps, everyone was keeping a close eye on Natalie Jr to see if he would begin to fade as he has done several times this season in the second Moto, but it wasn’t going to happen this weekend as he held on to sweep both Motos and take his first Overall win since round 4 at Echeconnee. Joe Byrd held off Jones to take claim second overall with Jeremiah Jones rounding out the Podium with third. Doug Gust charged his way back up to finish to 5th place behind Keith Little with Dustin Wimmer moving past Travis Spader to capture 6th place. Jason Dunkelberger rode extremely strong the entire Moto finishing in 8th followed by Josh Creamer and Romain Couprie rounding out the top ten.

The battle was on betwen Yamaha's Travis Spader & Pat Brown as they swapped positions back and forth in the second Moto with the pair finishing out the weekend in the top 10 overall	John Natalie Jr claimed his second win of the year, but the points lead still belongs to Joe Byrd with a pending appeal, and Jeremiah Jones is on fire with his third podium finish in a row for Suzuki.

Wrap-Up
With the pending appeal from Birch Creek, Joe Byrd’s 2nd Place finish was enough for him to maintain the points lead over John Natalie Jr with just four points separating the pair, but if the appeal is accepted, Natalie Jr would extend his points lead to 6 points over Byrd, so the final ruling on Birch Creek will determine the current points leader and hopefully the ruling is made before heading to Muddy Creek for round eight in Blountsville, TN on Memorial Day weekend.

In closing, a big thanks goes out to the crew at Red Bud for making this weekend of racing a very enjoyable one for all those that braved the rain and prepared for a mud race, but instead they were greeted with almost perfect track conditions for most of Saturday and all day Sunday. It was also great to see some many racers and fans show up despite the weather, which created a wonderful atmosphere to spend with mom for Mother’s Day weekend, and to all those moms out there, Happy Mother’s Day!

A Few of the Moms that Spent Mother's Day Weekend at the Track
Jason & Penny Dunkelberger	Dustin & Sally Wimmer	Jeremy & Jackie Lawson

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