ATVA ITP Moose Racing National Motocross Series Round #11 - Sunset Ridge July 15-16, 2006

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With the ATVA Motocross Nationals in town, this quite farm community came to life as nearly 600 racers turned what was once a corn field into a small community with population larger than any town within 20 miles of the track as the Sunset Ridge facility became the field of dreams for many first time ATVA National competitors. For local Pro Rookie, Chad Wienen, from Galena, IL, it was a dream come true to compete at his home track against the fastest motocross racers in the world, and he was joined by Saint Charles, IL resident Shane Cochran making his Pro Class debut in hopes making a name for himself as well. These up and coming Pro riders weren’t alone in their excitement of having a race in northern Illinois as the “Digger” Doug Gust lives just across the border in Wisconsin, and by land the track was just over two hours away, but by air, it was less than an hours flight, which was Doug’s transportation of choice this weekend. If getting big air on his Suzuki LT-R450 wasn’t enough, Gust now is training to be a pilot, and the Sunset Ridge National provided the first opportunity for him to fly to an ATVA National Event, which had him on cloud nine prior to the event.

"Digger" Doug Gust with his newly purchased Cessna arrives at the Rock Falls Airport only a few corn fields (miles) north of the Sunset Ridge track	Chad Wienen was back in action this weekend in the ATVA MX Nationals at his home track, and the Sterling Daily Gazette ran a story on their local Pro Racer.

Just like the previous two rounds in Pennsylvania and Alabama, the heat and high humidity was going to be a factor as the heat index soared past the century mark, which left everyone looking for a way to escape the heat, but for the Pros, they still would need to race for twenty minutes plus two laps during the hottest times of the day at 12PM and 3PM, and the past two rounds, the “Alabama Slammer” Keith Little has capitalized on the heat to claim back to back Pro Wins with Suzuki/Yoshimura’s Jeremiah Jones and Doug Gust continuing to charge their way into the points chase for the championship with Joe Byrd and John Natalie Jr.

John Natalie Jr may not have been racing this weekend, but he was definitely busy because if he was rooting for Michelle or his protégé Greg Gee, he was out on the track taking photos or in the tower providing commentary on the Pro race, which is just part of the reason why “The Ironman” has so many fans

Unfortunately for John Natalie Jr, a wreck during practice at the Steel City National fractured his thumb, which later required surgery, so Natalie Jr will be sidelined for three rounds of racing and his hopes for a repeat championship have ended. Instead of racing, John Natalie Jr would be heading to the announcers tower to assist Rodney Tomlin with some commentary during the Pro Motos. Joe Byrd also has run into a string off bad luck the past two rounds, which has allowed both Gust and Jones to close the gap and make for one of the most exciting Pro Championship points races in years.

Curtis Sparks Racing's Harold Goodman grabs yet another Holeshot this year on his Honda 450R

When the gate dropped, Jones and Byrd both jumped out gate charging hard to the first turn on the inside, but Curtis Sparks Racing’s Harold Goodman never let off rounding the long sweeping first turn and was able to grab yet another Holeshot this year followed by Suzuki/Yoshimura’s Jones and Gust into the Talladega style second turn with Joe Byrd and Travis Spader rubbing wheels for the fourth spot followed by Lonestar Racing’s Keith Little.

Goodman’s lead would be short lived as both Jones and Gust would make the pass and begin their intense battle for the lead with the pair bouncing off of each other on several occasions as they blitzed their way around the track, which had the fans going crazy on the sidelines. Meanwhile, Joe Byrd’s string of bad luck appeared to continue when his Honda went into neutral, which allowed Yamaha’s Travis Spader and Pat Brown to pass him as he dropped back to sixth place, and if that weren’t enough, steam began to billow from his Honda after only a few laps, so many wondered if he would be able to finish the Moto, which would be a huge blow with Jones and Gust battling out front for the lead.

Suzuki/Yoshimura's Jeremiah Jones & Doug Gust may be teammates, but on the track neither of them will give an inch when it comes winning a race.	Yamaha's Travis Spader and Pat Brown rounded out the top five with Joe Byrd applying the pressure to regain the positions he lost early in the race

Both Chad Wienen and Dustin Wimmer started dead last, but the pair quickly worked their way through the pack and moved into the top ten behind Joe Byrd as Keith Little began his descent backwards after experiencing issues with his Honda.

Jeremiah Jones and Doug Gust battled for the lead into the final lap of the race when disaster struck for Gust when his engine seized up at the face of the table top after the Talladega turn, which sent his LT-R450 into a nose dive and Gust flying over the handlebars and tumbling to base of the landing. Luckily, he avoided a close encounter with his ATV, but he still had his bell rung from the impact and was out of the race with a devastating DNF, and he wasn’t alone as the heat began to take its toll. After a hard charge, Dustin Wimmer’s engine also let go with just a few laps to go while he was in seventh place pressuring Pat Brown. Harold Goodman’s crank bearing failed, which would leave him sitting in the final lap of race as well while he was running in third place after being passed by Joe Byrd.

Dustin Wimmer sits and waits for the end of the Pro Race after charging his way up to seventh place from a near dead last start with three laps remaining in the race.	Joe Byrd pushed his Honda to the edge reeling in rider after rider as he worked his way up into 2nd place afer both Goodman and Gust engines seized on the final lap of the race.

With the checkered flag flying, Jeremiah Jones would take the win with a substantial lead over Joe Byrd who amazingly was able to charge his way up into second place while his engine was on the edge of seizing itself from loosing coolant through out the race from a faulty water hose. Yamaha’s Travis Spader and Pat Brown put in their best rides of the year to finish right behind Byrd and hometown favorite, Chad Wienen, rounded out the top five followed by K&K ATV’s Josh Creamer.

In between Motos, the pressure was on in the pits as Gust, Byrd, Goodman, and Wimmer’s crew were all busy swapping engines for the second Moto, but unfortunately for Wimmer, he was down to a stock engine for the second Moto and with a DNF, he would be stuck with one of the last gate picks to go with it.

Pro Moto Two
With the top finishers from the first Moto lined up on the far inside on the starting gate, the second Moto was about to begin, and with the drop of the gate, it would be Jeremiah Jones craving around the inside of the turn one with the Holeshot followed by Byrd, Spader, Wienen, and Haavisto rounding out the top five with Gust, Wimmer, and Goodman near the back of the pack with their undesirable gate picks.

Jones wasted no time in separating himself from Byrd, and just like in the first Moto, Byrd’s Honda once again was spouting out water early in the race, which put him in cruise control to maintain his position without attempting to try and chase down Jones out front. Byrd still needed to stay on the gas as Wienen was on a mission while an intense battle for position was going on behind him between Spader and Creamer for the fourth spot. Travis Spader would make a mistake, which opened the door for Josh Creamer to make the pass and take over fourth, which was the what the doctor order for Wienen to claim the final spot on the podium if he could maintain a top three position in the second Moto and Creamer could hold off Spader.

Meanwhile, Keith Little’s race and podium streak ended early on when his axle snapped at the wheel hub, which left him sitting on the sidelines under a shade tree for the remainder of the race after an incredible string of podium finishes in both the ATVA Motocross Nationals and Extreme Dirt Track Series over the past month.

Keith Little Podium streak ended with an unlikley snapped axle on his Lonestar Racing Honda 450R.	Josh Creamer has been inching his way closer and closer to the Podium with each passing race, so it will only be a matter time before he has his day.

Gust slowly but surely began to work his way through traffic, but it was still very obvious that he was feeling the effects of his first Moto wreck as he just didn’t look like his normal self. None the less, he began to apply the pressure to Goodman and Haavisto battling for the sixth spot with both Haavisto and Gust eventually making the pass on Goodman as he began to fade late in the race.

Jeremiah Jones two wheeling the berm as he never let off the gas it seemed in route to a perfect 1-1 weekend and the Overall	Rath Racing's Chad Wienen was pumped by the cheers from the crowd and brought home the final podium spot.

Jeremiah Jones rode his Suzuki LT-R450 to a convincing win in the second Moto and his seventh consecutive Podium finish, which catapulted him into second place in points past both Gust and Natalie Jr, but with Joe Byrd managing to keep his Honda together to the checkered flag and securing the second spot, he now has a fairly comfortable 27 points lead over Jones now in second place. Chad Wienen was able to maintain the third spot to the finish line while Creamer held off Spader, which left Wienen and Spader each tied with 8 points a piece with the advantage going to Wienen for the final Podium spot for the hometown hero, which was the Pro Rookie’s first Pro Podium, and Josh Creamer also had his best ATVA MX Pro ride of the year rounding out the top five.

Wrap-Up
The next stop on the ATVA Motocross National schedule is at the famous Unadilla MX in New Berlin, NY with its natural terrain track that is extremely fast and includes plenty of elevation changes, and Jeremiah Jones conquered the track last year on his Suzuki LTZ400, so will he be able to make it two in a row and narrow the gap between him and Joe Byrd out front, we will just have to wait and see.

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