ATVA ITP Moose Racing National Motocross Series Round #14 - Ballance Moto X September 2-3, 2006

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Six Time GNCC Champion, Bill Ballance, was busy all weekend working on the track and making sure that it didn't become a one line race track.	Jeremiah Jones and Anthony Mastracola both were in attendance at the final round of season, and for many, it was the first time to see Jeremiah since his wreck

When the gate dropped, it would be “Digger” Doug Gust grabbing the Holeshot followed by Harold Goodman and Keith Little. Chaos broke out behind them as Josh Creamer and Pat Brown came together, which sent Creamer up on two wheels, but amazingly he was able to save it, and Kory Ellis and Jason Dunkelberger quads would become tangled, which forced the pair off their machines trying to separate their locking wheels.

By the end of the first lap, Gust remained in control of the lead with Goodman now feeling the pressure from Wimmer with Natalie Jr and Little rounding out the top five. Joe Byrd was off to a poor start back in 9th place, and he needed to finish in the top six overall this weekend, so the pressure was on for Byrd early in the race.

"Digger" Doug Gust lead the race from start to finish, but not without feeling the pressure from Dustin Wimmer

In the final laps of the race, Gust pulled away from Wimmer and took the checkered flag with plenty of breathing room over Wimmer in second. This wasn’t the case for Byrd as he battled with Jeremy Lawson for several laps and finally made the pass with only three laps to go to take over the third spot as his Honda began to smoke. Keith Little was able to hold off the hard charging pro rookie, Josh Upperman, to round out the top five.

Walsh's Jeremy Lawson held off Joe Byrd for several laps, but the "Professor" Byrd was able to make the pass before the end of the Moto and claim the third spot	K&K ATV's Josh Creamer was able to recover from a near wreck at the start and charge his way back up to 7th place by the checkered behind Josh Upperman

With the first Moto in the history books, things were looking up for Byrd to capture his first Pro Championship after chasing it for 20 years, but he still would need a top ten finish in the second Moto, so his mechanic, Chris Delagarde, rushed his Honda back to the pits to prepare it for the second Moto.

As the start of the second Moto approached, the sun finally began to peak out from behind the clouds, which quickly dried up the track, so the Ballance crew stopped the racing action temporarily to disc up the track and apply some water, so the track would be in perfect condition by the start of the Pro race.

Joe Byrd checks out the view to the first turn prior to selecting his starting gate for the the second Moto

Unlike the first Moto, it was a clean start around turn one with “The Bee” Harold Goodman grabbing yet another Holeshot this year followed by Gust, Lawson, Creamer, Natalie Jr, and Byrd. After barely making it to the starting gate, Natalie Jr was able to work his way past Gust and Goodman to take over the lead by the third lap with Gust dropping back to fourth behind Lawson after making a few mistakes. Joe Byrd was now riding on the rear tires of Gust and exactly where he needed to be to easily claim the championship.

Sparks Racing's Harold Goodman grabbed the Holeshot with John Natalie Jr quickly passing his way up into the lead by the third lap	Yamaha's Kory Ellis didn't have any luck this weekend after tangling with Dunk in Moto One, he was left sitting on the line in the second Moto

John Natalie Jr would lead the race for several laps, but his inability to ride or practice for several weeks quickly became evident as he began to slow down and dropped from the lead to fifth place in only one lap. The most surprising part was to see Jeremy Lawson not only taking over the lead, but also begin to pull away from Gust now charging hard in second place closely followed by Byrd and Wimmer.

Jeremy Lawson was able to top his performance in Moto One and claim the Second Moto Win over Gust and Byrd	Lonestar's Keith Little finished out the weekend in 5th Place, which moved him up into 3rd Place in Points past Jones

Jeremy Lawson would hold onto the lead for the final seven laps of the race followed by Gust, Byrd, Wimmer, and Creamer rounding out the top five. The second Moto win by Jeremy Lawson was enough for him to claim his first spot on the Podium with a second overall finish behind Doug Gust winning his third race of the year. For Joe Byrd, his third place second Moto finish not only secured him the final spot on the Podium, but also the 2006 ATVA Pro National Championship, which had a swarm of pink shirt Joe Byrd fans going crazy as they rushed the podium to share the experience with Byrd.

Jeremy Lawson really enjoyed the fruits of his second overall finish and first podium appearance in only his rookie year	Joe Byrd celebrates his Championship with his family, friends, and sponsors on the Pro Podium

Wrap-Up
After 14 rounds of racing, the 2006 ATVA Motocross National season is finally over, and it concluded one of the most exciting years of motocross racing ever, and the Ballance Moto X track and facility provided the perfect platform to conclude the 2006 season and was touted by many of the Pros as being the best tracks they raced on all year, and it will surely be part of the 2007 race schedule, which will be released in the very near future.

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