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NATALIE AND RATH WIN WPSA POWERSPORTS ATV
TOUR SEASON OPENER
 LONDON, Ky. (May 20, 2006) —John Natalie, Jr.
and Daryl Rath etched their names on the first
page of the WPSA PowerSports ATV Championship
Tour history book Saturday, winning their
respective Pro Class races at the ITP Daniel
Boone ATV Championship at Daniel Boone MX.
Natalie (No. 67 Elka/Honda) won the SuperQuad
Pro 450 QuadMX Series event, while Rath (No. 67
Rath Racing/Arctic Cat) topped the QuadTerrain
Challenge Pro Stock event.
Both races will be telecast on ESPN2 on
Saturday, June 3 at noon EDT.
Natalie nabbed the holeshot at the start of
the QuadMX final, earning the $1,000 Quad
Magazine Holeshot award. From there, he ran
virtually untouched, beating Doug Gust (No. 55
Team Suzuki-Yoshimura/Suzuki) and Dustin Wimmer
(No. 191 East Coast ATV/Honda).
“This is great to win the first race with
this Series,” said Natalie. “We just got a new
sponsorship with Blue Rok Racing, and it’s nice
to be able to deliver a win to them the first
time out. We hadn’t planned on running the
entire Series this year, but now, with this win,
we’re going to run all of the events.
“The Series is run very professionally,”
added Natalie. “We’re looking forward to this
season.”
Gust held onto second throughout the event.
“We had a good day, but John just rode a
little better than I did,” said Gust. “I have no
complaints. I’m happy this Series is here and
I’m really happy to be on the podium. The Series
is really professional and I like all of things
they’re doing here. Banners everywhere, radios
(for the officials), and the Hawaiian Tropic
Girls made this a really professional event.”
Wimmer was pleased with his third-place
finish.
“I won my first two heats and we got third in
the final, so I’m feeling pretty good,” said
Wimmer. “WPSA really put on a very nice show
here. I was really impressed. I think it’s going
to turn out pretty well. I’m planning on running
all of the races this season, and there is
definitely more of a push for this Series,
overall.”
Rath took a similar path to Natalie’s in a
grueling QuadTerrain run, leading from the wave
of the green flag to the finish. Donny Banks
(No. Capitol Cycle/Suzuki) passed Adam Vaugh
(No. 83 Honda) late in the event and finished
second. Vaugh held on for third.
“We worked really hard and we hope we can
keep building from here,” said Rath. “The track
was very challenging. I really didn’t know what
to expect, this being the first time I’ve ever
ridden a utility quad in competition. The course
really challenged all of the riders. There was
some flat stuff, some high-speed stuff, the rock
sections, the mud, the logs, and it all made it
challenging. There are a lot of decisions you
can make every lap that will affect the outcome.
“I think the Tour is doing a fantastic job,”
added Rath. “Everybody was a little apprehensive
to come here, but change is good and people
shouldn’t be afraid of change (The riders that
weren’t here) really missed out.”
Banks, a longtime quad racer and well-known
character, responded to questions with a typical
pithy tone.
“Second sucks,” said a grinning Banks. “I
really wasn’t prepared for this; I just drove a
bike off of the floor. This was a blast, but it
was brutal and rough. This is a brutal, rough
sport, but it’s a lot of fun. These young pups
are really fighting for that $2,000.
“I think this an awesome show,” added Banks.
“The television show will really give fans the
ability to see what this is all about.”
Vaugh said the track was difficult, but he
enjoyed his first race with the Tour.
“This is a really challenging sport,” said
Vaugh. “It’s brutal to run out there. It was a
lot harder than I thought. Everything was great
this weekend.”
Comprehensive results for the two Pro finals
are available by clicking
here (Adobe Acrobat
Reader 5.0 or higher required).
Round 2 of the PowerSports ATV Championship
Tour, part of the double championship weekend
here sponsored by ITP, is scheduled for
tomorrow. The QuadTerrain Challenge Pro Stock
final is scheduled for noon EDT, followed by the
SuperQuad Pro 450 QuadMX final at 2:30 p.m.
About the PowerSports ATV Tour
The PowerSports ATV Tour is North America’s
newest ATV racing tour and features the greatest
show on dirt. The Tour is North America’s
premier form of ATV racing, with its jumps,
gyrations and dirt-slinging racing action. The
Tour is sanctioned by the World PowerSports
Association, North America’s largest and most
respected ATV and snowmobile sanctioning body,
and promoter of ATV and snowmobile racing on
both the regional and national level.
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