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NATALIE AND WEST WIN
2007 WPSA POWERSPORTS ATV TOUR TITLES
AS BITHELL AND WIENEN WIN AT PENNSYLVANIA'S
FIELD OF DREAMS
BOSWELL, Pa. (Sept. 16, 2007)
-- Chris Bithell and Chad Wienen put exclamation
points on their respective 2007 seasons Sunday,
winning the Pro portions of the Grand
Championship National WPSA PowerSports ATV Tour
event at Field of Dreams. With a runner-up
finish, John Natalie, Jr. won the SuperQuad Pro
450 Riders' Championship, while a fifth-place
effort netted Jesse West the QuadTerrain Pro
Stock title.
The race, which represented the season finale
of the 2007 Tour, will be telecast on ESPN2 on
Sept. 28 at 3 p.m. EDT.
SuperQuad Pro 450
Natalie (No. 13 Elka, Maxxis/Honda) took the
lead at the start of the 14-lap SuperQuad Pro
450 final and appeared to be poised to run away
with the event. However, Wienen (No. 44 Team
Rockstar, MSR, Pro Taper, Yoshimura/Suzuki) had
other plans, moving to within striking distance
late in the event, and then taking the lead on
the final lap. It was Wienen's fifth victory
this season, the most of any rider on the Tour.
"I started pretty deep," said Wienen. "This
is why I put in all of those hours of training
and it really paid off. I couldn't thank
everyone enough. We're getting ready for next
season. We're going to win the championship in
2008."
Natalie, with his Houtzdale, Pa. hometown
crowd cheering him from the sidelines, finished
second to net his first WPSA Riders'
Championship. Dustin Wimmer (No. 191 MSR, Pro
Taper, Yoshimura/Suzuki) was third.
Natalie overcame injuries sustained in a
crash during practice earlier in the season to
earn the title. He won four races this season,
and put up an impressive seven podium finishes.
"This goes back to the old philosophy of
never giving up," said Natalie. "We never gave
up this season. We worked hard as a team. We
kept plugging away at it, took the points lead a
couple races ago and never looked back. I'm
really excited and I think our team did a great
job.
"We're already looking forward to next year,"
added Natalie. "We're ready to do this again at
the end of the 2008 season."
Suzuki clinched its second consecutive
Manufacturers' Championship on Sunday. Suzuki
quads won six out of 10 races this season.
"We've had a tremendous year," said Pat
Alexander, Team Suzuki's Race Director. "Chad
Wienen won a number of events. Dustin Wimmer
battled right down to the end for the
championship. Then, of course, Doug Gust did a
great job for us. He did all of the work
developing this new quad over the last couple of
years. I have a great bunch of guys."
QuadTerrain Challenge
Bithell (No. 6 Warnert Racing/Can-Am) took the
lead early in the QuadTerrain Pro Stock final,
and led all 10 laps for the victory, his first
this season. Daryl Rath (No. 67 Jack
Link's/Arctic Cat) and Chris Borich (No. 2
Warnert Racing/Can-Am) completed the podium.
"I'm about ready to pass out," said Bithell,
who also competed yesterday in a cross country
race at Unadilla MX in New York, and then made
the 400-mile trip here. "I raced all day
yesterday, and then had to go home. I was
running on almost no sleep, so it feels really
good to win."
West (No. 888 West Racing/Arctic Cat), dubbed
the "Working Man" this season for his hard work
on and off the track, fought his own battle with
adversity and injuries, but won one race, and
visited the podium five times.
"This season has been unbelievable," said
West. "I have never worked so hard for something
in my life and it feels great. This is just an
amazing thing to accomplish.
"We had some bad luck this year, but luckily,
so did some of my fellow competitors," added
West. "It really came down to the wire. We had
to have a good finish here, and we accomplished
that."
West recovered from a last-place finish in
Round 5 to earn the title. West suffered two
offs that weekend, and ended up nursing his ATV
to the finish. However, he didn't give up.
"We set out to win this thing," said West.
"My results in Kentucky really got me thinking.
But I wiped the slate thing and made it clear to
myself that I was going to win this thing.
Kentucky was really a re-birth for me."
Can-Am earned its second straight
Manufacturers' Championship on the merit of
eight wins in ten races.
"It's been an outstanding season," said Jeff
Gruhlke, Can-Am's Race Director. "Warnert
Racing, the riders; everyone out there
contributed. We're proud to come to the WPSA and
showcase the power, handling and innovation of
the Can-Am four wheelers."
Special award winners were:
SuperQuad Pro 450
The QUAD Magazine Holeshot Award ($1,000):
Natalie
ATVSource.com Biggest Mover ($500): John Ragon
(No. 98 JB Racing/Suzuki)
QuadTerrain Pro Stock
Holeshot Technologies Rock'n'Roll Award
($1,000): Bithell
ATVSource.com Biggest Mover ($500): Bithell
Other winners during the weekend were:
Pro SuperSport: Dana Creech (No. 52
DanaCreechRacing.com/Polaris)
SuperQuad Pro Am: Greg Gee (No. 10 Fox Shox/Honda)
A Class: Brandon Smith (No. 70 Walsh/Honda)
B Class: Austin Moser (No. 87 East Coast
ATV/Honda)
C Class: Dalton Hicks (No. 33 Hanson Racing/Yamah)
Women A: Angela Butler (No. 1 LoneStar
Racing/Honda)
Women B/C: Brianne Hanson (No. 55 Glens
Sports Centre/Yamaha)
16-24: Greg Gee (No. 10 Fox Shox/Honda)
Plus 25: Dane Heilman (No. 07 JPMX/Honda)
Plus 35: Randy Hurst (No. 50 RH
Aluminum/Honda)
Open Amateur: Dane Heilman (No. 07 Hiper
Wheels/Honda)
Production Lites: Jeffrey Rastrelli (No. 28
J&J Motorsports/Honda)
0-50cc Limted Auto Clutch CVT 4-6: Jordan
Digby (No. 88 OMF Wheels/DRR)
0-50cc Production Auto Clutch 6-8: Alex
Hammond (No. 171 Cobra)
51-70cc Production Auto Clutch 6-11: Nicholas
Gennusa (No. 15 Zebu and Forno Bakery and
Cafe/Honda, Cobra)
0-70cc Shifter 6-11: David Nevrotski (No. 24
Rath Racing/JB, Cobra)
71-90cc 2 Stroke, 75-125cc 4 Stroke 8-11:
Nicholas Gennusa (No. 15 Zebu and Forno Bakery
and Cafe/Honda, Cobra)
71-90cc 2 Stroke, 75-125cc 4 Stroke
Production 12-15: Aaron Beer (No. 707 Pittman
Racing/Cobra)
90cc Production CVT Belt Drive 8-15: Jacob
Albaugh (No. 6 Kasea)
75-125cc 4 Stroke Production 8-15: Grantt
Darnell (No. 128 Scott Cain Racing/Honda)
90 2 Stroke Modified 8-12: Dillon Starks (No.
33 Pittman Racing/TBA)
Supermini: Jeffrey Rastrelli (No. 128 Hetrick
Racing/Honda)
Complete results are available at
www.PowerSportsTour.com.
The 2007 Champions are:
Pro SuperSport: Kyle Fiebelkorn (No. 11 Jack
Link's/Arctic Cat)
SuperQuad Pro Am: Cody Miller (No. 22
Pep/Yamaha)
A Class: Brandon Smith (No. 70 Walsh/Honda)
B Class: Austin Moser (No. 87 East Coast
ATV/Honda)
C Class: Danny Cooper (No. 198 Kellogs/Honda)
Women A: Angela Butler (No. 1 LoneStar
Racing/Honda)
Women B/C: Michelle Suciu (No. 5 Wheelz Up
Racing/Cannondale)
16-24: Greg Gee (No. 10 Fox Shox/Honda)
Plus 25: Dane Heilman (No. 07 JPMX/Honda)
Plus 35: Randy Hurst (No. 50 RH
Aluminum/Honda)
Open Amateur: Dane Heilman (No. 07 Hiper
Wheels/Honda)
Production Lites: Cody Janssen (No. 25
Janssen Motorsports/Honda)
0-50cc Limted Auto Clutch CVT 4-6: Braxton
Gray (No. 235 RC Motorsports/DRR)
0-50cc Production Auto Clutch 6-8: Alex
Hammond (No. 171 Cobra)
51-70cc Production Auto Clutch 6-11: Nicholas
Gennusa (No. 15 Zebu and Forno Bakery and
Cafe/Honda, Cobra)
0-70cc Shifter 6-11: Samuel Rowe (No. 38
Janssen Motorsports/Honda, Cobra)
71-90cc 2 Stroke, 75-125cc 4 Stroke 8-11:
Nicholas Gennusa (No. 15 Zebu and Forno Bakery
and Cafe/Honda, Cobra)
71-90cc 2 Stroke, 75-125cc 4 Stroke
Production 12-15: Aaron Beer (No. 707 Pittman
Racing/Cobra)
90cc Production CVT Belt Drive 8-15: Alex
Kersey (No. 321 RC Roundsports/DRR)
75-125cc 4 Stroke Production 8-15: Grantt
Darnell (No. 128 Scott Cain Racing/Honda)
90 2 Stroke Modified 8-12: Dillon Starks (No.
33 Pittman Racing/TBA)
Supermini: Jeffrey Rastrelli (No. 128 Hetrick
Racing/Honda)
The PowerSports Tour begins its national
Snocross Tour beginning Nov. 23 with the AMSOIL
Duluth National at Spirit Mountain in Duluth,
Minn.
Notebook:
AMATEUR ACE...Nicholas Gennusa was voted
PowerSports ATV Tour Amateur of the Year his
fellow competitors. Gennusa, 11, was selected in
balloting by the entire Amateur Class. The
Amateur of the Year Award goes to the rider who
"in his or her actions on and off the track,
best exemplifies the spirit of the WPSA
membership."
TRAVELING MEN...Can-Am Riders Chris Bithell
and Chris Borich racked up nearly 400 miles over
the weekend. The pair, who competed in a cross
country race at Unadilla Motocross Park in New
Berlin, N.Y. on Saturday, then drove through the
night to compete in the QuadTerrain Pro Stock
race here on Sunday.
About the PowerSports ATV Tour
The PowerSports ATV Tour is North America's
premier professional ATV racing circuit,
featuring QuadMX, QuadTerrain and SuperSport Pro
series action as well as more than 20 amateur
classes for adults, women and children. The Tour
is sanctioned by the World PowerSports
Association, North America's most respected
snowmobile and ATV sanctioning body, and a
promoter of ATV and snowmobile racing on both
the regional and national level. For more
information, please visit
www.PowerSportsTour.com.
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