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Warnert AMA ATV MX Report Final Round
Warnert
Racing’s Natalie & Miller Finish in the Top 10
for 2008 Points Race
John Natalie
Cody Miller |
Hurricane Mills, TN
– As the 2008 AMA ATV Motocross Nationals series
came to an end this weekend, the Warnert/Can-Am
team found both of its riders in the top 10 of
the points race with John Natalie taking 7th and
Cody Miller finishing his first Pro season in an
impressive 10th place.
The final round of the AMA ATV Motocross
Nationals was held in the traditional location
of Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in Hurricane Mills,
Tennessee. Racers had to endure the typical hot
and humid environment of a Tennessee summer day,
which can cause problems for man and machine
alike, but the conditions did not seem to phase
Cody Miller one bit as he rode his way to his
second strongest finish of the season. The first
season Pro came off the line in 14th place in
the first moto, but Cody put his head down and
went to work picking off the competition. Cody
made his way past Joe Byrd, Cale Downen and even
teammate John Natalie to take over 8th place,
where he stayed at the finish line.
In moto number two, Cody got off to a much
better start. Cody came off the line in 8th
place and by the second lap had worked himself
in 6th place. Cody held his position until the
last lap when he fell back one spot after being
pressured by Josh Creamer. “I was doing my best
to hold him off, but we both came into the
whoops sections too fast and had to slow down,
which kind of messed us both up, and that’s when
he got around me,” said Cody who finished moto
two in 7th place, which earned him 7th overall
for the day.
Cody ended his season in
the number ten spot of the points race, which is
quite an accomplishment for it being his first
full season as a Pro racer. “My goal this year
was to be in the top ten at the end of the year
so I knew I had to come out here and give it
everything I had, and with the support of the
Warnert crew, I was able to do that,” said
Miller who is happy to have achieved his goal.
John Natalie, who was hoping to put his
DS450 on the podium at the last round didn’t
fair quite as well as Miller. In moto one, John
came off the gate in mid pack and was holding
strong, but in mid moto, the heat got to him and
John dropped back a couple of spots finishing in
9th place.
In moto two, John got a
decent start, but in the second turn of the 1st
lap, he was involved in a big pile up with Jason
Dunkelberger and fellow Can-Am racer, Jeremy
Lawson. “Me and Jeremy and Dunk all got caught
up and it took us a while to get un-stuck. When
I finally got going again I was way behind and
then I started having bike problems. I tried to
ride it out, but I ended up having to pull off,”
John said disappointedly. John’s DNF put him in
13th overall for the day.
John ends his
first season on the Can-Am DS450 in 7th place in
the points race and has high hopes for next
season. “This was my first season on a new bike.
The Warnert team did a lot of testing and we
will be doing even more in the off season so we
can come out next year and win a championship,”
John concluded.
In just a couple of weeks, the team will be
making their way to the special Steel City
Invitational event, which will be held on August
30th in Delmont, PA, where they will compete
with the top 20 Pro ATV racers of the 2008
season.
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