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Wienen Takes Unadilla
Victory and AMA ATV Pro MX Points Lead
New Berlin, NY - Monster Energy Kawasaki's
Chad Wienen grabbed both moto wins to take the
overall victory at the Can-Am Northeastern ATV
National at the historic Unadilla Valley Sports
Center in New Berlin, New York, capping off an
amazing come-from-behind charge that has brought
the Illinois native from virtually worst to
first in the 2009 AMA Pro ATV Motocross Series
point standings. The Unadilla event also marked
round six of the 2009 ITP Tires/Moose Racing AMA
ATV Motocross Championship presented by Parts
Unlimited.
"Everything is coming together this year and
I'm so excited right now with this finish at
Unadilla," said Wienen, who topped Rockstar/Makita
Suzuki's Doug Gust and Warnert Can-Am's John
Natalie for the win. "I haven't been here in
four years and I didn't know how many fans I
have out here. I'm happy to be up here on this
box and I'm just taking it race by race."
Wienen, new to the Kawasaki squad this year,
suffered through mechanical troubles in three of
the first four motos of the season, and found
himself over 50 points behind the series leader
after round two. But he's been on the podium
ever since, logging three seconds and two
victories while early-season leaders Joe Byrd
and Dustin Wimmer have struggled.
Byrd and Wimmer's troubles continued at
Unadilla. Honda veteran Byrd made a mistake in
moto one and dropped from fourth to eventually
finish 11th, and he was credited with 17th in
moto two after mechanical troubles set in.
Amazingly, Wimmer, the defending AMA Pro ATV MX
Champion, made up points on Byrd despite riding
with a lingering shoulder injury suffered before
round four of the tour. Wimmer soldiered on with
10-4 scores for sixth overall at Unadilla.
Wienen now leads both, with a nine point lead on
Byrd and 19 points on Wimmer. Wimmer's teammate
Doug Gust made a serious challenge at Wienen. He
landed the ATVSource.com Top Qualifier Award and
battled at the front of the pack in both motos,
ultimately taking 3-3 scores for second overall.
Warnert Can-Am's John Natalie went 5-2 for
third, pleasing the event's title sponsor.
Honda rider Josh Upperman took fourth with
2-6 scores, and another Can-Am rider, Jeremy
Lawson, went 4-5 for fifth.
Wienen had to work for his wins on the
notoriously fast and rough Unadilla track.
Upperman grabbed the $250 MotorcycleUSA.com
holeshot in moto 1, leading Gust, Wienen and
Byrd. Wienen held off Byrd as he marched up to
Gust and then moved into second on lap six.
Three laps later, Wienen closed in on Upperman
and made the pass after the massive Gravity
Cavity jump. Upperman held off Gust to grab
second, while a pack of Can-Am riders, Lawson,
Natalie and Richard Pelchat duked it out much of
the moto to end in 4th, 5th and 6th.
Byrd tipped over while running fourth and
dropped to 12th, and he was only able to climb
back to 11th at the finish. Wimmer came around
the first lap in 17th still nursing an injured
shoulder, but he dug deep and snagged a 10th.
For moto two, Gust's Suzuki team changed
motors, and it paid off as he grabbed the $250
MotorcycleUSA.com Holeshot Award over Wienen.
But Wienen made a quick pass to get the lead.
Gust maintained pressure throughout the moto
with Natalie close behind. Gust picked up a
stick on the track that cut off his rear brake,
allowing Natalie to set up a pass. On the last
lap, Natalie made his move for second right
before the finish, stealing second in the final
inches of the battle.
"I ended up picking up a stick in my brake
the last three laps and I knew right where
[Natalie] was going to get me and then he got
me. But hats off to John and Chad, they ran an
awesome race. I'm just happy to be up here."
In the Pro-Am Production class, Cody Gibson
won both motos, topping Joel Hetrick and Cody
Grant on the podium.
Notes: Monster Energy Kawasaki's Josh Creamer
won the previous round of the tour at Steel City
Raceway in Pennsylvania, but his luck
disappeared at Unadilla. Mechanical troubles
ended his moto-one ride, and his team barely got
his machine to the line for moto two, and he had
to miss the parade-lap. He took ninth in moto
two....Joe Byrd has logged moto scores of
6-19-3-5-11-17 since Wimmer's shoulder injury
put him into the series points lead.... Typical
Unadilla rough weather set in on Saturday, with
rain marring their first two practices. Sunday
was picture perfect for racing, however.
Results
Can-Am Northeastern ATV Nationals
Unadilla Valley Sports Center
New Berlin, NY
AMA ATV Pro Class
1. Chad Wienen 1-1 (Kaw)
2. Doug Gust 3-3 (Suz)
3. Josh Natalie 5-2 (Can)
4. Josh Upperman 2-6 (Hon)
5. Jeremy Lawson 5-4 (Can)
6. Dustin Wimmer 10-4 (Suz)
7. Richard Pelchat 6-8 (Can)
8. Greg Gee 8-7 (Hon)
9. Harold Goodman 7-10 (Hon)
10. Patrick Brown 13-11 (Yam)
Series Standings (After seven of 11
rounds):
1. Chad Wienen (254/2 wins);
2. Joe Byrd (245/ 1 win);
3. Dustin Wimmer
(235/3 wins);
4. Josh Creamer (217/1 win);
5.
Josh Upperman (210);
6. Doug Gust (208);
7. John
Natalie (197);
8. Jeremy Lawson (167);
9. Greg
Gee (144);
10.Clay Holmes (142).
About the ITP/Moose Racing AMA
ATV Motocross Championship Presented by Parts
Unlimited
The ITP/Moose Racing AMA ATV Motocross
Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited is the
nation's premier amateur and professional ATV
motocross series, and competes at top motocross
facilities nationwide. The 11-round series
features the Nation's best racers, teams and
sponsors, and is America's largest and
longest-running ATV National Motocross series
with more than 20 years of competition. The
series continues to expand and produce top
talent from the amateur ranks, while keeping
close to the grassroots fun that makes people
love to go to the races. Check out weekly
Motosodes of ATVision powered by Quad at
www.atvmotocross.com For more information,
please visit
www.atvmotocross.com.
About the ATV Promoters Group
(ATVPG)
The ATVPG is composed of the individual
promoters that host the ITP/Moose Racing AMA ATV
Motocross Championship Presented by Parts
Unlimited. The goal of the ATVPG is to raise
awareness of ATV motocross through the
production of professional and amateur
championship racing events. For more information
on the ATVPG and the ATV National events they
produce, please visit
www.atvmotocross.com.
About MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc.
MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc. manages the Lucas Oil
AMA Pro Motocross Championship, the Women's
Motocross Association (WMA) National Motocross
Championship, and the professional racing side
of the AMA Pro ATV Motocross Championship. MX
Sports Pro Racing, Inc. is a second-generation
family owned business that has been in operation
for over 26 years and is an industry leader in
the segment of off road/action sports race
promotion in the United States. Through its
various racing properties, partnerships and
affiliates, MX Sports fields more than 60,000
action sports athletes each year and attracts
millions of active fans, spectators and
enthusiasts. For more information on MX Sports,
please visit
www.mxsports.com.
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