Byrd Sweeps it Again at the ATV Wrangler, Round Three of the ITP/Moose ATV National Motocross Championship Series Presented by Parts Unlimited at Oak Hill MX
Alvord, TX - April 1, 2007 - Joe Byrd put himself in the right positions to take two moto wins and another overall victory at round three of the 2007 ITP Moose AMA Pro ATV Series presented by Parts Unlimited today, the ATV Wrangler at Oak Hill MX in Texas. Jeremy Lawson and Dustin Wimmer rounded out the top three on a wild weekend that saw mechanical failures determine much of the racing outcome.
"I tried to ride smart out here today," said Byrd, of Union City, Tennessee. "You have all of these manufacturers out here and they're all backing guys. The top ten, everyone is fast, so you need to push the whole time. It's good for the sport and I'm happy to come out on top."
John Natalie jumped to an early lead in moto one by grabbing the ATVRiders.com Holeshot Award, and he held Byrd at bay for the first half of the moto until mechanical troubles took him out of the race. Byrd had to battle with a flying Chad Wienen, of Galena, IL, who was coming through the pack hard, but Wienen crashed in a rhythm section, which left Byrd alone in second and then out front when Natalie's machine expired. Jeremy Lawson, of Live Oak, Florida, took second in the moto ahead of Wienen.
In moto two, Yoshimura Suzuki's Dustin Wimmer grabbed the ATVRiders.com Holeshot Award, but Wienen was flying again and moved into the lead. He built a big gap while Byrd battled for second with Lawson and the Suzuki tandem of Wimmer and Doug Gust. Byrd eventually secured second, while Wienen enjoyed a huge lead. But after routinely setting lap times a full four seconds faster than the rest of the field, Wienen's race came to an end when mechanical failures set in just before he took the white flag--a heart breaking loss for the man who was clearly the fastest rider on the track.
Byrd took the moto win, and Wimmer held on in a tremendous battle with Lawson to finish second.
"I've been working on my starts a lot, because in this series everyone is the same speed," said Lawson, who had 2-3 scores for second overall.
Wimmer went 4-2 for third overall, followed by his teammate Gust, who went 5-4 for fourth.
"The team is really helping me out," said Wimmer, new this year to the Yoshimura Suzuki factory effort. "You could see it with the way the LT-R450 got me that holeshot in the second moto. I had a good battle with Jeremy there to get second."
Fifth overall went to Pittstown, New Jersey's Pat Brown, who went 7-5 on his Yamaha. Natalie ended up suffering mechanical troubles again in moto two. With two DNFs on the day, Natalie surrenders his early-season points lead to Byrd.
The ATV Wrangler witnessed great weather for the Saturday and Sunday race days, which dried the track well and led to perfect conditions. Considering all the rain the track absorbed on Thursday and Friday, the turnaround in the conditions was quite impressive.
The ITP/Moose AMA Pro ATV National Championship presented by Parts Unlimited continues next weekend with the ATV Wrangler in Oak Hill, Texas.
Overall Results:
ITP/Moose AMA Pro ATV Championship
Round Three: ATV Wrangler at Oak Hill MX in Alvord, Texas
Joe Byrd 1-1 (Hon)
Jeremy Lawson 2-3 (Hon)
Dustin Wimmer 4-2 (Suz)
Doug Gust 5-4 (Suz)
Patrick Brown 7-5 (Yam)
Chad Wienen 3-14 (Hon)
Keith Little 10-6 (Hon)
Rocco Arno, Jr 8-8 (Hon)
Justin Bres 9-10 (Yam)
Russell Shumaker 6-15 (Suz)
Manufacturer cup Standings
1. Honda
2. Suzuki
3. Yamaha
4. Kawasaki