Chino, Calif. - August 15, 2009 - Team Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki/Yoshimura's Dustin Wimmer clinched the 2009 Championship in the first moto of the last round of the 2009 ITP/Moose Racing AMA ATV Motocross Championship. The defending champion's fourth place overall secured his second crown in front of cheering fans at Loretta Lynn's MX track in Hurricane Mills, TN.
Wimmer came into this final round 45 points ahead of the competition after a season that was full of drama. Wimmer had held a commanding early lead only to become sidelined with a shoulder injury a third of the way through the season. Even with sitting out one race and painfully making his way around the track for the next two rounds, Wimmer was finally healthy enough to take six moto wins in a row and regain many of his lost points. He finished first in six of the eleven rounds for a total of 419 points.
Teammate Doug Gust ended the year just 17 points shy of third place. The veteran racer had a consistent year with four podium finishes.
Wimmer was thrilled with the win. "This was quite a year," Wimmer reflected. "I had some bad luck getting hurt and it took everything to get back those points. Luckily, I've got a great team and a great quad. We really worked hard for this championship and I feel really great. Today, I had a lot of adrenalin going so I had to work at just riding smart and safe."
Team Manager Kory Ellis was proud of Wimmer's accomplishment. "Dustin coming back from a serious shoulder injury was a brave thing." Ellis said. "For him to come back and dominate racing and win the title was just incredible. My hat is off to Dustin, the team and to Suzuki for making such a great quad - the QuadRacer R450."
Yoshimura's Brant Russell was equally pleased with the results. "That was an amazing performance on the part of Dustin and the whole team. It was a great series all year and at any race any one of six or seven riders could take the win. The AMA and Racer Productions did a great job with the series and we can't wait to come back next year."