PVR - Pro ATV Moto 2

Another moto win for points leader Josh Creamer

Natalie rides smart to give Can-Am their first overall win

Team Motoworks Can-Am's John Natalie Jr. and Baldwin Motorsports Josh Upperman shot out of the gate at the start of moto 2 at Pleasure Valley Raceway Sunday and battled side-by-side for the holeshot. After a few turns, Upperman came away with the race lead.

But the Honda rider's lead proved short-lived. Natalie passed the Ohio native a few turns later and tried to settle in to the lead and the same pace that gave him the win in moto 1.

Pennsylvania native and hometown favorite John Natalie Jr. lead the second pro moto, but his lead would be challenged by several riders. The top five gradually broke away from the pack early in the moto with Natalie in first, followed by Josh Upperman, rookie Cody Gibson, Josh Creamer and Dustin Wimmer.

Creamer made short work of getting around Gibson, and he even got past Upperman a few laps later. But the Iron Man proved a greater challenge.

Josh Creamer reminded everyone in moto 2 why he's the current points leader. He started the moto in fourth, but Creamer quickly passed rookie Cody Gibson, who was putting in an impressive performance by hanging with the points leader and fighting off the defending champion.

Once Creamer moved into third, he set his sights on Upperman. The seasoned pro gave Creamer a good fight but eventually gave up the second spot. The Suzuki rider then closed in on Natalie, and the two settled in for a hard-fought moto that gave the Pennsylvania crowds some exciting racing to watch.

Creamer inched closer to Natalie with every lap, until finally he passed the Can-Am rider on the tabletop coming out of the back section.

It seemed only a matter of time before Creamer would guide his Yoshimura LTR450 around Natalie, but the Iron Man defended his position well and refused to open the door to the points leader. Even if Natalie relented the moto 2 win to Creamer he could still leave Pleasure Valley with the overall. Still, a big crowd was on hand and clad in shirts plastered with the Can-Am rider's name, and he surely didn't want to disappoint.

Natalie managed to fend of the challenge from Creamer long enough that the two leaders developed an intense pace that separated them from the pack.

But Natalie slipped and opened the door for Creamer, who finally made his pass on the tabletop coming out of the back section. From there on, moto 2 became the Josh Creamer show. Still, Natalie hung on for second, which gave him the overall and Can-Am's first ATV motocross national overall win.

There was plenty of action going on behind the two leaders. Jeremy Lawson put his head down and drove through the pack to get past Wimmer and Upperman  to claim the third spot. Upperman finished the second moto in fourth with Wimmer in fifth.

Jeremy Lawson put his Walsh Racecraft Suzuki on the podium for the first time this season with two third-place finishes for third overall at the Pleasure Valley National.

Chad Wienen claimed the sixth spot in moto 2 following a disappointing DNF in the first moto after he blew out his rear shock. Wienen, also riding out of the Motoworks Can-Am semi, moved around several riders but still came away with just eleventh overall. Thomas Brown put his Yamaha in seventh place and was followed by Jeremy Warnia in eight. Patrick Brown and Cody Gibson rounded out the top 10 in moto 2.

Creamer may have won moto 2, but the weekend belonged to Natalie, who took his first overall win of the season and gave Can-Am their first overall win since entering the motocross foray three years ago. Ever outspoken, Natalie humbly summed up the win.

"The weekend went really well for me here at Pleasure Valley" Natalie said. "I was able to grab Can-Am's first ever win in front of these amazing fans."

Natalie gets a thumbs up from a fan congratulating him on the overall win at Pleasure Valley Raceway July 4.

The next round of the ITP/Moose Racing AMA ATV Motocross Championship series heads to New York and historic Unadilla. The current points standings: 1. Josh Creamer (356); 2. Dustin Wimmer (331); 3. John Natalie Jr (281); 4. Josh Upperman (259); 5. Chad Wienen (258); 6. Thomas Brown (233); 7. Jeremy Lawson (207); 8. Patrick Brown (180); 9. Jeremie Warnia (179); 10. Nick A. Denoble (146).

PVR - Pro ATV Moto 1

Natalie fights off Wimmer for win 

John Natalie, Jr., ripped the holeshot on his Team Motoworks Can-Am DS450 in the first pro ATV moto at Pleasure Valley Raceway Sunday and tried hard not to look back.

Natalie had to contend with pressure from Rockstar Yoshimura Makita Suzuki's Dustin Wimmer, who stayed close to the Can-Am rider early on. Wimmer settled in to Natalie's pace for several laps before making one last push to close the gap, but the defending champ couldn't get around the Iron Man.

Natalie's moto 1 win came on the heels of a third-place finish in moto 2 at the last round in Millville, Mn.

The win did not come easy for Natalie. He had to fight hard and maintain a grueling pace as the track only got hotter and dustier. Wimmer kept Natalie in reach for most of the moto, but by the end he couldn't pull the trigger.

Natalie and Wimmer weren't the only two battling hard for position, whether that battle was to maintain a spot or pass several riders.

Jeremy Lawson moved up through the pack passing several riders, including Joe Byrd, who finished in fifth. Lawson punished his Walsh Racecraft LTR450 throughout the first moto, and it held up to give him a solid third place finish, which tied his best of the season so far.

Rockstar Yoshimura Makita Suzuki's Josh Creamer, the points leader heading in to Pleasure Valley, put in a respectable effort to maintain points in moto 1. Creamer finished fourth behind Lawson.

The number nine seemed to be holding back in moto 1 with only a fourth place finish, and that became more evident as he unleashed the speed in dominating fashion in moto 2.

Creamer rode smart and didn't take his chances. Pleasure Valley only provided a few opportunities for for the quad racers to make any passes, and those who could pass took advantage in moto 1.  

Mushin Racing's Thomas Brown moved his Yamaha YFZ450R through the pack as well, and he even put a textbook pass on teammate Cody Gibson in the same off-camber corner where Wimmer came close to passing Natalie several times.

Gibson didn't relent easily. He hung tight on Brown's rear wheels but couldn't retake the position and eventually faded. Still, it proved one of the young  rookie's best showings so far this year, as Brown finished in eight and Gibson took home ninth place.

The French Can-Am rider, Jeremy Warnia, took home sixth place ahead of Balwin Motorsports' Josh Upperman, who finished in seventh place in moto 1.

Pat Brown rounded out the top 10 in moto 1 on his Yoshimura and Lonestar backed Honda.  Harold Goodman, Cody Grant, Keith Little and Brian Baragnwanath rounded out the first pro moto, which only saw 15 pros leave the gate at PVR. The big dissapointment in moto 1 was Chad Wienen, who destroyed a Fox Podium X rear shock and ended with a DNF.

Dustin Wimmer pushed his Suzuki hard to try and catch the leader and eventual winner of moto 1, John Natalie, Jr......

....but Natalie pushed his Can-Am even harder to take the moto 1 win. "Dustin Wimmer and I had a really good battle the whole race, but I came across the finish line first," Natalie said.

Check back Tuesday for coverage of moto 2 and more photos from the weekend at PVR.

ATV MX Round 8 - Pleasure Valley

IRON MAN WINS BIG!

John Natalie Jr. finishes 1-2 at Pleasure Valley,
jumps into third in the championship chase

Photo by Matt Fredmonsky

Team Can-Am Motoworks' John Natalie Jr. took home the overall win at the Pleasure Valley Raceway ATV Pro MX National on Sunday as most of the rest of the nation celebrated our independence.

Natalie recorded 1-2 moto finishes under heavy pressure in both motos from the Yoshimura Rockstar Makita Suzuki duo of Dustin Wimmer and Josh Creamer.

Check back Monday for a full race report from both pro motos and some pro-am action from the Fourth of July race at PVR.

Photo by Matt Fredmonsky

Pennsylvania native John Natalie Jr. scored some well-deserved recognition at Pleasure Valley Raceway by taking home the pro ATV motocross overall in front of a big hometown crowd Sunday. Check back Monday for a full report from the weekend's pro motos.

Can-Am's flagship rider 71 points out of first

Where's Wienen?


Here we are, at the exact mid-point of the season for the 2010 ITP/Moose Racing AMA ATV Motocross Championship, and one of the pros favored to challenge repeat champion Dustin Wimmer for the crown this year has a line of contenders in front of him.


Can-Am signed Chad Wienen at the tail end of last year, signaling Kawasaki's plan to put their ATV motocross efforts on hold. It was big news. The Galena, Il., native had bounced around from team to team showing great promise. It became clear through DNF's and mechanical issues that his one weakness had been lack of a few back-to-back solid seasons on the same quad. That's a big weakness. Very few riders can jump on a brand new quad and win a title in the same year.

Last year, Chad Wienen was the big draw under the Kawasaki tent despite having just arrived, while then-fellow Kawasaki racer Josh Creamer had already been on the team for several seasons. The year before, Wienen had found little success riding for the Rockstar Suzuki team.

This year, however, looked like it would be different. Wienen signed with the new Team Motoworks Can-Am group, and with less than a week on the new DS450 he took a stellar win at the Montreal Supercross. He followed that up with some commanding wins and by capturing the first ever title out west in the new DWT World ATV Motocross Championship during the winter months. 

Wienen's arrival at Team Motoworks Can-Am as their new premiere rider in the pro class initially took the focus off Can-Am rider John Natalie Jr., who had spent two seasons on the DS450 riding for the Warnert team nabbing just a few podiums. Natalie, who unlike Wienen already has a pro championship on his mantle, seemed undaunted by the signaling of his age with Motoworks giving the younger rider the top spot. In fact, Natalie seems to have gained some new-found drive, much like Yoshimura Suzuki's Josh Creamer, by playing the role of sidekick to the supposed better rider. He's clearly snagged the spotlight back from his teammate with big race battles and four finishes just off the podium.

Round six of the ATV motocross nationals will go into the books today at  the Spring Creek National, and heading into today's motos Natalie is comfortably in third place in the points chase. With 171 points, Natalie is 48 points behind Creamer and 45 points behind Wimmer in second place. In contrast, Wienen is 71 points behind first place and is currently in sixth in the points chase - not exactly where most people expected him to be with six rounds to go.

Team Motoworks Can-Am owner Johnny Leach didn't necessarily make a bad move in signing Wienen. The young rider still has quite a few motos left in his career and plenty of time to win the Big Show. But one has to wonder if Wienen is living up to all the hype. During the off-season he graced two back-to-back covers of ATV Insider magazine. He was the subject of a big profile interview in ATVRider magazine. Fans crowd his website, posting about his likelihood of winning it all this year.

But right now Chad is 71 points behind first place, and he's got defending champ Dustin Wimmer, former teammate Josh Creamer, Natalie, and hungry young challengers in Mushin Racing's Thomas Brown and Baldwin Motorsports' Josh Upperman all in front of him and all serious challengers to win it all.

ATVision - Motosode 4

The upcoming reality series ATV-24/7 premieres this weekend. Krista Watson and the crew of ATVision caught up with its stars to talk to them about the show in this motosode. If you have access to this hard to get cable channel, you should definitely watch the show!