ATV MOTOCROSS NATIONALS, ROUND 3

ITP takes considerable pride in its MX Bucks contingency program. As any motorsports racer knows, tires represent one of the highest costs of staying on track.

For decades, ITP has help defray these expenses for racers of every level. In 2012, ITP is once again demonstrating its full commitment to ATV MX National Championship Series participants by posting a generous $128,750 in contingency awards in every class at all ten rounds on the schedule.

Just sign one form, place ITP decals on the machine and mount ITP Holeshot, QuadCross MX or Turf Tamer tires on all four wheels, and you’re on the team.

Dipping deeply into the ITP MX Bucks pool at the third round of the 2012 series, held at storied Budds Creek MX in Mechanicsville, Maryland, were Team ITP riders Chloe Buerster, Mike Barnhart, Maci Devenport, Haedyn Mickelson, Sean Taylor and Samuel Rowe.

Rowe collected three moto wins on his way to overall victory in both the Schoolboy Jr. (13-15) and Schoolboy Sr. (14-17) classes. This put the Janssen Motorsports-powered Root River Racing rider in the points lead for the latter, and into third for the season in the former.

Root River Racing’s Sean Taylor made a consistent day pay off as 3-2 moto finishes got him the overall win in the highly competitive Pro Am Unlimited class.

Haedyn Mickelson of Root River Racing continued his season’s hot streak with fourth overall in the Schoolboy Jr. (13-15) and Super-Mini (13-15) classes, as well as a runner-up finish in Schoolboy Sr. (14-17). He currently leads the point standings in that last class, and is top-five for the season so far in the other two.

Enjoying her first win of the season was Maci Devenport, who swept the 90 Production (8-12) class with a perfect 1-1 moto score. She’s now second in class points, as well as fifth in the Girls (12-15) standings.

Still running strong in the Veteran 30+ category is Root River’s Mike Barnhart, who parlayed 4-4 motos into fourth overall, bumping him up into the top three in the class standings.

Fast lady Chloe Buerster continues to impress with 2-3 moto finishes for third overall in the Women’s class, and then once again mixed it up with the guys in 4-Stroke B to claim seventh overall.

The Janssen Motorsports/Roberts Racing Outlaws rider is third in the Women’s point standings and sixth in 4-Stroke B.

The ten-event series now moves to Sunset Ridge in Walnut, Illinois, May 19-20.

Yamaha Parts and Accessories Division announces the launch of Yamalube.com, the very first website dedicated to its growing line of Yamalube oils, maintenance and care products.

A resource for consumers looking to protect and maintain a range of vehicles and engines—from motorcycles to boats – Yamalube.com will feature Yamaha’s full line of Yamalube products. With consumers owning multiple Yamaha vehicles or engines, this site is a user-friendly guide to find the right Yamalube products for their needs in one place.

“Our full line of oils and maintenance products has always been available through Yamaha dealerships,” said John Tomsche, Yamaha’s Parts & Accessories division manager. “Now, consumers can review our entire product offering, choose which products they need, learn how to use them and find a dealer who carries them, all online.”

Elements on the new website include:

Informational Videos: Product experts show visitors how to select the right products for their vehicles and engines, and provide tips on using those products to ensure the best performance.

Wish List Functionality: Visitors can find the products they need, add them to their wish list and either print it out for themselves or email it to others for gift ideas.

Catalog Accessibility: The Yamalube catalog can be easily downloaded and viewed from the website.

“We value reliability, and know the importance of protecting Yamaha vehicle and motor investments,” said Tomsche. “Therefore, customers can expect even more from us in the future. We have lots of exciting maintenance tip videos and new products in the works.”

All Yamalube products are developed in collaboration with Yamaha mechanical and oil engineers, and provide high performance, extended engine life and lasting protection in Yamaha and other vehicle brands.

For more information on Yamalube offerings, consumers can visit Yamalube.com

Mark Holz pushed the Coastal/HRP Polaris RZR XP 900 to the Class 1900 win in the Best In The Desert Silver State 300.

The competition was tight all day, but when the dust settled, Holz had made time on the leader – the Jagged X RZR – and took the win.

After 300 miles and six and half-hours of racing the margin of victory was less than one minute. “We started in the back and knew the Jagged guys were going fast. All we could do was put our heads down and get to work.” said Mark Holz who drove the entire race.

In a field of 21 starters, Mark Holz used a solid and proven strategy to take the win – drive fast, drive smooth and minimize downtime.

The rugged Nevada course consisted of fast mountain roads, monster silt beds and creek crossings. The Coastal/HRP RZR performed solid all day long with the only downtime coming from a flat, but a solid pit strategy by the chase crew worked great.

“We’re really excited to get this win. We had a great run going at the Mint 400 and know that our package is a contender. We’ve been testing our set-up, working on our Walker Evans Shocks and our program is coming together great and we want to be ready for Vegas to Reno.” commented Holz.

The next round of the World Off-Road Championship Series will be held May 11-13 at Race Town 395 in Adelanto, CA.

The Coastal/HRP RZR will be competing in the Best in the Desert Vegas to Reno August 18.

Joel Hetrick won round three of the 2012 AMA ATV Motocross Championship series held at Budds Creek Raceway in Maryland. The Motoworks / Can-Am DS 450 pro racer was joined on the podium by teammate John Natalie, who took third.

In the Best in the Desert (BITD) Silver State 300 in Nevada, Josh Frederick and Collins Webster teamed up to win the ATV Pro class aboard their Motoworks-backed Can-Am DS 450.

Also in Nevada, Team Desert Toyz / Can-Am piloted its Commander 1000 X to a third-place finish in the UTV Pro class at the BITD event.

“We are thrilled to have both our Motoworks / Can-Am DS 450 racers Joel Hetrick and John Natalie reach the AMA Pro class podium. While Joel didn’t win either moto, he was the most consistent pro racer with two second-place rides, and earned the overall in only his third race aboard the Can-Am DS 450. Natalie’s moto-two victory was also another bright spot for our team and helped him secure third overall,” stated Jimmie O’Dell, Race Manager, Can-Am. “I’m also pleased with our Best in the Desert series success. Having our Motoworks / Can-Am team of Josh Frederick and Collins Webster win the ATV Pro class and Cory Sappington’s Desert Toyz / Can-Am X-Team Commander 1000 X finish on the UTV Pro class podium is really a great accomplishment.”

AMA ATV MX – Budds Creek

The first Pro class moto saw two different results for Motoworks / Can-Am DS 450 teammates Hetrick and Natalie. Hetrick, who finished second overall in moto one, posted the fastest lap during his pursuit of the race leader.

Natalie came out of the gate in fifth was looking good before he briefly got stuck atop a berm after carrying too much speed into a corner. Natalie’s bobble dropped him to 13th and forced him to play catch up the remainder of the moto. The defending Pro class champion put in a valiant effort, passing seven riders on his way to sixth place in moto one.

Moto two started with Natalie in fifth and Hetrick tucked behind his teammate in sixth. As the race wore on, both riders continued to move up. Natalie quickly passed his way into second and then eventually took over the lead.

Once out front, he set the pace and took what turned out to be a very popular moto-two victory with the fans. His 6-1 finishes were good for third overall and helped Natalie maintain his second-place spot in the Pro class standings.

Hetrick put in another solid race, finishing second again in moto two. His 2-2 moto scores gave him the Pro class overall and his first win aboard the No. 88 Motoworks / Can-Am DS 450. He’s currently fourth in the Pro class points race.

“The track was gnarly. After I got into the second spot, I knew I had the overall win, so I settled down a bit. I’m really excited to get my first win of the season, especially at Budd’s Creek because it isn’t really my [kind of] track. I really have to thank Can-Am and Motoworks for helping me take the win today,” said Hetrick.

Can-Am X-Team Pro-Am racer Chase Henry had a good weekend in Maryland, as he won the Production A class overall and also finished a career-best third overall in the Pro-Am Unlimited class. In the AMA amateur class ranks, Can-Am DS 450 racer and former GNC Pro class Champion Travis Spader dominated all four classes (Open A, 4-Stroke A, Junior 25+, Vet 30+) he entered.

BITD Silver State 300

The Best in the Desert Silver State 300 was a 298-mile point-to-point affair that took riders to varying elevations through Nevada’s high-desert terrain that were marked with Joshua trees and cacti, steep cliffs, whoops and several high-speed sections.

The Motoworks / Can-Am ATV duo of Frederick and Webster were the last Pro ATV team to start the race. Webster filled in for teammate Dillon Zimmerman, who was absent to compete in Italy.

Starting three minutes behind the first team, Frederick was first up and rode to mile marker 72 before passing off to Webster. By the 175-mile mark of the race, Webster was only 26 seconds behind the leaders with adjusted time. Frederick took over for the final portion of the race. Although he did not take over the physical lead, Frederick, with the time adjustment due to the staggered start, took the Pro ATV class win with a time of 5:56.54.

“I gave as much abuse to the DS 450 as I possibly could this weekend and it just took everything I gave it. There were these super-fast sections where you were going full throttle for at least a half an hour and the quad never faltered in anyway,” said Frederick.

In side-by-side class action at the Silver State 300, Sappington and co-driver Jim Sharp (No.1904 Desert Toyz / Can-Am Commander 1000 X) finished with a time of 7:06:38.848 to finish third on the UTV Pro class podium.

The third-place finish marked back-to-back podium finishes for Sappington’s squad. The Murray Motorsports / Can-Am Commander 1000 X followed up its Mint 400 victory with fourth overall in the Pro class at this round.

The top-five finish maintained co-pilots Jason and Derek Murray’s BITD series UTV Pro class points lead. Sappington’s team is now second in points with three rounds remaining.

“Making the switch to the Can-Am Commander this year was the best thing we could have ever done. It is a night-and-day difference in handling and power compared to our old side-by-side,” said Sappington. “I can’t thank Can-Am enough for giving us the opportunity to race the Commander and I am going to do everything I can to put it on the podium in the Vegas-to-Reno race.”

For more information on Can-Am racing, the entire 2012 schedule, the ’12 contingency program and DS 450 amateur racer support program, please visit www.can-amxteam.com.

KYMCO USA has been named the official scooter & off-road vehicle supplier to Charlotte Motor Speedway in a multi-year agreement that’ll have the KYMCO brand emblazoned throughout the famed property.

This new partnership offers KYMCO USA and Charlotte Motor Speedway mutual advertising and marketing rights, plus gives KYMCO USA the opportunity to exhibit at 11 events, situated in a VIP display area and utilizing Charlotte Motor Speedway’s PA & video board announcements, social media advertising, logo inclusion throughout the venue, race tickets, and the use of the track and its amenities for KYMCO USA events.

In addition, KYMCO USA will provide Charlotte Motor Speedway with a variety of scooters, ATVs and 4×4 UXV side-by-side vehicles to be used in the operation of the facility.

The Charlotte Motor Speedway complex encompasses nearly 2,000 acres and includes a 2.25-mile road course, a six-tenths-mile karting layout, a one-fifth-mile oval, zMAX Dragway, and a quarter-mile oval within the walls of the 1.5-mile superspeedway making it the ultimate motorsports facility.

The venue is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which among its other investments also maintains Infineon Raceway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.

“We are very excited to have KYMCO be a part of our sponsorship family for the next two seasons. Having a wide range of KYMCO vehicles for our use at all of our events will allow Charlotte Motor Speedway staff to complete their job effectively, efficiently, and not to mention with a lot of style. We look forward to growing this relationship and making it a long and successful partnership.” said Dan Farrell, Senior Vice President, Corporate Sales, Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“KYMCO USA is headquartered in the heart of NASCAR country, so we’re quite proud of aligning with the storied Charlotte Motor Speedway,” said Bruce Ramsey, Vice President of Sales and Operations, KYMCO USA. “This partnership offers the fine people at Charlotte Motor Speedway some trustworthy vehicles with which to complete their duties and garners us further brand recognition among the many powersports vehicle enthusiasts who make up auto racing’s rabid fan base.”

Sometimes in motocross, it’s not always the rider who wins the races that ends up taking home the overall win.

For Joel Hetrick at round four of the AMA ATV Motocross National Championship Series, two second place finishes was enough to put the sophomore rookie on top of the podium at Budds Creek MX, where he scored his first overall win of the 2012 season.

Wienen Motorsports/SSi Decals/Walsh Race Craft/Yamaha’s Chad Wienen continued his five-race win streak in Moto 1 as he made his way out front immediately and went on to lead all twelve laps of the race.

But it was Baldwin Motorports/PEP’s Josh Upperman who grabbed the SSi Decals Holeshot Award and led for a brief moment before Wienen put himself into the lead. Hetrick put in a solid second place finish, coming in less than three seconds behind Wienen.

Upperman worked hard to fend off TBROWN Yamaha Racing/Moto-X-Perts rider Thomas Brown to maintain third place in Moto 1, while Brown finished a close fourth after getting off to a rough start.

ATVRiders.com Fastest Qualifier Joe Byrd landed the fastest lap time in the morning qualifying sessions and the veteran made his way up to fifth place after getting off to a bad start in Moto 1.

Motoworks/Can-Am rider John Natalie began the race inside the top five until he overshot a corner, causing him to go off the track and lose a significant amount of time and positions. The Ironman was able to work his way back into a sixth place finish, despite his early fumble.

Moto 2 began in a similar fashion as Wienen took control of the race early on, but this time it was Joe Byrd on his heels, while Upperman, Natalie and Hetrick chased from close behind. Byrd went wheel-to-wheel with Wienen in the early parts of the race, but as the race wore on, Byrd began dropping positions, where he eventually settled into sixth place.

Wienen also began dropping spots around the halfway point and it wasn’t long before the points leader found himself outside of a podium position for the first time this season. “I got off to a great start in the second moto and things were going well until I stuck a rut and kind of tweaked my hand, but we salvaged a fourth place out of it,” Wienen said. “I don’t like not winning but I’m stoked to come away with some solid points!”

Natalie capitalized on Wienen’s shortfall and gunned in to take over the Moto 2 lead. The defending champ didn’t look back as he sealed the win on this one. “I said at round 2 that I would be back and ready to go as soon as we got to a real rough track,” said Natalie. “

Well, here we are and we did what we wanted to do in Moto 2 and that’s win! Unfortunately things didn’t go as planned in the first moto, but third overall and a moto win is still a good weekend!”

Hetrick and Brown eventually made their way around Wienen too, each grabbing a podium finish in Moto 2, while Upperman fell into the fifth place spot behind Wienen.

I’m pumped to get the TBROWN Racing team a top three race finish for the first time this season,” Brown said. “We’ve been setting goals each weekend and pushing hard to reach them, so we’re looking forward to maintaining top three finishes from here on out.”

Hetrick kept a consistent feel all day as he went 2-2 for his first overall win of the season, while Wienen took home the runner-up spot, ending his perfect record thus far. Natalie finished with the third place spot, just in front of Thomas Brown and Josh Upperman, who rounded out the top five overall.

Joe Byrd (HON) finished sixth overall, just ahead of Derek Swartfager (HON) in seventh, and rookie Jeff Rastrelli (SUZ) took home eighth place. Adam Clark (HON) and Nick DeNoble (HON) rounded out the top ten.

The 2012 AMA ATV Motocross Championship heads to Sunset Ridge MX in Walnut, Ill., for round four of the ten-race circuit.

For more information, please visit www.atvmotocross.com.

Yamaha’s ‘Right Here Right Now’ program has returned, which means great savings for customers purchasing a Yamaha motorcycle, scooter, ATV, outboard, snowmobile, side-by-side, WaveRunner, Sport Boat, or Power Product.

On top of this, starting May 15th until June 30th, any customer purchasing a new unit could win the Yamaha they bought, while still qualifying for the cash savings!

“We have some great savings across our entire 2012 Yamaha lineup” said National Manager, Marketing, Tim Kennedy. “The ‘Right Here Right Now’ sales event and ‘Win Your Yamaha’ promotion are intended to inform our customers that the best time to buy a new Yamaha is now. Even Yamaha fans without a purchase during these events can enter and win $5000 for anything found on our website.”

For more details on both events, see your local dealer or visit www.yamaha-motor.ca

BCS Performance / Can-Am X-Team racer Josh Creamer won the Pro and Pro-Am classes at round two of the 2012 New England ATV Motocross (NEATV-MX) series.

In Can-Am / Grand National Cross Country racing action, five Can-Am racers won their classes this past weekend at the inaugural Can-Am Mammoth GNCC event held in Kentucky.

“Josh Creamer continued his Pro and Pro-Am class dominance by winning in the sandy Southwick soil aboard his DS 450. I was thrilled to see Richard Pelchat have such a great showing, challenge Josh and give us two riders on both the Pro and Pro-Am class podiums,” stated Jimmie O’Dell, Race Manager, Can-Am. “In GNCC action, our morning Can-Am 4×4 racers keep impressing us with their convincing wins. To have Bryan Buckhannon, Cliff Beasley, Kevin Trantham and Forrest Whorton post victories, and to do it on the brand new Mammoth course, shows a lot of dedication, drive and focus. Unfortunately a badly bent sprocket literally derailed Chris Bithell’s chance to shine in Kentucky, but he’ll be back at round six ready to challenge for the XC1 Pro class overall.”

NEATV-MX

Creamer, riding a BCS Performance-sponsored Can-Am DS 450, tamed the notoriously rough-and-rutted MX338 Raceway (Southwick) sand to win the overall in both the Pro and Pro-Am classes.

In the Pro class action, Creamer passed fellow Can-Am X-Team racer Richard Pelchat late in moto No.1 to notch his first moto victory.

He followed that up by grabbing the holeshot and the win in moto two for his second straight 1-1 Pro class finish.

Pelchat won the first moto of the Pro-Am class and Creamer took second. However, Creamer charged to the front to start off the second moto and never let off the throttle, tallying a 2-1 moto finishes for the class overall.

“I’ve got all four overall wins so far this year and put BCS Performance / Can-Am on the podium, so I’m pretty happy about that,” said Creamer.

Pelchat, who will be competing on a DS 450 in Canada this season, used Southwick as a preseason warm-up race. “I had a really good first Pro class moto. Josh and I had a tight race and it was fun,” said Pelchat. “This was good practice for me before my season starts and it was good to try out my [ATV] set-up.”

Can-Am DS 450 mounted amateur-class racers, including Travis Spader and Nicole Gates, also accounted for nine class victories and 23 total podium finishes at Southwick.

Can-Am Mammoth GNCC

Park Mammoth Resort in Park City, Ky., hosted round five of the GNCC series. Many touted the all-new facility and its 10-mile racing course as one of the toughest GNCC tracks on the circuit so far during the 2012 season.

Racers were greeted with warm, albeit dusty, weather and plenty of obstacles to conquer.

Two Can-Am ATV racers continued their undefeated season with class victories in Kentucky.

Reigning U2 Class Champion and current points leader Cliff Beasley won by more than two minutes aboard his UXC Racing / Can-Am Renegade 800R X xc. Fellow Can-Am racer and X-Team member Kevin Trantham also kept his winning streak alive with another 4×4 Lites class win.

Riding a 2012 Can-Am Outlander 500 XT, Trantham was the only 4×4 Lites competitor to complete four laps on his way to yet another convincing victory.

In the highly competitive 4×4 Open class, Bryan Buckhannon, the reigning champion and current points leader, outlasted fellow Can-Am Outlander 800R racer Michael Swift.

The two riders raced bumper-to-bumper the entire race before lapped riders on the final lap slowed Swift. Buckhannon has a slim seven-point lead in the class standings.

Can-Am X-Team racer Forrest Whorton won his fourth race of the year in the 4×4 Senior class. Another Can-Am 4×4 class racer, Tanner Bowles, won his fourth race of the year in the 4×4 Novice class.

In XC 1 Pro class action, Chris Bithell (Motoworks / Can-Am) put his DS 450 into the top five after the first lap, but due to a bent a sprocket could not make up any ground on the leaders and had to withdraw after just two laps. He’s currently fifth in the Pro class point standings.

For more information on Can-Am racing, the entire 2012 schedule, the ’12 contingency program and DS 450 amateur racer support program, please visit www.can-amxteam.com.