Press Release –

Digger Doug Gust ran down John Natalie and passed him in the second moto for the overall win at this weekend’s Gatorback national GNC in Gainesville Florida. A lot of pit pundits suspected that “The Digger” might win Florida after dominating the first moto at the last GNC event in Florida. This overall win is the first for the awesome new Suzuki QuadRacer LT R450.

Doug himself felt confident going into this event, “The last race in Texas I got tangled up on the start or I’m pretty sure I would have won that one. I felt really strong down there. This weekend it was the same thing. I screwed up both starts, but still managed to get the job done.” Doug started the 1st moto in 6th place with his teammate Jeremiah Jones in 7th. At the end of lap one they had both moved up when all of a sudden Jeremiah’s bike quit. A rock had been thrown up from his front tire and broke the ignition key housing right off the bike! This one in million break forced Jeremiah to sit out the rest of the 1st moto. Later when asked about the problem, Jeremiah said “Well, they say bad luck comes in threes. This is the third weird thing that’s happened to me so I guess I guess it’s behind me now and it’s all up from here on out.”

As the 1st moto wore on Doug kept moving up. Early leader Joe Byrd suffered a suspension problem and dropped off the pace a little past the halfway point. By the three quarter mark Doug had moved up to second. Leader John Natalie had a huge lead but Doug prodigiously closed the gap. In the end, it wasn’t enough and Natalie won the moto, with Doug in second. The stage was set for a moto two shoot out.

The second moto was deja-vu as Doug started in 6th again with teammate Jeremiah Jones right behind him in 7th. This time however the bad luck cloud hanging over Jeremiah was gone and he and Doug freight trained forward through the field. Jeremiah was all over Doug and helped push Doug forward. “I wanted to help push Doug forward but at the same time he was going for the overall win. I didn’t want to do something stupid and screw up our chance for the overall,” Jones said after the race. He added “The pace was pretty quick and the two of us sort of worked together and really pushed each other.”

The pushing worked as a few laps after the halfway point both Gust and Jones passed John Natalie. Gust then went on to pass leader Joe Byrd. That’s how they finished with Gust taking the overall win with a 2-1 over John Natalie’s 1- 5. This win marked the first of what will surely be many wins for the new LT-R450.

After the race Digger Doug was pretty happy, “Those guys (Natalie and Byrd) started to slow down a little after half way and I just charged up to them and got into the lead. Joe hung tough till the end but I hung tight and brought the win home.” Doug went on to say, “This is the first win for the LTR and concludes a Suzuki sweep for the Daytona Bike week. Suzuki/Yoshimura riders Mat Mladin and Ben Spies went 1- 2 in the Daytona Superbike race, Ricky won Supercross, Team Suzuki won the Flat Track (1 -2) and now we capped it off with Gatorback today! A lot of my friends from Japan are here today and I’m really happy to win this for them. Those guys built a heck of a quad with this LT-R450. I think this is the first GNC Pro win for a fuel-injected bike. Maybe the first win on stock tires (Dunlop) too.”

Jeremiah was happy with his second moto, third place finish. “I’ve had this crazy run of bad luck, ever since Glen Helen. It’s just nice to actually get to race a moto! That was like the first full moto that I’ve run all year. To be able to get out there and run with those guys was great. It was just like running my first race today.” Jones is really looking forward to next weekend’s Macon race, a track where he historically runs really well.

Press Release –

Starting in Gainesville, Florida with Round 3, Maxxis will offer a contingency program for the final 12 rounds of the ATVA GNC MX Series.

To qualify, racers must run four Maxxis tires along with a minimum of four 6½“ decals. Racers must also fill out a Maxxis contingency form at each event. The form will also be available for download at Maxxis.com. Official verification is required.

Maxxis is proud to offer its first-ever ATVA GNC MX contingency, and wishes all its riders the best in their upcoming races.

Visit Maxxis.com to see a chart for classes eligible and amounts awarded.

Press Release –

Old habits die hard like Maxxis habit of sponsoring riders who consistently make the top ten in the GNCC ATV.

The 2006 opener was no exception: Chris Borich practically ran circles around the competition to take the victory, which gnccracing.com called one of the most dominant wins in GNCC history.

Brandon Ballance took the third sport on the podium, Chris Jenks placed fourth, and 2005 ATVA National Motocross Champion John Natalie nabbed fifth place. Defending GNCC ATV champion Bill Ballance overcame a mechanical mishap to take the eighth place spot. The Orange Crush was held March 4-7 in De Leon Springs, Florida.

Borich told gnccracing.com that his strong performance was the result of intense preparation: I knew everyone else would be strong, so Ive been training really hard and working at this. I felt good. I just kept pushing and never felt tired. It was only a couple miles in, and I looked back and couldnt see anybody. I was thinking, Cool. Borich finished second overall for the season in the GNCC ATV in 2005.

The next GNCC event is the Maxxis General, to be held March 11-12 in Washington, Georgia. Maxxis is proud to sponsor Chris Borich, Brandon Ballance, Chris Jenks, John Natalie, and Bill Ballance, and congratulates them on their outstanding performances.