6 Hours of PA 2005

6 Hours of ATV America
at Rausch Creek
Tremont, PA
July 16, 2005

photos by Rapid Image Photography

The gun fires and the mud is only moments from flying!

Some 46 teams braved the aftermath of over 3 inches of rain fall to compete in the second annual Maxxis 6 Hours of ATV America held at Rausch Creek in Tremont, PA. Conditions were brutal. If the water holes, severe mud and over heated machines didn’t claim your team as victim to the toughest 6 Hours in series history, the heavy fog did. Teams reported slowing to snail’s pace due to not being able to see directly in front of their machines. “My hat’s off to the guy that put the reflectors throughout the course. If it weren’t for those, I don’t think I could have found my way through”, said Jeremy Rice (ATV Scene’s rider of the month) and member of Team Ram-Rod. Rice was speaking of Rausch Creek Manager’s Mike McDonald’s reflector idea to help the riders negotiate the night-time track. Reflectors helped, but didn’t offer any assistance to overheating engines which led to many problems throughout the race. “We took the extra time to hose the radiator and engine down at every single stop”, told Jim Stack of the Cardio Stack A Team’s runner up finish. By race’s end about half the field had to address issues because of the brutal conditions!

Here a rider splashes through one of the dryer areas of the track.

John Natalie teamed up with Chris Borich to form “Team Honda”, appropriately named since John is indeed a factory supported team Honda rider, and Chris is now getting a few freebie quads from Honda. Borich told us they are working on a deal similar to John Natalie’s for next year. Since Borich would be racing only a handful of weeks after a broken collar bone, Natalie might have been considered the team’s go to guy. “We’re a good team, we ride well together”, said Natalie about his choice teammate. “As far as me carrying us that wasn’t the case. Chris put in a lot of good laps. It was a team effort all the way.” In case you don’t remember Borich teamed up with Natalie and Matt Smiley (who now rides for Team Polaris) to win last year’s share of the $30,000 purse at the 2004 Maxxis 12 Hours of ATV America in Fort Dodge, IA.

Chris Borich brings it on home for Team Honda

Team Honda’s lead was interrupted on lap four when their 450R took on a little too much water. This allowed the all Connecticut team of Josh Creamer, Justin Hoffer and Vincent Mofford (aka Team Double XL to take honors for the time being. As hours progressed however, the professional teams seemed to give way to the seriously determined amateur ones.

The story of the decade belongs to these two, Traci Cecco and her nephew Tyler Lenig. They came within minutes of winning the overall!

One specific amateur team turned a lot of heads to say the least. It was a two-man team, or should we say one-woman, one B-rider team. The two called themselves Team Alba A. Muli-time women’s champion Traci Cecco volunteered her Alba Action Yamaha YFZ for her and her nephew Tyler Lenig to compete at this year’s event. How did they do, you ask? They took over the lead for a long time and had no intention of giving it back.

Could a petite woman rider and a young inexperienced B rider actually finish ahead of seven professional teams and win the overall? As laps continued to progress it appeared so! “I don’t know why everyone is so amazed that they’re winning. Tracy and Tyler are awesome riders and they’re putting together lap after error-free lap – simple as that”, said Johnny Gallagher, who was on hand to help out in the Alba A team pits. Gallagher was called in by friend Rick Cecco, Tracy’s husband, for his expertise in mud preparation and strategy. Gallagher has always been a serious threat when a track gets wet. His secrets and tips must have been a valuable asset to the team because Aunt and Nephew continued to lead as the final hour approached!

Tyler Lenig confirms that he is indeed a B rider to event promoter John Pellan, while Auntie Traci proudly looks on.

Possible the second coolest story of the decade belongs to the father-son team of John Cunningham Sr and Jr for finishing third overall from the B class! Pottstown, PA’s Neil Belcher also helped the team’s incredible accomplishment.

As the race’s end drew nearer several other amateur teams splashed by professional teams, proving that the 6 Hours of ATV America events hold no pro-only reservation for overall finishes. With that said, get a hold of this! The local Pennsylvania father and son B team of John’s Mobile Repair found themselves in the hunt for a third place overall! With one lap remaining they dug deep, turned up the throttle and hunted down the Plus 30 team of Team Dirt First (Michael Kyte, David Kyte and Markham Donovan), who man-handled the competition by easily winning the +30 class at last year’s 12 Hours. At the checkers John’s Mobile Repair (John Sr and Jr Cunningham and Neil Belcher) checked in a little over one minute ahead of Dirt First to take the final spot on the overall podium.

John “Ironman” Natalie (the winning est single year rider in ATV racing history) explains it all with John Pellan. Natalie and Borich later demonstrated proper Champaign opening celebration to second and third place teams.

So there you have it. This year’s 6 Hours of ATV America is in the books and like a good book, the final chapter, the PA one, provided one heck of a nail-biting conclusion. The winning est combo in 6 and 12 Hour history, Chris Borich and John Natalie, proved they can still win even after completely drowning their quad on the track that just might go down as the wettest 6 Hours course of all time. The Alba A team, with rookie B rider, Tyler Lenig and female pilot Traci Cecco pulled a spectacular underdog upset of the decade! They easily won the A class and while doing so almost took the overall! Their devotion, determination and pure heart make for the perfect example of accomplishment. This accomplishment is also the epitome of what these team endurance races are all about. Only participating teams will understand what is meant by these words.

In conclusion, you might call this final 6 Hours of America round, “Amateur Day”. Of the seven pro teams signed up only two could finish with a top ten overall, the winners, Team Honda of Natalie and Borich and eighth place’s Team 3 Amigos, (Michael Bard, Fred Johnson and Tony Botticello). The 3 Amigos team had never raced anything but motocross events but took an enormous liking to the uniqueness of endurance racing.

Similar to events like the legendary Blackwater 100, just finishing this one was an achievement in itself.

Next stop: The mighty 2005 Maxxis 12 Hours of ATV America at Rausch Creek Motorsports in Tremont, PA on Oct 29.