Budds Creek MX, Budds Creek, MD 2004
- Updated: April 17, 2004
Gust and Suzuki seem to be unstoppable. The duo now has four GNC victories in a row and leads the series by 32 points.
GNC MX Round 5
Budds Creek MX
Budds Creek, MD
April 17-18, 2004
Year three of the Budds Creek ITP ATV Nationals drew a whopping 622 entries and picture perfect weather. For the fourth consecutive time, the one and only Suzuki Z400 came out on top in the end. And like the results at the last GNC in Danville, VA, Suzuki, Yamaha and Honda were all proudly represented at the finish line podium. Here’s how it happened.
Honda’s Tim Farr and Suzuki’s Doug Gust talk strategy before the start of moto two.
Moto One – East Coast ATV in the house!
East Coast ATV’s pro class rookie Dustin Wimmer rocketed out of the gate first with fellow East Coast ATV teammate John Natalie in hot pursuit. It didn’t take Natalie long to get by and distance himself from the rest of the field. Behind the white East Coast Yamahas was Keith Little (LSR/Sparks/Maxxis), Jeremiah Jones (Yamaha/Sparks/ITP/Image Racing/SHIFT) and Honda’s Tim Farr (Honda/Baldwin Motorsports/DG). “I had another bad gate pick I picked the 20th spot”, says Jones. “We went in the first corner and Tim and I bumped and hung up for a second. Luckily we got free of each other and were able to keep racing”, added Jones about his start after the race. Doug Gust (Suzuki/Yoshimura/Weekend Warrior Trailers/Roll/Elka) found himself in Farr’s roost but not for very long.
As the race went on a few riders specifically were on the move. Suzuki’s “Ex-Digger” Doug Gust was one. We’ll call him “Ex-Digger” because he no longer works full time as owner of Digger Doug Excavating. Now his full time job is riding Suzuki ATVs. Undoubtedly, this year he’s been doing that incredibly well. Yamaha’s Jeremiah Jones was also taking no prisoners in his own blitz to the front. Jones charged hard and made his way past Little and Wimmer, while Gust exposed of the Farr/Little obstacles in his way to the front.
East Coast ATV’s Dustin Wimmer definitely turned some heads this weekend. The likable rookie finished fourth overall for the day.
Natalie continued to dominate out front. As impressive as Jones and Gust were riding, time was their biggest enemy, only two laps remained. This was enough time for Gust to make it past Wimmer. In the end it was Natalie, Jones, Gust, Wimmer and Little. Farr crossed the line in sixth.
“I got a good start. That’s really important on this track. It’s kind of one-line out there, but you can never take a break whenever Gust and Jones are coming for you”, said John Natalie about his moto one victory.
John Natalie shakes hands with Jeremiah Jones after his moto one victory.
Natalie makes it an easy day at the office for Gust
In moto two, Farr and his new 450R pulled the holeshot with Jones and Natalie in hot pursuit. Jones didn’t take long to get past Farr and neither did Natalie. It looked like the overall would belong to either Natalie or Jones as the two chased each other aggressively through the hills of Maryland. On the third lap Jones started to pressure Natalie for his lead spot, which would mean the overall victory for one of them. Natalie turned it up a little and went into a turn a little too hot. He overshot a berm and lost a lot of momentum. This would have been all it took for Jones to get by and check out from there for the would be win, but unfortunately for Jones and Yamaha he was too close to Natalie at the time. Jones drove into the back of him when Natalie nearly came to a stop on top of the sandy berm. As the two struggled to get free, Farr easily took back the lead. “The holeshot in the second moto really helped me out today. Plus I got a nice gift there from John Natalie. It’s been a little rough this year. We’ve had some bad luck early in the year but everything is starting to come together for me nicely”, said Farr after the second moto.
Tim Farr pulled the holeshot in moto two and ended the day with a third place overall. More importantly, he moves into the top five spot for the season. Tim says they have overcome a lot of bad luck and seem to have the new Honda dialed in a lot better than they did in the beginning of the year.
“I’ve got a new fiance’, Jamie Rentz. I’ve been spending a lot of time with her and practicing on Donny Banks tracks in Georgia. So I really need to thank my parents for all the extra work they’ve been doing in order for my equipment to be clean and ready at the track. Without them I wouldn’t be on the podium today”, said Jeremiah Jones after the race.
Jones and Natalie got separated but only one would leave the pile up in a timely matter. “I got a good start and quickly found a spot to pass Tim. Then John got past me. I figured I would hang with him at his pace and get away from everyone. I was just going to try to stay with him and get myself on the podium and gain some valuable points this weekend. It was an unfortunate incident. When we got hung up I didn’t want to get off the bike because I was worried about someone coming up behind and maybe taking my legs out from under me, so I stayed on and kind of waited a little for him to try to get his started. I ended up rolling mine back enough to get out of there. Luckily I didn’t lose too many positions and neither of us got hurt”, said Jones of the mishap.
John Natalie wasn’t so lucky. It took him a long time to get his Yamaha started and because of it he finished the moto 15th. While Natalie struggled trackside, Gust turned it up and easily passed Farr. He went on to pull away, leaving Farr to tend with a fast approaching blue Yamaha with an aggressive rider named Jeremiah Jones in control. Jones made up ground but not enough to threaten. In the end it was the same three riders that were on the podium at the last GNC MX in Virginia. The same three riders that represent Suzuki, Yamaha and Honda respectfully as the only factory backed racers currently racing the GNCs. Gust claimed his fourth GNC victory in a row. “Four for four! John and Jeremiah were really running good today, but lucky for me they tangled up and made it easy for me to win”, said Doug Gust from his fourth consecutive lead spot on the podium. Farr finished second (giving him third place for the day) and Jones in the three spot (which earned him the runner up spot for the day).
Next stop Muddy Creek in Blountville, TN on May 1
Current Points
1. Douglas Gust 145
2. Jeremiah Jones 103
3. John Natalie Jr 94
4. Kory Ellis 92
5. Tim Farr 80
6. Tavis Cain 69
7. Jasmin Plante 62
8 . Keith Little 62
9 . Jason Luburgh 60
10. Jason Dunkelberger 57
11. Dustin Wimmer 49
12. Joe Byrd 48
13. Joe Haavisto 35
14. Dana Creech 33
15. Shane Hitt 31
16. Gilbert Attix 25
17. Matt White 24
18. Nate Frees 17
19. Michael Walsh 16
20. Harold L Goodman 15
21. Doug Eichner 10
22. Donald Lysinger 9
23. Niclas Granlund 6
24. David Diver 3
25. Johnny Hale 2
