Unadilla MX, New Berlin, NY 2005
- Updated: July 30, 2005
GNC Round 11
Unadilla MX
New Berlin, NY
July 29-30, 2005
by Joe Tolle
photos by John Pellan
In case you didn’t know, Unadilla’s claim to fame is its all natural motocross track. They even plant grass on the track each year. Starting in 2005, it will no longer be reserved for just the yearly bike national – enter the ATVA ITP ATV Nationals!
If you visited Unadilla Raceway in the Spring, you might not know that once a year the lush green hillsides play host to a battle between the most elite two-wheeled motocross racers in the world. You see, after their annual event, promoters Grant Robinson and family remove all the colorful banners and hay bales, plant grass seed and allow the earth to heal in preparation for next year’s bike war.
Throughout the years, Unadilla has played host to a round of the U.S. Motocross Nationals, or the USGP for short, a round on the world motocross circuit based in Europe. With all the time and hard work associated with operating and maintaining a world-class race facility, the Robinsons never saw a reason to add more events to their very limited race schedule, well not until recently.
In recent years, ATV racing has grown by leaps and bounds. Following in its two-wheeled cousin’s footsteps, the sport of ATV racing is becoming more recognized and respected every day. After all, the professionals racing All-Terrain Vehicles dedicate their lives to pursuit national championships – just like the pro bike riders do. With the factories once again supporting the sport and the fact that ATVs now outsell dirt bikes by a margin of three to one, the Robinsons felt that it was time to open their world-famous Unadilla motocross track to ATV racers as well.
Lost Creek’s Jason Dunkelburger skies air off the world-famous Unadilla drop off at the track’s far corner. Check out all the spectators. Is this sport catching on or what?
The Unadilla crew kicked into gear early this year. Their goal was to proudly welcome ATV racers with the same professionalism they show the professional bike racers. They did just that. The first ever Unadilla GNC offered one of the finest facilities on the GNC circuit. Everything was top notch, from the wide passable track, to the surprisingly sanitary restrooms. We should also note that it was nice to see several thousand spectators crowded around the track. The Robinsons attended the Birch Creek round of he GNC series earlier in the year. They were there to get a grasp of how ATVs are different than bikes and make sure they were prepared for all the differences. They attended with an open mind and lots of questions. Their homework paid off. Talk throughout the pits, which housed over 750 entries on the weekend, was positive. Most everyone agreed Unadilla needs to be on the schedule for years to come.
T-Doc Spader took honors in moto one. After a small stint on a Yoshimura Suzuki Z400, Spader returned to the Yamaha YFZ and looked impressive on it to say the least.
Pro Moto 1
With the championship in the bag, one might expect the Ironman John Natalie to back off and cruise around for the rest of the season, not so. When the gate dropped for moto one it was East Coast ATVs John Natalie taking his TRX450R to the front followed by Travis Spader, Jeremiah Jones, Joe Byrd, and Jason Dunkelberger. As we have seen time and time again this season, John Natalie wasted little time putting distance between himself and the rest of the pack. While Spader and Jones continued dicing for the second place position, the real story was happening at the back of the pack as Alba Action Yamaha’s Kory Ellis was battling back from a horrible 17th place start. Ellis would eventually pass 10 riders to finish up in seventh.
For most of the moto the order of the top five remained the same until Keith Little took the initiative and made the move on Lost Creek Cycle’s Jason Dunkelberger dropping him to 6th. In third it was Jeremiah Jones who bobbled as the laps were winding down. While pressuring Spader for second, Jones hung himself up on a berm allowing Joe Byrd to slip past and take over the 3rd spot. Would this mishap cost Jones the win?
Jeremiah wasn’t the only pro up front having troubles. With only a lap to go, the newly crowned champ’s Honda came to a stop with a faulty ground wire. Quick to take advantage was T-Doc Travis Spader. Travis, who opted to give up his Yoshimura Suzuki support Z400 ride and build himself another Yamaha YFZ. You can’t argue with results, Spader and his new Yamaha looked pretty good in moto one as he tool honors by winning Unadilla’s first-ever pro quad moto.
Check out the Yamaha Rhino in the background. That’s H Bomb Films’ Wes Miller rolling tape for the newest “Huevos” video installment. Driver, John Shelburn nailed it as soon as the gate dropped and kept up with the pack for a little ways as Wes recorded the action.
Pro Moto 2
In moto two it was Joe Byrd coming away with the holeshot. Right on Byrd’s heels, and quick to make the pass for the lead was Suzuki’s Jeremiah Jones. Early in the first lap it was the young guns of Jason Dunkelberger and Jason Luburgh holding down the third and fourth place positions respectfully. Veterans Tim Far and John Natalie followed. In a controversial shocker, like his Honda backed teammate, Tim Farr showed up with Fox air shocks on his machine instead of his usual PEPs. “Wayne Mooradian and PEP have been in my court from day one. It’s not that I’m switching to another shock builder, it’s more of PEP becoming a Fox Shox dealer”, said Farr about the newest addition to his mighty 450R.
Unadilla’s extremely fast track catered to Jeremiah Jones’ wide open seat-of-the-pants riding style.
Rider / Mechanic – an indescribable bond.
Joe Byrd loved the rough Unadilla track and it showed. Byrd went 2-2 for runner up on the day. By the way, choice helmet sticker Joe!
With less than two minutes into the moto Jones was already running away like an escaped convict. Natalie after working his way past Tim Farr, began pressuring Jason Luburgh, until he came dislodged from his Honda once again sending him to the back of he pack. While the Ironman must have been disappointed, it’s of little consequence – the title already belongs to him as he wrapped it up at the London, KY GNC.
It was obvious that Unadilla’s long rough course catered to Jeremiah Jones go-for-broke riding style as he continued to put time on the rest of the pack for the entire moto. Meanwhile, Alba Yamaha’s Kory Ellis was once again the fastest man on the track battling his way up through the pack. By the time Ellis began pressuring Luburgh for fifth, Jason Dunkelburger’s incredible run had taken its toll, as he began to fade allowing Luburgh to slip past. Ellis, on a podium mission, quickly went to work on the tiring Dunk and made the pass with two laps to go in the moto. This pass marked the 26th on the day! Be sure to check out Ellis’ impressive charge to the front through his own eyes, as he was wearing the ATV Scene/Jonescam helmet cam. Just click the videos button at the bottom of this story to see and here all the action.
Kory tells new announcer, Rob Whitehead, of his long trip from the back of the pack to the podium.
After going winless for the year Yoshimura Suzuki and Jeremiah Jones were the winning combo at the inaugural Unadilla GNC. Although Jeremiah was disappointed that his fiancé Jamie Rentz wasn’t in attendance for the first time since they got together, Jeremiah has a lot to be grateful for. He and Jamie have a baby on the way, Jeremiah is responsible for putting Suzuki back in the winners circle and he’ll forever be remembered as the man who won the inaugural break through event at Unadilla.
