Budds Creek MX, Budds Creek, MD 2006

GNC MX Round 5
Budds Creek MX Park
Budds Creek, MD
April 1-2, 2006
photos by Julie Farr

For those of you who actually believed the announcement titled, “ATV Scene Discontinues Race Coverage” April Fools! And kudos to those of you who didn’t buy into our lame April Fools prank. We all know that the majority of ATV owners out there don’t race, but abandoning race coverage? No way! Our passion for the sport of quad racing is far too big for any nonsense like that. The fact is ATV racing is the coolest sport known to man, and we’re thrilled to be the place that so many of you choose for your quad racing news and information. When the gate drops it takes a special individual with more courage, determination and heart than the average person – and when the dust settles you can count on us to continue to fuel your racing lifestyle.

Now on to resuming ATV Scene’s sixth year, and senior editor John Pellan’s 10th of online race coverage with the Budds Creek GNC round five scoop…

Qualifiers
Today’s level of competition, especially in the pro scene, is extremely broad. It wasn’t too long ago that there was no need to qualify for the pro class. This is no longer the case. Regardless of the pro rider’s high profile name, if he didn’t finish with a top ten overall the race prior, he better be to be on the line and ready to earn the privilege to compete in pro moto one. Rookie Chad Wienen edged out Tim Farr, Harold Goodman and took the win.

Certainly not having the luckiest season of his career, Yoshimura/Suzuki’s Jeremiah Jones found himself unable to race the qualifier after breaking a spindle on his new LT-R QuadRacer. What’s worse is that it happened on the site lap. What’s with the site laps at Budds Creek? Last year Jason Luburgh broke his collar bone during the site lap. This year, Jones assumed the rider in front of him would hit a jump harder than he did, when he didn’t he was forced to maneuver his Suzuki in mid air and land sideways in an effort to not collide with the other rider. The force from the crooked hard landing was too much for his quad and Jones instantly became a pro qualifier spectator.

LCQ
Fortunate for Jeremiah and his fans, his ability to keep a positive attitude regardless of the situation allowed him to not only win the LCQ but later impressively own the Budds Creek track with two well-disserved moto victories, as you’ll read below. Dr. Travis Spader and Josh Creamer finished two and three.

Moto 1
It was “Ironman” Natalie feeding roost to his peers as moto one left the gate. As typical to the champ’s style, he quickly began to put some room on the rest of the pack. Meanwhile, our man of the weekend, Jeremiah Jones was lost in the mid pack shuffle. “I actually had a pretty decent start considering I was the 18th rider to line up. I was third or fourth but got pushed wide and ended up going over a berm”, said Jones about his miraculous moto one race. Baldwin/Honda’s Tim Farr was the rider that got tangled with Jones. Farr didn’t come away as well and got going much later.

As the halfway point approached, Team Honda’s John Natalie kept a five second space between himself and fellow factory Honda rider Joe Byrd. Doug Gust, Pat Brown and Travis Spader followed in that order, but not for long. As laps progressed “Byrd-man” and “Digger Doug” tuned it up and began to catch Natalie. And don’t look now, but hot on their heals was the #2 of Jones. Just when we thought we were going to see a legendary four-man fight to the checkers, Gust and Byrd found themselves at the same place at the same time and tangled. “It’s part of racing”, said Byrd after the race. “Considering this and the fact I spun off the gate today, we’ll happily take second place this weekend.” Gust said after the race, “Joe and I got together in the first moto and that sort of set the tone for the day. I had some problems in the second race as well, but I’m getting out of here without too much damage points wise. I had fast lap times all day so I know what I need to do. I’ll be back after ’em at the next one.”

Back to moto one’s exciting action, Jones didn’t settle for his runner up position and began hunting down the blue thirteen on the the rear of Natalie’s Honda. All the while first-year pro Chad Wienen, already having the ride of his life, moved into third. Wienen came from the seven spot, by moto’s end he finished on the podium. Jones was the only rider to pass him.

Jeremiah’s charge through the pack, especially in later laps was monumental! Like a runner experiencing “runner’s high” everything was panning out for Jones perfectly, and after his bad-luck adventures this season, it must have been one heck of a “high” for the former champ. Jones conserved energy and maintained a good steady pace throughout the first half of the moto. Then on the last lap, when it counted most, he began his kick. While in full stride Jones pulled along side of Natalie and made a pass from the outside stick. Not looking back, Jones put plenty of ground between the two while resuming his sprint to the finish line. “It has been a few years, back in the two stroked days, since I’ve been a dominant factor out there. This feels great!”, said Jones.

Moto 2
“Ironman” John Natalie pulled the trigger fastest and wound up with yet another of his masterful holeshots. While Jones and Brown chased the 13 of Natalie down the hill, Walsh Racecraft’s Josh Creamer was flipping end over end. Thankfully he was alright and rejoined the race. Back up front Natalie had his hands full with the white and blue Suzuki of Jones. Like an annoying nuisance Jones used the entire track to try to make a pass on the champ. It was obvious, Jones was on a mission and wanted to finally put two good motos together this season. On the second lap the two pulled side by side up “FMF Hill”. Jones held on the throttle a touch longer and made the pass. From this point on he checked out.

The race for runner up would have to do for the rest. East Coast ATV’s Dustin Wimmer turned some heads in moto two when he convincingly manhandled the three-spot, pulling away from fourth place rider Pat Brown, Haavisto, Little, Dunk, Spader, Byrd and rookie Chad Wienen.

As laps progressed, Joe Haavisto matched the same pace as Byrd and paved the way. Haavisto and Byrd feverishly worked past several riders in route to Wimmer’s third place position. As they sliced and diced their way across the winding off-camber turns, the two not-so-ordinary Joe’s of Haavisto and Byrd stole moto two’s show. “Professor” Byrd seemed to want a podium finish as bad as Jones wanted a 1-1 overall. Just when Wimmer thought he would be able to bring it home unchallenged, Byrd passed his way through the pack and ended up showing Wimmer a wheel, quickly followed by some roost from his Maxxis tires.

Not willing to slow his pace whatsoever, Byrd managed to quickly pull up on and pass Natalie, who was suffering with another case of arm-pump. “It’s frustrating”, said the champ. “I came out good in both motos and faded. There’s no one to blame but myself. I think I’m having issues with my training program right now.”

On the final lap, Byrd pushed hard enough to close the gap on Jones a touch but the day belonged to Jeremiah and Yoshimura Suzuki. With the win, the 30 point credit to his season’s points nearly put Jeremiah in a top five position. Honda’s Byrd and Natalie are tied with 126 points each.

The Track
4-time People’s Choice Promoter of the Year, Donny Banks made the drive from Macon, GA to help fellow GNC promoter Jonathan Beasley mold his world-famous track into an even better one. With Bank’s help the two were able to open up many passing lanes, as Jeremiah demonstrated by using the entire track to work his way to the front. After the race Jones remarked, “I like big long layouts like this one and Unadilla. It got a little choppy but that’s a good thing in that it separates people. They really did an excellent job this weekend. The track had a lot of passing lanes. It was a definite pro caliber track.” From the road, Banks said he had a good time at Budds Creek and enjoyed working with Jonathan Beasley and staff. Banks mentioned that he had learned a lot about the Maryland soil as the weekend progressed. He said he’s confident that they could have an even better track there next year and looks forward to returning.

The Protest
After the race John Natalie filed a few protests. Soon after, Jones and Byrd’s machines were tore down and checked for foul play. “I protested Byrd and Jones and plan to protest two riders every weekend from now on. I simply am sick of hearing rumors that people aren’t legal, so why not get everything out in the open and see”, says Natalie. While talking with the champ he also told us he’s going to do some major training and plans to win the Big Buck GNCC in South Carolina next weekend. In true Ironman fashion, he also predicted victory at the Birch Creek GNC in two weeks.

Jones and Byrd were both found to be legal.

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