WPSA Powersports ATV Championship Tour
Round 1-2
London, KY
May 20-21, 2006
WPSA (World PowerSports Association), in a combined effort with ESPN Television, rolled out the red carpet at their ATV Championship Tour Season Opener at Daniel Boone MX Park in London, KY. We were present and witnessed WPSA’s monumental achievements first hand.
It was only a few months ago when Daniel Boone MX Park’s Jerry Hebel learned the news that he would no longer be a part of the ATVA GNC Series. Shortly after losing his biggest event, he was also informed that he would be without all other AMA sanctioned events, including his Loretta Lynn’s Amateur Dirtbike Qualifier. Just when it looked as though the bottom was ripped from within, Jerry got the call from WPSA and the ATV Championship Tour season opener was indeed his. “It all worked out for the best. This is the future of ATV racing. Mainstream TV coverage, big purses — this series has it all”, said Jerry about his recent turn of events.
Big Time!
The inaugural WPSA ATV Championship Tour Opener was a smashing success. As for the girl in the shot, we’re happy to report that Jessica plans to run the 30 second board at future rounds as well.
Pre event hype circulated throughout the ATV industry, but would a sanctioning body and promotional company that had never run an ATV event be able to deliver? Based on our observations and the unanimous comments we gathered from many on hand, the answer to this question is absolutely!
“As the season progresses I think we’re going see more and more riders coming to this thing once they hear how great it was”, said round one and two winner, John Natalie. “It very well could end up being the premier series. These guys are out to make us better off and make their television coverage better. I think the future looks very good”.
Check it out! It’s the biggest weekend payout in our sport’s history! Ironman earned $8k in two days.
From escorted parking, to announcements, to staging, to big purses and enormous notoriety — WPSA and ESPN delivered!
“I’m telling you, we have barely even scratched the surface with how big this thing is going to become”, said organizer Donny Banks.
But their biggest accomplishment is yet to come. On June 3, noon EST, ATV racing will be available to over 80 million households on ESPN2 Television.
We got a sneak peak at the package that will air. “It’s unparalleled exposure that will undoubtedly take ATV racing to a higher level”, said our own John Pellan after viewing portions of the upcoming video segment. Coverage will be split equally between the SuperQuad Pro MX and the QuadTerrain Utility Pro-Stock classes. We’re also told that London’s televised program may even feature a little youth racing – giving props to the future stars of the sport.
Check out the camera on Natalie’s rear number plate. Like us, we bet you can’t wait to see the footage that baby got of all that dared to put a wheel on the Ironman.
SuperQuad Pro
Natalie Rises to the Occasion
In the last few years, whenever there seems to be an opportunity for big exposure and notoriety, Ironman John Natalie rises to the occasion and snatches up all the glory.
This was once again the case at the WPSA ATV Tour opener (rounds one and two). Besides an occasional heat race, Natalie took the win in nearly every race he entered.
In the end, the only money he did not cash in on was Harold Goodman’s $1000 holeshot, (compliments of Quad Magazine). After winning the main events from rounds one and two, Ironman left with a cool $8k. As far as we know, no ATV racer has ever made that much money in a single weekend.
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Gust and Jones traded the runner up spot, but not after Jones crashed on Saturday. Jones is A-OK, and like Gust, looks forward to the rest of the Tour.
Jason Luburgh looked like a million bucks in route to cashing in on third and fourth place prize money. Combining his mains and heat scores – he’s currently fourth in points behind Natalie, Gust and Wimmer.
In an effort to make things easy to understand in the eyes of newbie television viewers, WPSA officials elected to not use the typical two moto format. Instead each rider races in two heats and a main event. Riders earn points for main event finishes as well as their heats. With this format riders like Duncan Racing’s Tavis Cain, who finished exceptionally well in his heats – but could only manage mid-pack main event finishes, find themselves still in the hunt for a championship. Cain, as mentioned, is currently fifth in points respectably.
Natalie edged out Doug Gust and Dustin Wimmer on Saturday’s round one. The next day he disposed of Jeremiah Jones and Jason Luburgh. Check our video highlights to see how it all went down and don’t forget to tune to ESPN2 June 3 at noon EST for the actual race.
QuadTerrain
Utilities Steal the Show, Rath Cashes In
Perhaps the sleeper of the weekend was the QuadTerrain activities. When the gate dropped for the Pro-Stock QuadTerrain class the fences were lined with excitement-craving spectators. “I think we’ve got a real winner in the QuadTerrain class. Was that exciting or what?”, said organizer Tes Sewell about the inaugural QuadTerrain outing.
Here Daryl Rath used his finely tuned TT starting instincts to pull the trigger fastest. Rath pulled the holeshot and went on to win both rounds.
Here Jim Stack gets off. Check out the photo gallery below for the sequence. Somehow Stack chases his Honda Rincon and remounts in no time.
When was the last time you saw a bunch of 4×4 utility machines lined up in a motocross gate? Those that thought this was some sort of filler-side-show changed their minds about half way into the first lap. We’ll let our video highlight explain all the details, but for now let’s just say each lap was like a whole new start for many of the riders as mayhem routinely spread throughout the field. As far as we’re aware, not one rider finished the weekend with a perfect problem-free lap, with the possible exception of Rath Racing’s/Artic Cat’s Daryl Rath.
The course had it all; elevation changes, off camber turns, mud, big telephone pole obstacles, rocks and even motocross jumps and whoops. All combined, riders had a lot to deal with. Making it all the more interesting, ESPN camera men seemed to antagonize them by rolling huge cameras in front of their every move. In short it was an absolute smashing success as everyone on hand would quickly agree.
Scott Kilby opens up his Can-Am Outlander and tries to hunt down the leaders. Kilby finished up with a respective third place and can’t wait for the next round.
William Yokley leads Scott Kilby through the technical telephone pole section. This brings up a controversial point. Should established pro riders be allowed to compete in the QuadTerrain class? Let us know what you think here.
When it was all said and done, we saw legend motocross star Donnie “Bulldog” Banks up front, Team Suzuki/Yoshimura Pro William Yokley lead and utilility-class-smack-talking Jim Stack up front more than once.
But in the end, long time TT star Daryl Rath put in the most mistake-free laps and led when it counted most – on the last lap. Rath and his Rath Racing crew landed a deal with Artic Cat only days before the event. With a bone stock Artic Cat between his legs and many years of ATV riding under his belt, Rath collected wins in rounds one and two and left with $4k in prize money. That’s more cash than any utility rider has probably ever imagined possible.
Donny Banks looked like he’s been racing 4x4s for years and finished up with a 2nd place on Saturday’s round one. He crashed on Sunday and hurt his shoulder. Donny’s tuff we expect him fully healed by the time we arrive at round 3-4 at his Echeconnee MX Park in Macon, GA on June 3-4.
“Go figure, all these years of busting my butt on a sport quad and I end up winning more than I ever have on a stock 4×4”, said Rath laughing about the weekend’s pull.
Everyone knows that the amount of utility ATVs far outweigh the amount of motocross sport quads. With this said, television viewers nation wide will probably relate more with the 4×4 portion of the show, thus don’t be surprised if you see the QuadTerrain class steal the show.
News of WPSA’s successful new QuadTerrain sport traveled fast. In the last few days we’ve heard from several riders preparing to enter the Pro-Stock QuadTerrain class at the next round. Several more have told us that they plan to switch their programs to fully concentrate on this new series.
What’s more, we’ve found that pro riders like John Natalie, Doug Gust, Chris Borich, Bill Ballance among others are preparing for battle at the next round in Macon, GA on board utilities ATVs of their own. This brings us to the question — should pro riders be forced to race within their own discipline, leaving more opportunity for fame and fortune for others? Or is it even more luring for an average rider to race with champions John Natalie on his right and Bill Ballance to his left?
WPSA is currently contemplating this very question. They would love to hear your point of view on this, and frankly – so would we. Speak your mind here.
Daryl Rath and his bone stock Artic Cat earned him two $2k checks. It only took a few days for word to get out that it’s possible to win $4k with your utility 4×4. We’ve heard from several pro and amateur riders gearing up for the upcoming GA and FL rounds.
Ashley Miller from Lexington, KY won the Miss Hawaiian Tropic Beauty Pageant.
Hawaiian Tropic Beauty Pageant
Some have said that scantly dressed women don’t belong at an ATV event, fortunately none of those people were on hand for the first annual Hawaiian Tropic Beauty Pageant.
Those that were present raved how much they enjoyed seeing Ashley Miller from Lexington, KY win the contest on Saturday evening. Thanks to Jerry Hebel’s creative promotional mind and the appreciative crowd on hand, we’re predicting many more Hawaiian Tropic Beauty Pageants at future events.
On Sunday we put the pageant podium to work by giving them an open microphone to interview some of the riders. They talked with Dana Creech, Jason Dunkelburger, Pat Brown and Rocco Arno Sr., click the video pop below up to see what they discovered.
Well prepared racers, TV cameras, refs, officials and a giant Powersport ATV Tour backdrop complete the scene at the starting gate.
ATV Scene Delivers
We also strived to rise to the opening-round occasion. On Saturday evening Jorge Cuartas and John Pellan hosted a new talk show called “Pure Dirt”. ATV Scene streamed the audio to hundreds of listeners. The first-ever Pure Dirt topic was “the future of ATV racing”. Our first guests were Tes Sewell (WPSA), ATV Insider Magazine, Premis Industries, Demetrious Knop of Wildcat Creek MX and the controversial Jim Stack.
Most of the discussion was centered around what we believe is indeed the future of ATV racing, the WPSA ATV Championship Tour. The show was originally slated to be an hour, but the excitement that the new series brought let two hours slip by before we knew it. If you’ve got a few hours to kill, click for the rebroadcast. Also for next round those at the track can tune in via ATV Scene’s FM radio broadcast.
Speaking of delivering…
Quad Magazine announced that they’ll be giving $1000 to whoever pulls the holeshot in the SuperQuad Pro class. They will make check payable to Harold Goodman for round one.
On Sunday, we streamed WPSA announcer Mark Straubinger, (who fit in beautifully at the pro-level WPSA Tour), as he commentated the pro pre show, main event and collected interviews from the pits. “Based on our readership a couple hundred listeners will surely turn to thousands in just a few rounds”, said ATV Scene’s Pure Dirt technician, Brad Dedon.
“We’re already working on Pure Dirt episode two. There’s no doubt, it’s going to be a big hit”, says host Jorge Cuartas.
“I think Banger did an outstanding job at round one, but he could use some help. One guy is not enough “, said ATV Scene segment producer, Joe Tolle. Banger will get the professional-level help he needs for the remainder of the series in co-host Robbie Powers. The two worked hand in hand at the Great Outdoor Games last year. Those at the events and those listening on ATV Scene will benefit from this dynamic duo – expect masterful commentating and many inside scoops as they develop trackside.
Summing it all up
There you have it. We commend WPSA for their detailed commitment to the future of the sport. Soon they’ll deliver an exciting introduction to ATV racing the rest of the world with mainstream ESPN televised programming. Stay tuned for all the news as it develops and be prepared to be very proud of your chosen sport when it airs on nation wide television.
