6 Hours of ATV America at Rausch Creek
Tremont, PA
July 21, 2004
Presented by: Fast-Trak Promo and Rausch Creek Motorsports
Photos by Rapid Image Photography
Riders prepare to line up for the start of what is sure to be a big event for years to come – the inaugural Maxxis 6 Hours of ATV America at Rausch Creek.
Similar to a pregnancy, it all started 9 months ago when owner of Rausch Creek Motorsport’s Quinn Lickman hunted yours truly down at the GNC Award’s Banquet and asked to be a part of the then rumored 2004 Maxxis 6 Hours of ATV America franchise. After hearing and seeing nothing but good things about the Rausch Creek facility, I was very interested in talking with him. Quinn and I got to know each other better, (which is always a good thing to do before you make a baby together) and began the workings of an incredible event that is sure to grow enormously over time.
Quinn and his right hand man, Michael McDonald were our Maxxis 12 Hours Industry class winners, so I knew they would know how these races need to be set up and would probably do a great job at handling all the details that make for a good event. As the GNC banquet continued, Quinn and I continued to hit it off. It turns out that Quinn is a die hard ATV rider and fan like I am. Since then, we’ve become good friends and communicate well, (yet another asset to making a baby together).
Our baby was born July 17, 2004 at 5pm and weighed in at a whopping 42 teams in size (by far the biggest turn out of the three inaugural 6 Hour events). We proudly named it the “Maxxis 6 Hours of ATV America at Rausch Creek”. You can call it the 6 Hours of PA for short if you like.
Team Powerline leads the pack with Dan Ketterer at the helm.
Is that the gun-fire-start or are we under attack?
Quinn properly christened the birth with a gun fire start. Appropriately, he didn’t shoot just any old gun. The race was started with the thuds of an AK-47. Perhaps in fear for their lives, riders ran to their quads in blazing speed and quickly got a way from Quinn and his scary looking semi-automatic. The first to pull out was Team Powerlines’ Dan Ketterer who came from about five parking spots deep. Ketterer held ground respectively while several teams featuring front running GNCC and GNC riders gave chase.
The East Coast Team of John Natalie, Chris Borich and Matt Smiley took over the lead and started to distance themselves from the pack. Matt Smiley was the rider putting it to all the other competitors out front. The all motocross team of TC Racing (Jason Dunkelburger, Pat Brown and Dustin Wimmer) moved into second. Smiley was hauling butt, especially through the cross country section, but after a little mishap on the third lap, Dustin Wimmer of Team TC Racing took over. It seemed from that point on, the powerhouse team of East Coast ATV rode with electrical problems and no rear brakes. Even with this disadvantage the team managed to log the fastest lap of the day, (10:19) by Chris Borich.
Rausch Creek / Lost Creek Cycle sponsored rider Pat Brown turned some heads and impressed many on the motocross section.
Team TC Racing continued to lead, this time with Pat Brown on the quad, “We wanted to win this one bad! We all call this track home and wanted to tip off this event with a big victory. Then do the same with the same team at the 12 Hours. I’m pretty sure I passed just about every rider out there today. This race was so much fun I can’t even explain it”, reported Brown after the race. After leading at about the four hour mark Team TC Racing had to deal with the fast approaching Jathan Seale of Team JB. “I was about to pull in and give it to Jeremy, but just before the pit entrance I saw Pat Brown in the lead. I was gaining on him and wanted to get a little closer to them before we swapped out riders, so I took off after him for one more lap. He was definitely faster than me in the motocross area but I caught right up to him in the woods. It was a close race for sure”, said Jathan Seale.
Soon after, the TC Racing team surrendered their lead to Team JB and pulled into the pits with a flat front tire. By the time they pulled back onto the track the team found themselves six minutes down and in the four spot.
Chris Jenks explains how he, Jeremy Rice and Jathan Seale won it.
JB Racing takes it home
With just shy of two hours remaining JB Racing’s (Jathan Seale, Jeremy Rice and Chris Jenks) continued to lead the race. Jathan Seale got back on to finish what he started and rode the whole last leg, which is like racing another GNCC race after you already raced one! “Chris (Jenks) got off at 9:05pm with about a three minute lead. I took off, maintained it, then slowed down as time went on. I rode about 80 percent then slowly decreased it to about 65 percent. I didn’t want to take any chances. On the last few laps I didn’t even jump any of the jumps. I wanted to win this thing and wasn’t about to chance crashing over a double”.
Earlier Dustin Wimmer took over on the TC team and never looked back. Team TC was on the move. They steadily chopped away at the six minute deficit caused by that flat tire (remember they’re motocrossers and not that fast at changing tires) and passed their way into the runner up spot. They also rode more than half of the race without rear brakes.
In the end, Seale finished up and won it for his JB Racing / American Dream team. TC kept up their second place pace for the runner up spot. Team Hertz Racing (Tom Hertz, Rob Hertz, Sean Neidlinger) followed with a respectable third place overall.
A conversation with Jodi Bateman of JB Racing
ATV Scene: How did you wind up adding Jeremy Rice and Chris Jenks to your team?
Bateman: I trust Jathan as to who he thinks would be good for us. He’s pretty good friends with those guys. Jeremy started riding for Baldwin Motorsports and used my components so adding him to the team was a no brainer. Plus his mechanic, Pete Stadtmueller highly recommended him as well.
ATV Scene: How did your team like your quad and your set ups?
Bateman: We used Jathan’s quad this time out. It has all of my components on it though. Everyone loved the Honda. It’s effortless to ride. It’s fast but real smooth and won’t tire you out, which is perfect for this kind of race. In fact, Chris said he is switching to a Honda for the GNCCs because he liked it so much.
ATV Scene.com: How did it hold up?
Bateman: This track beat it up a little more than the Texas one did, but not too bad. We really didn’t have any problems. A few other teams lost their brakes, but we still have over half the pads left in ours. The left foot peg got bent back a little but I’m pretty confident that we could have went 6 more hours with no problem.
ATV Scene: Do you think a GNCC rider has an advantage at these races?
Bateman: Not on that track. There was nothing really particularly gnarly. Plus the motocross track was pretty big.
ATV Scene: Is this your 12 Hours team?
Bateman: Yes. We will be there with these three riders on a brand new Honda 450R.
ATV Scene: What do you owe all these excellent 6 and 12 Hours finishes to?
Bateman: We’ve had riders with a lot of stamina. That’s the key. Jathan ran just shy of two hours alone. He’s not your typical TT racer, that’s for sure. All in all, it’s a combination of riders that are in shape and a bike that will hold up. In last year’s 12 Hours we ran a custom made Honda 450 dirt bike engine and learned a lot with that project. In fact we ended up putting that custom made lighting system in this 450R. Our 7 inch Baja Design light really helps for night riding too.
ATV Scene: Do you think an amateur team could ever win one of these?
Bateman: It would take a flawless day. The bike would have to stay together with no problems and the riders would need to log consistent strong lap times. But yeah, it could happen.
ATV Scene: Where were you at the end of lap one?
Bateman: Jathan got a horrible start. We were 16th. He passed to 6th by the end of lap one though.
ATV Scene: How long is an average pit stop for you guys?
Bateman: 20-25 sec
ATV Scene: You must have some time saving strategy. Can you share a pit stop secret?
Bateman: (Laughing) Don’t stop! And when you do, it better be to just switch riders and take on gas. I keep them out there as long as possible. You need to know your riders and know how long they can ride. We constantly watch their times. When we see a slow lap time we give them another lap. If the time hasn’t improved then it’s time to switch on the next lap.
ATV Scene: Do you use helmet radio communication?
Bateman: We will if we are behind or ahead by a lot.
ATV Scene: Did you have any flats?
Bateman: No we had Tireballs.
ATV Scene: Your team had no motocross experience at all this time out. Were your guys doing all the doubles?
Bateman: As far as I know they were.
ATV Scene: Did they like the course? How did it compare to the other ones you’ve run?
Bateman: They all loved it. The motocross track was by far the best of any of them. Jathan said he liked the high speed sections in the woods too. He said he would have liked it a little rougher though.
ATV Scene: Were lappers a factor at all?
Bateman: I was told a few were not getting out of the way right away. Most cooperated though. Jathan said some of them even clapped and cheered as he went by.
ATV Scene: Any last words?
Bateman: These are really good events. We’re wanting a 12 Hours win this year. We’ve come close but no cigar yet. I would also like to thank our sponsors for this race; American Dream, PEP, Baldwin, Johnson’s ATV, Sunrise Honda, Hetrick Racing, Tireballs, Maxxis, Carbon Man and Moose.
