Loretta Lynn’s MX, Hurricane Mills, TN 2004
- Updated: August 15, 2004
GNC MX Round 12
Loretta Lynn’s MX
Hurricane Mills, TN
Aug 15, 200
“Professor” Byrd schooled the competition at this year’s Loretta’s.
The Loretta Lynn’s “Dirt Days” ATV National has been a big part of the GNC series for nineteen years. Each year the Loretta Lynn’s track gets heavily populated three times, with the GNC, a GNCC and the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur Bike Nationals. Other than those three weekends, no practice or other events are run on the track whatsoever.
Several Grand National Championships have been crowned over the years on Loretta’s “Dude Ranch” soil, – most by Gary Denton in the pro class, (he won eight titles in a row here). High temps and extreme humidity have always been the norm. Racing here is like racing in a giant aquarium. In fact, past Loretta’s experiences involve several heat strokes. One year (’88) heavy rain flooded the track so bad that most assumed there would be no GNC finally that year – until promoter Dave Coombs quickly created a natural motocross masterpiece on the then not so wooded hillsides so the pro and pro-am riders could settle the score. Lastly, over the years the Loretta Lynn’s track hasn’t suited ATVers needs very well. In fact, many ATV pros have dreaded every square inch of the bike-suited terrain. All in all, in year’s past this event has had extreme highs and lows.
As you can see Byrd is no where in sight, while Gust Goodman and Farr run the show early in moto one..
That was then this is now! This year’s Loretta Lynn’s GNC was undoubtedly the best ever. A cold front blew into Tennessee allowing its weather to resemble southern California’s in March. Picture perfect weather wasn’t all however. Racer Production listened to critics of year’s past and delivered the best Loretta’s track of all time – hands down. Jumps and turns were properly placed and groomed as if the ATV riders in attendance were royalty. Spectators were fluent and riders infested the pits from all over the country, many from CA and beyond! In fact, this year’s rider attendance broke the GNC record with 814 entries – more entries than any other organized ATV race!
Finally, the icing on the best ever Loretta Lynn cake, was the pro class action itself. Honda’s Tim Farr couldn’t quite pull off a motocross victory on the new 450R this year, but privateer Joe Byrd did. Byrd proudly goes down as the first rider to put the R in the GNC pro class winner’s circle. Here’s how he did it…
On Saturday night Maxxis, Rem N S Videos, Outerwears, Wiseco and ATV Scene.com sponsored a Sony PlayStation 2 Offroad Fury 2 Tournament. Jason Helm took honors. We couldn’t resist quoting Jason, he said, “Man you guys went all out for this thing. I never imagined it would be such a big deal. Before I got here I was a nobody – now I feel like a real thumbody!” For his extraordinary thumb talent, Jason won a set of Maxxis tires, Rem N S videos, tee shirts, a Wiseco piston, and got to hang out with Melissa and Vicki (the Loretta’s ATV Scene Girls). Some 50 people participated.
Above Greg Meeks limps his YFZ along with the same problem Jones had at Southwick. Sparks Racing’s Curtis Sparks explained the alleged pipe problem. Sparks says that just like Jones’ – Greg’s battery ground came loose. Once the battery is disconnected from the system the timing is retarded and a ton of heat is generated out the exhaust. Thus the problem is not a faulty pipe or pipe packing. To prevent this Sparks recommends YFZ owners run a spare ground wire to another part of the frame. This will make sure the ignition is firing properly even if the original ground comes loose.
Moto 1 – Byrd in a crowd
Fans packed every track side nook and cranny and eagerly awaited for the gate to drop. Suzuki’s “Digger” Doug Gust (Suzuki, Yoshimura, Weekend Warrior Trailers, Hinson) was the early leader. Gust already wrapped up the GNC championship with a record breaking and probably never repeated 8 overall wins. His bright yellow Suzuki (the sole Suzuki in the field) has been the talk of the season. With the overall already clinched, the boys at Suzuki decided to showcase something a little different, so they gave the crowd some cosmetic conversation to chew over by mounting black plastic to Gust’s Z400. Gust led the twenty rider field on his shiny new Blackzuki, but not for long.
Honda’s Tim Farr (Baldwin, DG, ITP) quickly pressured for Gust’s lead while Tavis Cain (Duncan, Roll, IMS) and Harold “The Bee” Goodman (Nichols, Sparks, PEP) followed. Farr was out to prove he could run with Gust. One could easily tell that he badly wanted to pass him. Interestingly enough, this was not the highlight of moto one however. Moto one’s most important tale came from the back of the pack not the front. It’s the tale of a guy that never seems to get a good start, Mr. Joe Byrd (joebyrd.com, Hinson, Maxxis, teamracersedge.com). In this moto he would have to work from 16th place. Byrd, who only lives an hour and half from Loretta’s, came prepared. He earned his first GNC pro victory at this track and won last year’s pro class here as well, (which enabled him runner up in the 2003 Grand National Pro Championship).
Gary “The Chino Charger” Denton made the trip to Loretta’s. This was literally his old stomping grounds, as he used to stomp the competition here. He wrapped up eight straight titles at this track. ATV Scene’s Amy Tripp spoke with Gary about his past, present and future.
Gust rode this limited edition black over yellow Suzuki Z400 and turned quite a few heads in the process.
Byrd’s horrible starts have made him an excellent passer. It was these moto one passing skills that led to his biggest racing accomplishment to date. Instead of getting excited in early laps by trying to get around a lot of riders at once while they were all bunched up – Byrd methodically passed a rider or two each lap. “It was pretty hectic that first lap. There was roost coming at me from all kinds of directions. I would have liked to get by quicker but I didn’t want to take any chances so I settled in and figured I would just have to pass them one by one.” “Professor” Byrd would go on to do just that. He caught up to Yamaha’s Jeremiah Jones (Yamaha, Media All Stars, Sparks, JPMX) within the first lap. The two hung together for several laps while they both passed their way toward better positions. Eventually Jones would fall victim to the fastest privateer on the track, Joe Byrd. “Man, Joe was hauling’. He was definitely on a mission out there”, said Jones, who eventually finished the moto in fourth place after passing seven riders along the way.
Jeremiah Jones silently came from 11th place in each moto to gather a seat on the podium. Impressive riding from an impressive rider. Jones had some bad luck this year but still managed to finish fourth overall. We expect Jones to show up at a TT or two, where he more than likely will continue to impress.
This picture perfectly defines why we do what we do. It was taken at the half way point of the last lap. Check out the smile on Byrd’s face. No doubt, Joe doesn’t make a lot of money racing ATVs, but as you can see, he sure is enjoying what he does for a living. We wish you many more smiles Joe!
Back up front, Farr had had enough of Gust’s roost and passed the champ. Meanwhile Jason Luburgh (Nac’s, LSR, TC, Kenda) rode another strong moto in the top five. Typical to Luburgh’s ’04 luck – he pulled to a stop a few laps short of the finish with tranny problems. No problems for Tavis Cain however, Cain rode another strong moto and finished up a respectable fifth.
Byrd told us there was over 200 of his “Joe Byrd Quad Riding School” student cheering him on. He gave his students as well as the factory backed pro riders a free lesson on how to charge through the pack yet ride smooth and smart all the way to the checkers. As the race approached the end, Gust snuck past Farr to regain the lead. “He (Farr) gained on me by tripling in the back. The triple wasn’t that hard but a few guys broke axles on it earlier, so I thought it would be safer to double out and make up time elsewhere. Turns out it was a good decision as I was able to pass him back later in the moto” said Gust.
“Professor” Byrd saw that riders were starting to fatigue, – this is when he really stepped up the pace and put together two flawless race ending laps. During this time he could see Farr’s valuable two-spot from a distance. On the last lap Byrd slipped past Farr – his 14th moto one victim! “No excuses here. Joe was riding really well out there. I was dealing with a bad case of arm pump and couldn’t hold him off”, said Farr after the race.
Here Joe Byrd leads factory Honda backed Tim Farr in route to his moto two schooling. Honda almost went the whole season without a motocross win, but thanks to Joe, their 450R achieved a 2004 GNC Pro victory after all. Farr and Byrd both tell us that they have finally found the correct set ups and look forward to showing what the new Hondas can really do in 2005. FYI Joe says he just might race his Honda at the Paducah, KY GNC as well.
That’s one big table top. Here Gust lands while Ellis and Byrd fall from the sky behind. The table top measured a whopping 85 feet!
Moto 2 – Byrd flies from the flock
For some reason, Byrd doesn’t seem to get as much hype as most of the other single digit veteran pros in the GNC circuit. Maybe it’s his poor starts. In all his years, Byrd has yet to holeshot a pro race. With help from his newest sponsor, Dan Lamey, of DASA Teamracersedge.com, poor starts might be a thing of the past for Byrd. Lamey spent the early eighties turning some heads in the pro three wheeler class as an excellent up and coming rider. Just when the name “Lamey” started to get popular, he crashed hard into a concrete wall while filming for a New York television program called PM Magazine. The crash paralyzed Lamey from the waist down. Over the years, Lamey has continued to stay involved in the motorsports industry and taken on some pretty impressive race projects, – the biggest being Yamaha’s jet skis. It has been said that Lamey is single handedly responsible for Yamaha’s impressive WaveRunner performance.
“We’ve gone through about 100 different set ups to get this Honda to suit me. Finally with help from Dan Lamey, Walsh Racecraft, Custom Axis and Clark Jones from Noleen J6, I’m dialed in and feel more prepared than ever”, said the Professor between motos. “I hope I get a good start and go win this thing like I did last year”, added Byrd at the gate.
Race team of the year? Probably so. Have you ever seen a more professional track side presence and commitment than Suzuki’s? Suzuki says this year is only the beginning. They promise to have a major presence in both GNC and GNCC competition in 2005.
With his Yoshimura Suzuki team behind him, “Digger” Doug Gust celebrates his national championship – his second in as many years aboard the Suzuki Z400.
“Ironman” John Natalie won the Bling Star $6000 Cold Hard Cash giveaway. The award went to the pro class rider scoring the most GNC points while running Bling Star’s new Iron Cross front bumper.
Byrd didn’t get the holeshot with his greatly improved Honda TRX450R, but he did slip into fifth place. Not having to pass 14 riders would help his cause greatly. Up front was Goodman, who boasts the opposite of Byrd – he consistently gets good starts. After Goodman’s heroic Southwick performance – it would be interesting to see what he would do with his moto two lead. Second was moto one’s winner “Digger” Doug Gust. Third was ATV Scene’s own Kory Ellis (Alba Action, Fox, Kenda, PEP). Ellis crashed extremely hard in Saturday’s practice. He finished moto one with a painful 10th place. After getting passed by Byrd, Ellis slowed with a blown head gasket in moto two.
Here Natalie gives us a look at his signature Bling Star trophy while his girlfriend, Michelle Reiser guards his prize money.
Early front runners in moto two included Tavis Cain (5th), Tim Farr (6th) and John “Ironman” Natalie (East Coast ATV, Yoshimura, Maxxis) in 7th place on lap one. Natalie had trouble of his own in moto one. He DNFed with transmission problems after an intense get-off at moto one’s first turn. In moto two he rode on a mission to appropriately sum up his incredible season. As Natalie gave Farr and Cain a run for their money, Joe Byrd was on the move. By lap three he advanced himself into second behind the 708 machine of Goodman. Byrd was consistently tripling the big set of jumps in the back. Goodman sailed his white Yamaha just as far but somehow Byrd did it faster. By the time they got to the sweeper before the legendary “Ten Commandments” Byrd was on Goodman’s bumper and shifting up. A pass for the lead was inevitable. In the next turn Byrd slipped past and checked out from there on. As laps progressed Byrd’s stamina increased. Byrd definitely ate his Wheaties! Each lap he would continue to distance himself from the field behind him, which was now led by Gust. “Joe was amazing out there. He wanted that one, that’s for sure. He just walked away from all of us. He made me want to go out and train a little harder for next year”, said Gust about Byrd’s impressive charge.
The two fastest guys on the track were Byrd, who by now put over 12 seconds on the pack, and Jeremiah Jones. Unfortunately for Jones, his fast laps were dampened by another poor start. Just like he did in moto one, Jones had to come from 11th place. He put together another excellent come from behind charge and finished up third in the moto, which was good for a well deserved podium finish – a fine way to wrap up what he calls a disappointing season.
A dirty #55 number plate was rare this season so we figured you might like to see it.
Summing it all up
Racer Productions put on their best event in their long history of promoting races. When asked what they plan on doing if they get another record breaking crowd next year, Racer Production’s Carrie Coombs said not to worry they already have it covered.
Byrd raised many eyebrows at this race. “This was the biggest race of my career. I went out and beat factory Suzuki, Honda and Yamaha – fair and square – none of them were broken down or anything like that. The track was awesome, the best I’ve ever seen it. I’m just so happy right now. My wife went out and won the Women’s championship, now I finish the season with a win, it doesn’t get much better than this! I’m extremely happy with this Honda. I just wish I could have gotten my hands on one earlier this year and had more time to dial it in correctly. Now that we’ve got it working the way I like it, I’m really looking forward to a good season on it next year.”
It’s tradition to crown a new champion at Loretta’s, this time the champion was already crowned, as Gust clinched the title three rounds early at the London, KY GNC. His and Suzuki’s effort will forever be the goal of future ATV professionals. Incredibly he won a whopping 8 events and appeared on the podium at all 12 rounds. In our opinion, with all the extraordinary talent from several different riders combined with modern day inexpensive production ATVs that make it hard for any one person to have an unfair advantage, Gust and Suzuki’s record will never be topped. “It was a great year”, Gust said after the race, “The crew was great, my Suzuki worked awesome all year, and things just seemed to go my way. Next year we are going to come back with an even bigger effort and try to keep this momentum rolling. I want to thank all of the fans that supported me all year. I can’t explain how good it makes you feel to hear the fans cheering for you. I can hear them when I’m racing and it makes me want to win even more. This is such a great sport.”
That’s one happy couple! Joe called his wife Heather Byrd (formerly Rose) to the podium to share his moment. Heather has a lot to be proud of as well lately. She locked up the Women’s A class championship at Southwick. Look for a feature interview with Heather coming soon.
First Annual Suzuki ATV Fish Fest
Barkley Lake, KY
Aug 16-17, 2004
After the race Suzuki, Doug Gust and a “Who’s Who” list of moto-luminaries attended a special event in Barkley Lake Kentucky. The first annual event is simple called “Suzuki Fish Festival”. The Suzuki Fish Fest is an event designed to shine some positive press for ATVs and at the same time raise money to combat Multiple Sclerosis.
The first annual Suzuki ATV Fish Festival took place after the GNC MX finals at Loretta Lynn’s Dude Ranch. The Suzuki ATV Fish Festival was created to raise positive awareness for ATVs and at the same time raise money to combat Multiple Sclerosis. It took place about two hours north of the track in Barkley Lake, Kentucky.
Fishing teams within the ATV racing industry and beyond were created, gear and fishing licenses were purchased, pontoon boats were rented and a day of relaxed enjoyable fishing was underway.
In attendance were a few Suzuki high-ups, eight-time National Champion Gary Denton (Weekend Warrior Trailers), Scott Holbrooks (Arthur Fullmer Helmets), John Pellan (ATV Scene.com), Wayne Hinson (Hinson Racing), John “Doogie” Howell (ATV Rider Mag), Cassandra Clawson (ATV Sport Mag), Jeremiah Jones, Pat Brown, Josh Starrett, William Yokely among others. Harold Knight of the “Knight and Hale” television program was the official guide and fishing contest judge.
After the day’s fishing, noted outdoor personality, Butch McElwain of Whitetail Creek Outfitters, hosted a fish fry and the post fishing awards banquet. At the awards ceremony, held at the beautiful Whitetail Creek Outfitters compound in the Land Between the Lakes region of Kentucky, awards were presented for Best Fisherman (Doug Gust), Worst Fisherman (John Pellan), Biggest Fish (William Yokely – a 5lbs catfish), Congeniality Award (Yoshimura’s Sean Gutierrez), Biggest Liar (Yoshimura’s Brant Russell) and last but not least Winning Team (Weekend Warrior Trailers).
In the end some $5000 was raised for MS and the event has been the talk of many offices and household these last few days. We’re sure next year’s event will be an even bigger success. Tentative plans for next year include a shuttle bus, which will probably be more known as the party bus. Also in the tentative works is free advertising in participating ATV publications for the winning 2005 Suzuki ATV Fish Fest team.
