Pro Quads, Anaheim, CA 2005
- Updated: January 15, 2005
Formula USA Pro Quad Stadium Series
Angel Stadium
Anaheim, CA
Jan 15, 2005
Photos by Julie Farr
Ellis earned every point possible by dominating in his heat and the main event. He now leads in points.
“Get to scrubbin’ buddy”, said Kory Ellis to roomie, Jeremy Shell from his first place podium spot. Ellis was referring to their on going loser-cleans-the-bathroom-competition. After his outing in Angel Stadium for round two of the Formula USA Pro Quad Stadium Series, Ellis should probably get both bathrooms cleaned in his Murietta, CA home, and maybe even the garage as well. Ellis was perfect on his home turf. He won his qualifier, his heat, set the fastest qualifier spot and took the main event from start to finish unchallenged.
The other qualifiers were won by John Natalie aboard his new East Coast ATV Honda 450R , Lone Star’s Keith Little and Suzuki’s Doug Gust. The 30-rider field was narrowed down to two heat races.
Heats
Suzuki’s showed up with their 2005 factory ATV racing stars; Gust and Jones. Gust finished runner up, Jones took fourth.
In Pro Quad racing, heats are mainly run for starting position, but riders also earn series’ points from the heats as well. The first heat was stacked to the hilt with many of the very best pro ATVers in the business. The list featured all the top factory-backed motocross riders of the new millennium, including American Honda’s Tim Farr, Yamaha Motor Corp’s Kory Ellis and American Suzuki’s Doug Gust and Jeremiah Jones.
For the first time in a week, the wet depressing rain in the air was replaced with excitement and anticipation for some serious bar-banging supercross action. Angel Stadium was sold out and the crowd was restless for some intense high-speed big air action. They would not be disappointed!
Much to the crowd’s approval, their hometown hero in blue, Kory Ellis, pulled the trigger the quickest. Bowling Green, Kentucky’s Jeremiah Jones followed. The two went on to put a significant lead over Farr and Gust. They finished in this order, allowing Ellis the pole position on the floor for the main event. Hot off his round one victory in Houston, East Coast ATV’s “Ironman” John Natalie took the win in the second heat easily.
Tim Farr came back from an early collision with Doug Gust, but his run in with Jeremy Schell cost him several point-sapping positions. Nonetheless, the points race is extremely close this year.
Main Event – Excitement Factor 10
The stage was set for the first all-out best-of-the-best battle of the new season! Just like round one in Houston, their battle ground was a perfectly sculpted masterpiece of a race track, — nothing like a few embarrassing one-lined point A to B sprints that riders were forced to run in year’s past. Formula USA’s 2005 Pro Quad tracks now feature a few big double jumps, creatively placed whoops and properly places turns that challenge the rider accordingly. In short, the tracks now offer multiple passing areas and give riders opportunities to separate themselves from other riders. “I’m liking what they’ve done with our tracks this year”, said Honda’s Tim Farr. “In year’s past, we were basically racing on a monster truck course, now it seems like the monster trucks are competing on our supercross tracks.”
LSR’s Keith Little got tangled up with another rider in his heat race. He suffered a laceration in his forehead. After losing a lot of blood, he was quickly rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. He is now recovering fine with some badly needed stitches.
Announcers rightfully played up the scenario on the floor. “All the biggest names in ATV racing are here tonight!”, boasted the announcer. “Who’s it going to be ladies and gentlemen? Honda, Yamaha, or Suzuki? Portions of the crowd went wild when their favorite rider and their favorite ATV brand was announced. This early pre race hype excited the masses, but nothing like the actual race soon would. This one had it all!
When the light turned green for the main event, Tim Farr shot his 450R off the line first. Unfortunately for Farr, the race was red flagged as it was determined that Jones had jumped the starting line. Jones was penalized and moved to the third row for the restart. Ellis rocketed out of the hole first on the restart. This was the closest anyone got to him and his blue YFZ450, as he left the remaining 19 riders to fend for position behind.
How about some Champaign Kory?
Farr and Gust found themselves off the track in the first corner. Some might call it a night after a first turn mishap like this, but not the professionals of Farr and Gust. Both got going and charged hard to make up ground. Moments after this “Ironman” Natalie fell victim to the very next jump section, where he was delayed too long to come back for a podium finish, although, incredibly, he came close! As the race went on, Farr and “Digger” Doug Gust poured it on and passed their way through the field. Meanwhile Ellis continued to dominate, while his Alba Action teammate and roommate, Jeremy Schell aggressively rode in second place. Farr quickly found himself in fifth, fourth, and then third. He set his sights on the number 14 on Schell’s rear grab bar. Not long after he caught Schell and the two battled for Kory’s runner-up spot.
After observing Schell’s lines, Farr knew where to try to make his move. The two went over the finish line double, mid air, side-by-side, with Farr on the inside. Farr took the next corner on the inside, with a slight inch or two lead on Schell. Schell, not willing to give up so easily, fought Farr tooth and nail for that all too important inside position. Neither was willing to surrender. While fighting for position, Farr went up on two wheels after he tried to carve into the inside of the turn a little too hard and eventually came off his quad. Schell continued on, but not after Gust and Two Brothers Racing’s Dustin Nelson whizzed by. By the time Farr got going again nearly the entire field had passed. He battled his way to ninth place before time ran out. As stated, Ellis walked away while Gust impressively salvaged what could have been a mediocre ride (due to his early race tangle) into a well deserved runner up spot. Nelson and Schell rounded out the top five respectively.
“My Alba Yamaha was the reason that I won tonight”, quickly remarked Ellis from the podium. “It’s wicked fast, everyone should have one of these things!” Ellis moved into the points lead with 225. Natalie rode hard after his lap one incident and salvaged a top five. He moved down a notch into second with 222 points, while Farr’s episode with Schell cost him several points. He is now third with 219.
As you can see, this year’s Pro Quad Stadium Series is certainly not your father’s Oldsmobile! This is surely the most exciting and closest point’s race of the eight-year series. And it’s only just begun, we’re anticipating another level-ten excitement factor rating for next week’s San Diego round.
