AMA Pro ATV
Rd. 6 - May 25, 2008
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AMA Pro ATV - Round 6
Mt. Morris, PA - May 25, 2008
Saturday's promise to pull off an upset and his first podium of '08 went to Can-Am's Jeremy Lawson after he logged the fastest lap time in qualifying ahead of Honda's Joe Byrd and Kawasaki's Josh Creamer.
Sunday's qualifier edged Creamer closer to the upset when he qualified fastest ahead of
Suzuki's Dustin Wimmer and Jeremy Lawson. If the qualifiers were a prelude to the final outcome, Lawson and Creamer, both in the top three during qualifying didn't see Joe Byrd coming.
Moto one clicked off at 12:00 EST at High Point Raceway with Dustin Wimmer taking the holeshot and leading the Pro pack for the entire 20 minute plus one lap race. With Pros falling out of the mix Jeremy Lawson and Joe Byrd did their best to chase down Wimmer but neither could pull off the run down. Meanwhile, Creamer nestled into fourth place and finished out the moto in that position.
Top Three In Moto One: Wimmer, Lawson, and Byrd.
Falling Out Of Moto One: Tommy Hager, Greg Gee, John Natalie and Russell Shumaker.
Moto two launched at 3:00 pm and Joe Byrd made a holeshot dash to turn one where he took over the lead and never had to glance behind him. After a few shuffles through the pack, Lawson picked up on second place behind Byrd but could only narrow the gap to around 5 seconds behind as Byrd rocketed to the win. Lawson repeated his second place positioning in moto 2 while Creamer moved up a notch to take 3rd.
Top Three In Moto Two: Byrd, Lawson and Creamer
With Byrd and Lawson in a tie, Byrd's first place finish in moto two gave him the overall. Lawson finished 2nd with 2-2 moto scores while Creamer tallied 4-3 moto scores to secure the third place overall finish.
Seven Pros fell off the pace due to mechanical issues during moto 2. They were: Dustin Wimmer, Thomas Hager, John Natalie, Keith Little, Pat Brown, Hunter Miller and John Ragon.
Final Top Three: Byrd, Lawson, Creamer
Byrd Rockets To Win
Lawson
Creamer
Two time National MX Champion Joe Byrd of Union City, Tennessee took his Joe Byrd Quad Riding School sponsored Honda to 3-1 moto scores to capture his second win on the season. Coming into the ATV Stampede at High Point Raceway at Mt. Morris, PA, the sixth round of the '08 AMA Pro ATV Nationals, Byrd had one win under his belt at the Virginia round 4 and one second at round 2 in Alabama. His win at High Point moved him up in the points standings from 4th to 3rd with six rounds remaining in the series.
ATV Stampede
Round 6
'08 AMA Pro ATV
Top Ten
1. Joe Byrd
2. Jeremy Lawson
3. Josh Creamer
4. Josh Upperman
5. Dustin Wimmer
6. Doug Gust
7. Harold Goodman
8. Chad Wienen
9. Rocco Arno, Jr.
10. Cody Miller
2008 AMA Pro Overall
Standings After 6 Rounds
1. Dustin Wimmer - 235
2. Doug Gust - 194
3. Joe Byrd - 178
4. Josh Creamer - 146
5. John Natalie - 142
6. Harold Goodman - 141
7. Jeremy Lawson - 134
8. Chad Wienen - 126
9. Josh Upperman - 119
10. Rocco Arno, Jr - 116
Joe Byrd
From the podium Byrd talked about switching quads, still a Honda just a different setup, a few rounds back. "This quad has just worked out great. Sometimes, one machine is just better than the other one, plain and simple. We finally got to enjoy perfect weather and I was feeling great out there. We worked hard on the set up on this Honda and it was working perfectly." He went on to add, "We got off to a slow start. We've been trying to dig ourselves out of a hole and things are coming around. There are still a lot of motos to go."
Jeremy Lawson, taking second overall and his first podium for the '08 season said, "I rode my hardest to overcome my bad start and I just hit the wall when I reached second. It's been a good weekend for me and my Can-Am has been working well. The guys at Epic have been working hard to give me everything I need."
The series continues in two weeks at Unadilla MX in New York.
