Wienen Edges Out Natalie in Georgia ATVMX Season Opener

Photo by Harlen Foley

The 2012 AMA ATV Motocross National Championship
Series kicked off Saturday
at  Aonia Pass MX Park in Washington, Ga., providing
some of the best
racing in  series history, pitting the fastest ATV Motocross
racers in the
country against  one another for two twenty-plus minute motos.
After an
eight-month hiatus from  racing due to a season ending injury in 2011,

Wienen  Motorsports/SSi/Walsh/Yamaha-backed Chad Wienen began the season in a

winning  fashion, going (1-1) for the overall and the early points lead.In
the opening moto of the Pro ATVMX class,
it  was Baldwin Motorports/PEP's
Josh Upperman who grabbed the SSi Decals
Holeshot  Award and led the early
part of the race. It wasn't long before Wienen
powered  his new Yamaha ride
into the lead, though, passing Upperman through the
  fan-filled finish line
section.


While the rest of the
  field
was viewing the track on the site lap, Motoworks/Can-Am's newest
addition, 
Joel Hetrick, was waiting behind the gate while his crew worked to
fix a 
mechanical issue on the ATV. Earlier in the day, Hetrick grabbed the ATVRiders.com fastest Qualifier Award over a

stacked  field of veteran riders, and after finally fixing the ATV in time for

the gate  drop, Hetrick proved it wasn't a fluke as he caught and passed
the
front-runners  and pressured Wienen for the lead spot. Hetrick finally
made a
bold attempt to  pass Wienen for the lead, but in doing so, the

nineteen-year-old went off the  track and was forced to sit the rest of the moto

on the sidelines.


Defending champion,
Motoworks/Can-Am's John
  Natalie, came through the pack and spent a
majority of Moto 1 battling with
  longtime competitor Josh Upperman for the
second place spot. Natalie finally
got  around Upperman in the latter part
of the initial twenty-minutes of racing,
and  although the "Ironman" put a
late charge on the leader as the two-lap card
came  out, Natalie wasn't
able to catch Wienen in time for the
checkers.

In
Moto 2, it was once again the Honda of
Josh  Upperman who took the SSi
Decals Holeshot Award, but the defending champ
Natalie  inched his way out
front right away, fending off a very driven duo of
Wienen and  Uppeman.
Pennsylvania's Derek Swartfager put his Waldo
Motorsports-backed Honda 
inside the top five early in the moto, battling with
Thomas Brown on the
TBROWN  Yamaha powered by Moto-X-Perts machine. Brown led a
tight-pack of
riders who  were battling for the top five positions, including
pro class
rookie Mark Madl,  the 2011 Pro Am Production champion and fifth
fastest
qualifier for the  day.


Meanwhile, Natalie

and  Wienen combated back and fourth in an intense battle for lead. Wienen

chased  Natalie for most of the race, slipping past his former teammate in
a few
spots,  but the most famous line was through the whoop-section and
into the
final corner  before the finish, where Wienen showed his front
tires to the
leader several  times. On the final lap, Wienen made the move
on the defending
champ just one  turn before the finish line, giving Wienen
the overall win and
the points lead  after the first round of
racing.


"This is definitely a moment for
me right
now,"  Wienen said. "To come back like this and just being able to
walk and to
come out  here and do what I love, this is the greatest moment.
We're taking it
one race  at a time, super excited to start the season off
with a (1-1) sweep.
I've been  dreaming about this day (first race back
from injury) and it's
finally coming  on. This is going to be a story for
the books this
year."

Natalie
finished out 
the day with second overall, while Josh Upperman took the final
podium
position  and third place in the championship points

standings.


"I didn't get tired out there
at all today,
  just a couple issues there on the last lap not being able to
shift but we're
  going to go back and fix it to be ready for round two,"
said Natalie. "I really
  liked the track today but I like the rough and
tumble bumps, so I'm ready to go
  to a rougher track where it really
separates the men from the boys."


"I've
really taken my
  training program to another level this year and it's
starting to show," said
  Upperman. "It's boosted my confidence a lot,
because I know what I can do now
  from last year to this year and I'm ready
to make it happen."


Thomas Brown (YAM)

  finished with a (4-5) score to take fourth overall, just ahead of rookie
Mark
  Madl (HON), who took an impressive fifth overall in his first-ever
pro race.
  Nick DeNoble (HON) ended the day with sixth place, ahead of
Derek Swartfager
  (HON) and Joel Hetrick went (14-4) to salvage an eighth
place finish for the
  day.


The 2012
AMA ATV
  Motocross Championship heads to Muddy Creek Raceway in
Blountville, Tenn., for
  round two of the ten-race circuit. For more
information, please visit www.atvmotocross.com.



AMA Pro ATV
  Results
1. Chad Wienen, Yamaha,
 
(1-1)
2. John
  Natalie, Can-Am, (2-2)
3.
Josh Upperman, Honda, 
(3-3)
4.
Thomas  Brown, Yamaha, (4-5)
5.
Mark Madl, Honda, 
(8-6)
6.
Nick  DeNoble, Honda, (5-8)
7.
Derek Swartfager, Honda,
  (7-7)
8.
Joel  Hetrick, Can-Am, (14-4)
9.
Jeff Rastrelli,
Suzuki,  (8-9)
10.
Adam  Clark, Honda, (10-10)
AMA ATV
 
Motocross Championship Pro Point
Standings


1.
Chad Wienen,
Yamaha -  50
2.
John  Natalie, Can-Am- 44
3.
Josh Upperman,
Honda -  40
4. Thomas Brown, Yamaha - 34
5. Mark Madl, Honda -
 
30
6. Nick
  DeNoble, Honda - 29
7.
Derek Swartfager, Honda - 
28
8.
Joel  Hetrick, Can-Am - 25
9.
Jeff Rastrelli, Suzuki - 
25
10.
Adam  Clark, Honda - 22