Another big week in the ATV Racin' Nation as the ATV Stampede from High Point Raceway gets underway. Practice day on Friday greeted racers with a near total overhaul. Randy Poulter has been busy redesigning the legendary facility for this year's AMA ATVMX and the AMA Motocross Nationals. Though the track is not completed and lap times are in the 1:30's and 1:40's it gives you an idea of what is to come and it is a great new twist to the hallowed grounds of this facility. At the moment it appears that more than half the track has been changed and redesigned. Don't fret though the start remains the same (at least at the moment) through the first turn and down hill rollers. At the tunnel though you find a whole new world until you reach the finish area. In between the course takes nearly all-new twists and turns over new obstacles. The triple behind the gate remains as well.  

What's Thant mean for this weekend? It should mean something new and exciting plus we get more next year. It's kind of a win win scenario for the ATV Stampede. As far as other factors go for this weekend’s race goes, we are in store for a treat. Joel Hetrick fresh off his first overall win of the season is poised and ready for another as we roll into his home state. Early season bad decisions appear to have taught "Kid Dynamite" some valuable lessons as Muddy Creek introduced us to a patient and calculated Joel Hetrick. Can he remain as calculated in front of the Pennsylvania crowd?  

If you can't make your way to this weekends race, you are in luck, RacterTV.com will stream the event live beginning at 2:30 just prior to the start of Pro Moto 1 and conclude after 2nd Moto podium celebrations. There will be some amateur racing highlighted as well in between and it looks to be shaping up to be a big weekend. Pass the word along and don't forget you should be able to watch the archive later on Saturday. And if that wasn't enough, you need to set your DVR to MAVTV at 4:30 pm e.d.t. as RacerTV will air there with ATVMX. 

One top AMA Pro ATV racer and Pennsylvania native will not be in attendance this weekend. Two-time AMA Pro ATV champ and Daytona ATVSX champ John Natalie suffered a bad crash during Moto 2 of the Spring ATV National at Muddy Creek two weeks which has left hi on the injury list for an indefinite time at the moment. Aside from all the other bruises and injuries it was reported that John had suffered from 3 broken ribs. Earlier this week John reported on Facebook that the doctors actually found three more broken ribs which adds insult to injury. John did say he hopes to be able to be at this weekend’s event signing autographs and hanging with the fans but much of it hinged on how well he was doing. At last check he was having some complications but something tells me it's going to be hard to keep the "Ironman" down.

Joel Hetrick was featured in a day in the life video produced by our own Gloop from Rip It Up Films and Racer TV producer. In that video Joel stated that he would be doing a track walk after proactive today and invited anyone to come and tag along. You can tell Joel is enjoying his place in life right now and it seems a quiet confidence is brewing in this young man that may be hard to stop once it reaches potential. It is also cool to know that he still remembers where he came from and is there to give back to fans and supporters. 

Plans for the Edge of Summer ATVSX at Soaring Eagle Casino in Michigan on August 28, 2015 are well underway. I spoke with Amy Ritchie from Red Bud who is instrumental in pulling this whole thing together and she says things are moving along nicely. She said that class structure and race schedules are being worked on right now and that everyone seems to be excited about the addition to the program. ATV racing will kick the event off on Friday with pro racing under the lights. The full details as we said are coming and the excitement is starting to build.

 

I spoke with Carol Lee Bettis the 88 Live to Ride Mobile Medical Unit nurse and she said that things are going great this season. She said she has had some moments but all in all it's been a relatively quiet season for the medical standpoint, which is more than okay. Everyone knows the less Carol has to do the better things are going. And with all the time on her hands she has been able to come up with some great ideas to help raise for funds for the Mobile Medical Unit. She has also come up with a fun and great fundraising idea for the upcoming "Pink Out" race at Sunset Ridge in Walnut, Illinois in June for Breast Cancer Research and Awareness.  

The idea is a contest called "Bling Out Your Bra". What it intel’s is decorating a bra anyway one wants. Use a theme or just be creative as an individual or as a team. There will be prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd awarded and entry forms will be coming soon. Carol Lee says to check out Pinterest or her Facebook page for ideas. Entry fee will be $10.00 individual or $25.00 for teams. All proceeds go to the Susan G. Koran Foundation.

And this Brings me nearly to the end of this week contribution and I know that I fibbed last week when I said I would be focusing on some Amateur stuff this week but things took another turn and here we are. Next week we will try and make that happen. Plus I would like to let everyone know that Quad Radio is planning a comeback soon as funding has been recently acquired to make this happen. Stay tuned for details on that soon as well.

That'll do it for now. Till next time, God Bless Your Heart and All Your Vital Organs.

In the Loop with Gloop:

With a jam packed weekend of MAVTV airing the Daytona ATV Supercross and RacerTV.com broadcasting live from High Point I wanted to give these guys a little exposure for helping ATVMX get the word out. 

Catching up with Ken Hill:

Well now, here we sit on the cusp of another round and yet another edition of Site Lap! We are staring down the barrel of a shootout that could be of epic proportions as the series heads to High Point Raceway this weekend as Chad Wienen and Joel Hetrick prepare for a points duel that could set the tone for the rest of this already action packed season! If you caught the teaser from Ripitupfilms you will know that Hetrick feels like he is ready to grab that number one plate! By the way, the behind the scenes video is pretty cool and I would love to see more of this! Now Hetrick may be ready but I am pretty certain that Chad is not going to just hand over anything, if Hetrick’s wants it he will no doubt have to earn it and that challenge is not going to come easy. Sure, Wienen could have a bad race but if all goes as expected, we are going to witness one hell of a fight in the skies over High point! 

The battle for the podium of course is unknown but I would say Wienen and Hetrick are expected to take top honors and the battle behind them should come down to Rastrelli, Higgerson and Brown. I am pretty stoked to see this unfold because those three riders are running about equal this season with Higgerson due for a break out race. And then there is Josh Upperman who may find success now that we have turned north and on ground that is well known to play favor to several riders in the Pro class.

It feels really weird not throwing John Natalie Jr. in the mix as the Ironman is recovering from his get off at Muddy Creek. If you have been following John’s updates via his social media, you will already know he is having a time of it as he faces a battle far from the track. I have watched John overcome just about everything thrown at him and to see such a strong man down and out is heart breaking. Years ago at Birch Creek, John had taken a shot to the eye from roost. I caught him bent over deep in the pits and could see he was in immense pain. I checked on him just prior to the first moto and saw he had his eye bandaged up and was gearing up to head to the gate. I asked him what the hell he was thinking, one eye working, depth perception gone and he was planning on racing. Not only racing, his words told me he was going to try to win not just ride around for points! He exclaimed that this is what he does, he can’t quit and those words struck me and have stayed with me so I know John has to be not only in pain but immense pain to not be racing. I, as well as the entire racing nation is praying and wishing for a speedy recovery because in all honesty, it just isn’t the same with out the infamous #13 on the gate!

The racing should be good all weekend and I am excited to get to the track to see how things are shaping up. I spoke with Dean and he told me Randy had been working on some changes to the track. I have no clue what is being done but it should be good! High Point is one of my personal favorites and it’s also a great track for me to shoot at! Social media erupted earlier in the week with reports of high heat and possible thunderstorms but it looks like that has all changed and we should have great weather in store for us! I also wanted to inform everyone that I went ahead and started a public Facebook page that will focus more on racing so that my personal page can get back to, well, being more personal! You can find me at my Ken Hill Photography page as it will be updated by not only myself, but by a few friends that want to contribute to help me keep the racing world updated.

That’s all from me this week! I hope everyone has a safe trip to and from the race and of course I pray everyone has a safe weekend. See everyone at High Point!