The ProX ATV Motocross National Championship presented by CST Tires, an AMA National Championship, made its annual stop at the world famous Unadillla MX for the eighth round of amateur racing and the ninth round for the AMA Pro ATV racing. The NYCM Insurance Northeastern ATV National yielded some of the finest racing the series has seen this season and once again answered some questions while it left us with quite possibly more once again!

The weekend of racing from my standpoint began a little differently as I wasn’t able to make it on Friday so I missed the Friday warmups, and also missed a pretty heavy downpour according to the Snapchat I got from Kory Ellis. It looked like a toad strangler, but according to Greg Robinson the next morning when I arrived the track was actually in amazing shape. The area had been in a drought so the rain was actually welcomed by the locals. Plus, Unadilla has a lot of hills so it ran off pretty quick and left behind fairly perfect conditions to start the day.

The number of entries seemed to be strong and there were a number of NEATV competitors on hand who really brought some stiff competition and helped juggle things up in some classes a little. There were no major upsets, but most of the battles on the track left you watching with baited breathe from the drop of the gate to the checker flag. Again, I must echo the fact that this is the greatest season of competition across the board that I remember in my twenty plus years as an announcer. It’s hard to believe I am part of another historic happening during my career. In short I will just say I may be one of the most blessed individuals in the sport. The monumental things I have witnessed, announced and even taken part in are greater than I even realize and sometimes when I talk about some of the memories all I can do is just stop and say, “Wow!” Therefore, right now I feel like we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg as far as possibilities of where the sport of ATVMX is going.

One of the most impressive things I noticed this weekend was possibly the AMA Pro ATV No. 728 of Jeffery Rastrelli. Rastrelli had transponder issues in the first timed qualifier and actually scored no qualifying times. Then in the second qualifier he comes out and lays down the fastest lap. Eventually both Chad and Joel were able to beat the time, but it came down to nearly hundredths of a second. It was good news for Rastrelli and even better news for the fans because it looked like there may be another player in the race.

As luck would have it, fans got what they had hoped for and that was a battle. Moto one Rastrelli jumped out to the lead with Wienen, Hetrick, and Natalie hot on his grab bar. Rastrelli was pushed and challenged but held strong. Hetrick finally got around Wienen with a few laps to go and went to work on Rastrelli. Finally with two laps to go Hetrick made the pass on Rastrelli, and then Wienen got around him putting him back to third. Hetrick said that Rastrelli and him have been training together recently, and he knew that Rastrelli would be going fast therefore he wasn’t really shocked at his performance. The truth is that other than the few rounds Rastrelli was having issues from an anti-acid medication that he was taking, but things seem to be progressing quite well now. In my opinion, I really think that Jeffery is ready to start winning races very soon. If he hadn’t had those setbacks in the couple rounds that he did, then he may have just won that first moto.

Moto two turned out a little different as the start had things quite jumbled up. Wienen grabbed an important early lead while Hetrick was stuck a few spots back. Wienen was able to pull the comfort gap to carry home a 2^nd moto win to split the day with Hetrick and capture the overall win. Rastrelli showed extreme promise with another third on the day and realized his potential to be a winner.

The amateur classes proved the same thing we expected as the competition was fierce and the riders continue to standout. Alan Meyers and Sky Volkamer may be ones to keep a very close eye on from the 450 A class. This championship right now is only eight points apart and both riders have had some good battles and challenges, but consistency and a couple of wins each have them in a very heated situation right now. This will be another of my “ones to watch” classes in the coming rounds. There have been a few different winners throughout the year, but the real questions will be answered in the next two rounds. It’s crunch time and both riders really seem to want it.

There are two more riders that could become threats and possibly pull things out themselves in the 450 A class. Brian Nolt sits 19 points back while the 32-year-old James Bank is only 22 points back. These riders are capable of winning and quite honestly Bank has been showing some major improvements in a class dominated by riders nearly half his age. The combination of both Volkamer and Meyers will be hard to tackle, but if Bank continues at his pace the next two rounds may get quite interesting.

RedBud is less than two weeks away now, and there are many that are getting super excited for its arrival. I know the staff and crew are getting amped right now and the ATV Racin’ Nation has been talking about it for the last four rounds. The prestige the race brings to the series is almost magical. Plus, it yields some of the largest crowds we see from a spectator standpoint and it always brings out the best in all the competition.

The season is as well coming to a close at a rapid rate and last week we reminded you of the approaching YCP and 88 Live to Ride Fundraising Auction and Spaghetti Dinner. Big Daddy and Digital Dave will act as auctioneers once again and they know how to make it a memorable time for sure. As far as the YCP or Youth Contingency Program, the Tim and Stephanie Furches are helping Frieda and Gary Rozelle to get things together. If you can donate to the cause for the youth riders please contact any of those fine folks.

Debi Bartosek sent us another message this week regarding some other great things going on for the fundraising at Loretta Lynn’s. Here is what she had to say:

Hey, Rodney

Can you believe how fast this season has gone?! My mom always said, the older you get the faster time goes…. she was right on that one! We’re another week closer to our once a year fundraiser for 88 Live to Ride and everyone is being very supportive with donations.

Thought I’d talk a little bit about the Silent Auction we’re going to have going during the benefit spaghetti dinner. We will have select items displayed each with their own bid sheet. A starting bid will be noted on the sheet along with bidding increments. So say we have an item that the starting bid is $10 with bidding increments of $2.

Whoever bids on this item needs to make their bid, AT LEAST, $2 more than the current bid. The biggest thing to remember is to check back often to make sure you haven’t been out bided before the Silent Auction ends!!

Never fear…. we’ll have helpers available if anyone has questions.

Anyone – individual, team or business – that would like to donate to the auction can get in touch with me either at Redbud; on Facebook or email me at [email protected]. All donations are greatly appreciated and go to support our mission of education and safety of ATV riders. 

Thank you for the update Debi and we look forward to being a part of another great time for a good cause.

That’ll do it for me for now. Let’s check in with Gloop’s Loop and Ken “hey you off of my cloud” Hill. Till next time, God Bless Your Heart and All Your Vital Organs.

In The Loop with Gloop:

It was awesome to see Michael Allred back at the track!

It looks like Thomas Brown can pack a lot of quads into one trailer.

Keeping up with Ken Hill:

If you watched the first pro moto from Unadilla then you already know what I am saying to be true, it was up there with any moto in the history of ATVMX bar none! The only other moto I have personally seen that would beat the intensity would be the race at Aonia Pass a few years back that had five of the world’s fastest riders within inches of each other for the entire moto! Rastrelli, Hetrick and Wienen were out for blood when the gate dropped and it stayed that way until the checkered flag waved, which for us is pure awesomeness! The crowd on hand was witness to the intensity they were seeing and cheers erupted all around the Unadilla track every lap. It was the kind of moto you wish could play out in every race in every class! It was the type of racing that keeps fans on the fence and glued to the action and I am stoked I got to see it! 

When Jeffrey Rastrelli fired off the gate and grabbed the holeshot in moto one I couldn’t help but cheer. He hasn’t had a great season so far due to some health issues, but it appears he is getting a handle on that and it really showed in his performance. With a battle raging just behind his grab bar between Joel Hetrick and Chad Wienen, Rastrelli was charging hard. Hetrick pulled up along side him down the mechanic area straight and I thought that was that as they raced out of sight. When they reemerged it was clear Rastrelli was still throwing down and if Joel wanted his position he was going to have to fight harder! Rastrelli would lead nine out of the 11 laps, but would fall short of the win after Hetrick and Wienen battled their way around him. It was however truly an epic three-way battle! 

Moto two was much different as Chad Wienen pulled the holeshot and rolled out. It was more of the typical racing as the field sorted itself out but nowhere near the race we witnessed in the first moto. Joel Hetrick provided the excitement by pulling off a save of saves after going off the track and doing some remodeling to a section of Unadilla fencing! I had been in that area shooting just the lap before so I am happy I had moved or I may have been part of the things snapped and smashed. I sure wish I had seen it though, it has been described to me as insane as the rush of excitement of a crazy wreck mixed with Hetrick staying on the gas and getting back in the fight before many realized what had just happened.

The weekend as a whole was solid; the weather was on point with just a nasty piece of a summertime thunderstorm helping water the track Friday afternoon. Usually temperatures are scorching and with very little shade around, you get a shake and bake weekend. I have never seen a track crew attack a track during race day like they did this weekend. I meant to ask someone of importance what the deal was but never ran into anyone. Even with the constant attention, the motos kept firing off the gate with little opposition from those tied up in the short delays the work caused. The track was really fast that’s for sure and I noticed some new lines this year, which made it a bit different for me to shoot the action, but it seemed like the riders handled everything just fine. I want to give a big shout out to Luke Shepard who went down hard over sky shot. Luke spent his weekend in the hospital being treated, but is expected to make a full recovery so join me in praying for his healing and thank the man upstairs for watching out for him after such a crash. I saw the helmet cam footage and having a wreck when your wife is behind you over one of the biggest jumps of the year created a perfect storm for the Shepard and Manshack families.

That’s all from me this week; I can’t wait to watch the Racer TV shows that will come out of Unadilla! God bless and safe travels!