Thomas Brown Earns First Career Win at ATVMX Finale

ATV.com Staff
by ATV.com Staff
Wienen, Hetrick complete podium at Loretta Lynn's

Thomas Brown (Wienen Motorsports SSi Walsh Yamaha presented by Maxxis Tires & Team Vollmer) won his first ever ATVMX Pro class event as the 2013 Mtn. Dew ATV Motocross National Championship, sanctioned by AMA, wrapped up this weekend at the Loretta Lynn Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tenn.

Brown made his pro debut in 2009 and has been working towards his first victory ever since. Brown has been present on the podium at all but two rounds this season and was able to secure second place overall for the 2013 Championship points this weekend.

Thomas Brown

“Reality hasn’t quite sunk in yet, this is a goal I have been working towards since I started racing and I couldn’t be happier to finally stand on the top spot of the podium at the end of the day,” says Brown. “Especially with the incident that happened in moto 1, I told myself I was going to dedicate this season to Caleb Moore and I know he was definitely with me through all of it. I can’t thank everyone who has ever had a part of my racing enough, especially my parents they have been there for me every step of the way and I will never be able to repay them.”

As the rain stopped and the gate dropped for moto 1, it was MotoSport.com Motoworks DWT’s John Natalie who found the front of the field first and grabbed the first SSi Decals Holeshot Award of the day.

John Natalie

Natalie knew that with the wet track conditions, getting out front and finding a comfortable lead were important and that is just what he did as pulled a five second gap between himself and the rest of the field as he started into the second lap of the moto. Natalie went on to capture the first checkers of the day taking the moto 1 win.

“I was able to get out front and really ride my own race out there. I knew the start was going to be the most important part of the race and really focused on coming out of that first turn at the front,” says Natalie. “My team has worked hard all season long on getting my machine to where it needed to be to be out front and I couldn’t thank them enough for all the hard work everyone has put into it.”

Recently crowned 2013 champion Chad Wienen came out of the first turn in second and after hitting some mud, lost control of the bike in the first lap and fell back into third. The Wienen Motorsports SSi Walsh Yamaha presented by Maxxis Tires & Team Vollmer rider moved back into second before the end of the first lap and kept the position until the end of moto 1. Brown came out of the first turn inside the top five, eventually moving into second on the opening lap as a result of Wienen’s misfortunte. However, Brown experienced a crash at the end of the first lap, where he lost a few positions. Despite a shake up, Brown kept his momentum to finish third in the first moto.

Chad Wienen

Baldwin Motorsports PEP Upperman Racing’s Josh Upperman came out of the first turn just inside the top ten. Upperman proved he had the endurance to move up through the field and was able to find his way into fourth by the halfway point in the moto. Upperman continued to push and was able to close the gap between him and third to only four seconds when he crossed the finish line in fourth. BCS Can-Am rider Josh Creamer, the 2010 National Champion, also got off to a rough start in moto 1. With less than ideal track conditions, the morning’s fastest qualifier came out of the holeshot just inside the top ten and like Upperman, had to work his way through the field. With four laps to go, Creamer was able to move into fifth and secure a top five finish for moto 1.

Corrosion Hetrick Racing’s Joel Hetrick got stuck in the first turn and didn’t check in until eleventh place at the end of the first lap. Hetrick had his work cut out for him but was able to make the most passes in moto 1 and salvaged a sixth place finish for moto 1.

Jeffrey Rastrelli finished just outside the top five for the day, securing a seventh place finish for his JB Racing Cheerwine team. Rastrelli started inside the top five in moto 1 but the Florida native experienced a mechanical issue that ultimately slowed his pace.

Jeffrey Rastrelli

Everyone was out for the win as the gate dropped for moto 2 but it was Creamer who had the jump and grabbed the last SSi Decals Holeshot Award of 2013. Creamer didn’t hold the lead for long as Brown railed the outside berm in the second turn and moved into the first place position. Brown continued to gain some distance between him and the rest of the field. And despite pressure from behind, Brown was able to take the checkers and his first overall win of his pro career.

Wienen came out of the holeshot in second and along with Creamer lost a position to Brown when he passed the two of them in the second turn. Wienen went on and was able to make a pass on Creamer before the halfway point in the moto. With Wienen sitting in second, he set his sights on the leader and began to close the gap. Wienen was less than a second behind Brown with one lap to go and the two nearly crossed the checkers at the same time, but Brown had the advantage. With a 2-2 for the day, Wienen took second overall for the day.

Hetrick got a much better start to moto 2 and sat just inside the top five. Hetrick was unable to make any advances through the field until after the halfway point when he passed Creamer for the third place position. Hetrick took his second consecutive third place overall for the season.

Joel Hetrick

Creamer was able to maintain the fourth place position for the remainder of moto 2. With his 4-5 finish Creamer left Round 9 with fourth overall for the day and was able to secure third place overall in the championship points. Upperman sat in the fifth place position at the end of the first lap. Although he was unable to make any advances on the field his fifth place finish in moto 2 secured him a top five overall finish for the day.

Tyler Hamrick secured the Rookie of the Year Award after going 10-10 for the day and finishing tenth overall aboard his Baldwin Motorsports PEP-backed machine. Hamrick was the highest finishing rookie in the championship points chase securing tenth place overall for the season.

Loretta Lynn’s Dirt Days National2013 ATV Motocross Pro Class Final Standings
Pos.RiderATVMotosPos.RiderATVPoints
1.Thomas BrownYamaha3 – 11.Chad WienenYamaha454 (8 wins)
2.Chad WienenYamaha2 – 22.Thomas BrownYamaha391 (1 win)
3.Joel HetrickHonda6 – 33.Josh CreamerCan-Am358
4.Josh CreamerCan-Am5 – 44.Joel HetrickHonda332 (1 win)
5.Josh UppermanHonda4 – 55.John NatalieHonda332
6.Jeffrey RastrelliCan-Am7 – 66.Josh UppermanHonda323
7.John NatalieHonda1 – 187.Nick DeNobleSuzuki252
8.Nick DeNobleSuzuki9 – 88.Jeffrey RastrelliCan-Am250
9.Casey MartinHonda8 – 119.Joe ByrdHonda206
10.Tyler HamrickHonda10 – 1010.Tyler HamrickHonda195
ATV.com Staff
ATV.com Staff

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