ITP Racers Win Five Classes at Red Bud ATV MX National
OutdoorHub 07.30.14
Team ITP racers won five classes and tallied 16 podiums at round eight of the 2014 Mtn. Dew ATV Motocross National Championship series held at Red Bud Motocross in Buchanan, Mich. ITP-backed side-by-side racers also had great results, earning several wins recently while competing in a few different West Coast racing series.
“Red Bud proved to be a very tough course to conquer, but we came away with five class wins and almost a dozen more podium finishes. We also had three Pro racers in the top 10 and we’re certainly in the chase for the Pro-Am championship after Jeffrey Rastrelli captured second and took over the points lead,” said Pat McGuire, Public Relations / Race Support. “We’ve already wrapped up a couple titles this year and fully expect to capture a few more at the season finale in a couple weeks.”
The Rocky Mountain ATV/MC National was held at the picturesque-but-rough Red Bud Track & Trail facility outside of Buchanan, Mich. The course is known for its challenging, big-air jumps, uphill leaps, gnarly whoops and thrilling ski jump. Twelve Pro class racers and 15 Pro-Am pilots entered the race on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
ITP had four racers competing in the Pro class on Saturday, as Josh Creamer (BCS Performance / Can-Am / ITP), Jeffrey Rastrelli (JB Racing / Cheerwine / Can-Am / ITP), Sean Taylor (Root River Racing / Motowoz / ITP) and Silas Lamons (Jay Huckabey Racing / Suzuki / ITP) gave chase for the win. Creamer and Taylor started Moto 1 in fifth and sixth, respectively, while Lamons and Rastrelli were tucked in ninth and 10th after lap one. Creamer held his fifth-place spot all the way to the checkers. The biggest mover of the moto proved to be Rastrelli, who ended up sixth despite a crash, two spots ahead of Taylor and six ahead of Lamons.
Taylor got the best start of the four ITP-supported Pros in moto two, as he completed lap one in fifth. However, by lap three Rastrelli had moved up to fifth and Creamer into sixth. Taylor dropped two spots and fought hard the rest of the moto to finish in the top 10. At the end of the 10-lap moto, Rastrelli had earned fifth place, Creamer seventh, Taylor 10th and Lamons 11th. Rastrelli’s 6-5 finishes were good for sixth overall. Creamer ended up one spot back, while Taylor earned his second-best finish of the year, taking ninth. Lamons ended up 11th.
Rastrelli had an even better showing in the Pro-Am class on Sunday. The young Florida racer put together a 4-1 scorecard for second overall at Red Bud. Despite missing round one, Rastrelli now has the class points lead heading into the season finale. Fellow ITP-supported racer Ronnie Higgerson (BCS Performance / Can-Am / ITP), who took seventh in the class at Red Bud while racing with a broken tibia, is just four points behind with one round remaining. Taylor, who now has seven consecutive top-five finishes, ended up fifth and is now two points out of third place in the Pro-Am class standings.
Team ITP racers notched five amateur class wins at Red Bud. ITP-supported racer Dylan Tremellen (RRR / Rage ATV / FTR / Motowoz / ITP) won the Production A class and, in the process unofficially captured the class championship. It was his fourth win and sixth podium of the season. Haedyn Mickelson (RRR / ITP) won both the 450 B and Open B classes with 1-1 moto sweeps to move into third place in both classes. The other class victories went to Mike Barnhardt in the Junior 25+ class and Schoolboy Jr. (13-15) racer Grayson Eller.
TEAM ITP – Red Bud ATV MX Podium Finishers
- Pro-Am: Rastrelli (2nd)
- 450 A: Sam Rowe (2nd)
- Open A: William Lloyd (3rd)
- Production A: Dylan Tremellen (WIN, 1-1)
- Women: Megan Manshack (3rd)
- 450 B: Haedyn Mickelson (WIN, 1-1)
- Open B: Mickelson (WIN, 1-1)
- Junior 25+: Mike Barnhardt (WIN, 1-2)
- Vet 30+: Barnhardt (2nd)
- Schoolboy Sr. (14-17): Westley Wolfe (3rd)
- Schoolboy Jr. Open (13-15): Noah Mickelson (2nd), Westley Wolfe (3rd)
- Schoolboy Jr. (13-15): Grayson Eller (WIN, 1-2)
- Schoolgirl (13-17): Maddie Guyer (2nd), Johannah Vossman (3rd)
- 90 Open Jr. (8-11): Taron Liebe (3rd)
The 2014 Mtn. Dew ATV Motocross National Championship Series finale, the Can-Am Dirt Days weekend, is to be held August 9-10, at Loretta Lynn’s Motocross Park in Hurricane Mills, Tenn.
West Coast Update
ITP-supported side-by-side racers recently competed in both the Lucas Oil Regional Off-Road Series and the SRA GP event at Glen Helen Raceway in Southern California, winning five classes.
“We had amazing results recently, earning several wins in a couple different racing series,” said Ryan Edwards, Tech Support Representative / West Coast Race Coordinator. “Cody Rahders won two classes at LORORS, while we had three different class victories at the SRA GP, including the Pro 1000 class overall.”
Round five of LORORS, presented by Kartek, was held at night at Glen Helen. Cody Rahders (Rahders Racing / ITP) piloted his Polaris side-by-sides to wins in both the Production 1000 and Walker Evans Racing RZR classes. Rahders won the Walker Evans (900) class in his XP 900, completing 13 total laps and finishing with a time of 17:43.448. He came out of the gate in fourth, but was in second by lap two and pressing for more. Two laps later, Rahders had taken over the lead and never looked back. He now has five wins and unofficially owns a 22-point lead heading into round six (Sept. 6). In the Production 1000 ranks, Rahders completed 12 laps in 14:29.672 to earn his first win of the year in the class. He’s now just 10 points out of first place. IMG Motorsports / Can-Am / ITP driver John Pacheco finished seventh in the Production 1000 class. IMG Motorsports / ITP racer Sara Price took sixth and Katie Vernola was 10th in the Walker Evans Racing division.
Blake Malgren also kept his LORORS title hopes alive in the Weller Racing SR1 class after earning a solid second-place finish in the class at round five. His best finish of the year now has him sitting roughly 26 points behind the class leader with two rounds left on the schedule. Dragon Fire Racing / ITP racer Ken Benson took fourth.
At the SRA GP, ITP-backed side-by-side pilots scored three total wins at Glen Helen Raceway. Dave Martinez won the Pro 1000 class, Brad Howe scored the 1000 Sportsman class victory and Christy McGuffin earned the win in the 850 Sportsman class.
