Chad Wienen and Beau
Baron continue to dominate the Pro ranks of their respective series, with big
wins for both riders last weekend, while Brad Riley won the latest round of the
Extreme Dirt Track Nationals.
Wienen took his sixth
straight victory in the ATV Motocross National Championships, and Baron won a
fifth consecutive victory at round six of WORCS. Round eight of ATV MX was held
July 12 in
New Berlin, NY. Round six of WORCS ATV was held July 13-14 in Pala,
CA; and round five of the EDT Nationals was
held July 13 in
Busco Beach, NC.
Wienen, whose win was
his seventh overall for the season, gained the lead in the opening lap of the
first moto and held it through the finish line. In the second moto, he was
second early on in the race and held that position as well, going 1-2 to take
the overall victory. "The start was critical this weekend, and my RZRs hooked
up great off the line to give me two second-place starts," said Wienen. "The
conditions were a little rocky and hooked up all day. The cross fronts worked
great together with my RZR MX rears to provide enough traction when needed and
break loose when I wanted them to. At Unadilla flats are very common, but not
with a Maxxis mounted up."
Wienen's teammate Thomas
Brown also did well, going 5-4 for fourth place overall. Maxxis' sponsored
rider Josh Upperman got the holeshot in the first moto and was 6-5 for fifth
overall. Upperman and Brown spent much of the first moto in a running battle
for fifth, trading places throughout the race. Nick Denoble also did well,
going 7-6 for sixth place. Wienen and Brown are first and second in points for
the series.
Baron won the lead in the
sixth lap of the WORCS race after a mid-pack. He was joined on the podium by teammate
David Haagsma, who took second place. The two riders are also first and second
in the series' points race.
"Other guys had to
change tires because the rocks were just wearing tires out," said Baron. "It
was so rocky up on the top, with jagged and round rocks, just beating up wheels
and tires. But the [RZR] XCs held up awesome. I had no issues."
A Maxxis rider also made
the podium in the Side-by-Side Pro Production class when Ryan Piplic took
second place. Piplic is second in the class points race behind Baron, who suffered
a mechanical DNF in the class at round six. David Haagsma won the SxS
Production 700 race at Pala.
Riley, who is third in
EDT Nationals' Pro points, won both the Pro and Pro-Am Unlimited races and took
third place in the Pro Am event. "The track was a little one-lined, but the
tires worked really good," Riley said. "Everyone was burning tires up, but ours
were holding up really well and just hooking up. All around, I had the hookup
with the RZR TTs."
Maxxis riders Daryl Rath
and Kirby Cooke also made the round five Pro top ten, with Rath in sixth place
and Cooke in tenth. Cooke also took second place in the Pro Am Unlimited class,
with Rath in eighth place.