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COPYRIGHT 2004 Ehlert Publishing Group
Walking through the Pro pits at the High Point MX race was like a dream. There were people--little kids to grandparents--standing in line. These people weren't lined up to buy ice cream from the track vendors, and they weren't lined up for the restrooms. They were waiting in line for autographs from the Pro-class riders. This feels so far from what the sport was just a year ago.
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We knew if ATV racing could get even factory and manufacturer acknowledgement, let alone support, the sport would grow considerably. With the impressive rig supplied by Suzuki for Doug Gust's race effort (if you haven't seen it, get to a race and check it out), and the Factory Honda guys talking to racers about TRX450R performance, ATV racing has grown more than we dared dream in a year's time.
As excited as we are about fans clamoring to get shirts and posters signed by Kory Ellis, Tim Farr, Gust and all the other blue-plated riders, we know that's not what you're here to read about. You want the gritty details of the race. We hear you, we just wanted to give props to the growth of our favorite sport.
High Point, unfortunately, was not all happiness and sunshine. At Round 9, a couple of racers suffered serious injuries. Nate Frees, in the Production Pro-Am race, had some issues with a downhill jump and tumbled off his bike and landed in a ravine. He broke five vertebrae and had internal bleeding, and was taken to the hospital by helicopter. As if that wasn't bad enough, a few hours later another helicopter circled the area and took Mike Brown, who races the Production B and 16-24 classes, to the hospital. Brown was separated from his quad on a steep downhill double. He hit the ground and then his quad landed on his legs, breaking both his femurs. We wish both racers, and any others that were injured, a speedy recovery.
Pro Moto 1
As engines revved and the starting gate dropped, a scramble for the holeshot ensued. That's nothing new, of course, but the pileup before the first turn was a bit out of the ordinary. Tim Farr, who was the unfortunate recipient of the last gate pick, was on the final gate to the far left. As he approached the first turn, he pushed his Honda to the right and clipped the back of Jeremiah Jones' quad. Jones' YFZ went tumbling end over end, Farr hit the ground, and Joe Byrd got tangled in the mess.
The crews of the entangled parties focused on getting the three quads untangled as Jones tried to wake up Farr, who had been knocked out for a brief moment. Farr eventually got up, but then slumped back down to the ground. Things didn't look good for the Honda rider. Then, he miraculously got up, started his quad, shook his head a little to get...
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