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COPYRIGHT 2005 Ehlert Publishing Group
Taking second place at the Moose/ITP GNC MX Nationals is almost as good as winning these days. Since 2004, the majority of Pro-class riders have been fighting for scraps like a mangy dog wandering a dark alley. Last year Doug Gust reigned supreme, winning nine of the 12 races. But this season the tables have turned, and a new rider has turned famine to feast.
John Natalie charted just one victory last season, finishing behind Gust in the overall standings. But things have reversed and fortunes have turned, as Natalie ran off with his sixth victory in seven races this season at Round 9 at Mt. Morris over a sun-soaked Father's Day weekend in southern Pennsylvania.
While Natalie checked out on the field for another overall, his closest competitor Gust was en route to the hospital. Gust hooked a rut early in the second lap of moto 1, sending him flipping off his quad and into a pile of pain. The Suzuki/Yoshimura-backed Gust soon found out he had a torn ACL and a compressed T-7 vertebrae.
With Gust's unfortunate accident, the door was left open for Joe Byrd to pick up the second-place scraps. Byrd tallied two impressive motos for his first podium since winning the '04 finale at Loretta Lynn's. An elated Byrd celebrated with a patented Tennessee holler: "Yeeeeehawww."
MOTO 1, HIGH AND LOW POINTS
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The first moto at High Point started out like the majority of the rounds before it: Natalie pounded out an impressive holeshot. But behind Natalie, things were just getting interesting.
A terrible 19th gate pick for Gust left him fighting for position with a slew of riders, while Tim Farr suffered from a terrible start of his own. Just barely into lap one, Gust collided with K & K's Pat Brown in the air,...
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