Joel Hetrick Dominates Loretta Lynn’s Pro ATV MX

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Hurricane Mills, TN (8/14/2016) – The 34th Annual ATV Dirt Days took place today, August 13, at the historic Loretta Lynn Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. This race served as the penultimate round of the 2016 ProX ATV Motocross National Championship (ATVMX) presented by CST Tires, an AMA National Championship.

Loretta Lynn’s – Round 11 – Pro ATV Motocross Podium – Joel Hetrick (1st), David Haagsma (3rd)

With an overcast sky, the track conditions were near perfect once the world’s fastest ATV racers took to the coveted racetrack.

Once the gate dropped signifying the start of Moto 1 it was the Honda rider of Baldwin Motorsports’ John Natalie who jumped out to the early lead and grabbed the SSi Decals Holeshot Award. Natalie was accompanied by SSR Honda/Quadified/Fourwerx’s Wes Lewis and Hetrick.

DWT’s John Natalie jr grabbed the Moto One Holeshot

Jeffrey Rastrelli found trouble in the third turn right before the famed 10 Commandments, while he was followed by Wienen. The pair became tangled and in a standstill. Once they were able to ungroup and restart their quads the duo was in the last two positions.

Jeffrey Rastrelli & Wienen locked wheels a few turns into Moto One, which sent the pair to the back of the pack

Once Hetrick made the pass for the lead, Natalie began to feel pressure from David Haagsma. Natalie put forth his best effort to hold off Haagsma, but he would eventually slide by in the open sweeper turn.

Hetrick claimed the win with a commanding lead of 22 seconds.When Moto 2 was underway, Haagsma claimed the SSi Decals Holeshot Award. By the time they checked into the finish line for the completion of the first lap, Haagsma and Hetrick were in second and third. Hetrick sat in the top spot once the moto reached it halfway point. Once the Pennsylvania native had a clear track he slowly began pulling away from the rest of the field. The battle for third started brewing between Rastrelli and Haagsma. Although Rastrelli was able to make the pass for third Haagsma kept him honest the entire moto even constantly showing a front wheel in a turn.”I feel great that I got to run up in the front for a while in both motos,” said Haagsma. “I had a good battle with Rastrelli in the second moto and I tried to pass him back, but I was just a little too tired. I knew I had the overall for third if I just finished fourth so I just played it safe to get third overall.”By the conclusion of the second 20-minute moto it would be Hetrick reigning victorious once again and standing on the top of the box (1-1), with Haagsma (3-4) rounding out the overall podium. Rastrelli would recover from a dead last start in the first moto for fourth overall (7-3) “My bike worked great all day today,” said Hetrick. “Today really showcased all the hard work with two 20-minute motos in brutal heat and rough track conditions. Everything hooked up awesome for a perfect weekend where I was able to gain some points and I’m ready for the Edge of Summer MX.The ProX ATVMX series takes a month off before the Edge of Summer MX season finale at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort. The inaugural event is set for Friday, September 9, in Mountain Pleasant, Michigan.

DWT’s Joel Hetrick ran away with the Moto One win by a margin of 22 seconds over

By winning both Motos, Joel Hetrick finally closed the points gap down to 16 points on Chad Wienen heading into the twelth and final round at Soaring Eagle