Posted August 27, 2007

Pat Brown wins inaugural AMA Pro ATV Open at Steel City

Yamaha's Patrick Brown took his first-ever win at the first-ever AMA Pro ATV Open at Steel City Raceway in Delmont, Pennsylvania on August 25.

Twenty hand-picked invitations went out for this one-off event, adding fuel to fire for Round 10 of the AMA Toyota Motocross Championships, presented by FMF. The level of commitment by the Pro ATV racers astounded even the pro motocrossers, and once the four-wheelers started flooring the uphill triples, the stage was set for a jaw-dropping event.

Brown picked the closest gate to the starting box, which soon came in handy. When the gate dropped, Brown and Travis Spade blasted into the first corner, the two Yamahas almost touching side-by-side for the $500 ATVriders.com holeshot award.

Brown had the line on the inside by a hair, and the 199 machine never looked back. Travis Spader held second over the sea of yellow Suzukis ridden by Doug Gust and Chad Wienen. Brown busted out with an eight-second lead after the first lap, clearly running away from the battle behind him. Gust and Wienen passed Spader, and the two battled until Wienen finally made the pass stick and made a quick getaway.

Brown stayed smooth, gauging his lead over Wienen, and turning the fastest lap of the race with a 2:18.123 on lap two, followed by the hard-charging Wienen who put down a 2.19.911 on lap three. Brown boasted a 10-second lead by the white flag, completely out of sight from the pack, and flattened the field at the first-ever AMA Pro ATV Open Invitational.

"It's amazing," Brown said on the podium. "I came out here and wanted it real bad. I put my heart to it and got it done.

"I got my bad luck out of the way at the last couple of rounds. Hopefully I can carry this momentum into next season. I’m just stoked."

Suzuki riders Wienen and Gust rounded out the podium.

"Special thanks to the AMA for inviting us," Wienen said. "It’s a great opportunity. I can’t thank them enough for letting us come here. I feel we put on a pretty good show and hopefully we can do it again next year."

"The track was great," Gust said. "I got a decent start; I think I came out third or something. The second lap, I cased about every jump out there. I got my wits together and started riding smooth. I’m happy with third."

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