Posted August 8, 2007

Batista takes first win at Ozark Mountain

Frank Batista (#13 Honda), Riverdale, California won big at Ozark Mountain ATV Raceway in Ava, Missouri, August 4 in the fifth round of the Duro Extreme Dirt Track ATVA Nationals.

Extremely hot weather did not keep the 327 racers and a large crowd of fans away from the inaugural event for Ozark Mountain. For many fans, this was their first-ever Pro ATV race.

Top qualifiers in the 20-rider field in the Pro class were Mitch Reynolds (#137 Suzuki) Greenbrier, Arkansas, Shane Hitt (#5 Honda) Buchannon, West Virginia, and Harold Goodman (#708 Honda) of Romulus, Michigan with the third-fastest heat.

When the light went green, it was Batista (right) pulling the holeshot and 19 other pros battling for position behind the leader. In the middle of all the excitement in the first turn, points leader Goodman got bumped around pretty hard and fell to seventh place.

Behind Batista was Chuckie Creech (#25 Honda) of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, in second, Hitt in third, Zach Stanley (#132 Honda) of Mocksville, North Carolina, in fourth and Adam Anderson (#112 Yamaha) fifth.

Batista opened up a big lead early on and was not challenged. Lap by lap, the positions behind Batista would change with Reynolds moving all the way up to second. Hitt held on in third, Goodman fourth and Creech fifth.

The current National Championship leaders are Goodman first with 133 points, Hitt second at 114 and Reynolds at 94 points.

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