The first round of the 2005 ATVA Grand National Championship (GNC) series kicked off with round one at Glen Helen National Speedway in California. This was the series' second year out in California and won't be the last time. With all of the traffic from the East coast plus everyone from the West coast, it was a huge turn-out, with about five-hundred entries.

The weather forecast for the weekend was supposed to look good - unfortunately it wasn’t. Friday during practice it was windy; luckily Saturday it cleared up. By Sunday it was scattered showers throughout the day. But the series of unfortunate weather wouldn’t keep these dedicated riders from trying to take home the win for their class.

There were 27 classes scheduled to race, plus the Pro race. There were also tons of qualifiers for the classes with larger turn-outs which were ran on Saturday. The classes range from beginner to pro and separated from two- and four-stoke classes, to just four-stroke . There are classes for everyone from mini classes for five year olds to senior classes for forty years old.

Most people really liked the track and the lay-out and said that the Glen Helen crew did a great job making if quad-friendly. Honda factory rider Tim Farr really liked the lay-out of the track. He said that it was a lot better from the previous year, and he also liked having the idea of the part of the track that just the Pros race on. He said that when all the amateurs ride on the track, by the time the Pros get on it, its really beat up so it was nice to have the part of the track that was still groomed - plus it made the track a little bit longer.

On the other hand, fellow Pro racer Pat Brown # 199, and Julie Russell # 7, running the Women’s A class, both thought that the track was really muddy because of the rain when it came to their race on Sunday, but still liked the lay-out.

A few of the local riders to talk about would be Justin Hayward on a Yamaha YFZ 450 # 55, and Dennis Capogni # 8 also on a YFZ, both taking first in their classes for the weekend. Justin Hayward won the Open C class with a 1 -1 finish to take home the title and Dennis Capogni winning the 4-stroke C class with a 1 - 1 finish as well. Both these riders deserve a congratulations for their hard work and dedication to the sport. Of note as well was Sage Baker winning the Pro-Am class running against the top guys like Darrel Patton, and Dana Creech.

Pro Moto 1 - Tim Farr # 4 grabbed the hole-shot for the first moto, followed by factory Suzuki riders, #55 Doug Gust and # 12 Keith Little riding his YFZ 450. John Natalie was running in fourth place, after making his way through the pack after a bad start. Gust was still trying to chase down Farr, who was slowly widening up the gap between them. Jeremiah Jones, another factory Suzuki rider, made his way into the fifth spot right behind Natalie. Natalie made his way around Little and Jones followed right behind him. Unfortunately a few laps later, Natalie stated to have some problems and his quad started to smoke and he was forced to lose his spot and ended up mid-pack.

As the top three riders walked away from the rest of the pack, Gust couldn’t make his way away Farr but still managed to take second place and Jeremiah took third.

Pro Moto 2 - Tim Farr was back out front on the hole-shot again, but this time there was a new person towards the front of the pack. Kory Ellis # 53, was putting the pressure on after having some problems in the first moto and finishing near the rear of the pack. Since Glen Helen is Ellis' home track and he won the national here last year, everyone was waiting to see if he could take over the leading position and hold onto it. Doug Gust and teammate Jeremiah Jones followed Ellis close, hoping he would make a mistake. On the sixth lap Gust and Jones got what they were hoping for.

As Ellis jumped into the whoops before climbing to the top of Mount St. Helens, he was tossed sideways and Gust and Jones jumped up to take the second and third place positions, dropping Ellis back to take fourth. Farr took the win for the second moto and the overall for the weekend, putting him in first place for the start of the 2005 GNC season. Doug Gust took second place and Jeremiah Jones sits in third.

After the race I was able to talk with Tim Farr on how he thought he finished. Tim said he was very happy with himself, because last year he won some motos but never took home an overall so it was nice to start off the season with a win. Farr finished 14th last year at Glen Helen and was very happy with his improvement. He wanted to thank all his sponsors for helping him get to the number one position; American Honda, Baldwin Motor sports, PEP, White Brothers, ITP, Douglas Wheels, Alloy Gear, Troy Lee Helmets, Walsh Race craft, CD boots, and everyone else that has helped him out.

A big thanks goes out to everyone who helps sponsor the events, because without them we wouldn’t have any. We all appreciate everything that you do for the sport, and its efforts in trying to get this thing bigger and bigger every year. Good Luck to everyone who is going to attend Round Two of the ATVA GNC series in Lake Whitney, Texas, on February 25, 26, and 27.