Wimmer currently holds a small lead over second place and a large lead over third but can his early winning streak keep him in the top three till he recovers?
Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki/Yoshimura factory rider Dustin Wimmer was injured during a test session at the track "A Place To Ride" in Monroe, GA this past week, putting him out of commission for the next several weeks, and allowing new riders to take over his lead position in the 2009 AMA Pro ATV MX Championship.
"I got ejected from the bike and landed on my right shoulder," Wimmer said in an interview on the Quad Off-Road Magazine website at www.quad.transworld.net. "I got up pretty quickly and I started moving my arms and legs to make sure nothing was hurt and when I looked at my right arm, it moved weird and I immediately knew something was wrong. When I went to grab my shoulder through my jersey, I could feel that my shoulder was about five inches from where it should be. I could feel the hole in my socket where my shoulder should have been. I could tell it was dislocated pretty bad."
Wimmer said he hoped to be back after this weekend's Sunset Ridge MX, but he could be out of competition anywhere from six to eight weeks, leaving the door open for the competition to grab his championship, especially if he misses more than one round of racing.
Joe Byrd, the 2006 and 2007 AMA Pro Motocross Series' Champion from Union City, Tennessee broke Wimmer's winning streak with his victory at Ballance MX, proving he has what it takes to beat Wimmer at his best. Byrd is only six points behind Wimmer in the point standings, so a solid finish at Sunset Ridge could catapult him over Wimmer to take the lead. Josh Creamer, of the Monster Energy Kawasaki team, took second at Glen Helen and, suffered a hard crash at the race in Alabama, improved to come in fourth at Ballance MX but struggled at Birch Creek to come in eighth. He is still third in the point standings but is almost 60 points behind Byrd and Wimmer. Creamer's teammate Chad Wienen improved at Ballance MX, carrying solid 2-2 moto scores and then won his first moto of the season at Birch Creek. With another win, he could move up into championship contention. 2005 Champion John Natalie has moved up to fifth in the standings, coming in with consistent fourth place finishes at Birch Creek. In addition, nationally-recognized stars including veteran Doug Gust, Jeremy Lawson, Josh Upperman, Pat Brown and a crop of hard charging rookies will make up a full gate of talent in the AMA Pro ATV Class.
