The last weekend of July marked the penultimate round of the 2012 AMA ATV National championship series at Red Bud in Buchanan, Michigan. Pro Am rookie Cody Janssen’s objectives for the weekend: move into 3rd in Pro Am Unlimited points, and finish in the top 5 in Pro Am Production. “This is my favorite track, I’ve been waiting for this one all year!” Cody said. “Top 3 in Unlimited points is where I belong. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to finish the season there, and I think this track could really help me put myself in position to finish top 3.”
As always, Pro Am Unlimited is raced on Saturday. Friday’s rain made the track picture perfect going into moto 1 on Saturday. Janssen started outside the top 5 but quickly found himself in 4th. After making the pass on Sean Taylor for 3rd, he was making up time on the 1st and 2nd place riders before a clutch failure caused him to DNF. After fixing the issue, Cody made an appearance in the LCQ, which he won. With a terrible 17th gate pick in moto 2, Janssen knew he was probably going to have to make his way from the back of the pack. Long story short, the rookie started outside the top 15 and finished 5th. 5th in moto 2, for 7th overall, is not a bad finish for someone coming from the LCQ. Cody is now in 3rd in point with one race to go in Pro Am Unlimited.
“I feel good about today!” Cody said early Sunday morning about the Pro Am Production motos to come later in the day. Cody qualified a very solid 3rd in the morning’s timed qualifying sessions, making him very confident going into moto 1. He would get a terrible start in the 1st moto, but would eventually move in the 7th place spot and almost got up to 5th or 6th with a near photo finish at the end. Moto 2 came and the track was the roughest one they had seen all year. As a result of a first turn pile up, the #25 rider would cross the finish line after the 1st lap in 16th position. He used every lap of the 15 minute plus 2 lap race to move up to 5th place which would score him an overall 5th on the day. “Overall it was a great weekend for me.” Cody said. “Saturday was a missed opportunity but to salvage 7th and move into 3rd on the day, I can’t complain…Pro Am Production went very well too. 5th overall, coming from nearly last in both motos, running top 3 lap times, and still making moves at the end of races, that’s a great day in my opinion.” Lastly, Cody felt like he must add that the reason he believes he had an exceptional weekend was his phenomenal suspension from Elka. “The rougher the track got, the better my bike worked. No questions asked, Elka had the best suspension at the track this weekend, and I think it showed when I passed people almost every lap in the whoop section. I’m just lucky to be a part of the Elka Suspension family.” See you in Tennessee for round 10, God bless.