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Miss Arenacross Lindsey - Highland Heights
Lindsey Scheltema
03/23/09
Hey Guys!!
Wow. Our season came, and now its over. I can?t
believe it! I love the AMA Arenacross Series. I love the family
atmosphere. I love all the people I work with, the riders and their
mechanics and team managers are all fabulous and I love every single
person on our circuit. We have all become so close it's going to be
really hard to not see them all the time. It?s what I?ve really come to
love about the AMA Arenacross Series, the loving, caring family
atmosphere.
I had to write about the race Friday night. I
usually write my column on Sunday, but this week I couldn?t wait to
recap because so much happened tonight; I don?t want to forget any of
the action. Today was a very long day, and now it's even later,
actually Saturday morning. I went into Cincinnati early this morning
for a radio interview with WEBN and then went to Insight cable for a TV
interview. It was really cool because the guy that interviewed me
really did his homework before I came in. We had a lot of fun, and we
actually talked about my favorite book; Mind Gym by Gary Mack. It is an
amazing motivational book that really gets me excited and pumped up.
It's a great book if your struggling with being mentally prepared
before races, or having doubts. After that I went back to my hotel and
took a little nap because I knew we would be having a big night. The
racing was out of this world. The track was so cool, the whoops were
giving the majority of the riders a tough time, and it definitely
separated the men from the boys. We even had a couple of first turn
pile ups, which was unfortunate for the riders that were involved in
those! We wrapped up and crowned 2 champions tonight. We crowed the new
2009 AX champion and also the Midwest Regional AX Lites champion! In
the heat races, there was a lot of carnage, a lot of good starts, a lot
of riders that pulled away right away, and a lot of riders who just
couldn?t catch a break. Kevin Johnson, Tyler Bright, Nathan Skaggs and
Jeff Gibson were the riders that had great starts and never looked back
all the way to the checkers. A lot of riders ended up having to go into
the LCQ, like Tyler Medaglia and Jim Neese but they both made it into
the main events.
During one of our intermissions, we did
another MMI Mechanics challenge where 4 mechanics had to race and see
who could change the rear wheel on their bikes the fastest. That's a
really fun time and it's good to get the mechanics out from their pits
and get recognized for their hard work. In the AX lites main, we had
one of those really bad first turn pileups like I mentioned earlier.
Only 6 riders made it out of that untouched, and Dave Ginolfi was one
of them. He was flying, and actually was crowned the Midwest regional
AX lites champion! He was riding really well, as well as Cory Green who
was right behind him keeping him honest. Kevin Johnson was in third for
a while, riding very good, but unfortunately fell, which caused him a
podium finish. We had 2 GPF babbittsonline teammates that were up in
the pack too, Tyler Medaglia and Kyle Brown, both who had to race the
LCQ which caused them to have back row starts. In the second to last
turn, it was Cory Green who was winning, Tyler Medaglia who was in
second, and Ginolfi and Brown were battling for third. Poor Ginolfi
ended up crashing out, with 2 turns left, and couldn?t even start his
bike, which made Kyle Brown the third place finisher and his first time
on the podium this season! Tough break for Ginolfi, he was having a
really good ride but he still received the championship, he had enough
points to secure the win even though he did not finish. It was
certainly a crazy race!
The AX main event, wow, was an amazing
way to finish off our night of racing. It was incredible, bar-banging
action from the gate drop to the checkers. Jeff Gibson grabbed the
holeshot, but let me tell you, Nathan Skaggs was certainly keeping him
honest. They ended up pulling away from everyone else and had a little
race of their own. Chad Johnson was in third, battling with Josh
Demuth. There were so many good little battles going on out of the
track it was so hard to pay attention! Michael Willard then about
halfway through the race came from out of no where and was up there
with Chad and Josh and was riding very good. It ended up that Skaggs,
the turn before the finish stalled his bike and that gave Chad Johnson
second place and Josh Demuth followed close behind in third and Michael
Willard took home 4th. Jeff Gibson was the happiest person in the arena
this whole night, I swear! He was so pumped, because he won the main
event, rode a very consistent, smooth race, and was crowned the 2009 AX
champion! It was a very exciting night and smiles were everywhere. It
was such a fun night, but also bittersweet in a way because we wrapped
up our last championships for 2009, and we only have tomorrows race
left , then were done for the season already!
I?ll write more tomorrow after the races are done, but for now I have to catch up on sleep!
How
bittersweet. Last night was so amazing, but so sad. I won't lie, a
couple of tears were shed on the podium last night, and we have all
become so close. What a great action packed night to end the season
though let me tell you. It all started off with our opening ceremonies.
We did the usual top 10 rundown, but this time we ended up with our NEW
2009 AX champion, Jeff Gibson! Jayme (director of AX) presented the
trophy to Jeff, and I swear, I have never seen a smile that big before.
He was so pumped and ecstatic. The heat races were great; Matt Cottrill
had a great race as well as Cory Green. In the AX class, Keith Johnson
won his race as well as Nathan Skaggs taking the other heat race win.
After the heat races and LCQ?s we did another MMI mechanics challenge-
and this time Chad won (Keith Johnson?s mechanic). They were all
charging and really racing hard to change their rear wheel the fastest.
The Lites main event was spectacular. Jim Neese got off to a
really good start, but Tyler Bright was certainly keeping him honest.
It was so intense. They were tire on tire on top of each other. Right
behind them a couple of bike lengths back was another battle between
Justin Berry and Kevin Johnson. Before I forget I wanted to tell you
guys that the track crew did change up the track a little bit for the
Saturday night race. They made the whoops a little more round and it
made for the riders to easily blitz them or jump through them. The
track was super fast this weekend. The riders were pumping out 20
second lap times. Also in the rhythm section, they made it so the
riders could either triple in and double out of double in and triple
out. They made some very appropriate changes and the riders were very
pleased with the changes. Anyways, back to the race! So in the end, Jim
Neese took the last lites main win of the season, Tyler Bright finished
right behind him and Justin Berry grabbed the third place finish.
Alright, in the AX main, WOW. Brock Sellards got an awesome holeshot,
but unfortunately with all the mass chaos got taken out before the
catapult. So, Michael Willard took over right alongside him was Josh
Demuth who became our new leader. Josh and Michael were out front, with
Jeff Gibson following them. Gibson ended up getting around Willard and
so it was the 2 team mates out in 1 and 2. Willard was in third place
and Zach Ames was putting an awesome ride to end the season! I was so
impressed with him and his performance. Tough break for Chad Johnson,
he was having bike problems all weekend and ended up just having to
roll around the track to prevent the bike from blowing up and over
heating. At least he got to finish, and got some points, but not enough
to grasp 2nd place overall. So in the end, Josh Demuth took him the
last win of the season, Jeff Gibson got second and Michael Willard took
home the last podium position. It was such a great race, so many
battles, and so much aggression. It was such a good weekend. A lot of
the riders' families were able to come out, the majority of our AX
riders are actually from the Ohio (Midwest) area. My parents were able
to drive down from Michigan to watch the race and I was so happy to
have them there.
All in All, it was a great season. I am SO sad
to see it ending, but next year will come sooner then we think! I'm
excited to get back on my bike, and tear up the tracks myself! I won't
let you guys down! Maybe I'll be able to keep you guys updated somehow!
But thank you all for your support and love that you show for the AMA
Arenacross Series. It truly is an amazing sport and I am blessed to be
a part of it. I also want to say thanks to all of our AX family who
works behind the scenes. We all work so well together, and I know
Kaitlynn, Lisa, and Laura have been keeping you updated at home with
the live updates and I think that it is so fantastic and such a great
idea that came out! I don't know what to say, I guess I?ll end with,
until next time.
Much Love-
Lindsey- Miss AX
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