Happy New Year and welcome back race fans! I just had an amazing weekend in Dallas, Texas. What a way to kick off the second half of the season! The sun was shining, the weather was beautiful and the racers were nervous and excited to start up the series again. I had not been to Dallas since last October for the poster photo shoot. I was happy to be back, I love Texas. We held the races in downtown Dallas at the Reunion Center, a fairly large arena with a big floor. So there was plenty of room for the perfect Arenacross track.

As well as previous events, I had some promotions to do to help get fans involved and excited for the show. This was the most interesting set of promotions I have done to date. Early Friday morning I went to the radio station 102.1 KZPX, but I really never know what to expect from those crazy morning show people anyway! Mondo, Jagger, Dean and Jasmine were the hosts, they were fun! Much to my surprise they put me on their version of the dating game. Three callers called in and I had to ask them questions, most regarding Arenacross and dirt bikes but some were personal questions. So the lucky winner, whom I got to choose, won 4 tickets to Saturday’s races, the chance to do the 10 second board for one of the qualifiers and also a date with yours truly the Miss Arenacross, WHAT A LUCKY MAN!!! I could not believe it, but it was a great promotion, it was so funny to hear these guys, all of the answers were hysterical! I had a ton of comments all weekend from fans at the races asking me about my date. So there was definitely a lot of people listening to the show and it was successful in promoting the races.

During opening ceremonies I had little butterflies in my tummy, like it was my first day again. It had been a month since I had been out there, and I was anticipating how intense the riders were going to be in 2006. I knew they all had been off about a month training, resting, enjoying time with their loved ones, and preparing to get back on the road with the series. I had no idea what to expect.

The track was a larger track and seemed to be fairly tricky, to me and I didn’t even know what it is like on a dirt bike, the whoops were huge, and the rhythm section seemed hard to triple, and the racers came out on fire! The Lites class came around the first turn on fire, and it never stopped till the end. Shawn Clark was cracking open his Unbound Energy Drink while excepting the first place trophy, Jimmy Neese was not far behind receiving second, and coming in third was Kody Molitor.

The next race we had was the Arenacross class, which Chad Johnson has been dominating for the first half of the series, he had great lap times and it looked like he was right where we left off back in Rockford. But, we have been off for about a month and things could change. Chad came out strong, and received the hole shot with no problems; he was in front for most of the race with Brock Sellards, Jeff Northrop and Kevin Johnson not too far behind. It was an exciting race! Brock and Chad were putting on a good show; Brock got close a couple times but couldn’t pass Chad. Soon Brock saw the perfect pass and did it; he got in front of Chad and took off. Brock came in on top for his second win of the season, Chad was right there behind receiving second place, and Jeff Northrop was back on the podium with third. This race was a prime example of what Arenacross is really like. What a race!

Saturday was the big day, not only for the riders but also for me. I had a big date. We met at Hooters at 5, his name was Derick, he got to bring 4 friends and they got pit passes and tickets to the race. It was really warm outside which was such a good change compared to Rockford where it was non-stop snow all Saturday.

Our attendance on Saturday was also huge, there were very few seats open in the crowd. They were fired up too! Everyone was curious to see if Brock would be able to beat Chad again in the main or if it would be a repeat of Charlotte. First, we had the Lites class where Shawn Clark has taken the majority of the wins. He has been riding hard and it has been paying off! The Lites class was exciting while Shawn Clark and Jimmy Neese battled with each other for the win, going back and forth. It was tire to tire racing and Shawn finished on top for the second night in a row in Dallas, Jimmy Nesse had an awesome race coming in second, followed by Roy Horton in third. The AMA Arenacross main followed, Chad Johnson put in quite the race for the qualifier crashing and being in the back of the pack and coming all the way up to get qualified. The bikes were on the line and the entire crowd got on their feet. The gate dropped and out in front was Zach Ames receiving the holeshot, and just behind him was Scott Metz. Brock and Chad both were a little ways back. It was an exciting race. Brock passed his teammate Jeff Northrop and came up to Zach Ames, passed him and took the lead. Chad was also moving up in placement, but it wasn’t enough. Brock brought home First place for the second time in Dallas with his teammate Jeff Northrop in second, and Chad Johnson receiving third.

Dallas was such a fun city, I had the chance to get out and see the downtown area, and I loved it! Although I was very sick with strep throat, I couldn’t stay inside all day with the weather being in the 70’s. So Dallas was the perfect way to kick off the second half of our season. If this weekend was just a preview for the races to follow, get ready! I learn more and more about Arenacross every weekend and have more and more fun. I didn’t think I was going to miss it as much as I did on our time off. Now we have a lot more races to look forward to in the next two months and I cannot wait! Who will take the title? All will be revealed in time! We will be back in Baltimore next weekend, so it won’t be too long. Hopefully I will be 100% healthy and back to normal. Until next time, be safe, ride hard, and smile always!

XOX,
Ashley
Miss Arenacross