Hello, I am on my way home from having a wonderful weekend in Hampton, Virginia. This weekend was the first time any of my family had a chance to come out to the races and watch me in action. It was really fun to have them there. I have one sister, Naomi that lives in Richmond, Virginia with her two sons Elijah and Jonah, so my Mom and another one of my sisters Tiffany took the opportunity and flew out to Virginia with me. It was perfect because we don’t get to Virginia all that often to see them so me having a race there gave everyone a chance to get together. But this weekend was not only a weekend of having fun with the fam; it was a weekend that brought some major changes to our series.
Hampton, Virginia was our 8 th out of 10 rounds of the Toyota National AMA Arenacross series, so we are getting down to the wire when it comes to points. The riders came out ready to race. After last weekend in Guthrie with the Supercross style track, the track almost looked miniature. It was back to the tight racing and tight turns of what we are used to on the Arenacross series.
On Friday, I brought my nephews to the track early so we could walk around and see everything, they are 9 and 11 so they were in heaven. I had the chance to introduce them to some riders before the races, so they could have some riders they knew to cheer for. They were so excited.
It was definitely colder than Oklahoma last week, but not too cold. The qualifiers were leaving some pretty deep ruts in the track, making it virtually impossible to ride the same line twice. The mains were going to be challenging because they have twice as many laps to do in one race, but that is what makes Motocross what it is… the challenge of outsmarting the track.
It was a night to remember. The Lites class took off out of the start gate, down the straight away, and left through the whoops, it was a very different design than any other track we have had this year. Shawn Clark did not get a great start, making it difficult at first to get in some passes. But Jimmy Chester was dominating this track, he was on fire! Shawn finally caught up and was giving it his all battling back and forth with Chester for the lead. Shawn’s bike had a little stall giving Chester the chance to really take off. Shawn was way behind but he was passing people left and right. Jimmy Chester finished in 1 st, Roy Horton got 2 nd, and Shawn Clark made it back up to 3 rd. It was a good race!
The Arenacross class charged out of the gate and into the first turn with an incredible start. The riders up front were fighting to get to their position, and were fighting to keep them. There was a ton of passing, and tire-to-tire action. Brock got out in front and had a really good lead in front of the other riders. Kevin Johnson and Jeff Northrop were putting in an aggressive passing race against each other, it got pretty pushy back and forth, Jeff pushed Kevin and Kevin almost fell, Kevin came back and passed Jeff unfortunately Jeff fell, but that is racing. Brock was still leading, but the fall with Northrop gave Chad Johnson a chance to get in 2 nd. Kevin took over 3 rd and it remained that way for the rest of the race, Brock Sellards 1 st, Chad Johnson 2 nd, and Kevin Johnson in 3 rd.
Saturday morning we were early to rise, and headed out to Virginia Beach to do some shopping and tourist stuff. It only took about 30min to get there, and the weather was beautiful. As we walked up to the beach we saw some people with a camera, then we looked closer and there was a whale in the water. It was so amazing! I have never seen a whale in real life, unless Seaworld counts… We took pictures and looked for shells. It was a wonderful day, the time flew by and we all headed back to get to the races.
It was going to be a good night because the line was backed up with race fans ready to watch some racing as I sat and signed autograph after autograph. I was almost late for opening ceremonies because the line for my autograph was so long. I promised everyone that I would be back right after opening ceremonies to sign again and went running downstairs to the track. Tim Cotter and I jumped inside our ’06 Black Toyota Tacoma and off we were to start the show.
The seats were packed and the crowd screamed when the lights went out. It was a good way to start the night. After the race on Friday the gap in points with our top 5 riders changed dramatically. Would Brock win again tonight to make less than 10 points separating the top two riders? Did Kevin Johnson and Jeff Northrop put last night behind them? Would Chad be back to his normal self and dominate the track? What was going to happen? All would be revealed by about 10:30pm.
The dirt on the track was a lot drier and was holding up better than Friday night. The Lites class began in a huge clump, Jimmy Chester and Shawn Clark were going to battle, but someone’s bike hit Shawn’s and his rear wheel got thrown into the bank on the right and gave him a good jolt. He didn’t crash but after about 30 yards he stopped and had to sit down. He got the wind knocked out of him really bad. So Jimmy Chester was leading the race and never gave it up, he was riding very strong.
Jimmy Chester came out on top with his second 1 st of the weekend, Roy Horton got his second 2 nd of the weekend and Josh Schmitt got 3 rd. They all rode an awesome race! The gates dropped and the Arenacross class flew down the straight away, Brock came out of turn one in the lead, Kevin Johnson and Jeff Northrop were not too far behind. Chad was caught behind a couple of people making it hard for him to be on the gas. Kevin Johnson was coming up strong right behind Brock Sellards; it was going to be a very interesting race. Kevin was trying to close the gap and he would get really close every time, but it wasn’t enough. Jeff Northrop raced around putting in a very mistake free race. But neither of them could stop Brock Sellards, Brock knew that if he could get this win he would be one step closer to his Arenacross Championship, and a brand new Toyota Truck. Brock did what he came out to do and won all weekend, Kevin Johnson ended up in 2 nd despite his fastest lap time, and Jeff Northrop was back on the box in 3 rd. Chad Johnson ended up in 4 th not getting on the podium, which definitely mixes things up quite a bit for our points overall.
Virginia was the 8 th round in the season, and we are rapidly reaching the end. This weekend was full of defining moments for all the riders. Chad Johnson is still the point’s leader by 7 points; he knows that if he doesn’t win the next four races over Brock he will not get the Arenacross Championship, that he has been working so hard for. Brock knows just about the same thing, he can smell the Championship, and he must win to get it. Kevin Johnson is a little frustrated also, he has had the fastest lap time almost every weekend, and he knows he needs to figure out a way where he can tie in his fastest lap time with the win. All these riders have been riding so strong this year it is sad for me to think it is almost over. But these next two weekends will definitely be really exciting races. With the Championship so close to these riders, they are going to be putting in some really intense racing.
I had such a wonderful time in Virginia; it was so great to have my family there to see what I do all these weekends. They are all so proud, but my nephews were a little jealous of all the kisses I was giving away. Both of them are out to protect me now, they said that if anyone hurts me they will make sure that they wished they never met me! So watch out! Well I wish everyone a safe week. We will be back next week in Elvis’s town of Memphis, TN. Until next week, be safe, ride strong and don’t forget to smile.
XOX
Ashley Miss Ax
