Hey race fans! Just when I thought things couldn’t get more intense in Arenacross, we arrived in Denver!! A lot of extreme sports action was taking place in Colorado this weekend. There was the 2007 Winter X Games taking place in Aspen Colorado just about 2 ½ hours outside of Denver, as well as the Toyota AMA Arenacross at the Denver Coliseum. For Arenacross, it was a weekend filled with some hard pack dirt on a very technical race track. Last week we saw Chad Johnson ride with a hurt leg, barely being able to finish the race on Friday and Saturday. He was still favoring the leg, explaining to me that he could not ride at all at home because it was hurting so bad! But we are breaking into the final races of the season, and every point counts in every Main Event meaning that anything could happen. Especially in Arenacross, it is bar to bar nonstop racing action that is going to be a race to the checkered flag in Nashville at the end of February.
As Miss Arenacross, I get the opportunity to interact and promote the event from before it starts until after it is done. I usually do live appearances as well as live radio interviews. The radio station interviews are usually really early in the morning, but I don’t mind because they are always so much fun. On Friday, I was on the local rock station for the KBPI 106.7 morning show, The Locker Room with Willie B and Stout. Willie B actually has his AMA Pro racing license so he was super pumped on the show! We had a lot of fun talking about the races and making predictions for the weekend! It is so much fun getting out there and letting people know how much fun Arenacross really is! I enjoy doing all the Promotions and interacting with all fans and supporters!
The track was a different set up than we have seen all year. The Denver Coliseum has more floor space than the last couple buildings and also had a spot where the bikes went off the floor into the pit area around a single file U-turn. I like mixing it up a bit, so it was good to see a table top section as well as some really big whoops! Also, don’t forget that Denver is known as “The Mile High City” being around 5,600ft. Most these boys are not used to much above sea level, which is just one more thing to think about while out there trying to win a race.
The Lites class was full of local pros giving them a little of a “home turf” advantage, since they were used to the hard pack dirt and the high elevation. However, it did not put a stop to the #480 Cory “booty shaker” Green on his Reynard Modification Honda. His bike was pulling holeshots every race! It was fun to watch! You could tell that Cory Green was getting winded toward the end of the Main Event, but luckily he had given himself enough of a lead to hold onto it the entire time. He was booty shaken’ with his trophy on top of the podium with all smiles and couldn’t say enough good stuff about his bike. Just behind him were two local boys out of Black Forest, CO. In 2 nd was #809 Kyle Calderini and coming in 3 rd was #888 Hunter Meyer. The crowd was so pumped to see their local pros up there on top of the box. It was a good feeling to hear them scream!!
One of the hardest parts about racing is figuring out what adjustments need to be made to your bike in order to work on the track and the environment. It was a trial and error type day for the big bikes. After every practice every mechanic was hard at work adjusting the bike according to the feedback from the rider. The Big bikes were definitely feeling slow in the Mile High city. Our defending Arenacross Champion was having more bike problems than I had ever seen. The bike would not stop bogging out. He pulled off during the heat race, and he pulled off during the Semi sending him to the LCQ finally qualifying for the Main Event. The greatest thing about Arenacross is that the riders and mechanics are all so friendly and we all get along more like a family. There were probably 7 different mechanics and riders trying to help Chad Johnson get his bike together so he could ride it. For them, it is not a competition and they treat each other with a great deal of respect. We have an extemely unique set of riders and mechanics working together in such a positive environment! You can feel the friendship as you walk by them in the pits!
The track was holding up much better than we have seen all year; however, due to the extreme hard pack, it was getting slick like concrete. The gates dropped and out came the Arenacross class bikes down and into turn one. It was Robbie Reynard the #17 pulling the holeshot and sailing through the whoops. He was on the gas all night and was not about to stop!! He looked like he was having fun just doing what he loves to do! Danny Smith the points leader did not get a good start at all and was working hard to make it back into the top 3. However, there was carnage down all over the track. It was making it difficult to maneuver the bike the way they wanted too. Justin Buckelew took a hard fall coming off of the huge catapult and was having a hard time getting up, but he was not the only one to go down: Danny Smith, Cory Green, and a rider in every section was down as well. Kevin Johnson was running second for most of the race, when unfortunately he stalled the bike coming into the whoops. His brother Keith passed by and didn’t look back. Robbie was still out in front lapping up to the 4 th place rider. Local boy Travis Bannister took over 3 rd and held on tight. Chad Johnson once again had to pull of the track with some very unfortunate bike problems. But it was all about Robbie Reynard taking the win and a champagne celebration along with Keith Johnson 2 nd and local boy Travis Bannister taking home 3 rd on Friday night.
Junior Jackson stayed up almost all night taking apart the #1 bike. He wouldn’t have slept anyway because he had never had a bike fail on him before! But in practice on Saturday Chad was looking fast! But so were the Johnson Brothers, Danny Smith and of course Friday nights winner Robbie Reynard.
The doors opened and there was hardly an empty seat in the house. I rode out in opening ceremonies in the brand new Toyota Tundra. It is an amazing new truck and I cannot get enough of it! The fans were incredible and were into every race and every rider on the track. When you have such an enthusiastic crowd you can feel the energy throughout the building and onto the race track. The show was fun!
It was all Cory “booty shaker” Green getting the holeshot once again in the Lites class. He was out in front and doing some good work on the race track, looking even more comfortable on the bike than he did on Friday night. He took the holeshot and led the race till the checkered flag came out! He was 2 for 2 in Denver taking both wins all weekend! It was the local boy Travis Bannister taking home the 2 nd place trophy in the Lites class, and once again #888 Hunter Meyers in 3 rd! We have seen a trend, whenever the “Booty Shaker” wins so does his teammate. The pressure was on for Robbie Reynard to live up to his expectations.
The big bikes were lined up and ready to go racing. I held up the 10second board and the bikes were off. All you could see out of turn one was the #17 coming down the whoops. Robbie Reynard did it again as he pulled another holeshot and was on his way to his second win of the weekend. Danny Smith got a much better start and began to put some pressure on Robbie, who didn’t let it get to him by riding smart and riding his own race. Keith and Kevin Johnson were not too far behind, and just behind them was Justin Buckelew and Cory Green. The section to watch was the whoops, they were big and not forgiving… a lot of guys were having some major problems keeping their bikes straight. The lap traffic was getting really bad toward the middle of the race, working to Robbie’s advantage. He was able to maneuver around them while Danny Smith got a little stuck. I couldn’t see it from where I was but you could here it, “Rider down! #1 Chad Johnson has gone down.” I quickly looked over and he was not getting up, and was crawling off the track. I glanced at Junior Jackson and his face went pale. Chad was waving down the medics looked like he was holding his chest. They came over and he was trying so hard to get back onto his bike. He had someone lift his leg up and throw it over the bike, he couldn’t do it. He retired from the track in pain. I looked at Junior and he said “it’s over”. That was all I heard that night, but Robbie Reynard was still out front dominating the race. He was clean and consistent and once again looked like he was having fun! He went 2 for 2 just like his teammate “Booty Shaker”. Now Robbie has 6 wins and is only 18 points out of first. Danny Smith was able to hold on to 2 nd keeping himself very consistent. #168 Keith Johnson was up there on the podium coming in 3 rd. It was a good weekend for the Reynard Modification Honda team they came and conquered Denver. They don’t look like they are backing off anytime soon! It should be an intense finish to the in February so don’t miss a race!
As of today, it does not look like Chad Johnson will be able to finish out the season on his bike since he is in so much pain. I will keep you updated as soon as I know anything. He is such a talented and incredible rider, but he is also a wonderful person and a good friend. So please keep him in your thoughts and prayers to have a speedy recovery. The series comes together Super bowl weekend in Springfield, IL. It is going to be awesome to see all the guys back together racing for the same points. So until next week be safe and keep smiling! I will see you at the races in Springfield, IL!
XOXO
Ashley Miss Arenacross
