Hello everyone! Now it is a little over the half way point of the Toyota AMA Arenacross Series, and last weekend in Louisville, KY was a weekend of excitement! It was a single race weekend and everyone in the Toyota AMA Arenacross Series family met in Louisville, KY to have rounds 12 and 13 at the Broadbent Arena. I was excited to go to Louisville, because it is the home town of the Legendary Churchill Downs horse race track, where of course the Kentucky Derby is held. The first thing we did once we arrived into town Thursday was head over to the horse race track, a little different than the dirt bike race track. It is a historic facility that has about 47 barns, houses over 1400 horses, and is over 150acres. It is massive! The only bummer was it is to cold in Kentucky this time of year to hold live races, so it was a bit of a ghost town. However, I was still excited to get to look around, check out the beautiful architecture and make a bet or two on the simulator races on TV. I had no idea how to bet on the horses, so I just picked a name I liked and the worst odds; it didn’t work out so well. I think she came in 3rd to last! Once we were leaving I asked someone what all of the bets mean, so next time I won’t be so clueless!

I really didn’t expect it to be to cold in Kentucky, but it was! The wind was really chilly and I don’t think it ever got above freezing all weekend. Luckily, arenacross is indoors and sheltered from the cold for the most part! The arena is typically used for Rodeo so it was a pretty large floor space, making this one of the larger tracks of the series. It was very dry dirt and pretty loose also. But the track crew once again was on top of keeping it in great race condition.

A familiar face from last year’s final round in Nashville, Tyler Bowers, was there at registration Friday morning and the talk in the pits began. Tyler Bowers came in last year and caused a little friction in the final championship round, but Tyler is an extremely talented rider and knows how to work his way around a tight arenacross track.  It is always nice to add another name to the list of the already stacked names on the starting line, plus it changes it up a little to have someone who doesn’t typically race our series challenge the regulars. We also saw the up and comer Suzuki supercross Lites east coast rider Jimmy Albertson on Friday at registration. I spoke with them both and they both said that they wanted to come out and race arenacross to warm up a little for the supercross Lites East Coast series, which begins in about a month.

So, along side of Cory Green, Travis Sewell, Tyler Bright and all of the other arenacross Lites bikes were both Tyler Bowers 391, and Jimmy Albertson 702. The gate dropped and off they went, Tyler Bowers, Cory Green, Tyler Bright and Jimmy Albertson were all off to a great race, but the Lites Main event is 18 laps and the track was already breaking down by lap five.  This was not stopping them from tripling through both rhythm sections and also blitzing through the whoops. Tyler Bowers was able to get out front and pull away from the pack, and there were riders down all over the track, not to mention the lap traffic and the huge rut in the hair pin turn before the whoops. Jimmy Albertson and Cory Green were both riding very well and making some incredible time on the track, but it wasn’t enough to catch the 391 Boost Mobil/Yamaha of Troy bike of Tyler Bowers. Bowers rode a perfect race and took home the first place trophy. Jimmy Albertson was very happy coming in 2nd and Cory Green once again podium taking the final podium spot in 3rd. It was a great race to watch and kept everyone on their toes the entire 18 laps!

Now it was time for the arenacross Class main event. The stage was set and the bikes were ready on the starting line, Amanda held up the 30 second board, the gates dropped and off they went. Tommy Hofmaster got off to the early lead and took home the $200 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles holeshot award. There was a bit of a pile up in the whoops section taking down a ton of the top riders including Tyler Bowers. But Robbie Reynard and Chad Johnson were able to avoid it and they were running 2nd and 3rd.  Kevin Johnson and Kelly Smith were both working their way up to the rear wheels of Robbie and Chad Johnson when Kevin Johnson got really sideways and crashed in the whoops with Kelly on his left hand side with nowhere to go but right over the top of Kevin! Luckily, Kevin got up uninjured and continued his race. It was also a rough night for the 18 bike and Brock Sellards, he took a fall right after the catapult, got up and started charging, and then fell again in the huge rut before the whoops section. Tommy Hofmaster led for a while before Chad Johnson was able to go to the inside and take over the lead. However, the rider to watch was the Kentucky boy Tyler Bowers, he went down in the first turn and somehow was able to work his way through the pack and soon ended up on the rear wheel of Hofmaster looking to take over 2nd. He soon did started gaining ground of Chad Johnson. Kelly Smith was also able to work his way up to podium position in 3rd. There was not quite enough laps for either Kelly Smith or Tyler Bowers to make a move on Chad, so Chad once again came over the finish line taking 1st, with Tyler Bowers in 2nd and Kelly Smith in 3rd. It was another fantastic race, with a ton of action! Chad kept his points lead and actually opened more of a comfortable gap between him and Kelly Smith, thanks to Tyler Bowers taking the 2nd place spot on the podium.

Since Fridays races were incredible I could hardly wait to watch Saturday! Once I got to the track on Saturday, I got the wonderful news that Kevin Johnson was flying home because his wife went into labor early Saturday morning, and he wanted to make it home as soon as possible so he could be with her for the delivery! It is a bummer for Kevin to miss out on 25 points but the birth of his little girl definitely the priority!

Saturday night’s Lites race was the final race of the South Region Championship. The two contenders were both Chad Cook and Justin Berry, but because both Chad and Justin were not having luck go their way throughout their qualifiers, Tyler Bowers and Jimmy Albertson also had the opportunity to go home with the regional #1 South Arenacross Plate. Cory Green and Jimmy Albertson both won their qualifiers, but the gate was stacked with a ton of riders. However, Tyler Bowers opted not to ride the Main Event because he “didn’t want to mess with the points” so he was not on the starting line for the Lites Main event. Jimmy Albertson got off to an early lead, with Gray Davenport and Danny Smith #186 running top three. Jimmy Albertson kept himself calm and cool and made the track look easy for the entire 18 lap main event! It was a tough break for #186 Danny Smith when he went down after the catapult. Now it was a battle between Travis Sewell and Tyler Bright for 3rd, they traded places a couple times before the checkered flag came out. But in the end it was all Jimmy Albertson taking the win and the South Regional Championship, with Gray Davenport taking home 2nd place trophy, and Travis Sewell holding on to the final podium spot. Congrats to Jimmy Albertson for a fantastic weekend in the Arenacross Lites Class, hope he can take these wins and confidence into the Supercross East Coast Series!

In the Arenacross Class both Chad Johnson and Tyler Bowers took the heat race win, sending riders like Kelly Smith, Robbie Reynard and Teddy Maier to the LCQ. Robbie and Kelly both made it out of the LCQ but had to start on the second row. It was a rough night for Teddy Maier, Travis Sewell, Codi Adams, and Jimmy Albertson as they had to watch the main from the stands. But as the bikes lined up at the starting line, Tyler Bowers once again was not on the line. I guess he decided he didn’t want to mess with the points in the Arenacross Class either. The gate was still stacked with talent and it was anyone’s race! Amanda held up the 30 second board and off they went. It was the Honda bike out front with #270 Nathan Skaggs taking the holesot and the $200 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles holeshot check, Brock Sellards came out 2nd and Chad Johnson in 3rd.  Patrick Boyle on his Babbitt’s Monster Kawi also got a great 4th place start and was riding really well! Both Kelly Smith and Robbie Reynard did not enjoy the back row start and were going to have to work hard to make up time on the front runners. Brock Sellards was slowly catching Nathan Skaggs but it took him 5 or 6 laps to make his final pass for the lead, and soon Chad Jonson was passed Skaggs and on the rear wheel of Brock. Skaggs also had pressure from both Tyler Bright and Keith Johnson as they both were looking to take over the 3rd place spot. It was a three way battle for 3rd between Skaggs, Bright and Keith Johnson. But Brock and Chad were also up front side by side battling for the lead. There were only 2 laps left, both Brock and Chad had their own sections they were faster at, but they were next to each other over the catapult and into the bowl turn, Chad went to the inside and took over the lead. Brock tried to answer back in the rhythm section and once again in the whoops. Chad used his Arenacross experience and pulled away for the last lap, Brock was happy to get 2nd considering he could hardly walk from his crashes on Friday night, and Keith Johnson held off both Skaggs and Bright coming over the finish in 3rd. It was definitely one of those main events where you couldn’t blink because you were scared to miss the action! That is becoming a regular thing with Arenacross these days and we love it!

Chad Johnson is still the points’ leader and has even opened up a 25point gap between him and Kelly Smith in 2nd. Brock is only 3 points behind Kelly Smith in 3rd. But next weekend it is once again a split weekend where you can earn points in either Hampton, VA or Youngstown, OH so it should be interesting to see who goes where, I will be in Youngstown, OH in case you were wondering!  Check the schedule because we still have stops in Pikeville, Sacramento, Denver, Greensboro, and Green Bay if you are get a chance don’t miss out because this year has been an incredible year of racing and it is only going to get better! I can’t wait to see you at the races! Keep your smiles

XOXO

Ashley Miss Arenacross