AMSOIL Arenacross Series
Round 9, Night 1: Landers Center
Courtesy of Feld Motor Sports
Photos by Josh Rud/ ShiftOne Photography
The ninth round of the 2015 AMSOIL Arenacross, featuring Ricky Carmichael’s Road to Supercross, got under way on Friday night in Landers Center. Two highly competitive Arenacross-class main events produced another dead heat for the overall win, but thanks to his triumph in the RMATV/ MC Head 2 Head Challenge, Husqvarna/ TiLube/ TUF Racing’s Kyle Regal was able to cement himself as the championship points leader by earning his third victory of the 2015 season.
In the return of the Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites-class Championship, College Hunks Moving Junk/ Spinechillers KTM’s Dave Ginolfi needed just a third-place finish to capture his second Eastern Regional title with two rounds remaining. In the Arenacross Lites main event, GEICO Honda’s Tristan Charbonneau, a Road to Supercross competitor, raced to the first win of his professional career.
When the gate dropped for the first Arenacross-class main event, Team Babbitt’s/ Monster Energy/ AMSOIL Kawasaki’s Chris Blose shot out front, ahead of ThermoTec/ FMC Racing Yamaha’s Bobby Kiniry and the Husqvarna/ TiLube/ TUF Racing duo of Regal and Gavin Faith. However, it didn’t take long for Kiniry to put the pressure on Blose. They were running side by side before Kiniry made the pass for the lead coming to the line. He was quickly followed by Regal, which caused Blose to drop two positions in the span of a couple of laps.
The top three remained the same for the majority of the 15-lap main event until Blose fell into the clutches of Faith. In a battle for third, the two battled until Faith made the pass stick on lap 10. From there, Kiniry raced to the win, a little more than two seconds ahead of Regal. Faith was a solid third, with Blose fourth and TZR Woodstock KTM’s Travis Sewell rounding out the top five.
Kiniry had the distinction of selecting the inversion for the second main event, and with the help of the Southaven crowd, he chose the case with the number eight, which meant that half the field would be inverted.
When the field stormed out of the gate for the second main event, Faith emerged from the fray with the lead, ahead of Regal and Team Babbitt’s Jacob Hayes. Lap one was filled with action, as Blose overcame a fifth-place start to move into third, while Hayes ended up dropping three spots to sixth.
Out front, the Husqvarna duo established a comfortable lead over the rest of the field, but the rider to watch was Kiniry. After starting sixth, the Yamaha rider methodically worked his way toward the front, moving into the top five on lap one and then into fourth on lap four.
On lap 10, the top spots shifted again when Regal briefly went off the track and lost a spot to Blose. He was able to recover and take the position back just one lap later.
As he fell back to third, Blose came under fire from Kiniry, who made the pass on lap 12 to steal the final spot on the podium.
Faith took the checkered flag nearly three seconds ahead of Regal, with Kiniry a close third. Blose finished fourth. Hayes held on to finish fifth.
In the Head 2 Head Challenge earlier in the evening, Regal and Kiniry put on a show for the Landers Center crowd in the final pairing. The two riders both shared the lead over the course of the two-lap sprint, making passes all over the track. In the end, Regal got the upper hand and took the win – and the additional championship bonus point. Eventually, the outcome of that race would play a major role in determining the overall classification.
Regal’s 2-2 results, combined with his extra bonus point from the Head 2 Head Challenge, gave him the advantage in what was a three-way tie for first at the conclusion of the main events. He edged out Faith (3-1), who earned second overall by virtue of his better finish in the second main event, and Kiniry (1-3) in third, by just a single point. Blose (4-4) finished fourth, while Team Babbitt’s Matt Goerke (6-7) rounded out the overall top five.
Regal, who’d entered the night with a one-point lead in the championship standings, moved to 12 points ahead of Goerke. Hayes (9-5), who finished seventh overall, is now third, 13 points out of the lead.
The Metro PCS Blazing Fast Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites main event was about as ideal an effort as Charbonneau could ask for. The GEICO Honda rider grabbed the holeshot and seized control of the 15-lap race, ahead of ThermoTec/ FMC Racing Yamaha’s Josh Cartwright and Sizemore’s Garage Honda’s Drayke Sizemore.
Charbonneau and Cartwright were in a class of their own out front, but all eyes were on Ginolfi, in his run to the championship. The points leader started the main event in fifth but patiently moved his way toward a podium result.
After a three-way battle took place among Sizemore, Motosport.com/Haeseker Racing KTM’s Daniel Blair, and Ginolfi, both Blair and Ginolfi got the better of Sizemore on lap three. After that, Ginolfi put the pressure on Blair for third for several laps, making the pass for the position on lap six.
Charbonneau and Cartwright maintained their spots out front for the entirety of the main event, while Ginolfi secured the title with a third-place finish.
Ginolfi has been nothing short of impressive in his run to the Eastern Regional title, earning two wins and six podium finishes, and finishing no worse than fourth in eight nights of racing.
Broadcast Alert: The Kansas City round of the 2015 season will premiere on Fox Sports 1 this Sunday, March 15, at 8 a.m. PT/ 11 a.m. ET.
The ninth round of the 2015 AMSOIL Arenacross season in Southaven will continue this evening, March 14, with a second night of racing inside Landers Center. The action will begin at 5 p.m. PT/ 7 p.m. CT/ 8 p.m. ET.
For more information on the 2015 AMSOIL Arenacross season, and to purchase tickets, log on to www.Arenacross.com.
Landers Center
Southaven, Mississippi
Results: March 13, 2015 (Round 9, Night 1)
ARENACROSS MAIN 1: 1. Bobby Kiniry (Yam); 2. Kyle Regal (Hsq); 3. Gavin Faith (Hsq); 4. Chris Blose (Kaw); 5. Travis Sewell (KTM); 6. Matt Goerke (Kaw); 7. Cory Green (Suz); 8. Gared Steinke (KTM); 9. Jacob Hayes (Kaw); 10. Steven Mages (KTM).
ARENACROSS MAIN 2: 1. Gavin Faith (Hsq); 2. Kyle Regal (Hsq); 3. Bobby Kiniry (Yam); 4. Chris Blose (Kaw); 5. Jacob Hayes (Kaw); 6. Gared Steinke (KTM); 7. Matt Goerke (Kaw); 8. Dave Ginolfi (KTM); 9. Travis Sewell (KTM); 10. Cory Green (Suz).
ARENACROSS OVERALL: 1. Kyle Regal (2-2); 2. Gavin Faith (3-1); 3. Bobby Kiniry (1-3); 4. Chris Blose (4-4); 5. Matt Goerke (6-7); 6. Travis Sewell (5-9); 7. Jacob Hayes (9-5); 8. Gared Steinke (8-6); 9. Cory Green (7-10); 10. Dave Ginolfi (11-8).
RMATV/MC HEAD 2 HEAD CHALLENGE: 1. Kyle Regal (2 points); 2. Bobby Kiniry (1 point); 3. Travis Sewell (1 point); 4. Gavin Faith (1 point); 5. Cory Green (1 point); 6. Brandon Glenn (1 point); 7. Chris Blose (1 point); 8. Dave Ginolfi (1 point).
ARENACROSS LITES: 1. Tristan Charbonneau (Hon); 2. Josh Cartwright (Yam); 3. Dave Ginolfi (KTM); 4. Daniel Blair (KTM); 5. Brandon Glenn (KTM); 6. Tanner Moore (KTM); 7. Drayke Sizemore (Hon); 8. Jacob Williamson (Kaw); 9. Clay Elliott (KTM); 10. Josh Struebig (KTM).
AMSOIL Arenacross Series Points Standings
ARENACROSS CLASS (After Race 13 of 20): 1. Kyle Regal (340/ 4 main-event wins); 2. Matt Goerke (328/ 4 main-event wins); 3. Jacob Hayes (327/ 6 main-event wins); 4. Bobby Kiniry (273/ 2 main-event wins); 5. Travis Sewell (269); 6. Chris Blose (257/ 4 main-event wins); 7. Gavin Faith (256/ 5 main-event wins); 8. Steven Mages (235/ 1 main-event win); 9. Gared Steinke (227); 10. Cory Green (186).
EASTERN REGIONAL ARENACROSS LITES CLASS (After Race 8 of 11): 1. Dave Ginolfi (117/ 2 main-event win); 2. Steve Roman (65); 3. Scott Zont (63); 4. Daniel Herrlein (56); 5. Jacob Williamson (51); 6. Steven Mages (47/ 1 main-event win); 7. Dylan Rouse (45); 8. Dave Blanchet (41); 9. Darian Sanayei (35/ 2 main-event wins); 10. (TIE) Mitchell Harrison (33/ 1 main-event win)/; Tristan Charbonneau (33/ 1 main-event win)/ Josh Cartwright (33)