Tyler Bowers Captures Fourth Straight AMSOIL Arenacross Championship in Salt Lake City with 11th Victory
Gray Davenport Wins Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class Championship
SALT LAKE CITY (March 29, 2014) – The final round of the 2014
AMSOIL Arenacross,
featuring Ricky Carmichael’s Road to Supercross, season brought an
action-filled night of competition to EnergySolutions Arena on Saturday
as a pair of champions were
crowned. Entering the evening with a comfortable lead in the Race to the Championship,
Babbitt’s Monster Energy/AMSOIL Kawasaki presented by Maxxis rider
Tyler Bowers swept the Arenacross Class Main Events to grab his 11th
overall win of
the season and become just the third rider in AMSOIL Arenacross history
to win four consecutive championships. In the Western Regional
Arenacross Lites Class, A&J Oilfield Services Kawasaki rider and
Utah native Gray Davenport captured his first career title
in front of his hometown crowd following a runner-up finish.
Motosport
Hillsboro Kawasaki’s Gared Steinke raced to the holeshot in the first
15-lap Arenacross Class Main Event, with PBR/TiLube/TUF Racing Honda’s
Jacob Hayes and Bowers in tow. Bowers made a quick move for second and
proceeded to take over the lead on Lap 2 from Steinke. A minor bobble by
Hayes dropped him to fifth and allowed Foremost Insurance/Reynard Mods
Suzuki’s Cory Green and Babbitt’s Monster
Energy/AMSOIL Kawasaki’s Zach Ames to assume the battle for the final
podium spot. Ames stalled his bike on Lap 3, dropping to 13th,
which moved Hayes back into the podium fight with Green. Hayes made the
pass on Green for third on Lap 9 and then
put the pressure on Steinke in second. Out front, Bowers cruised to a
dominant win while Steinke held off Hayes for second. Ames fought back
to finish eighth.
Bowers selected the inversion for the second Main Event and chose zero, meaning the field would remain as is for gate selection.
PBR/TiLube/TUF
Racing Honda’s Kyle Regal grabbed the holeshot in the final Main Event
of the 2014 season, but Bowers’ prowess in the whoops on Saturday
night allowed him to move into second on the opening lap and then into
the lead on Lap 2. While Bowers set sail to the title out front, Ames
had to battle his way from a start just outside the top five while Hayes
started the Main Event in dead last. Bowers
went unchallenged en route to victory, with Ames battling his way to a
runner-up finish. Regal finished third, while his teammate Hayes climbed
to a sixth-place finish in the end.
Bowers was joined on the overall podium by Steinke in second (2-4) and Regal in third (4-3).
Bowers
entered the night with an 18-point lead and finished the season off
with a 25-point margin over Hayes. It wasn’t an easy path to the title
for Bowers in 2014, suffering a broken tibia at the opening round of
the season and racing through the pain to keep himself in title
contention. A broken rib suffered at the start of the
Race to the Championship set Bowers back again as the season hit
the home stretch, but he refused to quit, ultimately winning 19 Main
Events, including the final seven of the season to pull away from his
rivals in the
Race to the Championship.
“It’s
been a crazy year, getting injured at first round and having to fight
through adversity pretty much all season,” said Bowers, who joins Buddy
Antunez and Dennis Hawthorne as the only four-peat champions in AMSOIL
Arenacross history. “I’m just happy to be up here today. Zach Ames made
it tough on me this year and forced me to be at my best every week.
These [championships] are never easy but we refused
to give up, kept at it every week, and here we are with a fourth
straight title.”
Earlier
in the evening, Ames defeated Bowers to take the win in Head-to-Head
Bracket Racing and earn an additional championship bonus point to
solidify
his third-place finish in the final championship standings.
Frontier
Lubricants KTM’s Daniel Blair grabbed the early lead in the 18-lap
Arenacross Lites Class Main Event with Davenport
mere bike lengths behind. Davenport took advantage of the strong start
to take over the lead from Blair on the opening lap, bringing Team
Faith/Fly Racing KTM’s Kelly Smith with him. The duo separated
themselves from Blair and engaged in a captivating battle
for the lead that lasted four laps before Smith took over the lead for
good on Lap 6. Davenport kept pace with Smith for several laps, but
ultimately settled into second knowing he had the title within reach.
Smith went on to win by just over two seconds over
Davenport, with BWREngines.com Honda’s Kyle White in third.
Davenport won the title by just two points over White.
“This
feels awesome, I had a lot of help this year,” said Davenport, who made
his return to AMSOIL Arenacross for the first time
since the 2011 season. “I took a few years off but I couldn’t be
happier to be out here racing again. It’s so nice to have the support of
the hometown crowd. I have a lot of family and friends here, and I have
to thank everyone here for cheering me on. This
is so awesome.”
The
drama that defined the entire 2014 AMSOIL Arenacross season will
continue to be showcased on Fox Sports 1, which will feature the
sixth round of the season from Sacramento, Calif., on Sunday, March 30th, beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Arenacross Class Results – Main Event 1- Tyler Bowers, Danville, Ky., Kawasaki
- Gared Steinke, Woodland, Calif., Kawasaki
- Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Honda
- Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Honda
- Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM
- Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki
- Kelly Smith, Ludington, Mich., KTM
- Zach Ames, Prospect, Ohio, Kawasaki
- Colt Nichols, S. Muskogee, Okla., Kawasaki
- Willy Browning, Pleasantville, Ohio, KTM
- Tyler Bowers, Danville, Ky., Kawasaki
- Zach Ames, Prospect, Ohio, Kawasaki
- Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Honda
- Gared Steinke, Woodland, Calif., Kawasaki
- Willy Browning, Pleasantville, Ohio, KTM
- Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Honda
- Kelly Smith, Ludington, Mich., KTM
- Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki
- Colt Nichols, S. Muskogee, Okla., Kawasaki
- Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM
Arenacross Class Results – Overall (Main Event Finishes)
- Tyler Bowers, Danville, Ky., Kawasaki (1-1)
- Gared Steinke, Woodland, Calif., Kawasaki (2-4)
- Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Honda (4-3)
- Zach Ames, Prospect, Ohio, Kawasaki (8-2)
- Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Honda (3-6)
- Kelly Smith, Ludington, Mich., KTM (7-7)
- Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki (6-8)
- Willy Browning, Pleasantville, Ohio, KTM (10-5)
- Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM (5-12)
- Colt Nichols, S. Muskogee, Okla., Kawasaki (9-9)
1.
Kelly Smith, Ludington, Mich., KTM
2.
Gray Davenport, Lehi, Utah, Kawasaki
3.
Kyle White, Freeport, Ill., Honda
4.
Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM
5.
Zack Gurley, Farmington, N.M., Honda
6.
Maxx Malatia, Itasca, Ill., Honda
7.
Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM
8.
Brett McLaud, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Kawasaki
9.
Dylan Rouse, Florence, Ky., Honda
10.
Beni Williams, Hoofer, Utah, Honda
Arenacross Class
Race to the Championship (Race 56of 6)
- Tyler Bowers, Danville, Ky., Kawasaki – 191
- Jacob Hayes, Greensboro, N.C., Honda – 166
- Zach Ames, Prospect, Ohio, Kawasaki – 157
- Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Honda – 149
- Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki – 131
- Willy Browning, Pleasantville, Ohio, KTM – 121
- Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM – 121
- Gared Steinke, Woodland, Calif., Kawasaki – 118
- Michael McDade, McDonald, Ohio, Kawasaki – 116
- Colt Nichols, S. Muskogee, Okla., Kawasaki – 106
Arenacross Class Points (Race 19 of 19)
- Kelly Smith, Ludington, Mich., KTM – 322
- Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, Kawasaki – 136
- Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM – 127
- Nathan Skaggs, Chillicothe, Ohio, Kawasaki – 116
- Kyle White, Freeport, Ill., Honda – 98
- Jeff Gibson, Pataskala, Ohio, Honda – 90
- Robby Marshall, Stow, Mass., KTM – 85
- Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, Yamaha – 75
- Gray Davenport, Lehi, Utah, Kawasaki – 61
- Keith Tucker, Fuquay Varina, N.C., Yamaha – 57
- Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM – 57
1.
Gray Davenport, Lehi, Utah, Kawasaki – 128
2.
Kyle White, Freeport, Ill., Honda – 126
3.
Maxx Malatia, Itasca, Ill., Honda – 115
4.
Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM – 109
5.
Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM – 88
6.
Kelly Smith, Ludington, Mich., KTM – 79
7.
Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, Kawasaki – 69
8.
Brian Alquist, LaGrange, Calif., KTM – 42
9.
Josh Struebig, Crown Point, Ind., KTM – 36
10.
Cheyenne Harmon, Olivia, Texas, KTM – 35
The entire AMSOIL Arenacross season will air on FOX Sports 1, including re-airs on FOX Sports 2.
Live
timing and scoring from each round of the AMSOIL Arenacross season
returns for the 2014 season! To follow the intense racing action live,
log
onto www.Arenacross.com.
For more information on the 2014 AMSOIL Arenacross season, and to purchase tickets, log on to
www.Arenacross.com. For all media requests, please contact Brandon Short
brandon@nextlevelsportsinc.com or 949-365-5750.
Never miss out on the latest news! For more information on AMSOIL Arenacross, please log on to
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www.youtube.com/ArenacrossLive.
About AMSOIL Arenacross
AMSOIL
Arenacross is sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association. The
AMA sanctions more amateur motorsports events
than any other organization, as well as Monster Energy AMA Supercross,
an FIM World Championship. For more information about AMA-sanctioned
competition events, see
www.americanmotorcyclist.com/racing.
About Feld Motor Sports®
Feld
Motor Sports, Inc. is the world leader in specialized arena and
stadium-based motor sports entertainment. Feld Motor Sports productions
include
Monster Jam®, Monster Energy Supercross, AMSOIL Arenacross and Nuclear Cowboyz®.
Feld Motor Sports is a division of Feld Entertainment, the world’s
largest producer of live family entertainment. For more information on
Feld Entertainment,
visit www.feldentertainment.com.
About AMSOIL®
AMSOIL®
manufactures premium synthetic lubricants for all automotive, diesel
and power sports applications. AMSOIL is formulated
specifically for equipment life, maximum power and optimal all-weather
performance and have been tested and proven for over 40 years and
billions of miles of service. For more information on AMSOIL, visit
www.amsoil.com or
www.amsoilracing.com.
Since 1924, the AMA has protected the future of motorcycling and promoted the motorcycle lifestyle. AMA members come from all walks of life, and they navigate many different routes on their journey to the same destination: freedom on two wheels. As the world's largest motorcycling rights organization, through member clubs, promoters and partners, the AMA sanctions more motorsports competition and motorcycle recreational events than any other organization in the world. AMA advocates for motorcyclists' interests in the halls of local, state and federal government, the committees of international governing organizations, and the court of public opinion. AMA members receive money-saving discounts from dozens of well-known suppliers of motorcycle services, gear and apparel, bike rental, transport, hotel stays and more. Through the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame, the AMA honors the heroes and the heritage of motorcycling for future generations. For more information, please visit www.americanmotorcyclist.com. Was this post helpful? Add yours to our service or subscribe to our feed above.
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