Hello Arenacross fans! Thanks for checking in. Once again I am in the airport waiting for my connection to get home from Dayton, Ohio. We had very mild weather for Ohio in January, but this morning (Sunday) when I took off the snow was dumping, and wasn’t letting up. I was relieved to be getting on my plane with no delays. I really enjoyed my time there, and met some very nice people in the process. We had a blast at this restaurant called Quaker Steak andLube. They had video games, pool tables and I had an intense game of darts with Jimmy Neese!! But that is not why I was there, inside the Nutter Center there was some of the most intense racing I have ever watched. We are right in the middle of the season, completing the 5th round of the Toyota AMA Arenacross series last weekend in Dayton, OH. This weekend was a defining weekend for the future 2007 Champion; the championship could still be any of the top riders.
The track was a different set up than we have seen all year. The dirt however was extremely soft and was getting really rutted up in only one or two laps. The design was technical with a pretty crazy whoops section, which looked to be the defining point for all the riders. The rut that I was most concerned with was coming into the catapult a sharp left, that slung shot them all over the place. But the entire track was going to test the rider’s ability to ride in some tough conditions!
It was a spilt weekend again, but most of the top riders were in Dayton with the big purse. It has been a year of consistency for our newcomer to the series Danny Smith. He is currently our points leader but does not have the most wins; however, he is the only rider that has been able to get himself on the podium almost every race. When I walked into the pits on Friday afternoon I saw my good friend Chad Johnson limping… it was not a good limp. I have never seen Chad show any signs of being hurt. He is a tough guy and doesn’t let pain get to him. But you could see it in his eyes, he knows how close the points are and he knows what it is going to take to do his job. Needless to say there is no time for injury. He pulled his groin muscle and was definitely favoring that leg. Would he be able to get the vital points he needs, could he challenge Danny Smith being in that much pain?
The Lites class is always a hectic race till the end. It is a lot of fun to watch because it is all the up and comers to the motocross world. The new pro racers both on the series and locally, once you get into the top 8 in points you are no longer allowed to race the Lites class. This year riders like Jimmy Neese, Cory “Booty Shaker” Green, Kody Molitor and our 2006 rookie of the year Kevin Markwardt have been having very consistent finishes. Most of them ride both the Lites class and the Arenacross class, it gives them a chance to get some laps in and also warm up. But the track was so slick and soft that it was really one of the craziest main events I have ever watched. The gates dropped and the Lites bikes were down the straight away, taking a left into the whoops section, it was #6 Jimmy Neese, #480 Cory Green and #15 Kody Molitor running your top three. Also the local boy #181 Patrick Massie was up there putting in some really fast lap times. The top guys were in the lappers by the finish of their 4 th lap, the track was congested and disappearing under their tires by the second. Cory Green was top of his Reynard Modifications Honda keeping the leader Jimmy Neese really honest every lap. Cory Green has been riding really well, especially for his first year on the road with the Toyota AMA Arenacross Series. It was the white flag lap and Cory Green was so close to catching Jimmy Neese, however, he came into the rhythm section that was packed with lappers and went down hard. He was pinned under his bike and frantically trying to get up. Luckily he had made such a big gap between himself and Kody Molitor he was able to keep his 2nd place podium spot! It was an intense ride!! Top 3 for the Lites class was Jimmy Neese 1st, Cory “Booty Shaker” Green 2 nd, and Kody Molitor 3rd.
The track maintenance took some time to get the track ready for the big bikes, but it was time and the Arenacross class lined up and ready to do their 20 lap main event. The 5 second board went up and they were off. In and out of turn one was the #168 Keith Johnson on the gas! But not too far behind him was his little brother #3 Kevin Johnson putting on the pressure. Keith was not willing to give up his lead to anyone, not even his little brother. But Kevin was patient and riding extremely fast. The track was already rutted and started to throw the bikes around making it hard to keep your lines straight. Keith made one mistake and little brother just took the opportunity to take the lead. The pass was made and Keith slide back into second. Not too far behind were Robbie Reynard and the injured Chad Johnson. Keith was not riding as strong as he usually does, slipping back into 4th place. Once Kevin Johnson got out front he checked out. He was fast and not looking back. Chad was riding amazing, especially with such a painful injury on his leg. He knew that he needed to be ahead of Danny Smith (current points leader) to gain any points. Robbie was working hard to catch Kevin Johnson but never could quite get to him. In the last couple of laps Danny Smith came out of nowhere and started to battle with Chad Johnson for 3rd. It was the race to watch between the two. They are both great riders with different styles and less than 20 points separating them for the championship. It was a tough break for Chad but Danny ended up on the podium in 3rd. But Chad was a trooper considering he was no where near 100%. When Kevin Johnson jumped the catapult with the finish flag waving you could feel his happiness. He came to the podium all smiles and screaming of joy! It was his 2nd win of the season, and the way he rode he deserved it! Robbie Reynard was the runner up and we had to go get Danny Smith because he had no idea he had finished in 3rd.
The track crew added a lot of lime and concrete to the dirt after the show on Friday to help hold up the dirt a little better for Saturday’s show. I could definitely tell the difference in the dirt during practice. It was holding up a lot better and the whoops were not as technical. The sun was shining outside and as long as the wind didn’t pick up it was a really nice day outside. I was enjoying my time in Dayton!
I was excited to have help from Bri and Angel during the races. Bri is a really pretty girl who is also a rider that races on Sunday so she helps out with the 10 second board and gets the races going. Angel is a local girl from Dayton who has been “Miss AX Dayton” the last couple of years at the regional races. I enjoyed their company and it is always nice to have girls around, especially pretty ones! We were able to get the crowd pumped up and really into the racing!
The Lites bikes are always the first bikes to test out the track and do their main event. It was showtime and out of the gate they flew. Into turn one there was a huge pile up. No one was hurt badly, but it did interfere with the race enough that it got red flagged in the middle of the first lap. So here we were again with the bikes in full throttle ready to take off. They were a lot more cautious into turn one, and Cory Green was able to pull off the holeshot. I never like to see a red flag go up in a race, but in this case it gave Cory Green a second chance. Just behind Cory was Kevin Markwardt and newcomer Tyler Bright. But Cory Green was on the gas, he learned his lesson from his crash in Friday nights main event. Kevin Markwardt has had a little tough luck this year, but not right now, he was on top of his game and ready to give Cory a challenge. Tyler Bright has also been a very consistent Lites rider being in the top 4 almost every race. Jimmy Neese ended up pulling off the track and not finishing the Lites Main event. He was toward the back of the pack and decided to save his energy for the big bikes. Luckily for Cory Green he was able to hold onto his holeshot start into the finish! Kevin Markwardt ended up 2 nd and Tyler Bright took home 3rd.
Robbie Reynard was the fastest qualifier for the Arenacross Class. The gates were packed and the here we were again starting the 20 lap main event. The holeshot went to Robbie Reynard with Kevin Johnson not too far behind. It was already a battle. Robbie would break away in the rhythm section and Kevin would catch back up in the whoops. Something happened with Robbie’s bike and it was almost like he skipped a gear and slowed way down in the corner. Kevin Johnson quickly took over the lead. It was very similar to the night before. Chad Johnson’s injured leg was definitely hurting him and affecting his riding. But he charged through and put it in the back of his mind. Jimmy Neese was in 3rd and Danny Smith was creeping up. Robbie and Kevin were battling back and forth for a while. It was a really tough break but Kevin’s front tire stuck and made him slide out. Robbie was in the lead! He had quite a lead, but he never let off for a second. So the top three at the moment was Robbie Reynard 1st, Chad Johnson 2nd, and Jimmy Neese 3rd. Robbie and Chad were riding very consistent and were able to just race their own race. However, Jimmy Neese had to work really hard for it. Danny Smith was pushing to get to the front. He knows he cannot let Chad beat him. The battle lasted until the very last turn to the catapult. I thought Danny had it going in but Neese was able to keep himself on the box! What an incredible race. I felt very bad for Kevin Johnson but he has the talent to be winning every weekend! So do work Kevin! J Robbie Reynard received his 4th win of the season, he is the only rider to have won 4 main events. He has come a long way in the last couple of races, considering he didn’t even qualify in Des Moines. Chad received second but he was in a tremendous amount of pain, so much that he didn’t come over to do his podium interview. What a race!!
I am off to Denver, Colorado this Thursday! I really love Denver. Their downtown is beautiful and fun to walk around. I cannot wait to see what the rest of the season has in store as we narrow it down race by race, city by city. I was thinking about staying and hitting the slopes for a couple of days, seeing how they have so much snow and we do not have hardly any here. But stay tuned because it is becoming a points race to the finish. I have a feeling we are going to start seeing some racing like Arenacross has never seen before. Don’t forget if you see the #480 Cory Green ask him to shake his booty for you, because he is really good at it!! So until next week please keep riding safe, and always ALWAYS keep your smile! See you all at the races in Denver!!!
XOXO
Ashley Miss Arenacross
