we're in Green Bay, Wisconsin at the Resch Center for the final weekend of the series and it should be a good one.  Chad Johnson has the points lead and if all goes well for him, he should be the new AX champ.  this is Chad's home state and the Johnson fans will be out in force cheering him on.  there are a couple of riders on green bikes that would like to take that number one plate home with them, but Chad has the inside line.  the track is a typical arenacross layout and it is tight.  there will be plenty of action once the first gate drops.  the dirt is excellent and the riders are ready for this final weekend of action.  November in Des Moines is only a faint memory for all of these riders.  this is the end of the line this year.   stay tuned for live updates and more.   dirtbikemike

opening ceremonies going on now with chad johnson, brock sellarda and kelly smith getting interviewed on top of the catapult landing.  danny smith, last year's champion just got interviewed.  even though he won't be riding this weekend, it's good to see him at the races.  looks like this crowd knows who chad johnson is, pretty loud. 

more in a minute.  dbm

Lites heat 1

codi adams 979 took the holeshot with roy horton next, then derek whitney 795, casey schriock 305, chris tracy 610 and max jordan 636.  that group all came around and launched over the catapult.  the next group had to roll and fell back a few seconds.  the next lap, shane sewell 351 went by jordan in the whoops.  jordan was having a tough time and both kevin markwardt 352 and justin berry 232 went by too.  up front, horton was pushing adams.  sewell went by tracy at the end of the whoops.  the nest lap, horton took the lead when adams went down at the end of the whoops.  sewell had worked his way into third place and whitney had moved into second.  at that point, it was horton, sewell, whitney, schriock, berry, markwardt and tracy.  jordan's troubles continued as he crashed out with corey smith 888 in the bowl turn after the whoops.  at the finish, it was horton taking the win, sewell second, whitney third, schriock fourth, berry fifth and markwardt sixth. 

Lites heat 2

kyle smith 341 took the lead in heat two.  davey sterritt 289 was second going into the whoops, travis merrill 207 third, tanner moore 94 fourth, kyle brown 748 fifth and kurtis mcabe 567 sixth.  smith was looking smooth out front and sterritt was keeping up in second.  merrill was a few yards back in third.  then there was a big gap to the next pack of riders.  josh woods 126 was way back.  mcabe blew by merrill and took over third place at the start of the rhythm section.  ryan orres 512 went down in the rhythm section and was carried off the track.  mcabe continued his march to the front and made a good block pass on sterritt in the bowl after the whoops to take over second place.  brown and merrill were having a bangfest.  brown was up to fourth.  josh woods 126 had worked his wasy up to 6th from a really bad start.  the he went by merrill in the whoops for fifth.  at the checkers, it was smith taking the win, mcabe second, sterritt third, brown fourth and woods fifth.

Arenacross heat 1

kelly smith 33 took his kawasaki to the front of heat 1 with his team mate brock sellards 18 right behind him.  keith johnson 4 was next, then roy horton 60.  tommy hofmaster 110 was in fifth, kurtis mcabe 567 sixth and robbie reynard 17 in seventh.  horton crashed out at the end of the whoops and DNF.  right before the cat, three riders went down in a pile and their bikes were stuck together.  max jordan 636, corey smith 888 and codi adams 979 were livid.  jordan was first to get going, but he was way back.  the other two took quite a while.  tommy hofmaster was trying to make something happen and almost jumped out of the rhythm section into the whoops, but he saved it at the last second.  that let reynard go by.  making it smith out front, then sellards, keith johnson, reynard and hofmaster.  kelly smith was making it look easy out front.  on the last lap, sellards went down at the end of the whoops.  at the finish, it was kelly smith taking the win, reynard in second, hofmaster third, mcabe fourth and sellards fifth. 

Arenacross heat 2

heat 2 saw gray davenport 916 take his kawasaki to the front of the pack.  chad johnson 10 was second, shane sewell 351 third, kevin johnson 3 in fourth, shane sewell 351 fifth and jim neese 7 was sixth.  johnson was cruising out front like he was riding practice.  kevin johnson and sewell were banging bars and trying to go to the front.  chad johnson was hauling azz.  davenport, sewell, kevin johnson and teddy maier 5 were boxed and running a good pace.  kevin johnson didn't like his spot and was pushing sewell around.  he soon went by and took over third place.  kevin was getting a really good drive going into the whoops and was clearly faster than anyone else.  it showed on the next lap when he overtook davenport at the end of the whoops for second place.  maier was up to fifth.  at the checkers, it was chad johnson taking the win, kevin johnson second, davenport third, maier fourth and jim neese fifth.  

Lites LCQ

with only two riders making it to the main, the start would be everything.  after his crash in the heat race, codi smith had something to prove.  he got the holeshot and never looked back.  ivo steinbergs 74 was second, corey smith 888 third and brandon jones 316 was fourth.  the other chad johnson 623 was fifth.  jones slipped by corey smith on lap two and it was pretty much over.  the rest of the race was pretty much a freight train with no positions changing.  at the finish, codi smith took the win and steinbergs was second taking the last transfer to the main.

AX LCQ

again, only two riders would transfer to the main in the LCQ.  keith johnson found himself in the LCQ by crashing out in his heat race.  he didn't want that to happen again, so he took the holeshot and didn't look back.  codi smih was in second, chris tracy third and corey smith fourth.  tracy made a move on codi smith in the bowl before the rhythm section and went into second.  when the pack came around to the catapult, codi smith had to roll the jump.  corey smith launched over the cat and moved into third.  it was on then.  smith versus smith.  the next trip through the whoops, codi smith twisted the throttle a little bit tighter and went back by corey smith.  at that point, it was keith johnson out front, chris tracy second, codi smith third, corey smith fourth, kevin markwardt fifth and justin berry sixth.  berry went down and was out of it.  markwardt soon moved past corey smith for fourth place.  then codi smith had more zip in the whoops and took over second.  markwardt started pushing tracy and took his spot when tracy couldn't jump the cat.  at the finish, it was keith johnson taking the win and codi smith getting the last transfer spot with second place.  markwardt was third, tracy fourth and berry got back up for fifth. 

Lites Main Event

shane sewell smoked off the line with his kawasaki and took the Toyota Used Vehicle Holeshot money.  derek whitney was second, kurtis mcabe third and kyle brown fourth.  farther back was kevin markwardt, josh woods and casey schriock.  before one lap was completed, roy horton ate it over the catapult and was out.  around lap three, the order was sewell, mcabe, brown and josh woods.  woods was making some moves and looking for the leaders.  markwardt, shcriock and steinbergs were cruising around together.  sewell and mcabe were pretty much doing their thing out front without any worries.  further back was a pack of riders that were banging bars, rubbing plastic and pretty much all over each other.  brown, woods and markwardt were almost becoming relatives.  woods came up to the cat and couldn't jump giving markwardt his spot.  by lap 8, the leaders were into lappers.  up front, it was still sewell, mcabe and brown.  josh woods was still on the move and he was up to brown and started to push brown around.  two laps later and brown gave up his position to woods.  at the finish, it was sewell taking the win, mcabe second and woods third.  brown was fourth and markwardt fifth. 

Intermission show with the US Air Force Freestyle Team just finished.  the formation jumps at the end are the best with all three riders throwing their tricks in a follow the leader tight formation.  just like the Thunderbirds.  cool. 

AX Main

the ax main was going to be a burner.  someone was going to win the championship this weekend and all chad johnson had to do was get at least a fourth place.  kevin johnson thought a johnson should be out front, but not chad johnson.  kevin took the Toyota Used Vehicle Holeshot Award and the money.  tommy hofmaster was in second and that other johnson, chad johson was third.  kelly smith was fourth, teddy maier fifth and robbie reynard sixth.  kelly smith didn't like being behind a bunch of johnsons, so he took over the lead before one lap was even completed.  smith started jumping the first triple in the rhythm section and began to pull away.  chad johnson slipped to fourth.  kelly smith was on fire.  brock sellards was in 8th.  on lap 4, the top five riders were all jumping the 3x3.  then kyle brown and davey sterritt crashed in the hole between the catapult jump.  it took a couple of laps, but they finally got out.  hofmaster and kevin johnson were banging each other around like a couple of boxers.  chad johnson had a good seat and was watching the show.  on lap 9, chad johnson rammed kevin johnson in the tight corner after the catapult landing.  kevin knew he was being pushed.  kelly smith was waaaaay out front.  then it was hofmaster, kevin johnson, jim neese, reynard and teddy maier.  kevin johnson blew by hofmaster in the whoops for second and chad johnson thought that looked good and he put hofmaster back another spot too.  kelly smith was stil----waaaaaaay out front.  kevin johnson was second, chad johnson third, hofmaster fourth and reynard had moved into fifth.  then reynard started to pick it up in the whoops.  he was going faster than anyone on the track through the whoops.  he caught up to hofmaster and block passed him in the corner after the whoops.  chad johnson was blowing through the whoops and reynard was catching him.  around lap 15 hofmaster had faded way back.  kelly smith was still-----waaaay out front.  then it was kevin johnson, chad johnson and teddy maier.  robbie reynard didn't like those johnsons in front of him either.  the next lap, robbie got a great drive through the whoops and pulled up next to chad johnson in the bowl turn.  robbie pulle a classic block pass out of his 1993 playbook and parked chad.  robbie was in third.  kelly smith was still out front, but now reynard looked like he was 16 again.  he was flying.  the next time through the whoops, kevin johnson was hauling the mail.  but robbie reynard was hauling azz.  at the end of the whoops, robbie presented kevin with a present.  page 2 from the 93 playbook---classic block pass.  robbie was in second.  kelly smith didn't look that far away now.  robbie was catching him.  the next lap, chad johnson went by kevin johnson for third.  reynard, KJ and chad were moving some dirt.  they were pulling up to kelly smith.  around lap 21, reynard almost landed off the catapult landing.  he recovered, but the pace slowed, except in the whoops.  reynard was still flying and chad johnson was coming on too.  the white flag came out and it looked like everyone was happy for it to be over.  kelly smith took the win, robbie reynard second and chad johnson third.  fourth place was a quiet teddy maier, kevin johnson fifth, keith johnson sixth, gray davenport seventh, brock sellards eighth, jim neese ninth and josh woods tenth. 

chad johnson wrapped up the championship tonight with his third place finish.  he was awarded his #1 plate and his new Toyota truck after the main event.  it's black and sitting right behind the starting line with a 250F honda in the bed sporting a #1 on it.  lots of cameras around and high fives.  of course, this is wisconsin. 

tomorrow night will be the last round, but the drama is over.  it will be more good racing and i'm sure that chad johnson won't rest on his sucess tonight.  plus, robbie reynard showed that he still has what it takes to roll with the best.  and i'm sure brock sellards still has something to prove.  plus, don't count those other johnsons out either.  and what about "smilin" teddy maier?  he can pop a win out anytime. 

we'll be here watching.  if you can't be here, just log on.  i'll send you some good stuff.  dbm