Faith nets third series win in a row as top-10 riders are set for the Race to the Championship for the Ricky Carmichael Cup in the AMSOIL Arenacross Series.
Team Babbitt’s/Monster Energy/AMSOIL Kawasaki’s Gavin Faith claimed his third straight AMSOIL Arenacross Series overall win in the final points battle that set the top 10 contenders for the Ricky Carmichael Cup at the Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana, Saturday night.
Faith scored the win without winning a main event at the Cajundome, and he was even forced to come from behind after starting 10th in the first Arenacross main. Fresh off his Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class win earlier the same evening, Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM’s Sean Cantrell snagged the holeshot to take the early lead with Team Babbitt’s/Monster Energy/AMSOIL Kawasaki’s Chris Blose and Rockstar Energy Racing Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kyle Regal running second and third respectively. Team Babbitt’s/Monster Energy/AMSOIL Kawasaki’s Jacob Hayes ran fourth, ahead of TZR/Woodstock KTM’s Travis Sewell. Blose passed Cantrell to take over the lead on lap one, and Regal dropped Cantrell to third on lap two. Both Hayes and Sewell also advanced past Cantrell on lap three. With the focus on the action at the front of the pack, Faith began making quick passes, and he passed Cantrell for fifth on lap five.
Blose ran trouble-free out front while Hayes battled with Regal for second place and claimed the spot on lap seven. Sewell moved into third, with Faith then passing Regal for fourth on lap nine. Blose took the won just over four seconds ahead of Hayes, with Sewell third, Faith fourth and Regal fifth.
An eight-rider inversion cost Blose and Hayes at the start of the second Arenacross main event, as both riders crashed in the first turn. Hayes remounted to run 12th, with Blose 13th at the end of lap one. Out front, TiLUBE/Tuf Racing Honda’s Ben Lamay led Sewell and Faith, and Lamay took advantage of a clear track to lead every lap of the race and score the win. Sewell kept Faith rival at bay for most of the race, but a crash right before the whoops allowed Faith to make an easy pass for second place. Although Sewell remounted quickly and lost only one spot, that was the difference in the overall finishing order, as Faith’s 4-2 finishes tied him with Sewell’s 3-3 finishes but Faith eeked out the overall win by virtue of his better finish in the second main event. Hayes’ seventh-place finish in the second main event, combined with his win in the RMATV/MC Head 2 Head Challenge earlier in the evening, lifted him to third overall (2-7). Lamay was fourth overall (7-1), and Mages was fifth overall (5-5).
Faith’s three straight victories place him as the top seed in the Race to the Championship, but the battle for the Ricky Carmichael Cup promises to be a close one as just five points separate first through 10th place. The final spot in teh countdown was nailed down by TZR/Woodstock KTM’s Cody VanBuskirk, who finished 10th overall on the night, with defending champ Regal clinching the ninth seed and earning the right to defend his number one plate despite being sidelined with an injury earlier in the season.
Cantrell controlled the 15-lap Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites main event right from the start, leading Team DirtBike Mike/KTM Sportscenter of Little Rock’s Brandon Marley and Shawnee Motor Company/Justified Cultures KTM’s Cheyenne Harmon. The top three running order changed after Harmon and DrivenMX/MEPMX KTM’s Jared Lesher were involved in a three-rider incident that took both riders out of podium contention and allowed Team DirtBike Mike/KTM Sportscenter of Little Rock’s Ben Nelko to move into third. Cantrell extended his lead in the waning laps of the race and went on to take the win, with Ben Nelko second after a last-lap pass on Marley. Husqvarna rider Mathew Weakley was fourth, with KTM rider Isaac Teasdale fifth.
The opening round of the Race to the Championship will take place in Ontario, California’s Citizen’s Business Bank Arena with two nights of action on Friday, April 1, and Saturday, April 2. Racing for both nights will begin at 7 p.m. PDT/10 p.m. EDT.
2016 AMSOIL Arenacross Series
Cajundome
Lafayette, Louisiana
Results: March 12, 2016
Arenacross Main Event 1
1. Chris Blose-Kaw
2. Jacob Hayes-Kaw
3. Travis Sewell-KTM
4. Gavin Faith-Kaw
5. Steven Mages-Kaw
6. Kyle Regal-Hus
7. Ben Lamay-Hon
8. Jared Lesher-KTM
9. Jace Owen-Hon
10. Cody VanBuskirk-KTM
Arenacross Main Event 2
1. Ben Lamay-Hon
2. Gavin Faith-Kaw
3. Travis Sewell-KTM
4. Jace Owen-Hon
5. Steven Mages-Kaw
6. Jared Lesher-KTM
7. Jacob Hayes-Kaw
8. Kyle Regal-Hus
9. Isaac Teasdale-KTM
10. Cody VanBuskirk-KTM
Arenacross Overall Results/Main Event Results
1. Gavin Faith-Kaw/4-2
2. Travis Sewell-KTM/3-3
3. Jacob Hayes-Kaw/2-7
4. Ben Lamay-Hon/7-1
5. Steven Mages-Kaw/5-5
6. Chris Blose-Kaw/1-11
7. Jace Owen-Hon/9-4
8. Kyle Regal-Hus/6-8
9. Jared Lesher-KTM/8-6
10. Cody VanBuskirk-KTM/10-10
RMATV/MC Head 2 Head Challenge Results/bonus points
1. Jacob Hayes-Kaw/2 points
2. Chris Blose-Kaw/1 point
3. Gavin Faith-Kaw/1 point
4. Travis Sewell-KTM/1 point
5. Jace Owen-Hon/1 point
6. Kyle Regal-Hus/1 point
7. Kyle Bitterman-Hus/1 point
8. Sean Cantrell-KTM/1 point)
2016 AMSOIL Arenacross Race to the Championship Standings
1. Gavin Faith-6/6 main event wins
2. Travis Sewell-5/5 main event wins
3. Jacob Hayes-4/8 main event wins
4. Chris Blose-4/2 main event wins
5. Ben Lamay-3/1 main event win
6. Jace Owen-3
7. Gared Steinke-2
8. Kyle Regal-2
9. Daniel Herrlein-1
10. Cody VanBuskirk-1
Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Main Event
1. Sean Cantrell-KTM
2. Ben Nelko-KTM
3. Brandon Marley-KTM
4. Mathew Weakley-Hus
5. Isaac Teasdale-KTM
6. DJ MacFarlane-Yam
7. Tallon LaFountaine-KTM
8. Addison Emory IV-Yam
9. Dylan Rouse-KTM
10. Josh Struebig-KTM
AMSOIL Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class Standings
1. Daniel Herrlein-105/2 main event wins*
2. Dylan Walker-63
3. Jacob Williamson-49.1 main event win
4. Sean Cantrell-46/2 main event wins
5. Steve Roman-43
6. Justin Cooper-42
7. Lane Staley-39
8. DJ MacFarlane-38
9. Tyler McSwain-35
10. Henry Miller-34
*Clinched class championship
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