Chris Blose and Jacob Hayes keep Team Babbitt’s/Monster Energy/AMSOIL atop the leaderboard at the Baltimore AMSOIL Arenacross.
The second weekend of the 2016 AMSOIL Arenacross Series produced three different winners in four main events at Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland, Friday and Saturday night.
Nearly one week after his teammate Gavin Faith took the overall win in the Arenacross Class, Team Babbitt’s/Monster Energy/AMSOIL Kawasaki’s Chris Blose made it two overall wins in two weeks for the team on Friday night. On Saturday night, the powerhouse team swept both main events thanks to the efforts of Jacob Hayes. Meanwhile, Austin Stroupe claimed the Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites main event on Friday night, and Daniel Herrlein won on Saturday night. Herrlein has moved into the series points lead in the class.
Blose set the tone for his overall win in the first Arenacross main event on Friday night. He grabbed the holeshot to lead defending AMSOIL Arenacross Champion, Rockstar Energy Drink Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kyle Regal and Hayes. The race intensified when Hayes, Faith and Austin Stroupe began dicing on lap five. Hayes and Stroupe went down, allowing Faith to take over third. Both Stroupe and Hayes remounted in fifth and sixth place respectively, behind Blue Buffalo/Slater Skins Yamaha’s Benny Bloss. Hayes would run into more trouble and drop to the back of the pack.
Blose continued to set the pace out front, and he took the win, edging out Faith by just over a second Bloss, a Ricky Carmichael Road to Supercross competitor, earned his first career podium finish, third, while Regal was fourth, ahead of Stroupe.
Blose selected the inversion number for the second main event, and it came up 16, meaning that the entire field would be inverted for the start. Woodstock/TZR KTM’s Travis Sewell was the beneficiary of the invert, and he grabbed the holeshot ahead of Hayes and NST/Spinechillers KTM’s Lane Staley.
First main event winner Blose was sixth, with Faith 11th and Bloss 12th. Jace Owen quickly moved past Staley into third.
Sewell took advantage of lapped traffic late in the race to become the first two-time main event winner of 2016. Hayes finished second, while Owen capped off his AMSOIL Arenacross debut with a strong third-place performance. Rockstar Energy Drink Husqvarna’s Gared Steinke was fourth, with Blose fifth, Faith sixth and Bloss seventh.
When the final points were tallied Blose’s 1-5 finishes gave him the overall win by two points over Faith (2-6). The battle for third came between the young guns of Owen (6-3) and Bloss (3-7), who finished with the same point total. However, Owen landed the final spot on the podium by virtue of his podium finish in the second main event.
In the RMATV/MC Head 2 Head Challenge earlier in the evening, Hayes outdueled Blose for the win, earning an extra championship bonus point that helped him finish eighth overall for the evening.
In the Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class Main Event, Stroupe grabbed the early lead over Staley and FCC Motorsports Honda’s Dylan Walker, and Stroupe stretched his advantage to more than 5 seconds on the field en route to the win. The battle for second was closer, with Staley and Walker swapping the spot for two laps until Walker lost control in the whoops and dropped outside the top 10. A&Y Racing Honda’s Daniel Herrlein took advantage of Walker’s miscue to move from fourth to second, with Staley finishing third.
Saturday
Hayes’ kicked off Saturday night’s first main event by grabbing the holeshot and leading Blose and Sewell. Points leader Faith, meanwhile, got off to a poor start and was mired back in 15th place. Hayes was cruising out front until Stroupe crashed on lap nine, resulting in a red flag.
Following a single-file restart, Hayes held his lead and took the win. Blose finished second, with Sewell third, TiLUBE/Tuf Racing Honda’s Ben Lamay fourth and MTF Yamaha’s Keith Tucker fifth.
Hayes had luck on his side when he selected the inversion number for the second main event; he selected the number zero, which meant the field’s starting order would be the same as the first main event. Even so, Regal took the early lead with Faith second and Tucker third. Hayes slotted into sixth early, while Sewell and Blose had their work cut out for them in 12th and 14th respectively.
Out front, Regal tried to get away, but Faith closed in on him and made a pass for the lead in the whoops on lap six. Then Hayes started his charge to the front, passing Lamay for third on lap eight and Regal for second on lap 12. On the final lap Faith handed the win to Hayes by crashing in the final turn. Regal followed in second, with Lamay third, Herrlein fourth and Blose fifth. Faith remounted to salvage sixth.
Hayes’ 1-1 marked the first main event sweep of the 2016 season. Lamay (4-3) and Blose (2-5), tied for second overall, but Lamay was awarded the spot by virtue of his better finish in the second main event. Regal was fourth (7-2), and Sewell (3-7) completed the top five. Faith earned an additional championship bonus point earlier in the evening by winning the RMATV/MC Head 2 Head Challenge over Hayes.
With three wins in the first three nights of competition, Team Babbitts’/Monster Energy/AMSOIL Kawasaki occupies the top three spots in the AMSOIL Arenacross Series standings. Blose is the new points leader, with a three-point edge on Faith. Hayes is third, four points back. Sewell is fourth, and Regal is fifth.
Woodstock/TZR KTM’s Scott Zont led Herrlein and Team Babbitt’s/Monster Energy/AMSOIL Kawasaki’s Jacob Williamson early in the Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class main event, but Herrlein stormed to the front on the opening lap and never looked back. Williamson displaced Zong for second on lap three, with Barr’s Competition Yamaha’s Tyler McSwain also passing Zont for third. The top three remained unchanged through the finish, with Herrlein taking the win nearly 8 seconds ahead of Williamson. Team DirtBikeMike KTM’s Ben Nelko and Action Extreme Sports KTM’s Jared Lesher were fourth and fifth respectively.
Herrlein’s win helped move him into Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class lead where he is now five points ahead of Staley. McSwain is third, 13 points back.
The 2016 AMSOIL Arenacross season continues next weekend at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and the PPL Center with two more nights of racing scheduled for January 22-23.
2016 Amsoil Arenacross Series
Royal Farms Arena
Baltimore, Maryland
Results: January 15-16, 2016
Arenacross Main Event 1
1. Chris Blose- Kaw
2. Gavin Faith- Kaw
3. Benny Bloss-Yam
4. Kyle Regal-Hus
5. Austin Stroupe-Kaw
6. Jace Owen-Hon
7. Gared Steinke-Hus
8. Daniel Herrlein-Hon
9. Jacob Williamson-Kaw
10. Ben Lamay-Hon
Arenacross Main Event 2
1. Travis Sewell-KTM
2. Jacob Hayes-Kaw
3. Jace Owen-Hon
4. Gared Steinke-Hus
5. Chris Blose-Kaw
6. Gavin Faith-Kaw
7. Benny Bloss-Yam
8. Jacob Williamson-Kaw
9. Kyle Regal-Hus
10. Daniel Herrlein-Hon
Arenacross Overall Results
1. Chris Blose-Kaw/1-5
2. Gavin Faith-Kaw/2-6
3. Jace Owen-Hon/6-3
4. Benny Bloss-Yam/3-7
5. Gared Steinke-Hus/7-4
6. Kyle Regal-Hus/4-9
7. Travis Sewell-KTM/13-1
8. Jacob Hayes- Kaw/16-2
9. Jacob Williamson-Kaw/9-8
10. Daniel Herrlein-Hon/8-10
RMATV/MC Head 2 Head Challenge
1. Jacob Hayes-Kaw/2 points
2. Chris Blose-Kaw/1 point
3. Gavin Faith-Kaw/1 point
4. Benny Bloss-Yam/1 point
5. Gared Steinke-Hus/1 point
6. Kyle Regal-Hus/1 point
7. Travis Sewell-KTM/1 point
8. Austin Stroupe-Kaw/1 point
Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Main Event
1. Austin Stroupe-Kaw
2. Daniel Herrlein-Hon
3. Lane Staley-KTM
4. Jacob Williamson-Kaw
5. Brandon Marley-KTM
6. Cody VanBuskirk-KTM
7. Scott Zont-KTM
8. Tyler McSwain-Yam
9. Davey Sterritt-Yam
10. Dave Ginolfi-Hus
Saturday
Arenacross Main Event 1
1. Jacob Hayes-Kaw
2. Chris Blose-Kaw
3. Travis Sewell-KTM
4. Ben Lamay-Hon
5. Keith Tucker-Yam
6. Gavin Faith-Kaw
7. Kyle Regal-Hus
8. Jace Owen-Hon
9. Cody VanBuskirk-KTM
10. Kyle Bitterman-Hus
Arenacross Main Event 2
1. Jacob Hayes-Kaw
2. Kyle Regal-Hus
3. Ben Lamay-Hon
4. Daniel Herrlein-Hon
5. Chris Blose-Kaw
6. Gavin Faith-Kaw
7. Travis Sewell-KTM
8. Kyle Bitterman-Hus
9. Cory Green-Suz
10. Cody VanBuskirk-KTM
Arenacross Class Overall Results
1. Jacob Hayes- Kaw/1-1
2. Ben Lamay-Hon/4-3
3. Chris Blose-Kaw/2-5
4. Kyle Regal-Hus/7-2
5. Travis Sewell-KTM/3-7
6. Gavin Faith-Kaw-6-6
7. Daniel Herrlein-Hon/12-4
8. Keith Tucker-Yam/5-12
9. Kyle Bitterman-Hus/10-8
10. Cody VanBuskirk-KTM/9-10
RMATV/MC Head 2 Head Challenge
1. Gavin Faith-Kaw/2 points
2. Jacob Hayes-Kaw/1 point
3. Ben Lamay-Hon/1 point
4. Chris Blose-Kaw/1 point
5. Travis Sewell-KTM/1 point
6. Keith Tucker-Yam/1 point
7. Steve Roman-Suz/1 point
8. Jacob Williamson-Kaw/1 point
Eastern Regional Arenacross Main Event
1. Daniel Herrlein-Hon
2. Jacob Williamson-Kaw
3. Tyler McSwain-Yam
4. Ben Nelko-KTM
5. Jared Lesher-KTM
6. Cody VanBuskirk-KTM
7. Lane Staley-KTM
8. Steve Roman-Suz
9. Dave Ginolfi-Hus
10. Jake McKinney-Hon
2016 AMSOIL Arenacross Class Series Points Standings
1. Chris Blose-84/1 Main Event Win
2. Gavin Faith-81
3. Jacob Hayes-80/3 Main Event Wins
4. Travis Sewell-73/2 Main Event Wins
5. Kyle Regal-64
6. Gared Steinke-63
7. Daniel Herrlein-47
8. Keith Tucker-44
9. Jacob Williamson-44
10. Ben Lamay-40
Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class Standings
1. Daniel Herrlein-44/1 Main Event Win
2. Lane Staley-39
3. Tyler McSwain- 31
4. Steve Roman-24
5. Dylan Walker-20
6. Henry Miller-17
7. Austin Stroupe-16/1 Main Event Win
8. Keith Tucker-16/1 Main Event Win
9. Jacob Williamson-15
10. Brandon Hartranft-9
Your Privacy Choices