ArenaCross Media Press Release:
AMSOIL Arenacross, featuring Ricky Carmichael’s Road to Supercross, made its lone visit to California on Saturday, hosting the second to last round of the 2015 season from Save Mart Center. The fifth round of the Race to the Championship featured a competitive evening of competition that saw Team Kawasaki‘s Jacob Hayes take his second consecutive overall win on the heels of a pair of consistent Arenacross Class Main Events. In the Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class, KTM’s Dave Ginolfi posted a dominant wire-to-wire victory.
Kawasaki’s Matt Goerke appeared to be the rider to beat in the opening Arenacross Class Main Event of the evening, grabbing the holeshot ahead of Hayes and Yamaha’s Bobby Kiniry. Goerke established himself as the leader, but Hayes was able to keep him within striking distance. Behind them, the battle for third picked up between Kiniry and Husqvarna’s Gavin Faith. On Lap 4 Faith was able to make the pass and move into podium position, and not long after Kiniry came under fire from both Babbitt’s Kawasaki’s Chris Blose and Motosport.com/Haeseker Racing KTM’s Gared Steinke. Blose moved into fourth on Lap 6, with Steinke following suit the following lap.
Husqvarna’s Kyle Regal, the Race to the Championship points leader, started fifth in the Main Event and was solidly in contention with the lead group throughout the first half of the 15-lap race. Regal passed Kiniry to begin his attack on teammate Faith for third. On Lap 6, Regal made a mistake while closing in on his Faith and went over the berm after the whoops, dropping to 15th.
Out front, Goerke maintained about a second advantage over Hayes, which carried through to the finish. After fending of the initial pressure from his teammate Regal, Faith brought home a third-place finish. Blose was fourth, with Preston Plumbing Yamaha rider Ryan Breece third. Regal finished 11th.
Goerke’s victory meant he had the opportunity to select the inversion for the second Main Event. With the help of the Fresno crowd, Goerke selected the case with zero, meaning no riders would be inverted.
As the second Main Event got underway, Regal and Kiniry headed into the first turn side-by-side before Kiniry lost traction and slid out. Regal was able to come away unscathed, but the incident with Kiniry also collected Goerke, Blose and several more riders. Faith and Hayes also avoided the incident and battled for second, with Hayes making an aggressive move for the position that took Faith off the track. Breece worked his way into third after a solid fourth-place start.
While Regal sat comfortably out front, Hayes and Breece engaged in a thrilling battle for second, going side-by-side for most of the race. Behind this battle, Goerke overcame his involvement in the first lap incident to slot into eighth, one spot ahead of Blose. Regal took a much-needed win, with Hayes holding off Breece for second. Babbitt’s Online Suzuki’s Cory Green was fourth, while Ginolfi was fifth.
Hayes’ 2-2 finishes were enough to put him on top of the overall podium on what ended up being a big night in the points. Goerke’s resiliency in the second Main Event landed him second (1-7), while Breece enjoyed a career night in third (5-3). Green, who earned an additional championship bonus point for winning the RMATV/MC Head 2 Head Challenge earlier in the evening, was fourth (6-4) followed by Regal in fifth (11-1).
Regal entered the night with his largest points lead of the Race to the Championship with eight, but Hayes’ strong, consistent effort combined with Regal’s misfortune in the first Main Event erased the deficit. The two winningest riders of the 2015 season now sit deadlocked for the top spot in the Race to the Championship with one race remaining. Goerke is third, seven points back, with Blose and Faith tied for fourth (-16).
The Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class Main Event saw Ginolfi take the early lead, from which he never looked back, leaving the battle for the remaining spots on the podium to his fellow competitors. Newly crowned Western Regional Champion Daniel Blair had an impressive climb through the field, battling his way from sixth to methodically move into second by the time the checkered flag flew. KTM’s Scott Zont and Steven Mages went back and forth throughout the Main Event, with Zont eventually securing the third and final spot on the podium.
Arenacross Class Results – Main Event 1
Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki
Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki
Gavin Faith, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Husqvarna
Chris Blose, Phoenix, Ariz., Kawasaki
Ryan Breece, Athol, Idaho, Yamaha
Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki
Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM
Bobby Kiniry, Holland Patent, N.Y., Yamaha
Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM
Kinser Endicott, Red Bluff, Calif., Kawasaki
Arenacross Class Results – Main Event 2
Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna
Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki
Ryan Breece, Athol, Idaho, Yamaha
Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki
Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM
Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki
Chris Blose, Phoenix, Ariz., Kawasaki
Willy Browning, Pleasantville, Ohio, KTM
Gavin Faith, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Husqvarna
Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM
Arenacross Class Results – Overall (Main Event Finishes)
Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki (2-2)
Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki (1-7)
Ryan Breece, Athol, Idaho, Yamaha (5-3)
Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki (6-4)
Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna (11-1)
Chris Blose, Phoenix, Ariz., Kawasaki (4-8)
Gavin Faith, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Husqvarna (3-10)
Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM (9-5)
Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM (7-11)
Bobby Kiniry, Holland Patent, N.Y., Yamaha (8-13)
RMATV/MC Head 2 Head Challenge Results
Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki (2 points)
Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna (1 point)
Bobby Kiniry, Holland Patent, Pa., Yamaha (1 point)
Gavin Faith, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Husqvarna (1 point)
Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki (1 point)
Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki (1 point)
Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM (1 point)
Gared Steinke, Temecula, Calif., KTM (1 point)
Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class Results
1. Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM
2. Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM
3. Scott Zont, Algonquin, Ill., KTM
4. Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, KTM
5. Clay Elliott, Buford, Ga., KTM
6. Jason McConnell, Canonsburg, Pa., KTM
7. RJ Wageman, Newhall, Calif., Yamaha
8. Jake Locks, Dixon, Calif., KTM
9. Tanner Sisson, Lemoore, Calif., KTM
10. Josh Struebig, Crown Point, Ind., KTM
Race to the Championship Standings (Race 5 of 6) (R2C Main Even Wins)
Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki – 140 (2)
Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna – 140 (2)
Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki – 133 (2)
Chris Blose, Phoenix, Ariz., Kawasaki – 124 (3)
Gavin Faith, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Husqvarna – 124
Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki – 123
Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM – 109
Bobby Kiniry, Holland Patent, N.Y., Yamaha – 97
Gared Steinke, Temecula, Calif., KTM – 89 (1)
Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, KTM – 78
Arenacross Class Points (Race 19 of 20)
Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM – 205
Willy Browning, Pleasantville, Ohio, KTM – 188
Daniel Herrlein, Bethesda, Ohio, Honda – 110
Cody VanBuskirk, Harvard, Ill., KTM – 104
Brandon Glenn, Mesquite, Texas, KTM – 76
Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class Points (After Race 9 of 10) (Main Event wins)
Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM – 127 (3)
Jake Locks, Dixon, Calif., KTM – 65
Cody VanBuskirk, Harvard, Ill., KTM – 51
Jason McConnell, Canonsburg, Pa., KTM – 49
Brandon Glenn, Mesquite, Texas, KTM – 48
Clay Elliott, Buford, Ga., KTM – 46
Josh Struebig, Crown Point, Ind., KTM – 41
Mason Wharton, Brush Prairie, Wash., Kawasaki – 34
RJ Wageman, Newhall, Calif., Yamaha – 32
Jonah Locks, Dixon, Calif., KTM – 29
The 15th and final round of the 2015 AMSOIL Arenacross, and the deciding round of the Race to the Championship, begins Friday, May 1, with the sport’s anticipated debut in Las Vegas. Racing from South Point Arena kicks off at 8 p.m. PDT / 11 p.m. EDT.
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