It's all or nothing for some Arenacross riders this weekend as Round 9 of the 2015 AMSOIL Arenacross series is the final stop before the "Race to the Championship" begins and only the Top 10 riders in points move on to compete for the Arenacross crown.
Though most of those already in contention are locks to continue, more than 60 points are available as the stop in Southaven, MS features two nights of racing which includes four Motos. MotoSport rider Gared Steinke has a comfortable 39 point lead over 10th place Cory Green and 51 points over the 11th place spot. Plus he's coming off his best round of the season (sixth overall) with two seventh-place overalls prior and two fourth-place finishes. In the last three rounds, Steinke has four Top 5 finishes and eight Top 10 finishes so similar results in Southaven not only assures him moving on but could push him up a spot or two.
"I'm not going all out, I'm comfortably inside the top 10," Steinke said of his plan for Round 9. "I'm consistently getting better physically and mentally so when the points reset I will be ready to go."
It's a sentiment likely expressed by most riders as crashes can end the season or resulting injuries can hamper down-the-stretch performance. The Top 3 riders, Kyle Regal, Jacob Hayes and Matt Goerke, are likely to stay in the Top 3 it's just a matter of where they place at the end of Round 9 as Regal leads by one point over Hayes and Goerke. Travis Sewell and Bobby Kiniry, fourth and fifth, respectively, are within a race of each other and the riders in the sixth through eighth spots could swap by the end of the weekend. Green only has a 12 point lead keeping him in the Top 10 so it's playoff time for him.
Gared Steinke is ready for the "Race to the Championship" - All Photos: AMSOIL Arenacross
Placement matters as the rider in first-place begins the "Race to the Championship" with six points, second place gets five points, third and fourth place start with four points, fifth and sixth get three points, seventh and eighth get two points and ninth and 10th starts with one point.
Once Round 10 begins all bets are off. Steinke said earlier this year intensity for the start of the "Race to the Championship" is way more intense then the first round of the year. In many respects, the "Race" is a brand new season that consists of just six rounds so while the point spread after the reset isn't much, only five points separate first from 10th, right now two points is the difference between who is in first and who is in third.
This weekend's round marks the return of the East Lites class and MotoSport rider Daniel Blair won this class in Tampa. Blair doesn't compete in the East Lites class for points but the "practice" sure helps as he leads the West Lites class in points.
Arenacross Round 9 gets underway at 7 p.m. (EST) Friday with Night 2 starting at 7 p.m. (EST) on Saturday at the Landers Center. Buy tickets online or at the box office, 4560 Venture Drive in Southaven, MS.
Arenacross Class Points
- Kyle Regal (308)
- Jacob Hayes (307)
- Matt Goerke (307)
- Travis Sewell (248)
- Bobby Kiniry (242)
- Chris Blose (230)
- Steven Mages (227)
- Gavin Faith (225)
- Gared Steinke (207) - MotoSport rider
- Cory Green (168)
Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class Points
- Dave Ginolfi (103)
- Steve Roman (65)
- Scott Zont (61)
- Daniel Herrlein (56)
- Steven Mages (47)
- Dylan Rouse (44)
- Jacob Williamson (42)
- Dave Blanchet (41)
- Darian Sanayei (35)
- Mitchell Harrison (33)
