Chris Blose dominated Round 10 of the 2015 AMSOIL Arenacross series on Saturday in New Orleans and takes the early lead in points to start the first of six rounds in the "Race to the Championship" format.
The points reset for the Top 10 riders after Round 9 which closed the gap between 10th place and first place from 140 points to just five. Blose entered Round 9 last week in sixth-place 78 points back from first and very little chance of winning the title, all things remaining the same. But with the quasi-playoff format, he started Round 10 in fifth-place, three points back from leader Kyle Regal and now is in first-place with a three-point lead over Matt Goerke thanks to a sweep of both Mains.
Blose had little trouble winning the two Motos as he jumped out ahead of his teammate Jacob Hayes on Moto 1 and quickly extended his lead leaving the field to figure out the rest of the podium. He did get some help help from Hayes, who banged bars with Regal as the two tangled for second and held up the riders behind them approaching the finish line jump early in the race. The push-back enabled Blose to pull away for an easy win.
Regal and Hayes battled again for second on Lap 10 with Regal crashing in the whoops and dropping back to ninth. Hayes took second and Gavin Faith finished third. Regal picked up a spot taking eighth.
Gared Steinke got his first podium of the year in New Orleans - All Photos: AMSOIL Arenacross
In Moto 2, Blose grabbed the holeshot and led wire-to-wire. Once again Hayes and Regal battled for second and this time Regal came away unscathed passing Hayes in the whoops. It was Gavin Faith attempting to pass Hayes and the two made contact sending Hayes to the dirt and in last place by the time he remounted. Faith stayed upright and went after Regal in Lap 5 but crashed in the whoops and fell back to eighth. Regal eventually lost second to Goerke and then third to MotoSport rider Gared Steinke after crashing on Lap 12.
Steinke managed a ninth overall thanks to the 13th place in Moto 1. The third-place for Moto 2 was his first podium of the year. Steinke was in eighth-place with two points heading into Round 10 and dropped to ninth—place with 20 points.
"In Moto 1, I had a decent start and was running ninth making some passes when my front wheel washed out," Steinke said. "I got back up and was charging, making more passes and got taken out."
In Moto 2, Steinke started in the second row and bullied his way through the first corner to get into seventh-place and then charged his way through the field for the third place finish.
Daniel Blair grabbed second-place in New Orleans and is ready to take home the West Lites crown
The trek west begins for Arenacross with Round 11 on Saturday at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, TX. It's also the first of four West Lites class races to determine that series' champion. MotoSport rider Daniel Blair leads by 19 points over Cody Vanbuskirk. Buy tickets online or at the box office, 1701 Red River in Austin, TX.
2015 New Orleans Arenacross Results
Arenacross Class Results - Overall
- Chris Blose (1-1)
- Matt Goerke (4-2)
- Gavin Faith (3-5)
- Kyle Regal (8-4)
- Cory Green (5-6)
- Bobby Kiniry (6-7)
- Jacob Hayes (2-12)
- Travis Sewell (7-8)
- Gared Steinke (13-3) - MotoSport rider
- Steven Mages (9-9)
Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class Results
- Steven Mages
- Daniel Blair - MotoSport rider
- Jacob Williamson
- Drayke Sizemore
- Ben Nelko
- Jason McConnell
- Brian Alquist
- Jake Lowry
- Jonah Locks
- Clay Elliott
Race to the Championship Standings
- Chris Blose (36)
- Matt Goerke (33)
- Kyle Regal (30)
- Gavin Faith (29)
- Jacob Hayes (25)
- Bobby Kiniry (25)
- Cory Green (25)
- Travis Sewell (23)
- Gared Steinke (20) - MotoSport rider
- Steven Mages (18)
Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class Points (After Race 10 of 11)
- Dave Ginolfi (134) - 2015 East Lites Champion
- Jacob Williamson (79)
- Scott Zont (75)
- Steve Roman (65)
- Steven Mages (63)
- Daniel Herrlein (56)
- Dylan Rouse (45)
- Dave Blanchet (41)
- Drayke Sizemore (36)
- Darian Sanayei (35)