Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128240
Ama t eur Arena c r o s s W o rl d Final s MGM Grand Garden Arena Arenacross. " You have Lo retta 's , you have Ponca [for a ma te u r ou tdoo r cham pionships], but the re never real ly was an indoor Aren across ch ampions h ip for amateurs. In th e past, they would get their tr oph ies week in and wee k o ut, but they nev er co u ld say they won a title. Th ere is nothing th at ho lds a candle to thi s - it' s t oo perfect. They get a chanc e to rac e on the same track as the big guys, and it's a good reason to go t o Vegas ." Ev eryon e m ak es the m ain by qualifying at hom e f o r the fina l s . The h eats a re fo r g ate p i ck an d a little ext ra tr ack time. After the heat s Sund ay m o rnin g, the finals st art ed with a c ool show ope ning and rider presen tation to rem ind th e aud ien ce (mostly famil y and friend s of th e riders) that th is is not just another rac e - it's th e Final s. Th e c lasses ran g e fro m t wo 5 0cc cla sse s to Plus-3 0 . On e 50 c c (7- 8) r id e r , Kod y Kamm o n hi s Polin i , thrilled th e crowd by j um p ing a huge double just about every lap . Max Har ris , of Vancouver, Washingto n , won th e younger 50 cc class on his Cobra . Terren O 'D ell , o f Bentonv ille , Arkansas, won a clo se ra c e wi t h Devin Reed of Indianol a, Iow a , in the 65cc cla ss - both were on Ka wasakis. O 'Dell and Reed fin ish ed in tha t order in th e 85cc (7 -11) class , too. Gregg Duffy , of Churchton , Maryland , pu t in two stro ng rid es in 85 c c (12 - 15) and Su permini classes to take home two championships . Mark Graddy , of Farm in gto n , New Mexico, wo n the Schoolboy Champi onship , but h e e n de d up on th e gro und w ith Wes Peebl es i n t he 12 5 c c Intermed iat e cl ass , and John Wisenbarg e r took that w in . Br ad Wolfe, of Venus , Texas , w ho w as sec ond in the 125cc Inter m ed iat e cl ass and st ay ed o ut of the p il eup in tha t class wen t on to win the Co lle geboy Co ry Redenius won the 25 0cc • etr on the U.S. Open track S T ORY AND PHOTOS BY S T EVE B RU HN LAS VEGAS, NV, OCT. 12 he Yam aha and Hond a riders ba t - T tl ed tooth and nail , lap after lap, fo r the mai n event wi n in the MGM G r a nd Garden Arena . The Honda rider would make up some time in the whoops and chase the Yam aha rid er out into the MGM lot. Then the Yamaha would op en a sma ll gap afte r th ey returned t o th e i n d o o r part of t he track . Ultimatel y , th e Yam ah a would ta ke th e c ha m p io ns h ip, win n ing by abo ut a bikel ength. This was not Chad Reed and Ric k y Carmi ch ael: th is was the day after the U .S . O pe n , whe n J a y Hers hey , of We lli n g ton , Ohio, on h is Ya ma ha, narrowly won the Over-25 class over Ho nda-mounted Ron Boyas, of Clevela nd. Th e two were ra cing as pa rt of th e f o urt h ann ua l A re nac ross Am ateu r World Finals. The Aren ac ro ss W orld Fina ls ar e held the day aft er the U.S. Open, o n the sa me track - ev en though it i s to ned down quite a bit for the amat eu rs. The st art ing ga te w as moved outsi de to redu c e dust and smoke ins id e a n d speed u p stagi ng. T he sa me lig hting and sound crew t hat w or ked the N a ti o n a l Ar enacross Seri es, led by Eh ab Elsaadi, pu t the s ho w toge ther. About 29 0 r i d er s quali fied by makin g the top three in t heir classes at a Natio nal or Regio na l Aren acr oss Amateu r day . Class wi nners are treated t o a po d ium presen t at io n just lik e the pros ' , co mp lete with Ve g a s sho wg i r l s a n d th e a ll i m p ort a nt victo ry in t erview wh ere they say, "I wou ld li k e to thank ..." 36 NOVEMBER 1 2 , 2 0 0 3 · c ue T he F inal s a re th e b ig ges t th ing goi ng for amateurs w ho like to rac e indo o r s. You could sa y it 's like the Loretta Ly nn' s of indo or racing . The factories don 't pore over the winner s as possib le rec ru its li k e they do at Lo retta's, but a few nam es, lik e Sean Hackley J r. and Cody Gilmore; ha ve used t h e Fi nals to ad d t o th eir impressive resumes. " T h is eve nt gives the A renacross riders a chance to showca se their ta lents and w in a worl d championship ," said Kyle Bak er , direct or of N ati on al e neVIl' s Gregg Duffy won both the 85cc (12 - 15 1 and Su pe rmini classes.