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/128405
K&N Filters Presents BooKoo Arenacross Championship Series Powered By Toyota ike Kidd, the founding father of Arenacross, unveiled his new manifestation of the sport of close-quarters racing in the Fort Worth Convention Center with the opening round of the inaugural K&N Filters BooKoo Arenacross Series, Powered by Toyota. And while several heavy-hitters from last season headed the entry list, when the spotlights had cooled on the weekend's festivities, it was a pair of relative unknowns - Brad Ripple and josh Woods - who stole the show, each claiming their first-ever National Arenacross victories. Last year, Ripple was all set to campaign the National Arenacross Series, but an injury at the opening round put a damper on his early-season plans. The Indiana native salvaged the year by riding his own equipment to an 18th-overall finish in the final 12Scc East Supercross Series standings and an I Ith at the EastWest Shootout. It was that finish that landed him a ride with Team Babbitt Kawasaki for the BooKoo Series. "Last year, I was kind of on my own, riding some ragged-out stuff:' Ripple said. "I got picked up by these guys, they got me on some good bikes, and I can't thank them enough. Put me on a good bike and I can win." Ripple backed up his promise with a pair of impressive 2S0cc main-event wins in Texas. Not to be outdone, Woods' amazing weekend was even more of a Cinderella Brad. I am still working on deals for Supercross and didn't really have anything going on right now, so I thought it was a good chance to come and race and see what I could do in Arenacross. We decided at about midnight to come, so we drove all night and got here at noon today, just in time for practice." Antunez was obviously delighted vvith his choice, but he was qUick to point out that Hagseth had been his number-one man. "First of all, Brad Hagseth was our number-one guy and my top pick for this team:' Antunez said. "He just had an unfortunate event, which happens in motorcycle racing, and I feel bad for him. That being said, we were thinking about not even putting anybody on the bike, but it was the first round of the series and a lot of big players were here, and we decided to make a couple of calls. josh was one of them. He drove all night to get here and my first words to him were, 'just make some main events.' He went ahead and took it a step further. He is a great rider and I think he is a guy that has been passed over on some opportunities. So he has a great chance here to kind of showcase his talent, and he did that for all of story. The 23-year-old wasn't even supposed to be at the Arenacross in Fort Worth. In fact, just one day earlier, he was in Georgia, getting ready for the upcoming Supercross series, but he was still without a ride. However, an unfortunate crash during Thursday's media day by Fun Center/PPG/Suzuki's Brad Hagseth left an opening on the team that manager Buddy Antunez decided to fill. Woods drove all night long from Georgia, arriving at the arena just two hours before practice was scheduled to start. When he left town, he had two wins to his credit and a share of the series points lead. "Now I've got to think about riding this whole series:' Woods said after winning Friday's 4S0 main. "I got a call last night at about 10 p.m., and I was just back at my place in Georgia, getting ready for the Supercross season. They gave me the option to come out and ride in place of after a couple of aggressive laps, only to case it on the triple, handing the lead back to Ripple, where he remained for the duration of the race. In the meantime, Demuth was recovering from a midpack start and, by the end of the 16-lap event, had worked his way past Hofmaster for second. Hofmaster settled for third. During Friday's 4S0 main, Team Fun Center/PPG/Suzuki's Shane Bess squeezed through the tight and sandy first turn to take the early lead, but on lap three, Woods capitalized on a great drive through the long and torturous whoop section and passed his teammate in the following turn for the lead. From there, the 23-year-old cruised home with the win, while BooKoo Honda Proton Oils' Tiger Lacey made an aggressive pass on Bess in the hairpin turn before the start straight to grab the runner-up position with just a few laps remaining in the race. M our sponsors." Ripple kicked off the weekend's mainevent action by grabbing the holeshot in Friday's 2S0 race (which might as well be called the 2S0F class), with Suzukimounted Nick Metcalf and Sano System's Tommy Hofmaster in tow. However, Hofmaster put his Honda on the point