Babbitt's Kawasaki podium with
his teammates Chris Blose (2-2)
and Faith (4-1) joining him on the
box. Hayes tied in points with
Blose, but thanks to the extra
point earned in the RMATV/MC
Head 2 Head Challenge (a race
that takes place prior to the main
events), Hayes tipped the scales
in his favor for the overall victory.
Friday night also starred Ben
Nelko, who nabbed his career-
first Arenacross Lites win. Nelko
made it a dominant one at that,
leading every lap of the main
event.
Regal's tough luck continued
on Friday when he suffered a
crash in practice that took him
out of contention for the night
(and Saturday night as well).
On the third and final night, it
was Sewell's time to shine. The
KTM rider had a breakthrough
overall victory by sweeping both
main events, and also became
the first non-Kawasaki to win in
2016. (Sewell has multiple main
event wins to his credit, but
to this point, had not taken an
overall win.)
It was Sewell's night from start
to finish as he started by winning
the Head 2 Head Challenge,
and then went on to run away
with the lead in the first main
event, leaving Hayes and Faith to
duke it out for second place.
In the second main event he
once again got out to an early
lead, with Hayes and Faith fol-
lowing in a virtual replay of the
first main. Sewell was briefly
challenged by Hayes, who took
over the lead at one point, but
Sewell quickly regained the
point and ultimately the win.
Although Hayes missed out
on taking the overall win, he still
boasted the strongest overall
performance throughout the
tripleheader weekend, with an
impressive win and two second-
place finishes to his credit. As
a result, Hayes now leads the
championship by nine points
ahead of teammate Faith in sec-
ond. Blose is another 11 points
back in third, maintaining the
Babbitt's Kawasaki 1-2-3 in the
championship. CN
VOL. 53 ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 9, 2016 P25
(Above) Travis Sewell took a nearly
flawless victory on night three in
Colorado, becoming the first non-
Kawasaki winner in 2016.
(Below) Lites racer Ben Nelko
celebrated a breakthrough win on
Friday night, and helped himself to
another on Saturday night.
