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/798489
IN THE WIND P32 HERRLEIN BREAKS THROUGH T he New Orleans Arenacross, March 11, represented the final race of the 2017 Amsoil Arenacross Series before the commencement of the Race to the Championship, and rather than 2017's dominant racer, TiLube Jack Links TUF Racing Honda's Jace Owen, placing a final stamp on this championship being his, he put up his worst score of the season so far. Defending champ Gavin Faith grabbed the holeshot in the first main event of the night inside New Orleans' Smoothie King Center, with Woodstock KTM's Daniel Herrlein and points lead- er Owen giving chase. Owen soon moved into second, and was gifted the lead when Faith went down in a rhythm section, but even Owen couldn't hold onto the top spot, as he went down in the whoops. He handed the lead to Herrlein, who held on to win his first-ever 250AX main event. Owen's teammate Ben Lamay brought his Honda home in second, just in front of Owen, Herrlein's teammate Cody VanBuskirk, and Faith's Babbitt's Monster Energy Amsoil Kawasaki teammate Travis Sewell holding on for fifth. Faith remounted from his crash in 11th and stayed there to the finish. The second main event saw Sewell snatch the early lead in front of Lamay, Rockstar En- ergy Rock River Yamaha's Chris Blose, Owen, Herrlein and Faith. Herrlein soon relegated Owen to fifth place before Owen tangled with a lapper and went down, eventu- ally finishing sixth. Blose passed Lamay for second, and Herrlein followed suit for third just before Blose crashed himself out of the posi- tion, handing it to Herrlein, who held on for the final few laps to finish second to Sewell. Her- rlein's 1-2 score was enough to grab him his first-ever 250AX overall win. Lamay was second overall (2-3), while Sewell (5-1) was third. Then came Owen, with his 3-6 score. With that race done, the championship points have been reset, and now Owen leads the championship with six points over defending champ Faith (five points), then Matt Goerke and Blose (both with four points), Lamay and Gared Steinke (three points each), Herrlein and Sewell (two points each), and VanBuskirk and Josh Osby (one point each). In the 15-lap Eastern Regional AX Lites Class main, Yamaha Rock River bLU cRU's Justin Cooper had the chance to clinch the title in New Orleans, but Babbitt's GPF Monster En- ergy Kawasaki MMCR's Jacob Williamson took the win while Cooper could only manage fifth place in the main event. This left Cooper one point shy of clinch- ing the championship, which will now go down to the final round in Las Vegas in May between Cooper and Williamson. CN 250AX Overall 1. Daniel Herrlein (KTM) 1-2 2. Ben Lamay (Hon) 2-3 3. Travis Sewell (Kaw) 5-1 4. Jace Owen (Hon) 3-6 5. Josh Osby (Kaw) 6-5 Eastern Regional AX Lites 1. Jacob Williamson (Kaw) 2. Hunter Sayles (KTM) 3. Scott Zont (Kaw) 4. Isaac Teasdale (KTM) 5. Justin Cooper (Yam) PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHIFTONE PHOTOGRAPHY Daniel Herrlein captured the first Arenacross victory of his career in New Orleans.