Posted by: TFS in NEWS on Feb 02, 2010
Arenacross Tour, Round 5
Story and photos by Steve Bruhn
Lewis Wins Cash in Philadelphia
January 30, 2010; Philadelphia, MS-
Georgia’s Jase Lewis (#722) heard about the Arenacross Tour from his friends, and made the drive from Carrolton, GA to Philadelphia, MS to check it out and he won! He just rode one class-AX Pro, and qualified in 6th to make the Clash for Cash lineup. He had a bad gate pick on the outside, but he launched off the gate, took the holeshot and never looked back.
Philadelphia, MS loves a good show!
Spectators were anxious to get in for the night show.
The track featured a big triple, and the pros were not the only ones clearing it.
Philadelphia, like Hattiesburg the weekend before, had a soft red clay track surface. The whoops were tough and separated riders, and the track featured a long-supercross style triple that even some of the amateurs cleared without much trouble. Rider turnout was about 250, and the grandstands were packed for the night show. United FMX provided the freestyle show, featuring Terry Russell.
Moore celebrates winning an AX Pro moto.
Gills was on a borrowed 250F, but that didn't slow him down.
Early races were dominated by series leader Johnny Moore, who went 1-1 in AX Pro (450s) and Kyle Gills, who went 1-1 in AX Lites Pro on a borrowed bike. Johnny Marley, who was injured at round 1 last December in Batesville, was back in action and was 3rd in AX Pro and 2nd in AX Lites Pro qualifying motos. Lewis was new to the Arenacross Tour and went 3-6 in AX Pro to make the Clash for Cash.
Holifield (bottom right) goes off the track in Quad Pro. Travis Moore takes the lead.
The Quad Pro race was again a great matchup between last week’s winner Wesley Holifield and his rival Travis Moore. This time it was Moore taking the win after Holifield went off the track just before the triple and Moore got by.
The pits were outside and the weather was freezing. More than one rider was seen kicking his bike on the gate while the show paused to see if it would start. This even happened to the series leader, when Johnny Moore had trouble getting his bike started outside and missed his gate pick. He was forced to start on the far outside, right next to Lewis.
:)
Lewis didn’t let the bad gate pick wreck his night. He shot out of the gate in the Clash for Cash and made it to the first turn first, just ahead of Johnny Marley, Cameron Stone, Kyle Gills, and Justin Thompson. Moore was shut out and pretty far back, eventually making his way to 5th.
A few laps in, Stone crashed over the finish double and his bike was out of sight on the down side of the landing. Stone got out of the way, but could do nothing as riders jumped on the caution without knowing what was on the other side. A couple hit his bike, then the flaggers used a red cross flag to keep them from doubling. Stone’s bike was pretty beat up by the time he got it back.
Lewis rode all 20 laps in the lead and took the win, with Marley getting closest as they went through lappers, but not close enough to challenge him.
Moore still leads the series by 3 points, with 4 rounds to go. Thompson is second, with Stone in 3rd 9 points behind him.
Podium Profiles:
Lewis talked about why he decided make the trip from Georgia to race the Areancross Tour. “I heard about the race,” he said, “A couple of my friends told me about it so I came here with them. I had been doing pretty good at the Arenacrosses in Corinth. I wasn’t really expecting to win. I rode for the Warthog (Warthog Racing Academy) last year in the outdoors. I actually did supercross last year and outdoors. I had MDK doing all my stuff.
“I have a pro number,” said Lewis, “I am ranked #91 this year.” As far as supercross, he said, “I don’t have a deal right now. I only have an ’07 Honda right now. That’s all I really have going.”
Even though Lewis got the holeshot in the race that paid the most, he didn’t set the early races on fire. “I struggled with starts all night,” he said, “I had a decent gate pick in AX Pro tonight and blew it. I knew in the Clash for Cash I had to get a start and get put front and that’s what I did. I was hoping everyone would bunch up in second and third. Once you get a little breathing room you get comfortable and ride your own race so that’s what I did. I have trained a lot for supercross and outdoors over the years, so it wasn’t a tough race at all. I should be at the last one in Mississippi. I don’t have other any plans for sure as of now. I want to try some outdoors. I don’t have anything going on for supercross and it is too late to start now.”
Johnny Marley is a 3-time Arenacross Tour champion, but he got hurt at round one and this was his first race back. He said he came back to “Try to make a little money and have some fun. I just hunt for a race every weekend and this one was open. I decided to come back and try it out again. It was a long ways, 10 or 12 hours. I just started riding again. In my first race here, in Batesville, I ended up crashing out and hurting my shoulder. I was off for about a month and have been riding for about three weekends. It was pretty painful.”
Marley talked about his bikes and his strategy. “I knew I would probably be coming up from the back of the pack because I have been having struggling with starts and the bikes,” he said, “The bikes are pretty much worn out. They are year-old bikes. I just had to hammer down the whole race to get up front. Usually the whoops are my passing spots in every track that we race here. That is about the only place you can make up any time because we all go fast on the straightaways, corners and jumps. The whoops separate us a little bit. There are a few different ways you can hit them and not everyone knows the ways. That helps me out a little bit.”
“I think I had to pass Gills and Thompson from the get go and tried to get up there pretty quick,” said Marley about the Clash for Cash, “I got into second and just tried to hound Lewis for the lead but he stayed on his game the whole race too. There was not much I could do. We caught up to the lappers and I made up time. When the guy went down over the finish line I made up time there. It was sketchy but I was able to get through there. Once we got around the lappers Lewis started pulling his lead again. I have raced him in the past, he is a good rider.”
“This has been a rough series for me,” said Kyle Gills, “I think this is only my second podium. I have had bad luck. I was winning a few weekends ago and my bike blew up. I crashed in another one. It feels to get back up on the podium again. I definitely rode a lot better tonight than I have been in the previous rounds. I didn’t really get the start I wanted and just kept my head down and kept going and going and didn’t look behind me and came out third. I rode a 250. That is not even my 250. I borrowed it because mine is still having motor work done to it. I borrowed my brother’s 450 to try it out. I didn’t like it as much.”
Gills is one of the few riders that always uses a 250F in the Clash for Cash. He does it to get ready for supercross, but it does have its disadvantages. “Right before the triple, it was right out of the corner so if I got pushed up high there was no way I could do the triple, but on a 450 all you have to do is get back straight and gas it,” he said, “This was one of the longest starts we have had and that was kind of a disadvantage. But, I can move the bike around easier and I feel more comfortable riding it and of course that is going to be what I am riding in the supercrosss season so I am just going to keep riding the 250F so I can be used to it more. This series is a good series. There is a lot of competition and this will definitely he me prepare for supercross.”
“I was real happy with how I rode today,” said Gills about finishing 3rd. “Of course I wanted to win. But I’m happy with 3rd because this is the best that I have ridden in a while. In both the 250 motos I got the holeshot and never looked back and checked out. The 450 motos were a little tougher and I pumped up.”
About the Clash for Cash, Gills said, “After the first lap I was maybe 4th I think. I made a quick pass for 3rd going through the whoops. After that there was just so much carnage going on, haybales everywhere, lappers were racing each other so they didn’t want to get out of the way. There were some that were respectful of the blue flags. It was a good race.”
When Stone’s bike was on the track hidden from view after the finish double, Gills just missed it. “The yellow flag was out but the flaggers weren’t pointing to it,” he said, “I jumped [the finish double] right in the middle and was heading straight for it and just barely missed it.”
Gills is also practicing his podium speeches for supercross, and can list his sponsors without even looking at a pit board or his rear fender. “Next week is the furthest drive for me, about 7 hrs, but I will do everything I can to make it,” he said, “ I would like to thank the good lord Jesus Christ for keeping us safe, and Pro Flow Kawasaki, Road Runner Transport, Fly, Smith, EVS, Liquid Performance, Paul Bryant Sales and Service, my mom, my dad, my girlfriend and her family.”
Arenacross Tour “Clash for Cash” (Main Event)
1) Jase Lewis, Hon; 2) Johnny Marley, Yam; 3) Kyle Gills, Kaw; 4) Justin Thompson, Hon; 5) Johnny Moore, Hon; 6) Chris Tracy, Kaw; 7) PJ Stratton, Hon; 8) Billy Wichers, KTM; 9) Jason Perry, Hon; 10) Cameron Stone, Kaw; 11) Jake Lowry, Kaw; 12) Shane Mills, Hon.
Arenacross Tour “Clash for Cash” Qualifiers, AX Pro (450s)
1) Johnny Moore, Hon, 1-1; 2) Chris Tracy, Kaw, 4-3; 3) Johnny Marley, Yam, 2-5; 4) Kyle Gills, Kaw, 7-2; 5) Justin Thompson, Hon, 5-4; 6) Jase Lewis, Hon, 3-6; 7) Cameron Stone, Kaw, 6-7; 8) Jason Perry, Hon, 8-8, 9) Shane Mills, KTM, 9-9.
Arenacross Tour “Clash for Cash” Qualifiers, AX Lites Pro
1) Kyle Gills, Kaw, 1-1; 2) Johnny Marley, Yam, 3-2; 3) Johnny Moore, Hon, 2-3; 4) Cameron Stone, Kaw, 4-4; 5) Billy Wichers, KTM, 6-5; 6) PJ Stratton, Hon, 5-7; 7) PJ Stratton, Hon, 7-6; 8) Matthew Stewart, Hon, 8-8.
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Arenacross Tour Clash for Cash Points:
1) Johnny Moore, 101; 2) Justin Thompson, 98; 3) Cameron Stone, 91; 4) Kyle Gills, 84; 5) Chris Tracy, 79; 6) Jake Lowry, 73; 7) Jason Perry, 62; 8) Pj Stratton, 37; 9) Johnny Marley, 33; 10) Dustin Gills, 30; 11) Josh Hicks, 28; 12) Billy Wichers, 26; 13) Jase Lewis, 25; 14) Shane Mills, 23; 15) Jared Hicks, 22; 16) Derek Rodgers, 16; 16) Ozzy Barbaree, 16; 18) Jonathan Dove, 15; 19) Buddy Brooks, 14; 20) Brandon Powers, 12; 20) Dustin Manuel, 12; 22) Matthew Stewart, 10; 23) Chris Sandifer, 9; 23) Brandon Powers, 9.
Terry Russell 's cliffhangers get close to the ceiling.
Hunter Smith won a mini class on his Cobra.
See you next Saturday in Cookeville, TN!
From the archives- Here's Jase Lewis after he won the 250 B Stock class at Loretta's in 2005.
:)