Gibson Rebounds at Fresno AX

Shan Moore | February 16, 2009

After a couple of rough weekends, Jeff Gibson got back on track with a victory at the Fresno, California, round of the AMA Arenacross Series, held for the first time in the Save Mart Center on the campus of Fresno State University.

After working his Mahindra Tractors/Tuf Honda past Bobby J’s Yamaha’s Keith Johnson to take the lead on lap five of the main event, Gibson rode 20 clean laps to take the checkers ahead of Kawasaki riders Brock Sellards and Chad Johnson. With the victory, Gibson extended his lead in the points chase to 40 points over Spinechillers/Storm Lake Honda’s Nathan Skaggs, who finished outside of the top 10 in Fresno.

“I needed this,” said Gibson, who finished seventh and 11th in the previous two rounds. “I got a good start and tried to be smart. The past couple weeks have been tough. I’ve been riding well, but just suffered a little bad luck. It’s great to bounce back and get a win and help myself out in the points a little bit.”

Suzuki-mounted Willy Browning turned in one of his best rides of the year to claim fourth while Kawasaki’s Zach Ames and Keith Johnson rounded out the top five.

The Fresno race also kicked-off the three-round AMA Arenacross Lites Western Regional Championship that will take place over three consecutive weekends. GPF/Babbitt’s Kawasaki’s Tyler Medaglia opened the title chase with a big win while Browning and Foremost Insurance Suzuki’s Jim Neese followed in second and third, respectively.

The AMA Arenacross Series heads just a few miles north to Sacramento, Calif. next weekend for its annual round in the state’s capital at Arco Arena. The action ignites on Saturday, February 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Shan Moore | Contributing Editor

Moore covers all facets of off-road racing for Cycle News – from AMA Supercross and Motocross to GNCC and National Hare Scrambles events.