TiLUBE Husqvarna’s Kyle Regal earned his second win of the season at the Tampa Arenacross. Photography by Josh Rud/ShiftOne Photography
Considering the special guest at the Tampa Arenacross was none other than the great Ricky Carmichael, it was only fitting that the number-4 rider emerged victorious at round 6 of the AMSOIL Arenacross, featuring Ricky Carmichael’s Road to Supercross. Kyle Regal of the Husqvarna TiLUBE TUF Racing team used a pair of second-place finishes to take the overall win at the Amalie Arena on Saturday night. Meanwhile in the Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class, it was Motosport.com KTM’s Daniel Blair who took the top honors.
Guess who suited up for the Tampa Arenacross? Ricky Carmichael gave race fans a thrill when he took to the track and put down a hot lap with the current top riders. Photography by Josh Rud/ShiftOne Photography
In the first main, Babbitt’s Kawasaki teammates Matt Goerke and Chris Blose came out of the first turn side-by-side. Blose grabbed the early lead, only to crash hard in the rhythm section later that lap (which ended his night). From that point, Goerke took over the lead and made a run for it. Regal tried to pressure him for the win, but pushed too hard, and crashed. The Husqvarna rider slipped back to fifth place, but did some effective damage control and made his way back up to second before the finish. Goerke took the first race win before his home crowd, and was looking forward to making it an overall victory, but his night got more difficult after selecting the inversion card for the second race.
Jacob Hayes’ runner-up finish in Tampa helped him remain in control of the Arenacross Championship, and keep his red plate. Photography by Josh Rud/ShiftOne Photography
Goerke got out to a decent start in the second race, as did Regal and Babbitt’s Kawasaki’s Jacob Hayes, although it was ThermoTec Yamaha’s Kiniry who captured the early lead. Goerke made a push toward the front, but crashed in the effort and fell all the way back to 11th. That left Hayes in second followed by Regal. Hayes set to work closing in on Kiniry, and succeeded in passing him for the lead. Regal was next to get around Kiniry, and reeled him in to secure second place. Kiniry held on for third followed by Willy Browning. Goerke recovered from his crash to finish fifth in the second race.
After the scores were tallied, it was Regal’s 2-2 that awarded him the win. Hayes finished in second with a 6-1 score (plus two extra points from winning the RMATV/MC Head 2 Head Challenge) edging out Kiniry, who rounded out the podium with his 3-3 finish.
Arenacross Class Results:
1. Kyle Regal (2-2)
2. Jacob Hayes (6-1)
3. Bobby Kiniry (3-3)
4. Matt Goerke (1-5)
5. Willy Browning (7-4)
6. Travis Sewell (5-6)
7. Gared Steinke (4-7)
8. Steven Mages (9-10)
9. Dylan Rouse (10-11)
10. Cory Green (8-13)
Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Results:
1. Daniel Blair (KTM)
2. Dave Ginolfi (KTM)
3. Dylan Rouse (KTM)
4. Scott Zont (KTM)
5. Jacob Williamson (Kaw)
6. Lorenzo Locurcio (Yam)
7. Jake Locks (KTM)
8. Dave Blanchet (Kaw)
9. Logan Pfleiderer (Yam)
10. Cody VanBuskirk (KTM)
