Behind The Lens With James Lissimore- A Look Back At The Battles In The Barn Presented By Fox Racing Canada
With the Chilliwack Arenacross kicking off this weekend, I thought I’d take a look through the archives for some photos of some of the top riders who’ve graced the red barn over the years. With 20 plus years of racing at the Chilliwack Heritage Park, there’s been a ton of good riders who’ve made the trip to bang bars and make a little off-season cash. Here’s a look at some that graced my photo files since I switched to digital…
Where it all goes down – the Chilliwack Heritage Park. The large floor surface leads to a bigger track than you’re usual hockey rink and has been the centre of BC indoor racing for 20 years.If we’re going to talk Arenacross, we have to talk about Canada’s goat of AX. Darcy Lange won AMA and BooKoo Arenacross championships down south and almost won a 250 SX title, so of course he honed those indoor skills racing the BC circuit. Here he is in 2006, racing as the defending Future West Champ. After countless years of racing Chilliwack on a mini-cycle, Jess Pettis came back in 2016 to take the Pro championship.There’s a reason why they call it “Beats Barn.” Kyle Beaton was a dominant force at Chilliwack around the late 2000’s to early 2010’s.Rubbing is racing in Arenacross and these are two of the best at it. Ryan Lockhart(9) puts the pass on Lee Coutts(1) in 2008.Another current top Pro who literally grew up racing in the Barn is 2021 250 Champion, Jacob Piccolo, seen here racing a 50cc in 2008.Growing up in nearby Aldergrove, 6-time Canadian champ, Colton Facciotti, has turned his fair share of laps in Chilliwack.A BC Arenacross specialist, Lee Coutts has probably won more head-to-head races than anyone.Racing for BC based teams, two-time Canadian 250 champ, Teddy Maier, has spent a lot of nights in the Chilliwack Heritage Park.The King himself, Jean Sebastien Roy, has come out a few times to Chilliwack. His final stop was here in 2008.2008 250 National Champion, Eric Nye, came out to race in 2009.Definitely the funniest thing I ever saw at Chilliwack was an impromptu “doubles” race in 2010, between Dusty Klatt and Kyle Beaton on a Yamaha vs Brock Hoyer and Kris Foster on a Kawasaki. You can see Beats pushing the Kawasaki duo over here for the Yamaha boys to take the win.Washington State’s Brad Nauditt(620) spent many years racing in Chilliwack. He leads the pack into the first turn in 2012.Still one of Canada’s top riders in 2022, Tyler Medaglia has spent a few seasons racing in Chilliwack, including on a 2-stroke in 2013.2013 featured both Medaglia’s, with Jeremy racing a Cycle North Honda and Tyler on the afore mentioned Maple Ridge Motorsports KTM 2-stroke.After Shawn Maffenbeier made the move to BC, he became a fixture at Chilliwack.
Everyone’s favourite rapper/Supercrosser, Adam Enticknap, has made a few trips to Chilliwack. Here he raced a Cycle North Honda in 2014.With its proximity to the border, there’s always been a strong contingent of Washington racers. Ross Johnson leads fellow Washington rider, Ryan Abrigo, and Jeremy Medaglia, in 2014. With the larger footprint than your average AX, they’ve been able to do some unique things with the track, like this over-under, in 2015. Off-road racer, Ricky Dietrich, made the trip up north to race in 2014. Long time Supercross competitor, Chris Howell, from Washington, has made plenty of trips to Chillwack.He’s now the top placing BC rider in this year’s AX Tour series, but back in 2014, Tyler Gibbs was racing Chilliwack on his CRF150.There were a couple years that featured a pretty impressive Pyrotechnics setup, shown here with the 2016 field dropping the gate.There’s plenty of top Pro racers on the National circuit who hail from BC, and the amount of indoor racing certainly helps to grow the talent pipeline. Before he won two 250 National Championships, a tiny Jess Pettis races Chilliwack in 2006.One of my all-time favourite photos. Washington’s Noah McConahey takes the win in 2016.Before he was winning X-Games Snowbike gold medals, Brock Hoyer was a podium fixture in AX and has probably spun more laps around Chilliwack than almost anyone.