The Canadian Kawasaki Future West Arenacross Series moved back to the more spacious venue of Chilliwack’s Heritage Park this past weekend and neither venue nor the action on the track did disappoint. The Red Barn in the heart of the Fraser Valley has become the ‘True North’ of the heart of many in the Canadian Motocross community as well as many of those who hail from south of the 49th parallel in what is typically the off-season. In my opinion, this great series has become Motocross’ version of the “Winter Classic“. Under pristine clear blue skies surrounded by the beauty of the mountains that parallel the iconic establishment, we were all back in our happy place. The lowest temperatures this series has seen to date of -4 degrees come gate drop had us all anxiously awaiting to have our senses satisfied with what drives all of our common affliction.
The track went back to the start straight facing the facility’s entrance, down the centre of the main barn with a 180’ left hand turn, leading in to a massive double with somewhat of a forgiving landing that would accommodate riders of all levels as well as the grandstand side fans’ voracious appetite for ‘Air’. The step-down style double led into another 180’ degree right hand turn, which approached what would become probably the most technical section of Friday night’s racing…the whoops. They provided up close and perfect peripheral entertainment for those who were fortunate enough to saddle up a seat in the grandstand that they fronted. The track then swept with speed and flowed into the back barn, which was highlighted by a long sweeping split lane section and a double-lane right hander, which approached a dragon’s back upon entering the finish turn.
Ross Johnson has been fast every night in this series and finally on Saturday night he got his first win.
Upon my arrival, I quickly rolled into my pre-race ritual of circumnavigating the pits, shaking hands, wishing all my moto friends and family the best of luck for the weekend and the balance of the series. A series which is now preparing to make it’s descent into completion and become the dried ink of another chapter of what is nothing short of a best seller currently being written by Future West Productions. As the clock ticked toward the always entertaining first Pro practice of the weekend, I stopped by the Future West office to get my marching orders for the weekend’s action. I was a little disappointed to see that the numbers in the Pro ranks were down slightly. However, the on-track product would not disappoint as the cast of usual suspects in the contenders’ category were as always armed and dangerous and ready to do their part in quest of all that Future West champagne glory and gold.
The numbers in the amateur classes were on par with what we have consistently seen, and were a little heavier in the developmental classes of youngsters and Beginners; a great sign of the sport’s climate here in the West. I made a concerted effort to engage myself with anyone who I thought was new to the sport or new to arenacross as I love to see our broad and all inclusive sport grow and flourish. News of many of those taking advantage of the schooling provided by Ryan Lockhart and Sean Hamblin is always good to know that they would all have a little more experience on their side come gate drop.
When the gate did drop on Friday night for the first race, the track surface in Chilliwack was as good as it has been to this point in the series. Stu McQueen, Chad Mabberly & Jamie Hellam’s countless hours of dedicated watering and grooming is the recipe for the highly sought after scientific formula, which is a great race surface! As we got underway with the program, I centered strategically on my announcing perch and was stoked beyond words when Stu McQueen approached me and said it was time for a break. A bit perplexed, I soon realized that standing there with him on my platform was his brother and my friend Cam McQueen, driver of the Monster Truck Northern Nightmare. He also had a guy with him by the name of Damon Bradshaw. We quickly engaged in a few old stories and laughs. I had texted Cam earlier in the day to see if he would make the trek to the Red Barn as I knew he and Damon were in Vancouver for the Monster Jam on Saturday evening. I can’t say how pleased I was to see him and Damon, and get a quick interview via my GoPro. A couple of solid dudes! I was happy for my friend, young Carson McQueen, Cam’s nephew, as he had a couple of extra high profile fans cheering for him. I know Damon gave Carson some tips on starts as he had been struggling with those in Arenacross. I can tell you that on Saturday night, Carson led gate to wire! How cool is that?
Tyler Medaglia grabbed one main event win this past weekend and certainly kept his two stroke fans happy.
Friday night’s Pro Action was exceptionally entertaining as the whoop section was difficult for many of the riders to blitz consistently. As per usual in Arenacross, a good start would set the temperature gauge for your riding comfort and dictate your mission to the checkered flag. The start and first turn provided the most drama on Friday night in the Pro ranks, as in the Pro Open Qualifier. The tangling of state colleagues Ryan Abrigo and Jake Anstett cost them both a trip to the dirt warranting a red flag. Jake’s bike and body seemed to take the worst of it, which would see him parked for the night. Abrigo would manage to line up in the LCQ and have a decent main event.
The Pro Lights this weekend would belong to RMR, Spectra Power Sports, FXR, Fox Racing rider, Williams Lake B.C.’s Brock Hoyer. Brock, as you may or may not know, competed last weekend and won his first Timber-Sled bike race, which was held on a golf course in Idaho. How cool is it that a Motocrosser getting to shred a dirt bike in the snow on a golf course; as in Sylvester Stallone, Siberian workout style. It would provide Brock with everything he would need in the way of confidence and fortitude to make short work of the Lites fields on both Friday and Saturday night. Cycle North Honda’s Jeremy Medaglia would finish behind Hoyer Friday night, with Maple Ridge Motorsports’ Tyler Medaglia getting the last step on the podium. Tyler was notably under the weather this weekend, but never complained and rode solid both nights on his KTM 250 two-stroke.
Friday night’s Pro Open race would be won by Tyler as he checked out on his KTM followed by a rider who had his best weekend yet, in my opinion – Cycle North Honda’s Ross Johnson. Running a solid third was savvy veteran American rider Greg Crater, fresh off his efforts this past weekend at the Oakland Supercross. The trio was followed come checkers by what, throughout this main, was probably the best race on the track between Jeremy Medaglia and Brock Hoyer, which saw Hoyer better Jeremy by a position and manage to pick pocket him of two very valuable championship points.
Upon arrival at the track on Saturday, I shortly got into my pit ritual and was met by quite a few forlorn faces. I was quick to get news of why. Simple – one word – ‘Whoops’. No, I did not make a mistake, ‘Whoops’, but as in the only place the great separator of Friday Night’s racing was to be seen on a milk carton! The whoops had disappeared overnight and were replaced by a rhythm section, which in the end was done not as a safety precaution but merely as a change. In the end, the change, even though not meeting with popular opinion amongst most of the Pro ranks, did provide for some very entertaining racing. Speed and flow was the theme for this night and Saturday’s near capacity crowd in ‘The Barn that Beats Built’ was treated to what they came for – great racing. As mentioned above, Hoyer would score another 25 valuable series points with the win in the Lites class. Ross Johnson would finish second, and defending Arenacross Champ, G.A. Checkpoint Yamaha’s Spencer Knowles, would finish third.
The final Pro Open of the weekend would to go to the man who now posses the philosophers stone in the form of his Cycle North Honda CR450 and his recapturing of the series points lead, which is by the narrowest of margins of only a single point. Ross Johnson on this night would repeat his effort of the previous night in capturing the Kal-Gard Lubricants Dash For Cash. Kal-Gard put up an extra bag of gold for the rider who wins the season series in this highly entertaining arencacross spectacle. Finishing second in the Pro-Open on Saturday night would be Yamaha mounted Spencer Knowles followed by the steady smooth veteran Honda rider Greg Crater.
We are in the midst of back to back race weekends in Chilliwack which will make for a busy week, but I think it is a busy week that most riders will take as they can take all of any momentum they had forward to this coming Friday night. With only two race weekends left in the 2013/14 Canadian Kawasaki Future West Arenacross Series, I can tell you the action will be hot and heavy. You’re not going to want to miss it! Some of these guys are starting to get a little bit cranky out there as the vortex to capture all of the Future West Champagne Glory And Gold is narrowing quickly. SEE YOU THERE!