Arenacross

Jacob Hayes Dominates in Tacoma to Earn First Overall Win in

Posted:

Sunday, April 19th, 2015

11:06 PM

AMSOIL Arenacross, featuring Ricky Carmichael's Road to Supercross, hosted the second of back-to-back visits to the Pacific Northwest on Saturday inside the Tacoma Dome.

The fourth round of the playoff-inspired Race to the Championship featured a dominant outing by Team Babbitt's Monster Energy/AMSOIL Kawasaki's Jacob Hayes, who claimed his fourth overall win of the 2015 season and his first of the Race to the Championship with a 1-1 sweep of the Arenacross Class Main Events.

Hayes made his presence felt early by grabbing the holeshot in the first Arenacross Class Main Event, with his Team Babbitt's teammates Chris Blose and Matt Goerke in tow. While Hayes opened a slight gap over his fellow Kawasaki riders, Goerke slipped past Blose into second on Lap 1. From there, the top three settled into a rhythm out front.

Husqvarna TiLUBE TUF Racing's Kyle Regal, the Race to the Championship points leader, had to overcome an eighth-place start and fought to work his way forward, moving into sixth on Lap 6. Just a couple laps later Blose went off the track and crashed while navigating the track's wall obstacle, dropping to ninth. Hayes went on to take the win ahead of Goerke and Motosport.com/Haeseker Racing KTM's Gared Steinke. Babbitt's Online Suzuki's Cory Green finished fourth, while Regal fought his way into fifth. Blose's misfortune left him with a 10th-place finish.

Hayes' victory provided him with the privilege of selecting the inversion for the second Main Event. With the help of the Tacoma Dome crowd, Hayes selected the case with eight, meaning half the field would be inverted.

Points leader Regal had another solid night and finished on the overall podium. - Credit: Josh Rud / ShiftOne Photography

Despite the eighth gate pick, Hayes was still able to put himself out front in the second Main Event, once again taking the holeshot ahead of Mages and ThermoTec/FMC Racing Yamaha's Bobby Kiniry. Goerke was able to slot into fourth, with Regal fifth. It didn't take long for Hayes to once again seize control of the race, leaving the battle to ensue behind him.

Goerke was the rider on the move in the early laps, passing Kiniry for third on Lap 3 and pressuring Mages for second for a handful of laps before taking the spot on Lap 8. That same lap Kiniry pulled off the track with an apparent issue and was unable to continue.

That allowed Regal to move into fourth and his Husqvarna teammate Gavin Faith into fifth. Regal took advantage of the opportunity to break into podium contention by passing Mages for third on Lap 11. On the ensuing lap, Mages lost a couple more positions and dropped out of the top five. Hayes took the checkered flag just over three seconds ahead of Goerke, with Regal third, TZR Woodstock KTM's Travis Sewell in fourth, and Faith fifth.

Goerke's (36) pass on Mages (12) secured the runner-up spot overall, giving Babbitt's a 1-2 sweep. - Credit: Josh Rud / ShiftOne Photography

Hayes was the clear winner when the overall standings were tallied, while Goerke's pair of runner-up finishes gave Team Babbitt's a 1-2 sweep. Regal's podium result in the second Main Event moved him into third overall (5-3), earning the tiebreaker for the position over Sewell (6-4), who earned an additional championship bonus point for winning the RMATV/MC Head 2 Head Challenge earlier in the evening. Green rounded out the top five (4-6).

Regal, who entered the night with a six point lead, extended his advantage in the Race to the Championship to eight points over Hayes, who moved from fourth to second. Goerke moved from fifth to third (-11) while Blose, who finished ninth overall, fell from second to fourth (-15). Faith sits in a tie with Blose in fifth (-15).

Mages has four Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class Main Event wins. - Credit: Josh Rud / ShiftOne Photography

In the Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class, Slaka Wear KTM's Steven Mages posted a sweep of both races in the Pacific Northwest, racing to his fourth Main Event win of the season.

The Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class Main Event saw College Hunks Hauling Junk/Spinechillers Racing KTM's Dave Ginolfi take the early lead over Mages and Art of Smiles/Kropp Construction KTM's Josh Struebig. While a battle for the lead was starting to take shape, Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green's Mark Worth moved into third on Lap 3.

Ginolfi and Mages then began to battle for the lead, with Mages gaining the upper hand on Lap 5. Once out front, Mages maintained control of the position while Worth eventually made his way around Ginolfi for second on Lap 10. Mages crossed the line ahead of Worth, while Ginolfi rounded out the podium in third.

Arenacross Class Results - Overall (Main Event Finishes)
Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki (1-1)
Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki (2-2)
Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna (5-3)
Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM (6-4)
Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki (4-6)
Gavin Faith, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Husqvarna (7-5)
Gared Steinke, Temecula, Calif., KTM (3-9)
Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, KTM (8-7)
Chris Blose, Phoenix, Ariz., Kawasaki (10-8)
Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM (11-10)

Race to the Championship Standings (Race 4 of 6)
Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna - 117 Pts
Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Kawasaki - 109 Pts
Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki - 106 Pts
Chris Blose, Phoenix, Ariz., Kawasaki - 102 Pts
Gavin Faith, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Husqvarna - 102 Pts
Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki - 97 Pts
Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM - 92 Pts
Gared Steinke, Temecula, Calif., KTM - 86 Pts
Bobby Kiniry, Holland Patent, N.Y., Yamaha - 83 Pts
Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, KTM - 72 Pts

Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class Results
Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, KTM
Mark Worth, Queen Creek, Ariz., Kawasaki
Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM
Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM
Gregory Crater, Renton, Wash., Honda
Collin Jurin, Monroe, Wash., Kawasaki
RJ Wageman, Newhall, Calif., Yamaha
Mason Wharton, Brush Prairie, Wash., Kawasaki
Jake Locks, Dixon, Calif., KTM
Mitch Keezer, Arlington, Wash., Yamaha

Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class Points (After Race 8 of 10)
Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM - 112 Pts
Jake Locks, Dixon, Calif., KTM - 56 Pts
Cody VanBuskirk, Harvard, Ill., KTM - 51 Pts
Brandon Glenn, Mesquite, Texas, KTM - 48 Pts
Jason McConnell, Canonsburg, Pa., KTM - 38 Pts
Clay Elliott, Buford, Ga., KTM - 34 Pts
Josh Struebig, Crown Point, Ind., KTM - 34 Pts
Mason Wharton, Brush Prairie, Wash., Kawasaki - 33 Pts
Jonah Locks, Dixon, Calif., KTM - 27 Pts
RJ Wageman, Newhall, Calif., Yamaha - 22 Pts

The 14th round of the 2015 AMSOIL Arenacross, and the penultimate round of the Race to the Championship, begins Saturday, April 25, with the sport's anticipated return to Fresno, California.

Top Image: Hayes was dominant on Saturday and led every lap of the two Arenacross Class Main Events.

Credit: Josh Rud / ShiftOne Photography