Jacob Hayes Wins Night One in Colorado Springs

The opening night of the debut of AMSOIL Arenacross, featuring Ricky Carmichael's Road to Supercross, inside Broadmoor World Arena was so action-packed and closely contested that a tiebreaker was needed to determine the overall winner.

After a pair of thrilling Main Events, Team Babbitt's Monster Energy Kawasaki's Jacob Hayes relied on his victory in the final race of the night to edge out Husqvarna TiLUBE TUF Racing's Gavin Faith in the Arenacross Class.

In the opening night of the Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class Championship, it was A&Y Racing Honda's Daniel Herrlein who grabbed the spotlight.

Just six days ago Faith broke through for the first career AMSOIL Arenacross victory and he came into the action on Friday night with a huge wave of momentum that once again made him the rider to beat.

After taking his second RMATV/MC Head 2 Head Challenge win of the season, and earning an additional championship bonus point, Faith put forth an impressive effort in the first Arenacross Class Main Event.

After Hayes took control of the race on the opening lap thanks to a strong start, Faith slotted in right behind him, with the Team Babbitt's tandem of Chris Blose and points leader Matt Goerke in tow. That same lap a major incident took several prominent riders out of contention, including Husqvarna TiLUBE TUF Racing's Kyle Regal, TZR Woodstock KTM's Travis Sewell, ThermoTec Yamaha's Bobby Kiniry and Spinechillers Racing KTM's Willy Browning.

With at least six riders trying to get back into the action, the leaders approached them quickly and ultimately had to find their way through. Blose encountered some trouble getting by and fell all the way to ninth, while Faith lost a spot to Goerke.

Hayes benefitted the most and opened a significant lead that stretched out to over seven seconds. On Lap 6 Faith made an inside move on Goerke, reclaiming second, and set his sights on the lead. Over the final nine laps Faith was on a mission, taking chunks out of his deficit to Hayes with each lap.

At one point Hayes was making his way by lappers and nearly went down, which forced him to lose valuable time. Faith put himself within striking distance coming to the white flag and patiently waited for his opportunity to make a move on the final lap, once again utilizing an inside line on an aggressive move that allowed him to clear Hayes and steal the win. Goerke rounded out the top three.

Faith then selected the inversion for the second Main Event, opening the box with eight, meaning half the field would be inverted.

After battling back to finish seventh in the first Main Event, Blose took advantage of his improved starting position off the inversion to grab the lead out of the gate in the second Main Event. Goerke slotted himself into second, just ahead of Slaka Wear KTM's Steven Mages and Hayes. Faith fought his way through the crowd to start ninth.

Mages saw an opportunity to try and take advantage of an open inside line on Goerke for second, but Hayes also saw an opportunity arise and managed to pass both riders and take control of second. Regal, who started sixth and fought his way into fourth, was able to briefly pass Goerke for third, and the two riders engaged in a heated battle that ultimately allowed Faith, who was on another charge to the front, to surpass his teammate and take control of the fight with Goerke.

While that took place, Blose, who had opened up a healthy lead over Hayes, encountered misfortune and went down, falling to the tail end of the field. Hayes took over the lead with another comfortable margin over Goerke and Faith. While Hayes looked to close out the Main Event, Goerke and Faith were laying down blistering laps in a battle against one another, which allowed them to narrow the deficit in the closing laps.

After letting the first Main Event slip away, Hayes ensured he remained in control and took the win just ahead of Goerke in second and Faith in third. Faith's inability to get by Goerke for the runner-up spot proved to be the difference make in the overall classification.

Hayes' 2-1 finishes put him into a tie with Faith, who finished with 1-3 results along with an additional bonus point for winning the RMATV/MC Head 2 Head Challenge. By virtue of the weighted value of finishes in the second Main Event, Hayes' victory awarded him the overall victory, his second of the 2015 season. Faith finished second while Goerke maintained control of the points lead in third (3-2).

Goerke now has a 14-point lead over Hayes in the Arenacross Class standings. Mages, who finished fifth overall (5-10), sits in third, 30 points out.

The opening race of the Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class saw Road to Supercross competitor Chase Marquier grab the early lead aboard his Motosport.com/GPI Honda ahead of Herrlein and Spinechillers Racing KTM's Dave Ginolfi.