Team Babbitt’s Monster Energy/Amsoil Kawasaki’s Matt Goerke Grabs Arenacross Points Lead in Grand Rapids2015-01-21 11:05Round 2 of Amsoil Arenacross brought Team Babbitt’s to their hometown race in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Babbitt’ s Monster Energy/Amsoil Kawasaki’s Matt Goerke bested his teammates to finish third on Friday and fourth on Saturday to take over the points lead. Points leader after Round 1, Chris Blose was in position to continue his reign until he landed on a tuff block that was pushed into the track. The crash took him out for the weekend. That left Jacob Hayes to take the win on Friday night with a 1-2 finish. But misfortune on Saturday dropped him to second in the points. Zach Ames also had a rough weekend after a crash in qualifying knocked him out of competition for the weekend. Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green had another great showing as Darian Sanayei won the Arenacross Lites class on Friday and Mitchell Harrison won on Saturday, both collecting the second of three points needed for the Road to Supercross. Consistency Goerke was the top runner for Team Babbitt’s in Grand Rapids. He was able to stay out of trouble on both nights, landing on the podium on Friday and finishing just off in fourth place on Saturday. Goerke’s consistency has allowed him to jump out to an early 16-point lead in the points standings. “This weekend was all about staying consistent,” said Goerke. “I rode well Friday, but felt even better on Saturday. I picked up my pace and was leading the first main when a bike came flying across from the other lane and sent me into the wall. The crash put me back to second. The next main I got a bad start after the 8-man inversion and went from 11th to fourth place. I feel like I’m in control and trying my best to handle the pressure. Starts are everything and that’s what it will take to keep the red plate.” Ups and Downs After falling just short of the podium in Cincinnati one week previous, Hayes wasted no time returning to the top of the podium in the first main event on Friday to take his second consecutive main event win. He followed that up with a second place in the second main event to win the overall on Friday night. Saturday, Hayes won his heat race but ran into trouble in both main events to finish 11th overall. He sits second in the points standings behind Goerke. Soldiering On The points leader came into Round 2 confident and ready to extend his points lead. He finished a close second in the first main event, but it was the second main where things went astray. Blose got off to another great start on his KX™250F in second place. One lap later he hit the finish line catapult only to see that a tuff block had been knocked onto the landing. He landed directly on it and went down. He was unable to finish the race and sat out Saturday. Blose will line up this weekend in Colorado. “The weekend started great,” said Blose. “I set the fastest lap in practice on Friday and felt good. I won my heat and was leading the first main, but rode a bit tight and lost a spot in the whoops and finished second. In the second main, I was in second place off the start and was waiting for a spot to pass. On the second lap a tuff block got knocked onto the landing of the catapult and I landed right on it and crashed hard. That night I started to feel light heated and sweaty and had to go to the hospital. There was so much trauma that my body went into shock. I have no internal damage but I’m black and blue and bruised. We’re going to give it a go this weekend. I’ll be damned if I let this title slip away from me.” Race to the Championship Ames had his weekend cut short early on Friday. After the first qualifying practice he was seventh quickest. He was looking to move up the board in the second practice but made a mistake in the whoops and crashed. He sustained a severely sprained wrist and will sit out Round 3 to allow it to heal and will return for Round 4 in Nashville. “It’s unfortunate,” said Ames. “But it’s a minor setback. We’re going to give it a weekend off to heal properly so that I can return healthy and climb back in the top 10 for the Race to the Championship. First Taste Grand Rapids was another great weekend for Team Green. Sanayei and Harrison returned after a successful first round to acquire their second of three points needed for the Road to Supercross and earn their supercross licenses. On Friday it was Sanayei who returned to the top of the podium for his second consecutive Lites main event win. On Saturday, Sanayei decided to concentrate on the Arenacross class, while Harrison took his first AX Lites main event win. Harrison and Sanayei had been on pace with each other every time they hit the track, but mistakes had kept him from the podium. On to the West Round 3 brings Amsoil Arenacross to Colorado Springs, Colorado at the Broadmoor World Arena. Blose and Hayes will look to rebound from tough luck and catch Goerke, while the Team Green riders will sit this round out and return for Round 4 to earn their final point in the Road to Supercross. Results Amsoil Arenacross Van Andel Arena – Grand Rapids, Michigan January 16-17, 2015 Friday Arenacross Class Overall Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Team Babbitt’s Monster Energy/Amsoil Kawasaki (1-2) Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna (5-1) Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Team Babbitt’s Monster Energy/Amsoil Kawasaki (3-3) Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM (4-4) Willy Browning, Pleasantville, Ohio, KTM (8-7) Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki (7-8) Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, KTM (11-5) Chris Blose, Phoenix, Ariz., Team Babbitt’s Monster Energy/Amsoil Kawasaki (2-15) Robert Kiniry, Holland Patent, N.Y., Yamaha (6-12) Daniel Herrlein, Bethesda, Ohio, Honda (10-10) Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class Results Darian Sanayei, Orting, Wash., Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green Daniel Herrlein, Bethesda, Ohio, Honda Josh Cartwright, Tallahassee, Fla., Yamaha Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, KTM Cody VanBuskirk, Harvard, Ill., KTM Dave Blanchet, Quebec, Canada, Kawasaki Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM Jake Locks, Dixon, Calif., KTM Josh Struebig, Crown Point, Indiana, KTM Saturday Arenacross Class Overall Gavin Faith, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Husqvarna (1-2) Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, KTM (5-1) Willy Browning, Pleasantville, Ohio, KTM (3-3) Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Team Babbitt’s Monster Energy/Amsoil Kawasaki (2-4) Gared Steinke, Temecula, Calif., KTM (4-6) Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM (7-8) Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki (6-9) Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna (14-5) Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM (9-10) Daniel Herrlein, Bethesda, Ohio, Honda (8-11) Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites Class Results Mitchell Harrison, Cairo, Georgia, Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green Daniel Herrlein, Bethesda, Ohio, Honda Daniel Blair, Lodi, Calif., KTM Dave Ginolfi, Boston, N.J., KTM Steve Roman, Apollo, Pa., Suzuki Cody VanBuskirk, Harvard, Ill., KTM Scott Zont, Algonquin, Ill., KTM Christian Telker, Brownsville, Ind., Yamaha Dylan Rouse, Florence, Ky., KTM Dave Blanchet, Quebec, Canada, Kawasaki Arenacross Class Points Standings Matt Goerke, Temecula, Calif., Team Babbitt’s Monster Energy/Amsoil Kawasaki - 84 Jacob Hayes, Liberty, N.C., Team Babbitt’s Monster Energy/Amsoil Kawasaki - 68 Steven Mages, Sardinia, Ohio, KTM - 64 Travis Sewell, Westville, Ind., KTM - 64 Willy Browning, Pleasantville, Ohio, KTM - 63 Kyle Regal, Grand Prairie, Texas, Husqvarna - 60 Daniel Herrlein, Bethesda, Ohio, Honda - 50 Chris Blose, Phoenix, Ariz., Team Babbitt’s Monster Energy/Amsoil Kawasaki - 49 Robert Kiniry, Holland Patent, N.Y., Yamaha - 49 Gared Steinke, Temecula, Calif., KTM - 44 Source: Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. 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