Observations from the Rochester Arenacross
DECEMBER 3, 2007

The Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, NY featured Round 4 of the Toyota AMA Arenacross Series.

photo: John Spaulding

By Danny Brault
Photos by John Spaulding and Harry Silegren


With the lull we’ve been experiencing in Canadian motocross this fall/winter, there was no way I could pass up the opportunity to attend the fourth round of the Toyota AMA Arenacross Series in Rochester, New York.

To clarify things, there were actually two round fours taking place—the other was in Rockford, Illinois. (Chad Johnson and Josh Demuth won the AX main events there.) From my understanding, the reasoning behind this is to make things more affordable for the riders. Everything is basically the same at each round with regards to race format and points, but the bigger purse and television coverage were given to the Rockford event. That meant all of the fast guys were there, except for Monster Energy/ Babbitt’s Kawasaki’s Brock Sellards, Jim Neese, Zach Ames, Tyler Bright and Jim Chester who were using Rochester as an opportunity to work their way up the point standings.

That proved to be a wise decision by Brock “Bobblehead” Sellards as he won both Arenacross main events. He moved up to fifth in points, just six back of his teammate Kelly Smith who is in third. Sellards kept mentioning in his speeches that he had trouble keeping the rubber side down through the first three rounds. Fortunately, he rectified that problem by staying upright all weekend in Rochester and taking advantage of Nathan Skaggs’ spills in the AX finals for a perfect 50-points and $2,000 in purse money.

Kyle Keast made it out to Rochester for his first ever AMA Arenacross.

photo: Spaulding

The track inside Blue Cross Arena was straight forward. Like pretty much every track in the history of AX, it featured a straight away, a rhythm section with six singles that offered a few different options, the “Toyota” catapult finish line double and, of course, really deep whoops. Riders tend to make up the most time through the whoop-dee-doos (Sellards was probably the smoothest, going triple-triple-triple-single, but GPF/ Babbitt’s Kawasaki’s Zach Ames wasn’t afraid to pin it and skip the tops).

I traveled down to Rochester with Machine Racing Honda’s Kyle Keast, who raced his uncle Jody’s CRF250 in the AX and AX Lites classes. Johnny Silegren was wrenching for him and Johnny’s younger brother Harry took up the man friend duties. I spent much of the weekend following Kyle through his first AX, so please don’t mind my constant mentions of him and his results.

I hung out and told everyone how I would go for the catapult jump on the second lap. For some reason, everything looks so easy from the stands, but when I walked the track, I was given a quick reality check. The whoops were at least three feet deep and eight feet apart and you could barely walk up the face of the big double! But I would jump everything, for sure.

The GPF boys check out the whoops.

Equipped with his bone stock CRF250 and a day of practice at the Val-Des-Monts indoor track, Keast was more than prepared for his first AMA Arenacross. Keast doesn’t really have a strong history of indoor results or experience. I’m sure most people remember his horrific time at the Toronto WSXGP last December, where he struggled in the Supercross class and went endoing over the finish line berm onto the concrete. He’s probably really happy I brought that up.

Fortunately, Keast made it through the weekend in one piece and with a fourth-place finish in the Lites main event on Saturday. He came from 14th to sixth in the Lites main on Friday, but fell back to 11th after Alex Sigismondi lost control and crossed over from the rhythm section, into the whoops, and hit Keast head on. Both riders were okay, but it twisted Keast’s front wheel into a pretzel. I told Kyle to go “Rollerball” on Sigismondi, but we didn’t pack the Cooperalls.

Keast's uncle Jody told Kyle to to do some "smashing" so he did.

photo: Silegren

The Machine Racing rider was poised to make both AX mains, but on Friday he was caught up in the first turn with a few riders in his heat and just didn’t get a great start in the LCQ. In Saturday’s heat, he was running fourth when his bike bogged on the final double of the rhythm section, which caused him to endo over the tuff blocks. Again, he was okay and came all the way back to eighth—one spot out of qualifying.

The AMA is strict when it comes to sound testing—and they should be. Keast had bolted on an aftermarket pipe for some extra power, but it failed the 98-dB limit. So Keast was forced to remove the only modification to his factory race bike. Oh, John Nelson had added some oil to the forks and shock with an “old school” setting. The bike actually worked pretty well, as Keast never complained and it seemed to track straight through the whoops and soaked up hard landings.

AX regulars Sellards, Bright, Neese, Ames, Damien Plotts, and Chester, were the top guys all weekend. They have this style of racing down; they’re all great starters, strong through the whoops, and will take advantage of every inch you give them. Behind them, there was large group of guys trading spots, including Dave Ginolfi, Ben Ritter, Ryan Smith, Jason Villatico, Logan Martin, and Kyle Willis.

Keast wasn't afraid to get aggressive.

photo: Spaulding

Spine Chillers Honda’s Skaggs was the fastest rider in Rochester, but lacked consistency. He was leading both AX mains, but crashed in the whoops on Friday night and tipped over on Saturday. His Honda seemed fast and it looked to be pulling Sellards’ Pro Circuit tuned KX250F down the straight. Sellards’ young teammate, Patrick Boyle, won the Lites main on Friday, but crashed in the whoops in Saturday’s practice and was out for the night. I asked one of their mechanics what happened to him and he said Boyle twisted up his knee pretty good.

I found it odd that the AMA officials didn’t ask for more credentials from the riders. Keast said he didn’t need to show any proof of riding ability when he registered. This allowed for a few questionable riders to sign up. One guy who definitely didn’t belong was “The Blue Bandit” on the #241 YZ250F. The only obstacle he did was the first double in the rhythm section. His specialty was the straightaway. The ref pulled over Keast in the first practice and asked if he was going to jump the catapult double, to which Keast replied, “Yeah. I don’t ever ride this stuff, so give me a sec!” It only took Keast about 12 more laps, but he eventually jumped it. The Blue Bandit, however, somehow managed to continue practicing and racing even though he was an obvious hazard on the track.

The AMA sure is strict on proper mechanic attire too. I understand they—and their sponsors—put a lot of money into this professional series, but they didn’t seem to mind riders wearing jerseys/chest protectors without name and numbers or guys using tape for numbers. Silegren forgot a collared shirt, so I loaned him my best bar shirt for the night. He looked a little emo in tight fitting shirt, but at least he got behind the starting line.

Silegren was forced to go "emo" on Friday night. BTW, Johnny, I don't recall seeing that stain before I gave it to you.

photo: Silegren

The rider’s lounge was a nice addition to the event. Anyone with access to the pits could drop by the lounge for sandwiches, Gatorade, waters, granola bars, and other little treats.

I don’t recall the fellow’s name announcing, but he’s no Rob Buydos or Dave Bell. He kept getting the fans to cheer for the #6 of Jim Neese before his rider introduction, which is cool, but Neese runs the big #7. I also liked how he said the Blue Cross Arena was filled to the rafters on Friday, when there were only around 1,000 fans. Sorry to break the news to those of you who listened to the webcast, but you were duped!

If you think the purse at the Canadian Nationals is weak, you should see the payout for AMA AX. This round boasted an $8,000 purse between the two classes (Rockford had $16,000). You made some decent coin for finishing top five in AX, but you only made $200 for a Lites win. Keast came home with $140 for an 11th ($50) and fourth ($90).

I thought I had escaped that damn “Party like a Rockstar” song when I left the US Open of SX in Vegas, but it followed me to Rochester. Seriously, can we play the Rocky song or something else? Even something by Air Supply would work. BTW, should we be asking fans to party like a rockstar? What does that mean anyways—do a lot of drugs, drink 14 bottles of Crystale and then get behind the wheel? When I think of partying of like a rockstar, I picture Brtiney Spears on the cover of People, bald, or Lindsay Lohan dropping another 30 lbs and entering rehab. Could we change it to party like a Newfie? At least people would remain in a garage and be well fed.

This heel clicker by Ryan Shonyo was for the ladies!

photo: Spaulding

The FMX contest between the main events featured some crazy no handers, heel clickers, and can-cans. It was like revisiting Crusty 1. The winner of the contest was a Kawasaki rider named Ryan Shonyo. He made $200 for each win and his thank you on Saturday night was right out of the Jason Thorne handbook. “If there are any lady fans out there, this goes out to you!” he said.

Hopefully you enjoyed my first Obs! If you have any hate or love mail, please forward it to dannyb@racerxcanada.com.