Bowers, Ames Win Big at AMSOIL Arenacross Opener

Jan. 10, 2013 - PRLog -- WORCESTER, Mass. – The opening weekend of the 2013 season was a historic one for AMSOIL Arenacross, featuring Ricky Carmichael’s Road to Supercross inside the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass. The innovative and exciting new racing format was unveiled to the New England crowd on Friday night, as precious championship points were on the line throughout the premier Arenacross Class. In the end, reigning back-to-back champion Tyler Bowers and teammate Zach Ames set the bar for 2013 championship fight.

On Friday night, Bowers quickly asserted himself at the front of the field aboard his Babbitt’s Monster Energy/AMSOIL Kawasaki presented by Maxxis machine. Behind him, Daniel Blair and Ames, Bowers’ teammate, began their battle for second. As the pair jockeyed for position early, Bowers took advantage by pulling away to a substantial lead. Just a few laps into the Main Event, Ames made his way past Blair and set a consistent pace to keep his rival at bay. Out front, Bowers made quick work of the field, kicking off his title defense with a convincing win in main event one, with Ames and Blair hanging on for podium results.

In the second main event on Friday, Ames overcame his gate position and took control of the field off the start, looking to give his new AMSOIL/Kawasaki team a clean sweep of the evening. However, after capturing the Arenacross Lites Class win earlier in the evening, Mike McDade was on his game in search of his first premier class victory. While the lead duo set the early pace, Bowers was forced to overcome a 15th-place start after stalling his bike on the opening lap, but immediately capitalized on his aggressive riding style to move forward quickly.

Ames and McDade were never separated by much more than a bike length throughout the entire main, setting the stage for a dramatic finish. After patiently waiting for his opportunity to make a move, McDade used a last-lap pass on Ames to steal the victory. Bowers battled his way to a fifth-place result. By virtue of Ames’ consistency across each main event, he garnered the most points on the evening to secure the overall with his pair of runner-up efforts.

A packed house was on hand on Saturday night to watch the brand-new, action-packed competition format of AMSOIL Arenacross. To add to the excitement of the evening, the race was broadcast live on SPEED for the first time, bringing the close, bar-to-bar racing into hundreds of thousands of homes across the country, kicking off a groundbreaking broadcast schedule for AMSOIL Arenacross.

In the first main event of the evening, Ames jumped into the early lead with the holeshot. Bowers asserted himself into second behind his teammate and began to position himself for a late-race pass. After maintaining a gap of about one second, Bowers made a
textbook inside pass on Lap eight of 12 and carried it through to the finish. Ames held on for second, while McDade finished third.

With his second main event win in three attempts, Bowers awaited the outcome of the inversion for the night's second main, where zero, eight, or the entire field of 16 riders will have their gate selections reversed from their finishing order in the first main event. On Saturday night, the inversion changed the position of all 16 riders, meaning Bowers needed to come from the worst gate pick in order to win.

In the final main event, Patrick Massie grabbed the holeshot and the early lead, but was passed by Gared Steinke shortly thereafter. On Lap eight, Bowers completed his climb through the field by making the winning pass on Steinke and racing to the finish. McDade made a late pass to finish in the runner-up spot, with Steinke in third.

 the overall classification for the evening, Bowers secured maximum points from the main events for first overall, with McDade second, and Ames third. Bowers now holds a three-point lead over McDade in second, while Ames, the points leader after Friday night, now sits in third, seven points from the lead.

AMSOIL Arenacross continues this weekend with the second round of the 2013 season from Baltimore’s 1stMariner Arena. Two nights of action kick off on Friday, January 11, beginning at 7 p.m. ET and continue on Saturday, January 12, also scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET. Television coverage from Baltimore can be seen on Sunday, January 13, on SPEED, beginning at 1 p.m. ET.

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