Cycle News Staff | March 9, 2021
Phoenix Honda Racing’s Kyle Peters successfully defended his crown after completing a perfect season in the 2021 AMA Arenacross Championship in Amarillo, Texas, March 8.
Kyle Peters won everyone round of the 2021 AMA Arenacross Series. The Phoenix Honda rider wrapped it up at the season finale in Amarillo, Texas.
Due to Covid-19, the series schedule underwent a number of changes, but in the end, it featured five venues and 10 rounds, each of which included main events for both 250 Pro Sport and 450 Pro Sport. The 24-year-old Peters was on a completely different level from anyone else, winning the championship with a margin of 107 points.
“Initially, I didn’t know how the season was going to go, because everything was just kind of up in the air,” said Peters, a native of Greensboro, North Carolina. “I just made sure I kept doing all my work, week-in and week-out, and it worked out. With last year being my first Arenacross series, I didn’t really know what to expect, so I took a little bit of time to understand the tracks and suspension setup and all that. This year I already had that all figured out, and my training was different, as well; my trainer and I worked a lot mentally, along with physically, and I was also training with Justin Brayton and a few of the other guys at Club MX. I was more fit, and everything was just better than last year.”
It was the third AMA Arenacross National Championship in a row for the North Carolina-based team, which also saw riders Cullin Park and Joshua Osby perform well. The 19-year-old Park finished second in points to his teammate, while Osby notched a number of podium results despite only competing parttime, during breaks in the AMA 250SX East Supercross series, in which he currently sits fifth.
Kyle Bitterman (GasGas) finished out the championship in third, edging out Team Babbitts Kawasaki’s Isaac Teasdale by just two points.
Mike Alessi, on the Babbitts Kawasaki, rounded out the top five, 66 points behind Teasdale.
Adam Conway, Luke Dickey, Zack Gurley, Osby and Greye Tate competed the top 10 in the championship.
