Ryan Nitzen | January 18, 2022
After seeing his win streak come to an end last week, Kyle Peters got back to his dominant ways again after topping both 250cc and 450cc main events at the Amarillo National Center in Amarillo, Texas, January 15.
The 250cc Pro qualifying races kicked off the evening with Peters in the first heat. Peters had an unusual start as he was in fourth place through the first lap before falling back to the seventh spot in lap two. From there he got into a rhythm and made his way back to the second spot ahead of teammate Heath Harrison by the end of the race. Matthew Curler took the win.
Close racing is what the Arenacross Series is known for.
Mike Alessi and Lance Kobusch headed up the second heat, and through the first lap, looked to be bringing the battle for the top spot. But during the second lap, Alessi came out of a turn and crashed. His bike got in the path of Kobusch and caused him to go down as well. Both riders remained down for much of the heat but were able to walk it off by the end of the race. This ended Alessi’s racing for the evening, but Kobusch was able to shake it off before the 450 Pro qualifying races. Rylan Smith took the win ahead of Devin Xindaris and Adam Conway.
The third and final heat of the 250 Pro qualifiers was led off the gate by newcomer Henry Miller for the first handful of laps, but by lap five of the eight-lap heat race Kyle Bitterman took the lead and held onto that to finish first in the third heat. He finished ahead of Henry Miller and Collin Hinrichs.
Kyle Peters won the 250 and 450 main event.
The 450 Pro qualifying racers were up next and again Peters started the first heat in fourth place. He found his groove a little quicker this go around and secured the lead for the final few laps of the race and took first place. He finished ahead of Matthew Curler who had been leading the race for the first five laps. Brendan Sipple rounded out the podium for heat one.
Kobusch was back in action as he lined up for the second heat of the 450 Pro qualifier. He seemed to start out a little skittish after the crash in the 250 Pro heat, but quickly cast aside any nerves and went on to win the heat ahead of Bitterman and Spencer Winter.
Miller dominated the third heat of the 450 Pro qualifier ahead of Heath Harrison and Nate Mason.
From there Kobusch took the win in the 250cc LCQ ahead of Sipple. Adam Conway and Kyler Hawkey were the top two in the 450 Pro last chance qualifier and secured the final two gate spots for the 450 Pro main.
Lance Kobusch has established himself as a front runner in both classes.
In the 250 main event, Peters came out of the gate and into an early and easy lead and dominated the race. Most of the action was for the second and third podium spots, with Curler, Bitterman, Harrison and Kobusch all battling it out. Kobusch had to start on the second row for the race due to his last chance qualifier spot and took a few laps to get into the action. Curler was in second most of the race narrowly ahead of Bitterman in third and Harrison in fourth.
Harrison made a move on Bitterman in the seventh lap, but was short lived as Bitterman reclaimed the third spot by lap eight. The final few laps became a battle between Curler and Bitterman for second and Harrison and Kobusch for fourth.
In the last turn, Bitterman got it done and pushed past Curler taking second place, and Kobusch did the same to Harrison as Kobusch took fourth. All four of the top five racers finished within three seconds of one another, making for an exciting and action-packed end to the main.
Kyle Bitterman put in a solid ride, second in the 250 main.
The 450 Pro main was the next and final race for the round. Curler, who had been riding excellent all night, took the holeshot and the lead for the first three laps ahead of Peters.
Peters made the pass by the fourth lap and pulled away from the pack from there.
The battle was tight yet again for the other two podium spots among Curler, Kobusch, Harrison and Bitterman. They took turns in the second spot throughout the race, with Bitterman just behind the pack of three. Kobusch ultimately finished the race in second ahead of Curler, Harrison and Bitterman.
Peters leads the series with 153 points ahead of Kobusch (150) and Bitterman (106). CN
250 Main
| 1. |
Kyle Peters |
Hon |
| 2. |
Kyle Bitterman |
GG |
| 3. |
Matthew Curler |
Hon |
| 4. |
Lance Kobusch |
Hon |
| 5. |
Heath Harrison |
Hon |
450 Main
| 1. |
Kyle Peters |
Hon |
| 2. |
Lance Kobusch |
Hon |
| 3. |
Matthew Curler |
Hon |
| 4. |
Heath Harrison |
Hon |
| 5. |
Kyle Bitterman |
GG |
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