Rider Files

(NEWS RELEASE)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Ryan Villopoto took advantage of a James Stewart miscue and captured his second straight Daytona Supercross By Honda on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.

Stewart led the first three laps but took a spill on his Yamaha on Lap 4 of the 20-lap event. Villopoto inherited the lead and led the remaining 17 laps for a 6.506 second victory.

“I got a good start right behind James and just followed him,” Villopoto said. “He was on it those first couple of laps. I was just riding my pace, my race. I figured I was either going to stay where I was and he was just going to do what he was going to do or he was going to go down.”

After taking the lead, the rider of the No. 2 Kawasaki put his head down and maintained a solid pace.

“Once I got in the lead, I kept putting in some hard laps,” Villopoto said. “With the track being as long as it was … it was a pretty brutal track and it wasn’t that easy. I was just trying to be smooth and keep an eye on where second and third was.”

Three-time Daytona Supercross By Honda champion Chad Reed finished second on a Honda and defending AMA Supercross champion Ryan Dungey rounded out the podium. Stewart rallied from the spill to finish ninth.

Villopoto’s win was the first time a rider has repeated as a Daytona Supercross champion since Ricky Carmichael in 2003. It was the fourth AMA Supercross win of the year for Villopoto and the Seattle, Wash., native expanded his championship lead to 23 points over Stewart and 24 points over Reed.

Blake Baggett captured the 15-lap Lites East Supercross event on a Kawasaki by a margin of 15.073 seconds.

For the fourth straight year, the Daytona Supercross By Honda course was designed by five-time Daytona Supercross champion Ricky Carmichael and built by three-time National Champion Mark Barnett.

New to the course this year was the placement of the starting gate, which was located on pit road and provided fans with a great view of the first turn.

Next up at Daytona will be the Ricky Carmichael Daytona Amateur Supercross Championship on Sunday and the Ricky Carmichael University on Monday. Tickets are available at the gate or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.

Fans can stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter (www.twitter.com/disupdates) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/DaytonaInternationalSpeedway).

(NEWS RELEASE)

Tanner Moore Secures Arenacross Lites Victory

WICHITA, Kan. (March 5, 2011) – Babbitt’s Monster Energy/TiLUBE Kawasaki presented by Maxxis’ Tyler Bowers, of Danville, Ky., continued his current reign atop the 2011 AMA Arenacross Series by capturing his fifth consecutive win inside INTRUST Bank Arena on Saturday night. In Arenacross Lites action, Letko KTM’s Tanner Moore, of Auburn, Kan., grabbed an impressive victory in front of his hometown crowd.

Unlike recent weeks, Bowers was not the class of the field in the Arenacross class main event. Instead, the current championship points leader was forced to work his way through the field and took his seventh win in hard-earned fashion.

Fellow Babbitt’s Monster Energy/TiLUBE Kawasaki rider Gray Davenport, of Lehi, Utah, grabbed the early lead and paced the field for the first half of the race. However, his hard-charging teammate Chad Johnson, of Rhinelander, Wis., surged into the top spot on Lap 13 and looked to pull away for his second win of the year. Meanwhile, Bowers was working from a start deep inside the top 10 and eventually caught his teammate on Lap 17, taking over the lead and cruising to victory. Johnson followed in second while Team Faith Yamaha’s Kelly Smith, of Ludington, Mich., showcased arguably his best effort of the season with a strong third-place finish. Davenport fell to fourth.

Bowers points lead over TUF Honda’s Jeff Gibson, of Blacklick, Ohio, sits at 31 points. Gibson suffered from a bad start of his own and was mired deep inside the top 10 throughout the main event before working his way into fifth by the end.

The Arenacross Lites class has been competitive in the Western Regional Championship and Moore’s win is a testament to the parity the class has seen at the front of the field. Moore was challenged at the front throughout the 18-lap main event by Airide Kawasaki’s Jake Locks, of Dixon, Calif., who took home a runner-up finish. Rounding out the podium was Foremost Insurance/Spinechillers/HondaofFairfield.com rider Patrick Massie, of Washington Court, Ohio.

It was a big night for Moore in the point standings as well, taking a significant bite out of his deficit to current points leader Chad Cook, of Oklahoma City, Okla., who suffered his worst outing of the year in 10^th. Resner Builders Hardware Honda’a Vicki Golden, of El Cajon, Calif., continued her historic run with a second straight main event appearance and the best finish in AMA Arenacross Series history by a female in 12^th.

The AMA Arenacross Series continues next weekend with its return to Greenville, S.C. and the BI-LO Center, beginning at 7 p.m. ET.

Arenacross Class Results (Wichita, Kan.)

1. Tyler Bowers, Danville, Ky., Kawasaki
2. Chad Johnson, Rhinelander, Wis., Kawasaki
3. Kelly Smith, Ludington, Mich., Yamaha
4. Gray Davenport, Lehi, Utah, Kawasaki
5. Jeff Gibson, Blacklick, Ohio, Honda
6. Nathan Skaggs, Chilicothe, Ohio, Honda
7. Zach Ames, Prospect, Ohio, Honda
8. Kevin Johnson, Spring, Texas, Yamaha
9. Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki
10. Dave Ginolfi, Lake Hopatlong, N.J., Suzuki

AMA Arenacross Lites Class Results (Wichita, Kan.)

1. Tanner Moore, Auburn, Kan., KTM
2. Jake Locks, Dixon, Calif., Kawasaki
3. Patrick Massie, Washington Court, Ohio, Honda
4. Travis Smith, Lancaster, Calif., Yamaha
5. Scott Zont, Algonquin, Ill., Honda
6. Jeremy Huddleston, Eustace, Texas, KTM
7. Tyler Sehr, Belleville, Ill., Honda
8. Nick Click, St. Clair, Mo., Honda
9. Aviery Hickey, Decatur, Texas, Kawasaki

10.  Chad Cook, Oklahoma City, Okla., Kawasaki

Arenacross Class Points (After Race 12 of 19)

1. Tyler Bowers, Danville, Ky., Kawasaki – 277
2. Jeff Gibson, Blacklick, Ohio, Honda – 246
3. Chad Johnson, Rhinelander, Wis., Kawasaki – 242
4. Gray Davenport, Lehi, Utah, Kawasaki – 189
5. Zach Ames, Prospect, Ohio, Honda – 179         
6. Kelly Smith, Ludington, Mich., Yamaha – 164
7. Nathan Skaggs, Chillicothe, Ohio, Honda – 161
8. Cole Siebler, Emmett, Idaho, Ho            nda – 153
9. Kevin Johnson, Spring, Texas, Yamaha – 140
10. Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki – 130

Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class Points (After Race 7 of 10)

1. Chad Cook, Oklahoma City, Okla., Kawasaki – 138
2. Tanner Moore, Auburn, Kan., KTM – 108
3. Travis Smith, Lancaster, Calif., Yamaha – 98
4. Aviery Hickey, Decatur, Texas, Kawasaki – 89
5. Tiger Lacey, Spring Creek, Nev., Kawasaki – 75
6. Tanner Young, Marland, Okla., Yamaha – 73
7. Jeremy Huddleston, Eustace, Texas, KTM – 65
8. Bobby Fitch, Littleton, Colo., Honda – 44
9. Ricky Yorks, Murrieta, Calif., Yamaha – 42
10. Noa Quinabo, Riverside, Calif., Suzuki – 42

New for 2011! Live timing and scoring from each round of the AMA Arenacross Series. To follow the intense racing action live, log onto www.Arenacross.com.  For all media requests, please contact Brandon Short at brandon@nextlevelsportsinc.com or 949-365-5750.

For more information on the 2011 AMA Arenacross Series, log on to www.Arenacross.com. For all media requests, please contact Brandon Short brandon@nextlevelsportsinc.com or 949-365-5750.

Never miss out on the latest news! Follow the AMA Arenacross Series on Facebook and Twitter! Log on to http://www.facebook.com/AMAarenacross and http://twitter.com/arenacross today!

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Feld Motor Sports^®, Inc. is the world leader in specialized arena and stadium-based motor sports entertainment.  Feld Motor Sports, Inc. productions include Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam^®, Monster Energy Supercross, AMA Arenacross Series, Nuclear Cowboyz^®, and IHRA^® Nitro Jam^®.  Feld Motor Sports, Inc. is a division of Feld Entertainment, the world’s largest producer of live family entertainment.  For more information on Feld Entertainment, visit www.feldentertainment.com.