Rider Files

(NEWS RELEASE)

LOS ANGELES – (March 19, 2011) – Returning to the track where he won his first short course off-road championship, just a few short months ago, Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg debuts this weekend as part of the infamous Hart & Huntington/ Premiere Motorsports off-road team!

In addition to a new team, Stenberg also makes his official debut within the heavily stacked Pro 2 Unlimited class facing off against some of the most competitive racers in the sport today including seven time Supercross champion Jeremy McGrath, who took third place championship honors in the 2010 season, and former teammate Brian Deegan.

Rounds 1 & 2 of the 2011 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series (LOORRS), kick off today, Saturday, March 19th and continue through Sunday, March 20th at the Firebird Raceway in Chandler, Arizona. Stenberg had this to say regarding the recent career changes in his life, “I am super pumped to be part of the Hart&Huntington/Premier Motorsports team and grateful for the chance to be able to compete in the Pro 2 class…looking forward to it ALL!”

A 9-time X Games medalist, Stenberg recently completing a season of “The X Life” for VH-1 and looks forward to the start of filming for season 2. Stenberg’s wife Susie manages the athlete’s jam-packed competition schedule, which will likely necessitate two or three different camera crews in order to capture the couple’s frenetic schedule. In addition to the LOORRS series, Stenberg is competing in a series of international freestyle moto events, the Dew Tour and the Summer X Games in Los Angeles.

(NEWS RELEASE)

Tyler Bright Grabs Arenacross Lites Victory

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa. (March 18, 2011) – Babbitt’s Monster Energy/TiLUBE Kawasaki presented by Maxxis rider Tyler Bowers, of Danville, Ky., might be dominating the 2011 AMA Arenacross Series, but the 20-year-old rider is putting in some serious effort to be in that position. On Friday night, Bowers was forced to come from behind for the third-straight week in order to claim his seventh straight win from Council Bluffs’ Mid-America Center. In Arenacross Lites competition, House of Kawasaki’s Chad Cook, of Oklahoma City, Okla., grabbed his third win of the season.

Team Faith Yamaha’s Kelly Smith, of Ludington, Mich., grabbed the early lead in the 25-lap Arenacross class main event. Behind him, TUF Honda’s Jeff Gibson, of Blacklick, Ohio, and Foremost Insurance/Spinechillers/HondaofFairfield.com’s Zach Ames, of Prospect, Ohio, followed closely.

Smith would lead the majority of the race, consistently fending off Gibson’s advances in an impressive back-and-forth battle that kept the fans on their feet. Meanwhile, Bowers was looking to climb his way through the top five, but found himself stagnant throughout the first half of the main event.

On Lap 14, Gibson made his move for the top spot stick, forcing Smith into second while Ames looked to take advantage as well. At this moment, Bowers also began his forward progress and patiently picked off both Ames and Smith before setting his sights on Gibson with a handful of laps remaining.

The gap between the two riders fluctuated as Bowers looked for an advantage and ultimately lost time by being out of position. However, as the duo came to the white flag, Bowers was in perfect position, sitting just a tenth off Gibson as they hit the catapult. He quickly made an aggressive pass that stuck and promptly pulled away for the rest of the lap to eventually win by over a second ahead of a dejected Gibson. Smith held on to round out the podium in third.

A rough night for Bowers’ Babbitt’s Monster Energy/TiLUBE Kawasaki teammate Chad Johnson, of Rhinelander, Wis., resulted in a fifth-place finish, dropping him from a tie for second in the standings to third. Bowers extended his impressive points lead to 41 points.

Following a short one-week break, the Arenacross Lites Western Regional Championship returned to action in Council Bluffs. Entering the night as the points leader, Cook asserted himself at the title favorite with just three races remaining in the championship. The Kawasaki rider has boasted a stellar and consistent season, putting himself in the position to win on a weekly basis and tying for the class lead in wins after his effort on Friday evening. Moreover, Cook’s closest competitors in second and third in the standings suffered from tough nights.

Following Cook on the podium was All Angles Collision Kawasaki’s Aviery Hickey, of Decatur, Texas, who made a move in the points after his runner-up effort. Completing the podium in third was TZR Honda’s Scott Zont, of Algonquin, Ill.

Cook’s lead in the Arenacross Lites Western Regional Championship now sits at XX points.

The action from the Mid-America center is just getting started. The Council Bluffs Arenacross continues tomorrow night with more bar-banging action beginning at 7 p.m. CT.

Arenacross Class Results (Council Bluffs, Iowa)

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

AMA Arenacross Lites Class Results (Council Bluffs, Iowa)

1. Chad Cook, Oklahoma City, Okla., Kawasaki
2. Aviery Hickey, Decatur, Texas, Kawasaki
3. Scott Zont, Algonquin, Ill., Honda
4. Patrick Massie, Washington Court, Ohio, Honda
5. Jake Locks, Dixon, Calif., Kawasaki
6. Jeremy Huddleston, Eustace, Texas, KTM
7. Tanner Young, Marland, Okla., Yamaha
8. Kenneth Henry, Ashtabula, Ohio, KTM
9. Michael Lang, Saugerties, N.Y., Honda

10.  Travis Smith, Lancaster, Calif., Yamaha

Arenacross Class Points (After Race 14 of 19)

1. Tyler Bowers, Danville, Ky., Kawasaki – 327
2. Jeff Gibson, Blacklick, Ohio, Honda – 286
3. Chad Johnson, Rhinelander, Wis., Kawasaki – 280
4. Zach Ames, Prospect, Ohio, Honda – 217
5. Gray Davenport, Lehi, Utah, Kawasaki – 215      
6. Nathan Skaggs, Chillicothe, Ohio, Honda – 192
7. Kelly Smith, Ludington, Mich., Yamaha – 191
8. Kevin Johnson, Spring, Texas, Yamaha – 165
9. Cory Green, Nowata, Okla., Suzuki – 156
10. Cole Siebler, Emmett, Idaho, Ho            nda – 153

Western Regional Arenacross Lites Class Points (After Race 8 of 10)

1. Chad Cook, Oklahoma City, Okla., Kawasaki – 163
2. Tanner Moore, Auburn, Kan., KTM – 117
3. Aviery Hickey, Decatur, Texas, Kawasaki – 111
4. Travis Smith, Lancaster, Calif., Yamaha – 109
5. Tanner Young, Marland, Okla., Yamaha – 87
6. Jeremy Huddleston, Eustace, Texas, KTM – 80
7. Tiger Lacey, Spring Creek, Nev., Kawasaki – 75
8. Noa Quinabo, Riverside, Calif., Suzuki – 52
9. Bobby Fitch, Littleton, Colo., Honda – 44
10. Ricky Yorks, Murrieta, Calif., Yamaha – 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!

About Feld Motor Sports^®
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.

OK I admit it – I have a little bit of a of Luddite streak in me. Even though I own and use the latest and greatest digital devices, I still listen to vinyl, use a VCR, listen to plain old two-channel stereo and watch standard-def TV.

Those old-tech tendencies carry over now again to my photography. Every once in awhile I’ll break out my old Nikon F100 film body at the races and shoot through some rolls of film. I’ll freely admit that there is no advantage whatsoever to this silly habit. Digital is faster, sharper and infinitely easier, but for some reason I still enjoy the look of film and, like that 1980s bike in the corner of your garage you just couldn’t bring yourself to sell, I figure I should keep my old F100 in working order by firing it up a couple of times a summer.

Wait… I just thought of one potential advantage of film! Should the big computer virus come and delete all of our digital files into space, I’ll be the one guy who has at least few photos of current racing. It’s a stretch I know, but it’s all I got.

Someday in the not-too-distant future film will once and for all be relegated to the history books. When that happens maybe my claim to fame can be being the last motorcycle racing photographer to capture a race on film. That would be cool.

Last Memorial Day weekend I brought the F100 and a few rolls of Fujifilm Superia 400 with me to the Springfield (Ill.) AMA Grand National Doubleheader. I took some shots during practice for the national TT and Mile. I’m not sure you’d be able to tell these are photos from film, but there is a subtle difference, sort of like watching a movie shot on film versus digital video.

Of course the other bad thing about film is forgetting to have it developed, which is why I’m just now publishing these photos from May of last year.

So to all my fellow Neo-Luddites out there – enjoy the film.

(Click on thumbnail for larger version)