Checkerz
The AMA Arenacross Series galloped into Guthrie, Oklahoma for the second weekend in a row for Round 7 of the AMA Championship Series. Just like an old Western gun-slingin’ cowboy sitcom, you knew it would be filled with bull ridin’, cowgirl chasin’, and drunk-stumblin’, most likely ending with a bottle over someone’s head in a dusty, bar brawl… and that’s only the scenes with Cowboy Cody Groves. Let’s break down the latest episode from the hit series: The Arenacross Showdown and see how some of the main characters have started an evolution.
Kyle Peters has had a mostly peaceful role as the Mayor of Arenacrosstown for four seasons with exception only to a few challenges when outlaws like Harrison, Hicks, or Wageman decided to pass through town. He’s developed a leadership strategy that works along with his Phoenix Honda team. That all changed when the businessman Ryan Breece visited Arenacrosstown for some off-season gambling to put some cheddar in his pocket before riding off to the supercross series.
After a few weeks in town Breece felt welcomed by the townspeople and as a businessman he started to see an opportunity to build the foundation to a kingdom if he stayed in Arenacrosstown. The choice to stay armed with his eye-catching Rock River/Tucker/Checkmate YZ450 definitely caught a lot of attention and has put a bit of pressure on Mayor Peters. The peaceful battle would continue at the Guthrie, OK Corral; but we are starting to sense a Showdown brewing on Main Street of Arenacrosstown.
Jared Lesher continues to play the background soundtrack throughout all the chaos. The Musician of Arenacrosstown plays a YZ 250 2-Stroke and sings to everyone’s roar each lap through the whoops.
If you’ve watched Cody Groves line-up in a semi or LCQ you know he was bred to be a rodeo star. Cowboy Cody, a true, old-school bull rider. When that gate dropped it was like a chute opening with a flank strap tied tightly on the undercarriage of his RMZ250. He looked like Lane Frost as he hit the whoops in the LCQ; rear-end kicking over his head but Groves held a firm grip. He out-witted his competitors in the corners, and at the poker table, stealing their transfer spot. We are pretty sure he then spent his winnings slamming whiskey, line-dancing with someone’s girlfriend, and eventually showed a barrel racer his trophy room.
The Evolutions:
Mayor Peters upgraded his six-shooter to fend off his new competitor. While always keeping things respectful, Mayor Peters politely defended any previous challenge to his leadership from Businessman Breece. Coming into Round 7, The Mayor matched The Businessman’s firepower and upgraded his side arm to a CRF450. Businessman Breece swept the night including a 1v1+1 cash grab. Peters suffered only slight damage with 2-2 scores and only lost 2 points while still maintaining a 19 point advantage. I wouldn’t be surprised to see KP stick with the 450 a few more rounds as we head to larger floors in Arizona and back to back weekends at a rodeo arena in Reno, NV.
The Musician Lesher typically quietly goes on stage performing his hits. Tonight we caught him tossing elbows as others tried to invade the stage. Usually just beautiful music in the background; Lesher has really started to show some determination to rise up as a star with great speed and podiums the last two races.
Cowboy Cody Groves is now a solid main event guy and continues to show he can hang in the top five. Unfortunately, unlike riding a wild bull or bronco, the races are longer than eight seconds.
The hunters, farmers, and home-builders. Men of all trades who are the heartbeat of Arenacrosstown. While they aren’t typically fending off the outlaws or creating a spectacle strapping themselves to bulls, chasing skirts, or drinking enough cheap whiskey to paralyze a group of grown men; these grinders work their butts off to keep Arenacrosstown flourishing. The Hunter Mason Kerr sniped a couple solid main events going 6-6 on the night. Farmer Taylor has been nurturing his season after starting in a drought and harvested 8-8 finishes on the night. The Carpenter Devin Harriman finally laid a foundation to build-upon with 9-7 results in Guthrie.
Foreshadowing:
Next Friday night when The Arenacross Showdown rolls into Prescott, AZ what should we expect? Our scouts are reporting an outlaw invasion is coming when the townspeople try to move camp West to Arizona. Joining Deven Raper to cause havoc with the Arenacross regulars, Robbie Wageman is fueled up on Heartbeat Hot Sauce coated R-Jerkey armed with his Team Solitaire ride and Austin Politelli has a ton of unfinished business to handle. With 250 West SX on break we expect a handful more guys to come try and snag some Arenacrosstown winnings.
All the action happens February 2nd at the Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley, AZ. If you can’t catch it live be sure to tune into MavTV or subscribe to ArenacrossAllAccess.com to capture the chaos all season long.
Main image: Arenacross
