Yakima, Washington was the site for Round 3 of the Boo-Koo Arenacross Championship. Tyler, Zach and the rest of the racers were all anxious to ride practice and many of them could be seen studying the creative track for hours just to be sure they had every piece of it memorized. Others focused on the critical whoop section, pacing back and forth as they looked for a secret clue that might give them an edge.
There were two ways to get through the whoops and each rider had their own style and preference. You could either skim the tops of them as most people assumed was the fastest and easiest way, or you could triple through them and hop like a rabbit. Tyler Bowers proved that the hopping method was the fastest by at least a second or two.
Friday night's show started off with some outstanding heat races. Zach Ames was on fire in the qualifiers, taking dominant victories in both his 250 and 450 heat races. I caught up to Zach as he was pulling off the track and the first word out of his mouth was "Finally." It was obvious that he had been waiting for a win ever since the first round at Fresno.
The 250 main was full of drama for both Tyler and Zach. The tension was high as the ten-second card turned sideways and the riders launched off the line moments later and roared through turn one. Tyler and Zach were both holding down podium positions but it was short lived as Zach got caught up in the whoops. Tyler also got caught up in the incident and ended up "bull riding" his dirt bike right off the side of the track and over the barrier. Despite the bad luck, both Zack and Tyler were able to continue and finish the race.
Zach sat out of the race Saturday night due to injuries from the previous night and had to watch from the stands while munching on nachos and popcorn instead of tearing it up out on the track. The crowd waited in anticipation for the start of the 450 main and it was none other than Tyler Bowers jumping out to an excellent start to lead the race. Bowers held the point position for roughly 12-laps before Darcy Lange finally caught and passed him. However, Darcy only led a few laps before getting caught up with another rider and crashing. That put Bowers back in the lead and he battled hard through the lappers to maintain his position. Tyler did an excellent job fighting through the chaotic pack and went on to claim his very first Boo-Koo Arenacross victory in style.
Bowers currently holds down 5th in the overall standings and both he and Ames will be looking to move up in the rankings when the series heads to Fort Worth, Texas for round 4 of the championship.
For more information on Shift Racing go to www.shiftracing.com