2007 BooKoo Arenacross, Yakima, Washington, Round 3 Race Report

The Palm Springs of Yakima, Washington hosted Round 3 of the K&N presents BooKoo Arenacross Championship Series brought to you Honda. While the climate was in the lows 30s outside, inside the Sundome the temperature was warm and the action was sizzling.

Friday, Nov 17

250 Heat 1
Series points leader Darcy Lange shot out to an early lead of the first of three 250 Heats. But coming up from a bad start, a hard charging Zack Ames was locked and loaded. Ames got in over his head in the sweeper and collected Lange; putting the Kawasaki rider out of qualifying position. Ames went on to take the top spot followed by GPS' Jimmy Nelson with Kevin Urquhart taking the final transfer position.

250 Heat 2
Heat 2 was a bump and run battle. Colt Humphrey and Brad Ripple traded the lead several times for the first 3 laps. Then Ripple put a move on Humphrey and the Yamaha rider dropped out of the lead group. Ripple took the checkers first followed by Jeff Northrup and Tyler Bowers. Tiger Lacy was running third but took a soil sample on the last lap.

250 Heat 3
Heat 3 was another thriller as Michael Blose gated first with teammate Josh Woods in tow. Woods had a bead on Blose coming out of the first turn as they headed for the whoops but Woods went down. Blose went on to take the win followed by Chad Ward along with Tommy Hofmaster third.

450 Heat 1
Humphrey shot to the lead in the first of three 450cc Heats with Lange about 4th on the first lap. Lap 4 saw Humphrey going down in the rhyme section, only to get up 2 laps down. Lange took the checkers first with Nelson closing the gap in the closing laps. Billy Jurevich rounded out the top three.

450 Heat 2
Northrop gated first in the second 450 Heat with Woods and Ripple in his draft. Northrop goes down in the sweeper, handing the lead to Ripple followed by Blose and Greg Crater at the line.

450 Heat 3
The final Heat of the night had a sleeping Tyler Bowers! Ames gated first and was not looking back. Ward was chasing Ames trying to put a wheel on him in several berms, but Ames stayed consistent winning the heat. Bowers fought his way to a well deserved third.

250 Main
As the 250 Pro Main left the line for their final, in was Ripple who grabbed the MotoSports.com First Lap Dash and took off. Starting on the outside and after having to qualify through the semi, Lange fought his way to second.

Ripple began lapping traffic knowing Lange was coming. Stress on the sideline began to show as lappers were going to play a part in the outcome. Ripple stayed cool, limited his mistakes, and held on to win.

"I was in the same position last week, but went down because I was not patience," a smiling Ripple said. "I just told myself to relax and not force anything,...man it feels good to win".

Friday 250 Main Results
1 Ripple
2 Lange
3 Lacey
4 Northrop
5 Blose
6 Urquhart
7 Nelson
8 Beat
9 Hofmaster
10 Woods
11 Humphrey
12 Jurevich
13 Bowers
14 Ames
15 Ward

450 Main
Lacey got the MotoSports.com First Lap Dash award taking home an extra $250! Lacey lead the main until his rear tire began going flat on lap 14 of 20. Lange moved up from about sixth on the first lap to take the lead with about five laps to go. Lacey finished second rolling all the jumps on the last lap just trying to finish. Woods, who has had his fair share of bad luck since the series started finished third

Friday 450 Main Results
1. Lange
2 Lacey
3 Woods
4 Blose
5 Bowers
6 Hofmaster
7 Jurevich
8 Urquhart
9 Nelson
10 Ward
11 Crater
12 Ripple
13 Northrop
14 Rookstoll
15 Ames

Saturday, Nov. 18

Night two saw the racing not only kick to another level, but near capacity crowd turned out in very vocal fashion.

Live I Sports gave Internet users world wide exposure to the BooKoo Arenacross Championship Series. In fact, to see the heats, semis and mains of Saturday night, you can log onto LiveIsports.com. go to archives and download for $5.

250 Main
Mister consistent in the series thus far has been the Babbitt's Kawasaki rider Lange. Darcy has matured into a rider that knows how to race arenacross: patience, know when to go fast and know when to settle in and take what the night gives you. Tonight was no different as Lange collected another win in the 250 main. Following in the runner-up spot was GPS Racing Ripple who has also been surprisingly consistent. The Honda rider seems to have learned his lessons last year: relax and don't ride over your head. Third went to a much deserved Blose on the Fun Center Suzuki. The Suzuki team has struggled from the start, with teammate Woods pulling out of this main with a hurt hand he received earlier in the night after Lange landed on it in the heat race. Chad Ward collected the MotorSport.com First Lap Dash $250 check.

150 Main
Idaho's Zach Mangum collected top honors in the Honda CRF150R class followed by Devan Masteller and Brody Thom rounding out the top three. This is going to be one of the premiere racing classes to watch. These 12 to 15 year olds show just what the future pros of tomorrow will look like and with the new Honda race ready CRF150R...they have a race package today.

Pit Bike
Some of the Pro riders not only compete in the 250 and 450 classes but also ride the MotoVert Pro Pit Bike Class. Ripple has been on a tear of late along with Colt Humphrey, Greg Crater, Ryan Beat, Kyle Coen, Trevor Vines, Riley Kurosky, Patrick McConahy and BJ Morgan. These guys brought the crowd to their feet. These guys were going off. But in the end, it was Ripple getting the nod over Humphrey. The MotoVert Pit Bike Championship is posting $10,000 for the Series winner

450 Main
With the gate dropping for the final event of the night, Suzuki's Blose gated first followed by 15 of the fastest Arenacross riders on the planet. Out of turn one and headed for the Honda Rockers, Blose led the way, but then came Lange and Bowers. Lange took Blose all the way to the top of the right-hander following the rockers, Bowers slipped underneath both riders to take the lead and collect the MotorSport.com First Lap Dash $250 check. Blose went from first to last in a blink of an eye. Back up front, Lange set a blistering pace in second to catch and pass the MDK rider. Bowers settled in and looked to take a strong second. But that lasted only five laps before Lange threw it away all by himself, handing the lead back over to Bowers. Bowers went on to take his first win of the series followed by Ripple and Lacy.

Saturday 250 Main Results
1 Lange
2 Ripple
3 Blose
4 Bowers
5 Lacey
6 Northrop
7 Urquhart
8 Nelson
9 Hofmaster
10 Ward

Saturday 450 Main Results
1 Bowers
2 Ripple
3 Lacey
4 Hofmaster
5 Northrop
6 Lange
7 Blose
8 Jurevich
9 Crater
10 Humphrey

BooKoo Championship Standings

1 Darcy Lange, 220 points
2 Michael Blose, 164 points
3 Tiger Lacey, 154 points
4 Jeff Northrop, 154 points
5 Tyler Bowers, 147 points
6 Jimmy Nelson, 133 points
7 Brad Ripple, 131 points
8 Josh Woods, 122 points
9 Tom Hofmaster, 119 points
10 Chad Ward, 80 points

Round 4 will be in Fort Worth, TX December 29-31