Nex-Trax Canadian AX Series Review

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Nex-Trax Canadian Arenacross Series Review

Story and Photos by James Lissimore

With the first four rounds of the 2010-11 Nex-Trax Canadian Arenacross series in the books now, after two action packed weekends at Chilliwack, BC's Heritage Park, I thought I'd take a look back at how the riders have fared so far. So, I added up the points from both classes and compiled a list of who's made the top ten overall so far this season.

Here's a look at the top ten riders so far in the 2010-11 season as we take a few weeks off before heading to Grande Prairie, Alberta's Crystal Centre on December 17^th....

1^st Kyle Beaton – Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki – 167

As the defending champion and rider who has dominated much of the action in the Nex-Trax series the past couple seasons there was no doubt that KD Beets would be a challenger. The real question though was how a trying outdoor season, a switch to a new brand of bike for the first time in his career and the deepest field we've seen in the Nex-Trax series would affect him but after he kicked off the opening weekend by winning 3 of the 4 main events pretty much any questions concerning him were effectively silenced. He followed that up with two more main event wins the following weekend and except for a costly slide out in the final race he was on the podium in every main event so far in the season. Things are definitely looking good so far for Kyle to retain his number one plate for another season.

2^nd Kevin Urquhart - RTR Performance KTM– 156

Washington State's Kevin Urquhart quietly hovered around the top 5 during the opening weekend of the series, riding solid but hardly in the spotlight. That changed for weekend two as he turned on the jets, taking two main event wins, a second and a third to prove that he's a contender for the AX title. He now finds himself leading the Open class and sitting second in the AX2 class and you know he's going to be hungry to keep the ball rolling when the series hits Alberta. He'll have to keep one eye on the rear view mirror though as he's got a pair of teammates who are close behind in points and won't be playing nice just cause they're all under the same tent.

3^rd Kyle Keast – RTR Performance Honda – 148

Before the start of the series, there was a lot of talk about Keast's relative lack of indoor racing experience, mainly stemming from one ill-fated ride at the Toronto Supercross a few years ago, but really his indoor credentials are fairly strong: Montreal Supercross, AMA Arenacrosses, Sackville AX, Lethbridge, he's certainly done his fair share of racing indoors. Which, is why it's been no surprise to me to see him riding so solid this early in the season. After the first four rounds he's hit the podium four times and is looking like he can win one of these any day.

4^th Michael Willard - RTR Performance KTM – 143

Of all the riders on this list, I had Willard pegged as one of my favorites for the Championship, based on his excellent AMA Supercross finishes last year, but as we constantly find out, things don't always work out the way we expect they will in the big red barn in Chilliwack. The former two time MX2 West Champion had a second and two third place finishes so far this season but he still hasn't found that extra gear needed to notch his first win. No doubt, with his credentials, he'll figure it out before this season is over.

5^th Brock Hoyer – Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki – 121

Last year's number two rider, Hoyer, has struggled so far this season. It could be the deeper field, a lack of seat time, or just plain bad luck, but after the first four rounds Brock has yet to hit the podium after being a regular fixture there last season. He's on a good bike and always rides hard so I can't see why things won't come around soon for the William's Lake native. His fourth place finish at the recent Montreal SX shows he's still a threat when it comes to racing indoors.

6^th Brad Nauditt – Bulldog Racing Honda – 115

Another of the large Washington contingent that came up to race the first two weekends and a rider who's spent a lot of time racing in Canada this summer, Brad Nauditt, has been consistently riding around the top 5 and almost hit the podium with a fourth in the November 12^th AX2 main event. He's currently down in California getting ready for a run at the AMA Supercross series but he's hoping to make it out for the next round in Grande Prairie and hopefully his first podium finish of the series.

7^th Spencer Knowles – Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki – 91

What can you say about young Spencer Knowles? His speed is unquestionable, as his three podium appearances out of four AX2 main events attest to. But, his three DNF's highlight the inconsistency that's plagued his season so far. Always a great starter, if he can find a little of the consistency that's been missing there's no reason he can't start climbing up the leaderboard as the series progresses.

8^th Kevin Lepp - Clearbrook Yamaha – 88

One of the more surprising riders so far in the series has been Clearbrook Yamaha's Kevin Lepp. It seems that a summer spent racing the Canadian National series has definitely helped Lepp's speed as he won a heat race and scored a fourth place finish which is his best yet in the Nex-Trax series. If he can keep working hard there's no reason the Abbotsford native can't make the next step soon.

9^th Brady Sheren – Richmond Suzuki – 76

Last year's third place finisher, Brady Sheren, doesn't ride much these days as he spends his days helping run the ship over at Matrix Concepts but he still came out to race at Chilliwack on a Richmond backed Suzuki. Though it's not like when he was a regular on the AMA Supercross circuit, Sheren still scored a best finish of a fifth in the last race at Chilliwack.

10^th Kris Foster – Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki – 58

Kamloops native, Kris Foster, decided to take a break from backflips and KOD's to get back on the racing circuit for the Nex-Trax series. He definitely hasn't been as fast as he's been in the past but he still showed he can put in a fast lap when he took the win in the Head to Head race on the final night. Otherwise, in what's been an extremely deep field, he's qualified for just over half of the main events so far.

Honorable Mentions:

11^th Dusty Klatt – 55

He's a now four time and defending Canadian Motocross Champion and a multi time Nex-Trax AX Champion so automatically you have to put Klatt in the list of top contenders but with uncertainty around his Blackfoot team's future, Klatt didn't have a bike to race only a few days before the first round. Luckily, Ed Wagstaff from Clearbrook Yamaha stepped up to loan him a stock YZ250F and he repaid the favor by winning the first main event of the season. Unfortunately, things went downhill from there. Coming into the second weekend, a fresh set of suspension and some extra horsepower looked to be what the doctor ordered but unfortunately crashes and the resulting sore wrist knocked him out before it ever really began.

12^th Jake Anstett – 54

Another rider who was expected to be challenging for wins was Washington State's Jake Anstett. One of the few riders riding a 450 in the Open class, Anstett put it to good use with two second place finishes. Unfortunately, a couple bad crashes and a shoulder injury knocked him out of the running before he could really get going.

13^th Coleton McLean – 46

I just want to give Coleton props for being out racing in this series. While training in Manitoba this summer for a run at the Outdoor Nationals, Coleton developed a rather late onset of Type 1 diabetes and his health was in serious jeopardy for quite some time. Luckily he's got it all under control and he's back on the track. He's had some pretty good results so far with his best finish an 8^th and he's sitting just outside the top 10 in points.