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The American Motorcyclist Association Arenacross series returns to the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs this weekend after an absence of several years.
Arenacross, featured on the Speed Channel, is a smaller version of Supercross, which gets more national exposure. The action in Council Bluffs gets under way Friday and Saturday night at 7:30. Tickets are available at the MAC box office or through Ticketmaster. On Sunday, racing starts at 10 a.m. Sunday's events will be for amateur riders only.
Tracin Seng of Gretna Cycle is the head mechanic and crew chief for the three-time and defending Arenacross champion team of Tuf Racing, which will be competing on its red Hondas this weekend. But the 2010 season has belonged to the green Kawasakis of Team Babbitts. The team's three riders — Tyler Bowers, Josh Demuth and Chad Johnson — are ranked 1-2-3 in the Arenacross standings.
“Arenacross is a real tight-knit group,” Seng said. “We travel together, we help each other out. If one of the other teams needs help, we all pitch in. It's a real friendly, family-style environment.”
Another class racing this weekend will be the Arena Lites series. Those riders include Bellevue's Ricky Draper, who ranks seventh in the AMA Lites West division point standings. Draper has been racing for 15 years — not bad for somebody who hasn't turned 20 yet. Despite all his traveling over the years, he was able to maintain his grades and graduate from Bellevue West High School in 2008
At age 6, Draper finished sixth in his first national amateur event. From that point on, he consistently finished in the top 10 in National Motosport Association and AMA rankings throughout his amateur career. In 2004 he scored his first national win at the Branson USA Championships. Draper turned pro in 2007, and although injuries slowed his process of getting an AMA pro license, he used solid runs this year to achieve that goal.
Draper rides for Storm Lake Honda, and his dad, Matt Draper, is his team manager. Matt Draper and Jason Vaith are team mechanics. Brian Foster of Cameron Park, Calif., and Kurt McCabe of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, are Draper's teammates. Both the Arenacross and Arena Lites series race weekly from coast to coast in a season that extends from early January to the end of March.
Draper hopes to be 100 percent healthy for the hometown fans. He has been ill and sat out Saturday night's event in Reno, Nev., with a sore ankle.
“Arenacross is completely different from motocross and Supercross,” Draper said. “With the short lap times, one mistake is the difference between first and 10th place. The tracks are technical and the racing is tight, which makes it a great show for all the fans and a lot of fun for all the racers.”
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