Ups and Downs at Arenacross Opener

11/06/2006

Janesville, WI - The 2006-07 Toyota AMA Arenacross series kicked off in Des Moines, Iowa over the weekend. Defending series champion, Chad Johnson looked like he had the speed to defend his title but poor starts and small mistakes relegated him to 6th and 7th place finishes. Johnson's teammate, Greg Schnell came into the series healthy and ready to chase down the 2006-07 title. Friday night Schnell grabbed a great start and held a steady pace to finish the night on the final podium spot. Last years series runner-up, Brock Sellards made his only arenacross appearance of the season and finished fourth on night one. Sellards has signed a deal to race Supercross for the Thor sponsored BooKoo Energy drink team for the 2007. Friday night's victory went to Arenacross new-comer Danny Smith.

Saturday night saw Schnell grab the holeshot and lead for several laps until Robbie Reynard made his way around. Reynard would take the victory while Schnell fought off charges from Smith to finish second. Smith rounded out the podium in third. Johnson once again suffered from a poor start but quickly began picking up positions. Clearly the fastest on the track, Johnson made a little mistake at the end of the start straight about half way through and lost a few spots. By the end of the night, Johnson had managed to work his way up to seventh in an amazing last corner pass on Sellards.