The Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha, in association with Rock River and CycleTrader, team began the thirteenth round of the 2017 AMSOIL Arenacross series with momentum on their side after Chris Blose made a charge for the Ricky Carmichael Cup one round ago in Sacramento, California. The Arizona native swept the event and has been consistently closing in on the championship leader, Gavin Faith, setting the series up for a grand finale in the last two rounds.
Blose established himself as the man to beat throughout qualifying as he set the fastest time of the day ahead of his main rival, Team Babbitt’s Kawasaki’s Faith.
The Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha, in association with Rock River and CycleTrader, rider was seeded into the second heat race and he was able to grab the early advantage in front of the field with a substantial holeshot. He powered out of the first corner on his Yamaha ahead of the KTM of Jared Lesher and the Honda of Jace Owen. Blose remained calm and collected as he dominated the Salt Lake City soil on his way to an uncontested victory, setting some of the fastest laps in the process, as well as earning himself a spot in the RM ATV/MC Head 2 Head Challenge.
Blose got off to a flying start in the first round of the Head 2 Head Challenge, putting his Yamaha ahead of Jacob Williamson for the entirety of the two laps, therefore clinching a spot in the next round. The The Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha, in association with Rock River and CycleTrader, rider found himself pitted against Travis Sewell in the next round and he made quick work of the Team Babbit’s rider, earning his spot in the final against Gared Steinke. The two of them had an intense battle in the final round, but Blose was able to come out on top and collect some crucial championship points in the process.
In the first main event of the night, Blose shot out of the gate on a mission aboard his blazing fast Yamaha machine, forcing his way through the first corner with an early advantage. The rider out of Arizona began to put some time into Gavin Faith in second position as the battle for the championship began to unfold. He was the only rider that was able to dip into the 27 second lap time range and he did so on the fourth lap, slowly building an advantage over his rival. Blose consistently pulled away from the Team Babbitt’s rider, eventually crossing the finish line with close to a ten second advantage as he won his third main event in a row. The second main event was almost a carbon copy of the first with Blose getting out to a solid start in second position just behind Ben Lamay. He was able to make quick work of the Honda rider and move into the lead, immediately setting his sights on the empty track as he attempted to check out. Blose immediately set the fastest lap and was headed towards his second sweep in a row, but he unfortunately experienced a crash in the whoops section at the halfway point of the race that dropped him back to fifth place. The Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha, in association with Rock River and CycleTrader, rider was able to regroup and make up some time on those ahead of him as he moved into fourth position past KTM’s Daniel Herrlein. Blose had the pace to get back on the podium, but he simply ran out of time before the checkered flag was flown.
Blose commented “Denver was another good weekend for me getting another overall win. I thought it was going to be a repeat of Sacramento, but an unfortunate crash in the second main while leading cost me sweeping the night. But, we gained points on Faith which was the goal. We are only five points down going into Vegas, and my Yamaha has been working really well lately, so we are going to come in swinging!”
Although he wasn’t able to complete the sweep for the second weekend in a row, Blose managed to close the gap to Faith, bringing the difference to only five points. The Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha, in association with Rock River and CycleTrader, team will be raring to go in a couple of weeks when the gate drops on the final round of the series in Las Vegas as the finale is set up to be an absolute barnburner.
