Round Recap: Rounds 5 & 6

Tulsa, OK (January 24, 2021) – The 2021 Kicker AMA Arenacross Series stopped in Guthrie, Oklahoma for rounds five and six of the series. The events were held at the Lazy E Arena on Friday and Saturday. The oversized arenacross track and full gates of top talent in the pro classes gave way to some of the best racing of the series thus far.

Phoenix Racing Honda Team’s Kyle Peters managed to continue his win streak this weekend, remaining unbeaten at the top. Though with each passing round the feat is seeming to become a little tougher to accomplish. Team Babbitt’s Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Mike Alessi is one of a few pressing to get that first win and knock Peters off the top of the podium. Alessi led for many laps during a few main events this weekend, showing he has skillset and ability to make it happen.
Round Five of the 2021 Series took place on Friday, January 22nd. The show kicked off with the first heat of the 250 Pro Sport class, where series newcomer, Branden Walther, took an impressive and early lead over the likes of Peters, Cullin Park and Kyle Bitterman. By lap three Peters had taken over the top spot in the heat, and ultimately Bitterman and Park passed Walther as well. Nonetheless was an impressive showing for the newcomer. Heat two featured another new face, Michael Hicks, who gave Alessi a run for his money throughout the race, but ultimately Alessi would hang on to win the second heat.

250 Pro Sport Heat Results • Heat One: (1) Kyle Peters (2) Cullin Park (3) Kyle Bitterman (4) Branden Walther (5) Preston Taylor • Heat Two: (1) Mike Alessi (2) Michael Hicks (3) Dustin Winter (4) Isaac Teasdale (5) Luke Dickey

Kyle Peters would start and finish the first heat of the 450 Pro Sport class in the first place position. Hicks came out with another impressive showing and another second place heat finish. Heat two was the battle of the Babbitts boys as Alessi and Isaac Teasdale rode hard throughout and finished in the top two spots of the heat.

450 Pro Sport Heat Results • Heat One: (1) Kyle Peters (2) Michael Hicks (3) Cullin Park (4) Kyle Bitterman (5) Branden Walther • Heat Two: (1) Mike Alessi (2) Isaac Teasdale (3) Dustin Winter (4) Izaih Clark  (5) Preston Taylor

Isaac Teasdale charged out of the gate to the holeshot and early lead during the round five 250 Pro Main Event on Friday night. Teasdale, who has been battling a shoulder injury all series, would ultimately fall to second place in lap three as Peters took over the lead and by lap six Alessi would move into second place after starting the race in the fourth spot. Hicks continued his impressive evening as he stayed in the top of the pack throughout the entire race and hung on to take the third spot on the podium for the race.

250 Pro Sport Main Results • (1) Kyle Peters (2) Mike Alessi (3) Michael Hicks (4) Isaac Teasdale (5) Dustin Winter (6) Preston Taylor (7) Izaih Clark (8) Branden Walther (9) Christopher Prebula (10) Kyle Bitterman

The 450 Pro Main on Friday night was Mike Alessi’s race to lose. Alessi started hot out of the gate with the holeshot and held onto the lead for the first nine laps of the race, looking solid as he maintained the top spot over Peters. An unfortunate mistake on Alessi’s part opened the door for Peters to move into first place at the end of the race, and ultimately hang on to his win streak.

450 Pro Sport Main Results • (1) Kyle Peters (2) Mike Alessi (3) Cullin Park (4) Isaac Teasdale (5) Michael Hicks (6) Dustin Winter (7) Preston Taylor (8) Izaih Clark (9) Branden Walther (10) Christopher Prebula
Round Six of the 2021 Series took place on Saturday, January 23rd. The show started with Peters cruising to victory in the first heat of the 250 Pro class ahead of teammate Cullin Parks and newcomer Michael Hicks. Isaac Teasdale started his night with a heat two win in the 250 pro class ahead of Branden Walther and Dustin Winter. Alessi finished in fourth after going down during the final lap of the race while trying to take the lead from his teammate, Teasdale.

250 Pro Heat Results • Heat One: (1) Kyle Peters (2) Cullin Park (3) Michael Hicks (4) Izaih Clark (5) Kyle Bitterman • Heat Two: (1) Isaac Teasdale (2) Branden Walther (3) Dustin Winter (4) Mike Alessi (5) Christopher Prebula

The first heat of the 450 Pro class started with an uncharacteristic mistake by Kyle Peters causing him to crash and start the heat in last place. He would spend the heat race working his way back up the ladder and ultimately finishing in fourth place, behind Alessi (1) Park (2) and Walther (3). Teasdale took another heat win in the second heat of the 450 Pro class ahead of Hicks and Winter.

450 Pro Heat Results • Heat One: (1) Mike Alessi (2) Cullin Park (3) Branden Walther (4) Kyle Peters (5) Izaih Clark • Heat Two: (1) Isaac Teasdale (2) Michael Hicks (3) Dustin Winter (4) Kyle Bitterman (5) Christopher Prebula

The 250 Pro Main was another impressive showing by our series leader, Kyle Peters. He finished the race the same way he started and that was in first place. Zachary Butkiewicz shot out the gate with his best start of the series into second place, but was unable to hang on for too long. The battle for the second and third spots on the podium was amongst many, including Teasdale, Park and Winter. Alessi, who started the race in seventh place, got on the gas and honed in on his craft as he worked his way into the second spot during the second to last lap of the race. It would ultimately be Park who rounded out the final podium spot.

250 Pro Sport Main Results • (1) Kyle Peters (2) Mike Alessi (3) Cullin Park (4) Isaac Teasdale (5) Dustin Winter (6) Michael Hicks (7) Kyle Bitterman (8) Izaih Clark (9) Branden Walther (10) Zachary Butkiewicz

In a repeat of Friday night’s 450 Pro Main, Alessi would start the race in the front of the pack, but Peter’s was able to take the lead back over a bit earlier this time, passing Alessi during the fourth lap. Peters and Alessi rode solid and the top two spots went unchallenged the remainder of the race. With the battle for third taking prominence for the rest of the race. Park held the third spot throughout the race but with constant pressure from the likes of Hicks and Winters behind him. He staved them off to finish third on the night.

450 Pro Sport Main Results • (1) Kyle Peters (2) Mike Alessi (3) Cullin Park (4) Michael Hicks (5) Dustin Winter (6) Isaac Teasdale (7) Branden Walther (8) Izaih Clark (9) Preston Taylor (10) Kyle Bitterman

The racers have an extra week off to regroup and prepare for Rounds 7 and 8 in Reno, Nevada on February 5th and 6th.

You can find the overall pro standings here: arenacrossusa.com/standings
You can find individual race results here: live.tracksideresults.com/kickerax

Overall Series Standings through Round 6: