Round Recap: Rounds 7 + 8 from Tampa, Florida

Tulsa, OK (March 2, 2021) – The 2021 Kicker AMA Arenacross Series switched things up and headed outdoors for Rounds 7 and 8 of the series. The events were held at the East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, Florida on this past Saturday and Sunday. The oversized arenacross track and full gates of top Arenacross and Supercross 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 finished the weekend with his unbeaten streak still in tact. He’s now won 16 straight main events this series, and heads to Amarillo looking to finish the series with the streak alive, while clinching his second straight AMA National Championship title.
Round Seven of the 2021 Series took place on Saturday, February 27th. The show kicked off with the first heat of the 250 Pro Sport class, with a battle between Kyle Peters and Mike Alessi for the top spot, and Supercross rider Chase Marquier and Kyle Bitterman for third place. Peters edged out Alessi, and Marquier did the same with Bitterman. The second heat was a battle between the Phoenix Racing Honda teammates, Josh Osby and Cullin Park. This was Osby’s first race with the Kicker AMA Arenacross series and he came out strong, narrowly getting by Park for the win.

250 Pro Sport Heat Results • Heat One: (1) Kyle Peters (2) Mike Alessi (3) Chase Marquier (4) Kyle Bitterman (5) Luke Dickey • Heat Two: (1) Joshua Osby (2) Cullin Park (3) Isaac Teasdale (4) Cory Carsten (5) Tre Fierro

Osby took the early lead in the first heat of 450 Pro, but it was short lived as Peters charged ahead and into first within the first lap. Osby maintained second place for much of the race, but Alessi was gunning for that spot the entire time, and ultimately beat out Osby on the final lap of the heat. Heat two was a battle between Isaac Teasdale and Marquier. Teasdale rode solid and held his first place position throughout and went on to win the heat race.

450 Pro Sport Heat Results • Heat One: (1) Kyle Peters (2) Mike Alessi (3) Joshua Osby (4) Kyle Bitterman (5) Tre Fierro • Heat Two: (1) Isaac Teasdale (2) Chase Marquier (3) Cullin Park (4) Christopher Prebula (5) Matthew Hubert

The first pro main of the weekend was the 250 Pro, and in typical fashion, Alessi got the holeshot and took an early lead. He was able to hold off Peters for three laps, but ultimately the 2020 Arenacross Champion passed Alessi and maintained first place through the checkered flag. The second half of the race would be a battle for the other two podium spots between Alessi, Park and Bitterman. Park was able to move into second ahead of Alessi during the 8th lap, followed by Bitterman nabbing third during the 10th lap. This was an impressive showing by Bitterman as he worked his way up from 8th place to get a third place finish.

250 Pro Sport Main Results • (1) Kyle Peters (2) Cullin Park (3) Kyle Bitterman (4) Mike Alessi (5) Joshua Osby (6) Chase Marquier (7) Cory Carsten (8) Isaac Teasdale (9) Tre Fiero (10) Christopher Prebula

Round Seven’s 450 Pro Main was one of the best races we have seen all season. The rookie, Park, got the holeshot in this race and went back and forth with Marqueir the first couple of laps. Before long it was Park, Marquier, Alessi and Peters all jarring at one another for the top spot in the class. Peters was able to pull away during the sixth lap and zone out in his first place spot. But the battle for second and third remained close between Park, Alessi and Bitterman. Alessi took over second place in the seventh lap. Bitterman was able to pass Park in the 9th lap to take third place, but Park wasn’t giving up and edged out Bitterman, in the final lap, to snag the last spot on the podium.

450 Pro Sport Main Results • (1) Kyle Peters (2) Mike Alessi (3) Cullin Park (4) Kyle Bitterman (5) Joshua Osby (6) Chase Marquier (7) Matthew Hubert (8) Isaac Teasdale (9) Tre Fiero (10) Tony Usko
Round Eight of the 2021 Series took place on Sunday, February 28th. The show kicked off with the first heat of the 250 Pro Sport class, which was led by the Phoenix Racing Honda boys, Peters and Park. They took first and second respectively in heat one, followed by Teasdale in third. The second heat was led by the other Phoenix Racing Honda teammate, Osby, who was able to edge out Alessi and win this heat, followed by Alessi in second and Bitterman in third.

250 Pro Sport Heat Results • Heat One: (1) Kyle Peters (2) Cullin Park (3) Isaac Teasdale (4) Chase Marquier (5) Cory Carsten • Heat Two: (1) Joshua Osby (2) Mike Alessi (3) Kyle Bitterman (4) Christopher Prebula (5) Tre Fierro

The 450 Pro Heats of Round 8 were another impressive showing by the Phoenix Racing Honda team, as Osby won heat one, followed by Park in second place and Peters won heat two.

450 Pro Sport Heat Results • Heat One: (1) Joshua Osby (2) Cullin Park (3) Mike Alessi (4) Isaac Teasdale (5) Tre Fierro • Heat Two: (1) Kyle Peters (2) Kyle Bitterman (3) Chase Marquier (4) Matthew Hubert (5) Cory Carsten

The 250 Pro Main was a continuation of the Phoenix Racing Honda team’s domination on the day. Peters rode solid from beginning to end, winning his 15th straight main event in the 2021 series. The second place spot was a battle between Osby and Park, Park was able to hold off Osby the entire race, until the final lap where Osby narrowly passed Park to get second in the race. This was the first Phoenix Racing Honda Team sweep of the season. The beginning of the race saw Team Babbitt’s Kawasaki rider, Alessi, pull off the track before the end of the first lap with a wrist injury that will sideline him for the rest of the 2021 series.

250 Pro Sport Main Results • (1) Kyle Peters (2) Joshua Osby (3) Cullin Park (4) Kyle Bitterman (5) Isaac Teasdale (6) Chase Marquier (7) Cory Carsten (8) Te Fierro (9) Christopher Prebula (10) Tony Usko

Peters continued his flawless riding on the day in the 450 Pro Main event. He started out the same way he finished, and that was in first place. Park was not far behind, staying in second throughout the race, unwilling to give this spot up again as he did in the 250 Pro Main, though Teasdale was not far behind throughout all 12 laps. Teasdale ultimately finished in third place, his first podium finish of the 2021 series.

450 Pro Sport Main Results • (1) Kyle Peters (2) Cullin Park (3) Isaac Teasdale (4) Kyle Bitterman (5) Chase Marquier (6) Christopher Prebula (7) Cory Carsten (8) Matthew Hubert (9) Tre Fierro (10) Mason Wharton

The pro racers and the Kicker AMA Arenacross series heads to Amarillo this Friday and Saturday for the final two rounds, including the amateur AMA National Championship event on Saturday. Peters will look to secure his second AMA Arenacross Championship Title in Amarillo, as he also attempts to finish his series streak of taking the first place spot in each pro class.

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 8:
Top: Kyle Peters (1) winning the 250 Pro Main during Round 7. Bottom Left: Josh Osby (95) leading the pack during a Round 7 heat race. Bottom Right: Mike Alessi (800) battling Kyle Bitterman (2) during the 250 Pro Main in Round 7. Photos: Jack Jaxson
Top: Mike Alessi (800) & Kyle Peters during Round 7.  Bottom left: Round 8 250 Pro Main. Bottom Right: (From left) Cullin Park, Kyle Peters & Isaac Teasdale, Top 3 in Round 8 450 Pro Main. Photos: Jack Jaxson