Night 2 at the Calgary Arenacross

Night 2 at the Calgary Arenacross

By Billy Rainford

Saturday night at the Nutrien Western Event Centre in downtown Calgary, Alberta, marked the final night and round of racing to decide champions in the 2022 Canadian Triple Crown Series.

With Cole Thompson missing from action as he races the Fox Australian Supercross Championship, the titles were really GasGas Cobequid Callus rider #229 Mitchell Harrison‘s to lose.

It was the return of Red Bull Thor KTM rider #15 Jess Pettis that everyone figured would give Mitchell the most competition and perhaps even steal a couple wins before calling this series done and dusted.

Mechaniques Plus Peak KTM rider #27 Guillaume St Cyr was coming off his first-ever AX win the night before in the Super Final, so he was entering the final night with some added confidence.

TLD SSR GasGas rider #22 Tyler Gibbs is good at this indoor stuff but an early crash on Friday took him out of action for the weekend.

Making it through to the Mains through the LCQ:

250: St Cyr and Holeshot Fox KTM rider #18 Parker Eales.

450: St Cyr and Manluk Rock River Fox Yamaha’s #61 Tee Perrott.

Here’s a look at how the 3 Mains played out on an exciting night in Calgary.

250 Main:

Holeshot to Pettis with Harrison, Manluk Rock River Yamaha’s #14 Quinn Amyotte and 14-year-old #58 Blake Davies in 5th.

Harrison lined up Pettis through the whoops and made a classic AX block pass to take the lead. There was no contact but Pettis could see that the pass was made and gave up the position.

Mid-way through it was Harrison, Pettis, and Amyotte then a gap back to Davies, Eales, Partzilla PRMX Kawasaki’s #12 Julien Benek, Carlson Racing Callus Husqvarna’s #11 Davey Fraser, St Cyr, MX101 FXR Yamaha’s #26 Westen Wrozyna and #66 Tyler Yates in 10th.

Harrison and Pettis would separate themselves as Amyotte had his hands full with Davies. Eales was alone in 5th followed by a nice battle between Wrozyna and St Cyr.

Benek would fall on the last lap as would Pettis.

At the flag it was Harrison with a comfortable lead followed by Pettis who got himself up after hitting a downed lapper with the Amyotte/Davies battle on his rear wheel.

Podium:

1. 229 Mitchell Harrison GAS
2. 15 Jess Pettis KTM
3. 14 Quinn Amyotte YAM

450 Main:

Pettis would line up one in from the inside while Harrison went on the outside of the middle.

Holeshot to Pettis followed by Carlson Racing FXR Husqvarna rider #10 Keylan Meston, Harrison and Amyotte.

Meston would go down in turn 2 to set off a 450 Main that would see him hit the ground a number of times.

Pettis would crash at the end of the whoops as Harrison took off at the front. Pettis would get up behind Amyotte in 3rd with Benek behind them in 4th, showing good speed.

Harrison extended a comfortable lead as Amyotte tried to keep Pettis behind him. Pettis would make the pass followed by Benek, who put a block pass on Amyotte to take the podium position.

Behind them, Fraser and Perrott were engaged in a good battle.

At the flag, it was Harrison then Pettis with Benek on his rear fender followed by Amyotte.

Podium:

1. 229 Mitchell Harrison GAS
2. 15 Jess Pettis KTM
3. 12 Julien Benek KAW

Harrison is the 2022 450 AX Champion.

Interestingly, Harrison said he will be choosing #8 as his career number when racing begins in 2023. We haven’t seen that number in use in quite a long time. He gave the nod to Grant Langston.

Super Final:

Holeshot to Pettis followed by Harrison, St Cyr, Amyotte, Benek, and Meston.

Pettis would crash at the end of the whoops and get up looking at his right wrist, which gave everyone a brief scare. Fortunately, Jess confirmed he was fine at the end of the night but his race for a win was over.

While Harrison looked comfortable at the front again in this 12-lap Super Final, Amyotte was 2nd followed by a battle between St Cyr and Benek.

Meston was looking strong in 5th and even closed in on Benek ahead of him. Then came Wrozyna, Eales, Davies, and Perrott.

Unfortunately, Tee would go down hard and take some time to get himself together.

Benek would make a stuff pass on St Cyr to take 3rd at the end of the whoops.

Benek and Amyotte were making up time in the whoops as they would do a wheel tap while others either skimmed or jumped.

At the flag, Harrison completed the sweep ahead of Amyotte, Benek, and St Cyr.

Podium:

1. 229 Mitchell Harrison GAS
2. 13 Quinn Amyotte YAM
3. 12 Julien Benek KAW

Results and points weren’t up on the Triple Crown site as of this posting.

Harrison wins 250 AX, 450 AX, and 250 Triple Crown title.