Photo Report | Calgary Arenacross | Agrium Western Event Centre | Final Round

By Billy Rainford

Photos by John Meaney meandawg.smugmug.com

The final two rounds of the 2016 Canadian National Arenacross Tour took place Friday and Saturday nights at the Agrium Western Event Centre in Stampede Park in downtown Calgary, Alberta. With #2 Colton Facciotti and #12 Steven Mages not making the trip west, who would (or could) step up to challenge American indoor veteran, #101 Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha’s Chris Blose?

We found our answer in young Prince George rider, #20 MX101 FXR Yamaha rider Jess Pettis, and local hero #8 CWS FXR Yamaha rider Keylan Meston. Both riders were on fire in Cowtown and kept the partisan Canadian fans cheering loudly.

After the scheduled first round in Montreal was canceled and then the 3rd round in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, had to be scrapped, the AX Tour crew doubled up the action at the final round in Calgary.

Here’s a closer look at some of the racing action from Saturday night through the lens of John Meaney.

It was great to see some new faces in Calgary, like #202 Blake Osatchuck. He didn’t make it into the main events, but you can’t win if you don’t play! | John Meaney photo

#98 Graham Klassen was on the track a lot in Calgary. He rounded out the Open main Saturday night with a 12th | John Meaney photo

#733 James Armstrong showed up with his 450 and put it into the main event, taking 11th | John Meaney photo

I don’t see ‘Mr. T’ Massey in the results but he was obviously in Calgary! | John Meaney photo

#237 Bryce Friess finished 10th in his Open Pro heat and missed the main event | John Meaney photo

#177 Carson McQueen just missed going straight to both main events by 1 position. He made the Lites through the LCQ and finished 12th | John Meaney photo

Have you tried the house special – The Boston Calder? Enough? OK. #118 Boston Calder made the Lites main event and took 10th. He was 9th in his Open heat and wasn’t in the main and was first alternate in the Clash for Cash | John Meaney photo

#392 is Cody Littau. He went straight to the Lites main, where he finished 11th, but missed the Open main | John Meaney photo

#246 Scott Kawasaki rider Skyler Archer got straight into the Open main through his heat and finished 10th in the main event | John Meaney photo

#700 Codie Rouse just missed making the main events Saturday | John Meaney photo

#59 Husqvarna Fox rider Noah McConahy is getting ready for Supercross and raced western rounds | John Meaney photo

He had the speed to win all night but couldn’t get out front off the start. Well, he got out front early in the Open Pro main and then went down, taking a whole host of others with him, including #20 Jess Pettis and #101 Chris Blose. He took a solid 2nd in the Lites main after sliding out trying for the lead and then had a pretty spectacular crash while trying to pass his teammate, #87 Chris Howell, in the Clash and got up favouring his left leg for a DNF | John Meaney photo

It wasn’t Chris Howell’s night either. He went down with McConahy on the last lap of the Open main and had a great battle with #5 Brock Leitner in the Lites main for 6th. His crash with Noah in the Clash left him struggling to get 9th | John Meaney photo

#126 Terea Gerber went directly to the Lites main, after getting 4th in his heat. He finished 9th in the main and went on to take 8th in the Clash| John Meaney photo

#471 PR-MX Strikt Honda rider Logan Karnow had some fun banging bars with #21 Davey Fraser in the Lites main and finished 8th after taking 9th in Open. He was in a huge 5-way battle in the Clash and wound up 7th at the flag. By my calculations, Logan should have #3 in 2017 | John Meaney photo

Cycle North FXR Honda rider #21 Davey Fraser was up in 3rd spot in the Open main after McConahy took a bunch of riders down with him. He finished just off the podium in 4th. After holding Karnow off in the LItes main, he finished 7th. He had trouble early in the Clash and was way off the back. He didn’t look to be pushing it in the finale but still got 6th | John Meaney photo

#5 Strikt Racing Kawasaki rider Brock Leitner took 5th in the Open main and had to win the Lites LCQ to get in that main. He got out in 4th spot and battled hard to hold off Howell for 5th. In the Clash, he also took 5th and it gave him 2nd overall in the series. He will run the big #2 in 2017 | John Meaney photo

Quebec rider #701 KTM’s Karl Normand committed to the entire series and it paid off for him with a 3rd in the Open main. In the Clash, he grabbed a great start and battled at the front until the flag where he grabbed 3rd place. I think he’ll be #5 next season | John Meaney photo

#8 FCW FXR Yamaha rider Keylan Meston had the breakthrough night of the series. When McConahy took out a bunch of riders in the Open main, Keylan squirted through and into the lead and finished with a comfortable win. He got off to a great start in the Lites main and raced in 3rd place the whole time to the flag. In the Clash, he got out to a top 8 start and was in the 5-way battle I mentioned earlier. After Howell and McConahy went down he found himself on the podium again in 3rd spot | John Meaney photo

It was a big win for Keylan and you could tell he was thrilled on the podium | John Meaney photo

#101 Chris Blose was the favourite heading in and it was his to lose as we went into the final rounds. After crashing hard in the whoops Friday night, he must have been a little banged up Saturday | John Meaney photo

In the end, he did what he had to do. He was 2nd in the Open main, struggled in the Lites to a 4th, and then, with an 18-point cushion heading into the Clash, he took 2nd. Chris just had to stay pout of trouble and the title would be his. Unfortunately, his crash Friday took away his chance at the Parts Canada ‘Triple Crown’ $25,000 | John Meaney photo

Starts like this have helped #20 MX101 FXR Yamaha’s Jess Pettis get the hang of this tight indoor stuff quickly | John Meaney photo

After getting taken down early in the Open main, he fought hard to a 6th. He got out to the early lead in the Lites main and held off a hard charging McConahy for the win. He was back a ways off the start of the Clash but pushed riders out of the way and capitalized when Howell and McConahy went down and took the lead and the comfortable win | John Meaney photo