BooKoo Championship Points Lead Changes Hands Again in Reading!

January 7, 2006, 2:03pm

Woods Pulls Out as Hagseth and Lacey Return to Racing

Reading, PA January 6, 2006 – Mike Kidd Entertainment Group – entertained the Reading crowd as the K&N presents BooKoo Arenacross Championship Series Brought to you by Toyota hit Pennsylvania and the Sovereign Center January 6 for round seven of the 11-stop series and the battle for the BooKoo bucks continues to heat up and produce surprises.

Michael Blose took the win in Friday's 250 Main.

photo by Tony Scavo

Round seven featured the return to racing, following injuries, of the Fun Center TLD PPG Suzuki rider Brad Hagseth and Team BooKoo Energy’s Tiger Lacey, with both riders throwing down some of the fastest lap times of the night. The night also presented the withdrawal from racing of the recent championship points leader; Josh Woods was forced to the sidelines due to an injury he sustained in a practice crash on New Year’s Day while preparing for the event.

"I crashed hard injuring my lower back," said Woods "It's a pretty serious injury and after riding practice and the qualifiers I decided to pull out and re-evaluate things. It was really a hard decision to make and I wanted to salvage as many points as I could so I could stay in the championship race, but it didn't feel right. I need to get it looked at and hope to return to racing in a couple weeks," he added.

The gate went down on the 250 Main Event with Michael Blose proving to be a man to recon with. Blose was wearing new colors this weekend and seems to have found himself a home with the GPS Racing/StormLakeHonda.com Team and took home the number one spot tonight in Reading. Blose set a blistering pace that was enough to hold off the hard charge of Babbitt Enxus Kawasaki’s Damien Plotts and the Fun Center Troy Lee Designs PPG Suzuki rider Shane Bess before the carnage set in and the excitement began to unfold.

Brad Hagseth managed second in the 450 main.

photo by Tony Scavo

Robby Marshall, from Stow, MA, was leading the field in the opening laps before going down on the catapalt jump; Bess went down while running in a top position; and local standout Damien Plotts had his own problems in the main, giving up a top spot.

In the end it was Blose with the victory, Babbitt Enxus Kawasaki’s Demuth with a second after taking advantage of the carnage, and Plotts ending up on the podium in the third and final spot.

The 450 Main Event provided even more drama as the final results were changed after Hofmaster and Lacey jumped the catapalt while the red cross flag was out, forcing their disqualification. The two battled fiercly on the final laps with Hofmaster unwilling to relinquish the lead to the BooKoo Honda rider. The adrenaline and competition took over and both riders took the leap with Demuth holding back and ending up taking home the victory after the final decisions were made.

Brad Hagseth and teammate Shane Bess would reap the benefits of Hofmaster and Lacey's misfortune as both riders were bumped up to second and third place respectively.

250 Main:

1. Michael Blose YAM
2. Josh Demuth KAW
3. Damien Plotts KAW
4. Brad Hagseth SUZ
5. Tommy Hofmaster YAM
6. Casey Hinson HON
7. Jeremy Cook KAW
8. Dennis Jonon KAW
9. Kurt McCabe HON
10. Brad Ripple KAW
11. Riley Kurosky HON
12. Tiger Lacey HON
13. David Sterritt KAW
14. Shane Bess SUZ
15. Kevin Hoge SUZ

450 Main:

1. Josh Demuth KAW
2. Brad Hagseth SUZ
3. Shane Bess SUZ
4. Casey Hinson HON
5. Colt Humphrey YAM
6. Damien Plotts KAW
7. Brady Sharp HON
8. Riley Kurosky HON
9. Ronnie Stewart HON
10. Kurt McCabe HON
11. Jeremy Cook KAW
12. Brad Modjewski HON
13. Chad Boyd HON
14. Josh Woods SUZ - DNS
15. Tommy Hofmaster YAM - DQ
16. Tiger Lacey HON - DQ

The action begins again Saturday evening for night two of round seven from the Sovereign Center. Doors open at 6 p.m. with opening ceremonies beginning at 7:15 p.m. and racing at 7:30.

Tickets are still available for this event through Ticketmaster, online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at 215-336-2000, Crossroad Powersports, Rossini Racing, and the Sovereign Center and Sovereign Performing Arts Center Box Office.

For more information about the BooKoo Arenacross Championship Series log on to www.racearenacross.com or call 817-595-5844.