Gardnerville Ranchos 15-year-old Tyler Moore came away from his first brush with the elite of the national arenacross world in pretty good shape.
Moore, competing in the Amateaur National Arenacross Championships in Las Vegas earlier this month, came up with a couple of top 10 finishes and some big-event experience.
He started the weekend off with a strong heat race in the Pro Night 85cc class, finishing third. In the main event, though, he struggled at the start and couldn't make a pass to get in better position, finishing 10th out of 20.
In the super mini heats, Moore rode his Honda CRF 150R and took a top-five finish in the heat race. In the main event, he came out of the first turn in sixth and made a couple of big corner passes to work his way into third, where he finished.
In the 85cc 12-15 class, he worked his way into the lead by the third lap of the heat race, but the wind was so strong on the stadium floor that the race was red-flagged, meaning the race would have to start over.
Moore went over the bars on one jump on the restart and got hit while trying to get back on the bike. He finished 17th out of 20 in the heat race.
In the main event, Moore started out of the 17th gate, meaning he was on the very edge of the track, and he got boxed out on the first turn. He was 19th after the start, but started picking off riders each lap and finished eighth.
"The weekend started off kind of weird, but he ended up doing pretty well considering it was the top 20 riders from all over the country," Tyler's father, Rod Moore said.
