Holeshot Specialist Mike Alessi headlines 2021 ArenaCross Tour

The gates drop for the 2021 ArenaCross season opener on Friday night and Mike Alessi wants to come out of them firing.

The holeshot specialist and veteran rider is headed indoors for the first part of the 2021 calendar year in a new deal with Team Babbits on a Monster Energy sponsored Kawasaki bike.

“This is all new to me, racing ArenaCross,” Alessi said. “I’m kind of going into it with an open mind. In a sense, I’m excited to race something different. I’m a little bit nervous because it’s something I’m not familiar with. In all my career in Supercross, I knew the level of competition I was going up against. This is completely new to me.”

It’s an entire shift of scenery for Alessi – going from the large, open stadium courses that he’s used to racing on a higher horsepower 450 bike to the tight, compact arenas that he will ride a 250 bike on this year.

The season will get kicked off this Saturday as the tour opens up at Mississippi State University.

Although Alessi is new to the sport, he feels that being proficient in holeshots – starting off the race by being the first rider into turn 1 – will give him a major advantage in races.

“Hell yeah, for sure,” Alessi said of the skill. “Putting yourself up front in ArenaCross, you can control it more because it’s so tight. The racing is so short, you might blink and it’s it over. You get a good start, put yourself up front, sprint hard, watch the inside, make sure you don’t get cleaned out and you win the race.”

Alessi hasn’t raced a full AMA Supercross season in three years.

After breaking his collarbone in 2017 at a session on press day, he arrived at the conclusion that riding the full AMA Supercross tour took a lot out of him.

“I got to the point where I wasn’t really enjoying the Supercross grind,” Alessi said. “I needed a break from it and kind of chose just races here or there that I can run and have fun or make some money at.”

Since then, Alessi picked and choosed his schedule.

He went for races where he would enjoy the track he was riding or had a good chance to make a sizeable amount for his runs there.

“When this opportunity came up for ArenaCross, I was like you know what, that sounds fun,” Alessi said. “It’s a pretty short season and (the races) aren’t far from my house in Florida. I figured why not. It’s something I’ve never done before, let’s go give it a try.”

Alessi, who will turn 33 years old this year, knows he isn’t going to ride forever.

This is his chance to do something unique and bring a brighter light to the sport that is ArenaCross.

“As far as the difference between Supercross and ArenaCross, I imagine it will be a big difference in terms of how tight it will be, but it’s a challenge I’m looking forward to,” Alessi said. “I hope we can bring a good show to the people.”

He knows the competitors will be challenging.

Defending tour champion Kyle Peters is returning this season and looking to pick up another championship.

“The competitors will be tough,” Alessi said. “I know Kyle Peters is looking to defend his title. Defending it is one thing, you know he is a great rider. I look forward to racing against him.”

At the end of the day, this will be an experiment for Alessi and one that he thinks he could grow into something bigger.

He wants to bring ArenaCross up a notch.

“If I have a way of bringing more fans and possibly new outside sponsors to this sport, then yes – that’s my goal,” Alessi said. “That’s my objective. I’m not going to race forever. I’ve had my day in the sun where I was racing against the best riders in the world. At one point I can say I raced those guys and was able to be competitive and beat them in a practice or a heat race.

“For me, I want that to bring that presence and bring ArenaCross to a new level.”

The 2021 season will start this Friday in Mississippi, kicking off at 6:05 p.m. CT on FloRacing. Always Race Day will have full coverage.