Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eARENACRass e AMA National Arenacross Series: Round 2 Robbie R eynard (67) scored wins in the 125cc (12·15 ) and Interm ediate classes. Here he leads the 125cc (12·15) pack through the first tu m . . Dennis Hawthorne (47) grabbed th e h oleshot in three of th e fou r Pro class main events, but his best finish was fifth p lace in Friday's 250cc P ro main. Oklahoman Cliff Pa lmer swept the 125 and 250cc Pro mains on S atu rda y n ight. Palmer rounds up Lazy EArenacross wins By Ka t Spa nn P h o to s b y Billy J on es GUTHRIE, OK, JAN. 1 0-12 liff Palmer gav e hi s home-sta te cro wd reason to chee r wh en he swept the 125 a nd 250cc Pro classes on th e second o f a three-da y arenacross event in th e Lazy E Arena. In Friday n igh t's Pro action, Ne vad a 's Jimmy Gaddis a nd T exan Jason Langford shared the winner's circle, as Gaddis won the 125cc Pro class and Langford topped th e 250cc d ivision. Am at eur events were held o n Su nday, and riders ca me from a five-stat e area to com pete. Over 300 amateu r riders made up 27 hea ts and four semis C 24 before th e ga tes fill ed for 18 rnam events. The entire event was ro u nd two of th e Mik e Kidd Pro mot io ns 1992 Pro Am AMA National Arena cross Series. There are eigh t rounds in the series, which is sp lit into east, west and cen tra l regions. The Laz y E stands were packed eac h da y, a nd a tot al of 15,500 witnessed the thr ee da ys o f act ion. The Bl ake H am ilton-bu ilt track consisted of two huge wh o o p sec ti on s called the " Blackj ack 21" and " Worrisom e II " , in addition to th e Kawasaki Step-Up rockers, a 65-foot triple j u mp, a nd a finish line tabletop ju m p . Friday ni ght 's ac tio n o pened with Den n is H aw th orne grabbi ng th e holeshot in th e 14-lap 125cc main event wit h T erry Tinney a nd Cliff Palmer close beh ind. Palmer challenged T inney through th e rock ers and over th e step-u p, the n passed him before enterin g th e Blackj ack 21 wh oo p section. Gaddis also ca ugh t T in ney and th ey flew side by side over th e tr ip les, with Gaddis ta king th e inside line a nd Tinney's third place position. On th e third la p, Gaddi s pa ssed Palmer for seco nd and set hi s aim for lead er H awthorne. A la p lat er, Ga ddis go t by H awthorne for fir st a nd left him beh ind. Palmer tried to pass H awtho rne in th e wh oo p s, b u t he faltered an d allowed Tin ney to pu ll alongside as they flew over the triple jump. Palmer landed first and Tinney went down. Palmer moved ba ck in on Ha wtho rne, a nd th is time succ eeded in passin g him for second. La ngford, wh o sta rted 10th , go t "arou nd H a wth orne a short time la ter, then reeled in a nd passed Pal mer o n th e seventh lap. The top th ree remained the sa me to the fini sh as Gaddis took the wi n follo wed by Langford a nd Palmer. Wh en th e 250cc ma in left the line, H aw th orne once again grabbed the lead while a fir st-turn crash took down Palmer a nd a number o f other rider s. T rai ling H aw tho rn e out of turn one was Ch ris Young, La ngford , Gaddis and T ommy Clo wers. Gaddis quick ly moved to seco nd place, and assumed the lead on lap thr ee. Two laps la ter Langford passed H a w t h o rn e for seco nd then moved in on Gadd is. The two riders battled for the lead , and Langford's relentless pursu it paid off whe n he passed Ga ddis o n th e 12th lap . Langford stayed out fro nt to claim th e win over Gaddis and Clo wer s, while Pal mer charged th ro ugh the pack to finish fourth . T he crowd came bac k o n Saturday nig h t and filled th e Lazy E Arena to capacity. There was sta ndi ng room o nly in the tri p le jump area, the best seat in th e house to wa tch the aerial events. In th e 125cc main event, Hawthorne cap tured yet another hol esho t with Pal m er right behi nd hi m. Palmer passed H a wthorn e over th e trip les o n the fir st lap a nd rocketed away , leavin g H awt ho rn e and Clowers to duke it ou t for second. Clowers pu t th e pr essure on H awt horn e and passed him on the second la p, but a n error in the whoops brok e Clowers' tim ing and H a wtho rn e repassed h im . Clowers fough t back to second, then set h is aim for leader Pal mer. Young and Ga dd is were engaged in . a ba tt le for third and ca ugh t up tO I H awthorne, who was running seco nd. Young passed . Hawthorne first, the n Gaddis foll owed him by in the I Iwhoop section. Clowers wen t down in th e wh oo ps, all owing Young, Gaddis, H awthorn e and Langford to go by. G add is fi nally passed Young for second, whi le Langford sudden ly sh ot up behind G addis. Pal m er rode by h imself all th e way to checkered flag to claim th e w in, . while Gaddis and Langford joined him in th e winner's circl e after fini sh ing second and th ird, respective ly. ~ (l

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