Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eMorDeROSS C MClValvoline Golden State N ationals: Rounds 68c 7 ~ • Team Peak H onda's Buddy Ant unez (92) and Ka wasak i's R yan Hughes (4) were the weekend's top 125cc Pro pilots. Ch ris All en (44), Paul Ito (57), J oey Mendoza (23 ) a nd Corey Holcomb (23) battle for position in the 125cc Junior class. Antunez, Hughes split Glen Helen wins By Tony Alessi Photos by Alessi and Sus It o SAN BERNARDINO, CA, FEB. 22·23 ea m Peak /P ro Circui t H onda rider Buddy Antu nez a nd T eam Gr een Ka wasa ki's Rya n H ugh es raced tenaciously en ro u te to 125cc Pro victories on Sat urday a nd Sunda y, a t th e C MC / Va lvo l ine G o ld en Sta te Na tiona ls Series Finale a t Gl en H elen O H V Par k, Thou g h nei ther rider won a mot o a ll weekend: both riders used cons istent fin ishes to top their respective races, Antunez won th e Sa tu rda y l25cc Pro even t while H ughes won Sunday 's T race. 20 Wh ile Hugh es a nd Ant u nez were racing for th e day's glo ry a nd go ld. Ra y Crumb and Scott Myers had aspiratio ns o f Stat e Championships. Both riders ca me int o the final ro u nd with m argina l p o int s lea d s ove r ri val Rod ney Smith a nd ma intained the ir adva ntage to becom e the Pro class champions , Cru mb was cro wne d in the I25cc class, while C P E/ Rosevi lle Cvcle Ka wa sa k il Yo ko / W o lee n / O h I(ns / Shoei /S mit h / Ma xi ma/Answer P ro Taper / W O R / D H MA/ Dr. Br a c k Davi s-backed Myer s locked up the 250cc cro wn, Sat ur day 's event served as a ra in ma ke-up da y for a previou s cance led round , wh ere fl o o d ed co n d i t io ns forced th e race to be resch ed uled. On Saturda y, R&D Racing-backed Roy Snelli nge n led the opening lap of th e 40 ma n 125cc Pro race wh ile Cru mb moved in to seco nd ahead of Bubba Erikso n a'nd H ughes. Ant u nez was £l yin g a nd by th e second la p had m oved in fifth after a dismal l -lth-p lace sta rt, Dam on Huffma n was a lso cha rgin g throug h the pack, but took a bad line a nd wen t down . At th e halfway po int, Antunez had moved pas t bo th Eri ckso n a nd Crumb but th en suddenly went dow n. '" ca me in to this tu rn a litt le to hard and befor e ' kn ew what happened th e back end wash ed a roun d," Ant u nez sai d. An tu nez rem o unt ed, cha rged past Cr u mb , the n began to reel in seco nd p lace H ugh es. Snell ing ton enjoyed a modest lead whi le sp a rks began to £Iy o n th e fina l la p between H ughes and Antu nez. '" co uld tel l he was start ing to get a litt le p umped up," An tunez said. With less th en a half lap rem aining, Antunez £l ew pa st Hughes j us t before th e tak e off ram p o f a step-up jump. Sn ellingen scored th e mot o win while Antunez finis hed seco nd a nd H ugh es th ird. Tyson Voh la nd pow ered hi s Yama ha in to fou rt h, passin g Crumb two laps from th e finish . Sp ud Wa lters ho leshot th e second mo to, foll ow ed by Ri ch ard Sa xton , Sm it h a n d Hu gh es. Antun ez h ad problems a t the sta rt , first gelli ng stuck in th e gate. then falli ng moments lat er ' in th e first tu rn when he ra n into th e back o f a no ther rider, Ant u nez sta rted th e mot o in 38th posi tion . By th e third la p , all eyes were focu sed o n teenager Huffman, who was now fou rt h after sta rt ing o u t of th e to p 10. H ugh es encou nt ered mech anical pr ob lem s a nd would be forced to sit' ou t the rem ainder of th e race while Sm ith took th e lead from Walters. During th e next two hips. H uffman blew by firs t Walters, the n Saxto n to move into second : Sm ith enjoyed a mod est lead, bu t Huffman was clos ing at a ra te o f two seco nds per la p a nd was soo n o n th e back fender of Sm ith. " I took a few wee ks o ff to get m y mind off su percross ," Huffman said , " I did some snow skiing a nd jet skiing in som e real co ld water and put motorcycles out o f m y mind . My reflex es were a little off for start ing but, '\ felt good on th e track. " Huffman wasted little time with Sm ith a nd passed h im through a diffi cult rocker sec tio n n ear th e a n nou ncing tower. "There were seven rockers and I tripled th e first three then th e seco nd three and sing led the last," explaine d H uffman. That move p roved to be th e difference for HuHman as he cleanly passed Sm ith m id -a ir throu gh th e rockers . Huffman pulled away fro m Smith a t a ra te o f three-seconds per la p. Meanwhil e, . An tu nez ma de a remar kabl e recove ry fro m h is start-rela ted problem s a nd began to reel in th e frontrunners. "I reall y Iiked th e track in th e seco nd mot o, it was real ro ugh. I felt' co u ld hit stuff harder than th e o ther guys ," Antunez said. Whil e Antunez was crea ting new lines arou nd the tra ck , fir st moto win ne r Sne ll ingen was n 't hav ing any lu ck with the track a nd appeared to be £Ioundering abo u t th e entire moto. Snell ingen even tually finish ed 12th. Huffman kept up hi s mom entum during th e rem aining laps and scored the win a head o f Sm ith . Antunez c ha rg ed h ard durin g th e closi ng moments o f th e race, first passing Chris Nea l for fourth, then Crumb for third. Antunez charged from 38th to th ird in just u nder 10 laps. The pr essure bega n to mount for Su nday 's 125cc Pro event , since Cru mb on ly held a narr ow 10 point margin over Sm ith, " I just need to beat Sm ith a nd stay cons istent," Cru mb said . Wh en th e gate dropped on Su nday's -Iirst 125cc Pro ra ce, Wa lters na iled the hol esh ot follow ed by Bill y J oe Mercier, Smi th a nd Crumb. By th e second la p, Wa lters had been shoved a ll the way to sixth as Sm ith took co ntrol. , '" had a n ope n track and I was conce n tra ting on riding smooth a nd mi stake-free,'.' Smith said: Whil e Smith in ch ed away, both Antunez and Hughes were carvi ng up the co mpeti tio n en ro ute to the front o f th e pa ck. At th e halfway po int, Sm ith was well o u t front while Crumb ran so lid ly in second, Hughes and Antunez were th ird and fourth , respectfully, and the momentum of th eir battle was bringin g th em closer with eac h lap to second pl ace Cru mb. Smith was first to th e chec kered £lag , whil e Crumb held to ugh for second. Hughes fou ght for th ird a nd earn ed the position after a n entire race o f p us h-a nd-shove wi th Antunez. Sne ll ingen wo rked fro m a midpack start to fin ish fifth in front o f Chris Young a nd Neal. T revor Meager o wne d th e seco nd moto hol eshot , but hi s lead was sho rt l ived , as fir st 'Ne a l the n Hu gh es power ed past . O n the second la p Mea ger lo st more groun d, dropping back to six th as T eam Green / Pro C ircuit/C. P. E.lYo ko /Smi th / Bie Hel VP /T.R. E.lRent h al -b a ck ed Ra y Cru mb moved into th ird, followed by Antunez and Huffman. On th e next la p , HuHman put th e m ov es o n Antunez a nd th en flew past both Crumb a nd Neal to tak e over seco nd. Huffman spe nt the nex t four la ps reelin g in and dogg ing H ugh es for the lead whi ch he assu med on la p eight of th e 10 la p race. . " My a rms were p u mping badly," Hugh es sa id, "T h is is o nly m y second race ba ck in eigh t months."

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