Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

E AC O S Round 2: PeoriaCivic Center ·AR N R S . AMA National Arenacross By Pam Lambert File photos by ? PEORIA, II., ~OV .18-19 eromy Buehl was the only rider at round two of the MSR / Answer AMA ational Arenacross Series to ta ke home more than one main event win at e John Bearce Auto Mall/lcehouse/ Grayboy Kawasaki-sponso red ational Arenacross in the Peoria Civic Cent er. Buehl mo to re d h is F&S Su zuk i / Sco tt / Works Conne cti on / Axo-sponsored RM 125 a n d RM2 50 to w ins in both classes on Sa turday night while series points leader Jimmy Gaddis cou ld o nly ga rner one win aboard hi s Splitfi re / Pro Circuit-b acked KX125 in th e main on Friday. Todd DeHoop rod e his Honda of Troy / Axo / Pro Circuit /Scott / Dunlop-sponsored CR250 to Friday' s 250ccwin. (Left) . Todd DeHoop (60) bagged the 250cc Pro finale on Friday night. DeHoop currently s its s ixth in the series points chase. (Below) Jimmy Gadd is maintained his edge in the National Arenacross Series standings by scoring a come-from-behind win in Friday's 125cc Pro main. FRIDAY NIGHT The 125cc heat race s began with Gre g Ra nd grabbing th e ho leshot ahead of Ga dd is . Rand bl a s ted his Am e rican Suzu ki/ Pro Circu it/ Thor /Unit Answer sponsore d Suz u ki a ro u nd for th e w in w h ile Ga d dis and Pederson swapped places seve ra l tim es. Pederso n held on to seco nd, while Gaddis' thi rd sent him to a semi. Defending Are nacross Champ ion, Grayson Goodman , took the lead in h eat tw o , bu t Je ff C u r ry d o g g ed Goodman and too k over the lead on the w h ite -flag la p. Curry an d Goodm an tran sferred directly to the main. Billy Wh itley took holeshot hon ors in heat thr ee, bu t DeH oop quickly slipped past in th e whoops a nd too k th e w in after Whitl ey took a spill. Buehl led the fourth heat from sta rt to finish , while Deegan held off Palmer for the transfer position. Gaddi s, Palmer a n d Whitley a/l transferred to the main via the fir st 125cc semi , while Upshaw, Morgan and Bennett trans ferred from the se con d semi. Tensions we re high when the rubber band popped for the 125cc main event, as DeHoop hit the band and was banish ed to th e third -r ow for th e s t a r t. Because he had to qualify for the main via a sem i, Gaddis wa s alread y on the second row . Rand blasted into the lead on the restart, with Palmer, Buehl, Gaddis and Pederson in tow . Bueh l crashed hard over the big double, allowing the entire pack to pass him, with Rand still ou t front. Rand set a blistering pace with Palmer, Pederson and Gaddis hanging close . The leaders pulled away from th e rest of the pack before Gaddis began h is charge back to the front, quickly picking off Pederson along the wa y. Palmer fell prey to Gaddis in the w hoo ps just after the halfw ay flags . Gaddis, not normally th e fast est rider in rou gh wh oops, rocketed through the obs tacles and overtook Rand for the lead w it h an inside pass ju s t before th e b ig " Icehouse" d ouble. Gadd is held on for the win with Palmer second and Pederson third after Rand faded to fourth . "I had trouble in my heats and had to sta rt on the second row," Gaddis sa id . "Bu t af ter I went through the whoops better, everythin g started to click, and I was able to take the lead ." Buehl wa s determined to be out front as the ' rubber band po pped for the 250cc mai n even t after his cras h in the 125cc ma in . Rand was right behind, as wa s Pederson, Del-loop, Curry and Jackson. Noticeably absent from the main was Gadd is, who failed to qualify. Buehl got out of control at the end of the whoops and went down in the next tu rn . Ra nd in herite d th e le a d wi th DeH oo p p ushing har d . DeHoo p pulled a lo ngside Ran d th ro ugh th e w hoops, but on the next lap he flew in to the lead over the big infield double. Pa lme r go t aro und Jackson qu ickly and then h un g ti ght w it h De Hoop a n d Rand . Af ter DeH oop made his move, Palmer set his si gh ts o ri Rand ' s secon d - p lace s pot. After swa pping posit ions several tim es during the next few laps, Palmer finally made a move and held on to seco nd. Rand al so gave way to Curry and then Pederson, while DeH oop streaked away to sc o re the vi cto ry . Palm er, Curry, Ped er son and Rand settled into the top five, behind DeHoop. "I haven 't been able to ge t a sta rt m y brains w e re s ho t or so me th ing," DeHoop said . "But finally I got a decent start. I had to hammer on Rand for a while, but I finall y got around . Then I jus t set a pace and tried to stay smooth. I'm jus t happy'to finally get a win." SATURDAY NIGHT Peoria fans were treated to the best racing action in th e 125cc main eve nt. DeHoop again ju m ped the gun and had to start from row three. On the resta rt, Gaddis ju mped, and he was also moved to th e third row . O n th e fina l res tart, Buehl blasted into the lead, while Rand followed . With le s s than th re e b ik e lengths betw een first pl ac e and fif th, Buehl, Rand, Palm er, Gaddis and Pederso n were jus t a blur of yellow, red an d g re e n . Rand tripl ed into the le a d through the"d oub le-d ouble " section a hea d of Bu eh l, b ut Bueh l s t uck to Rand's rear fender like glue . Palm er, Gaddis and Pederson conti nu ed to battle, w it h Pa lme r pullin g up close to the lead er s again. Mea nwhile, Rand , Buehl a n d Palm er en te re d the whoop se ction three abreas t, with the crowd coming to its feet. Rand held his inside lin e and em er ged first fro m the tu rn with Bueh l and Palmer side by side over the jump. When the white flag cam e out, Rand was only a half of a wheel in fron t of Buehl. Th e tw o Su zuki riders entered the rou gh whoops for the last time, and Buehl kic ked in the afterburners and blew past Rand to take the lead. Rand tri ed to recover h is lead , but Bu ehl wo uldn' t have an y part of it and held on for the win. Palmer dropped from third to fifth on the last lap wh en a sma ll bob ble th rou gh the "double-d ouble" section a llo wed Gadd is and Pederson by. O n t he p od ium , Bu eh l a d mi tted to the cro w d that ea rl ie r th is yea r he had decided to quit racing. " I go t a real job, " Buehl sai d . "Bu t decided that wasn' t for me just yet, so I deci ded to race one mo re year. Guess I made the right d ecision. There are man y good riders her e and we put on a hell of a show. This race was the closest, cleanest race I've been in , in a long, long time." After the 125cc action, the 250cc race seemed anticlima ctic alth ou gh ther e was good racing going on. Tea m Green ride r Shawn Morgan blasted in to th e le ad with Bueh l in tow . Ped erson, Gadd is, Palm er and DeHoop were righ t behind th e tw o fron t-runners. Buehl pu sh ed Mor gan for the lead, but Morgan held h is ground for se ve ra l la p s. DeHoop was pressuring Ga d dis when DeHoop we,nt down hard trying to tripl e out of the "do uble-double" section. Buehl again found the fa st lane through the whoops and overtook Morga n for the lead after six laps. Mor gan then began to fade , allowing Pederson , Gaddis and Palmer to slip past during the next few lap s. Buehl held on to take the victory, with Gaddis coming in second. Palmer, Curry and Pederson finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively. l~ Peoria Civic Center Peoria, Illinois Res ults: November 18-19, 1994 (Rnd 2 of 12) F ri d ~y 125 PRO: 1. Jimm y Gaddis (K.a.w); 2. O ift Palmer (Hon); 3. Chad Pedersen (Hon ~ 4. Greg Rand (Suz); 5. Je ff C u r ry (5 u z); 6. Bri an Deega n (H o n ); 7. Todd Dclfoop (Hon ); 8. Gra yson Goodman CHon); 9. Sha wn Morgan [Kaw): 10. Billy whtttey (K.1.w ). 250 PRO : 1. Todd [A-Hoop (Ho n); 2. aii( Palmer (Ha n); 3. Jeff Cu ny (Suz~ 4. Chad Pederson (Hon~ 5. G reg Ra.nd (5 uz); 6 . Bilt y Wh itley (Ka w) ; 7. Bri an Deeg an (Hon); 8. Shawn Morgan (Kaw): 9. Gra yson Goodman (Hon); 10. Junior [ackson (Yam) . S..turd.ay 125 PRO : 1. jerem y Buehl (Suz ); 2. Greg RAnd (Suz ); 3. Ji mm y Ga ddis (Ka w); 4. Ch ad Pederson (Ho n ); 5. Cliff Palmer (Hon); 6. Tod d Del-loo p (Ho n); 7. Jeff Curry (5u z ); 8. Brian Deegan (H o n) ; 9. Junior jackson (Yam); to. G rayson Goodman (H on ). 250 PRO: 1. Iero rny Bueh l (5uz); 2.Jim my Gadd is (Kaw ); 3. Cliff Pal me r (Hun ); 4. jeff Cuny (SoI); 5. Chad . Ped er son (H on); 6. Sh aw n Mor ge n (Ka w); 7. Tod d De l-loop (He n): 8. Jamie Bennett (Ho n ); 9. G rayson Goodman (Ho n); 10. Jun ior jackson (Yam) . AM A NAT IONAL AR EN ACRO SS SE RIES POIi'ITS STANDINGS: I. jim m y Gad dis (134) ; 2. C h ad Pede rso n (125); 3. Cli ff Pal me r (120); 4. jerem y Buehl (liS ); 5. je ff C urry (10 4); 6. Todd De Hoo p (90) ; 7. C rayso n Goodman (86); 8. Brian Deegan (i7); 9. Shawn Mor gan (65); IO. Billy Whitley (62). Upcoming Rounds: Rnd 3 - Rocktord, Illinois, December 2·3, 1994 Rnd 4, Fort Worth. Texas. January 6-8. 1?95 A §3 a ~ "

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