Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127757
.EVENTSROusseau .
Edited by SCott
FRIDAY
AD PJ1 SUper Arenacross series: Round 1
Jones forges ahead
By Pam Lambert
g<
0"1
,...,
0"1'
C'l
....
Q)
~
>
o
z
34
ALBANY, NY, NOV. 3-4
hile hometown favorite Scott
Sheak was cheered on by the
18,000 screaming fans at the
Knickerbocker Arena during the first
round of the AMA PJ1 Super Arenacross
series, it was Mike Jones who left Albany,
New York, with the series points lead.
Sheak and defending Arenacross Champion Jimmy Gaddis swapped wins during Friday night's running of the 125 and
250cc main events with Gaddis taking
the eighth-liter-class win and Sheak the
W
(Top) Def8ndlng AMA Arenacross
ChampIon Jimmy GaddIs grabbtid FridlIy's
125cc Expert win at the opening round 01
the '95 _ _ In the Knickerbocker Arena.
(Above) Randy lewis (69) and Chris
Radzlnskl (41) won In the 40+ and 125cc
Expert c_ _ respec:tIveIy during the
AHRMA West8m Regional TTIMX at the
Tulare Cyc18 Park.
250ce-class victory. Jones had gotten off
to an unfortunate start in the 125cc class
·with a ninth-place finish after a midrace
collision with Sheak left them both. on the
ground. But Suzuki-mounted Jones
rebounded to take second in FridaY's
250cc main behind Sheak, then returned
Saturday to ride to a main-event sweep
that left him with a five-point lead over
number-one plate holder Gaddis, 68-63.
An anxious Shawn Morgan jumped
the start of the 12Sec main and was sent
to the third row for the S!!Cond try. Gaddis nabbed the holeshot on the restart
but a determined Sheak skimmed
through the whoops to quickly take
over the point. After a solid start,
DeHoop was right there to immediately
challenge now-second-placed Gaddis.
The two riders went over the Red Dog
catapult side by side, each determined
to come up with the advantage, but
DeHoop was the one who finally did it,
taking firm control of second as he
tripled the next section.
To the delight of the crowd, Sheak was
out front, but Jones was moving through
the pack at a blistering pace, passing
Jeromy Buehl and Barry Carsten in one
lap, DeHoop the next and then Gaddis to
move into second. The hard-charging
Jones then set his sights on Sheak and the
lead: The duo flew over the big infield
double simultaneously and each rider
took a different line though the right-hander that followed, but their lines crossed
over the triple jump and they collided.
Both riders went down and Gaddis inherited th.e lead. Buehl, DeHoop and Carsten
were past before the fallen riders were
able to remount.
The order of the top three went
unchanged for several laps before they
ran into lapped traffic. As Gaddis, Buehl
and DeHoop approached the white flag,
lapped riders and hard charging allowed
Buehl to close up to Gaddis' rear fender
and the new teammates had a heated
battle for the lead. On the last lap, Buehl
managed to pull even with Gaddis in the
whoop section, but Gaddis got the
advantage over the double and held on
to take the win. Buehl had to settle for
second while DeHoop was third.
"The first few laps were really
tough," said Gaddis after his first win of
the series. "Scotty (Sheak) was charging
hard and so was Jones. And then I saw
them go down. Jeromy (Buehl) caught
up to me after the white flag and I had
to really kick it back up to stay ahead of
him. I'm just thankful I'm here (on top
of the podium)."
The 250cc main event started the
same as the previous one had - with a
restart. The offending rider was
DeHoop, who would be forced to start
from the third row. Jones was quickest
off the line the second time around and
grabbed the holeshot, but Suzukimounted Sheak charged through the
whoops and brought the crowd to its
feet as he quickly challenged Jones for
the lead. Sheak pressured Jones for
some six laps before making a successful
pass on the leader with a well-executed
block-pass. Meanwhile, KTM-backed Ty
Wallace slipped ahead of Shawn Morgan for third while Gaddis struggled as
the result of a poor start.
Sheak held on for the win ahead of
Jones, while Wallace held off Gaddis for
third. DeHoop came home in fifth place.
SATURDAY
With fans holding "Scott Sheak #1"
signs throughout the arena, the hometown favorite wowed the crowd with
another fast start. But Sheak's lead was
short-lived as Jones blasted through the
whoops to overtake him. Gaddis quickly followed and Sheak soon found himself in third place. Jones had smooth
sailing out front while Gaddis and
Sheak battled for-the runner-up spot.
Just after the halfway flags, Sheak
made an aggressive attempt to pass Gaddis back for second but wasn't able to
make it stick. When the two riders
banged into each other and bobbled,
Buehl took advantage of the situation and
passed both riders to take over the runner-up spot. Jones cruised to the win with
Buehl second and Gaddis third. Sheak
and Carsten rounded out the top five.
A pumped-up Jones was on a roll
after his 125cc win and would ultimately only have to make one pass to take
the win in the 250cc main event. While
Honda-mounted De Hoop got the
holeshot, Jones was right with him and
made the single necessary pass at the
end of a long whoop section. From there
on it was clear sailing for Jones.
As the lead pack sorted out, Gaddis,
DeHoop, Buehl and rookie Charlie Bogard followed Jones in the top five spots.
After a slight miscue by Gaddis,
DeHoop and Buehl were able to move
past and into second and third, respectively. Meanwhile, Sheak had suffered
from a somewhat slow start but had
wended his way through the pack to
pass Bogard for fourth. Sheak wouldn't
last there for very long, however, as
Carsten spent several laps creeping up
on him, and then, with two laps left
finally set up the successful pass to take
over fourth place. Jones rode 10 the easy
win followed by DeHoop, Buehl,
Carsten and Sheak.
fN
Results
Friday
125 MAIN: 1. Jimmy Caddis (Kaw); 2. Jeromy
Buehl (Kaw~ 3. Todd DeHoop (Han); 4. Barry Cars'en
(Suz); 5. Grayson Goodman (5uz); 6. Mike Treadwell
(Suz); 7. Greg Rand (Suz); 8. Oiff Palmer (Suz); 9. Mike
Jones (Suz); 10. Scott Sheak (5uz); II. Jeff Curry (Suz);
12. Shawn Morgan (Kaw); 13. Kurt McMillen (Han); 14.
Shane O'Connor (Suz).
Z50 MAIN: 1. Scott Sheal< (Suz~ 2. Milee Jones (Suz~
3. Ty Wallace (KTM); 4. JUnmy Gaddis (Kaw); 5. Todd
DeHoop (Han); 6. Oiff Palmer (Suz); 7. Barry Carsten
(5u%); St Anthony Pocorobba (5uz); 9. Grayson
Goodman (502); 10. Shawn Morgan (Kaw); 11. Jeromy
Buehl (Kaw); 12. Andy Bowyer (!

