Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 3: MetroCentre ARENACROSS AMA National Arenacros$series. (Lett and below) Jeromy Buehl (2) dominated the third round of the AMA National Arenacross Series In Rockford, Illinois. The Kawasaki rider won three C?ut of the four 125 and 250cc Expert classes. Buehlbowls 'em over By Pam Lambert· Photos by Jeff Cox ROCKFORD, IL, DEC 1-3 eam Green Kawasaki-backed Jeromy Buehl was the big winner in round three of the AMA ational Arenacross Series held inside the small confines of the MetroCentre in Rockford. After two nights of sometimes all-too-close racing, Buehl recorded three out of four race win , his best night coming on Friday when he swept both the 125 and 250cc Expert classes under the carpet. Tbe following night, fellow Kawasaki rid.er Jimmy Gaddis put the skids to Buehl's hopes of a perfect weekend when he scored the 125cc win after fini hing second (125cc) and third (250cc) the previous night. Buehl outgunned Gaddis in the 250cc bout. Buehl's successful trip to Rockford put him into the series points lead with. 197 points, just five points ahead of Gaddis, while Todd DeHoop, who went 3-4-3-4 over the course of the weekend, resides in third place with 167 point, 17 points ahead of fourth-place Cliff Palmer. Texan Grayson Goodman currently holds down fifth with 134. Friday night's 125cc main event got underway with Kawasaki Team Green's Shawn Morgan grabbing the holeshot, but his lead would be short-lived. Through a section of whoops, Buehl pulled alongside Morgan and had control of the lead by the last whoop. From that point on, Buehl rode flawlessly and was never seriously threatened throughout the 14-lap race. But there was a lot of action going on behind him. DeHoop eventually settled into second with Gaddis following him into third. Tbe two competitors battled for a while until Gaddis made his move and passed DeHoop over the triples for second place. Gaddis would hold on to second for the remainder of the race, whi Ie DeHoop cruised home in third. Rounding out the top five were Chad Pederson and Grayson Goodman. Buehl, again, was in a class all his own in the 250cc main event. The Kawasaki rider blasted out of the gate T and into the lead, and would go on to score a wire-te-wire victory. While Buehl strolled out in front, Pederson, Gaddis, DeHoop and Brad Woolsey mixed it up lap after lap. Tbere was little passing, but the four-rider grou p kept close tabs on each other throughout the race, and when it was all over, Pederson managed to hang on to his second place, followed by Gaddis, DeHoop and Woolsey. Tbe next night Buehl, Gaddis, Pederson and the rest were at it again. In the 125cc feature, the race was red-flagged when DeHoop jumped the gun, and he was reJega ted to the third row on the restart. On the econd try, Buehl again shot into th.e lead with Morgan glued to his rear fender. Behind him were Gaddis and Goodman. Buehl would later make his first mistake of the weekend when he missed a shift and came up short over the infield double jump. Gaddis cleared the jump trouble-free and soared into the lead, with Buehl recovering in second. The battle raged behind the front two riders, with Goodman barely hanging on to third, ahead of Pederson and now Cliff Palmer. Meanwhile, DeHoop was making up ground after being penalized on the start. He soon found his way into fourth place; then he passed Goodman for third over a triple jump. On the last lap, the race to win was far from over, as Buehl tried every trick in the book to get around leader Gaddis, but to no avail. However, Buehl gave it one last shot on the final turn, but Gaddis' inside line was too tight, giving Buehl absolutely no room to pass. Gaddis scored his first win of the weekend, while Buehl had to settle for second. DeHoop rode an inspired race to finish third over Pederson and Goodman. Buehl was back to his old self in the 250cc main event, as he, once again, grabbed the holeshot ahead of Pederson, Gaddis, Goodman and Charlie Bogard. (Above) The only rider able to beat Buehl all weekend was defending champion Jimmy Gaddis, who won the 125cc Expert ctass on Saturday. Later on, Gaddis and Pederson tangled when Gaddis plowed into Pederson from behind. Pederson got the worse end of the deal when he crashed as a result of the get-together and would eventually finish 14th. Gaddis stayed upright and would later pass Goodman - who had passed both Pederson and Gaddis when they crashed into each other - and finish second to Buehl. Thinking he had purposefully taken Pederson out, the crowd booed Gaddis after the race. On the podium, Gaddis said, "My back end was up in the air, I had no back brake and I ran into him. There was nothing intentional about it and (I have) nothing I can :say to Pederson except I'm sorry, but there was nothing I could do." Palmer had his best finish of the weekend in third, followed by DeHoop and Bogard. 0 MetroCentre Rockford, illinois Results: December 1-2 FricLty US EX: 1. Jeromy Buehl (Kaw); 2. Jimmy Caddis (!on (!

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