Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Roun K s d7: an asExpoCentre , • (Left) Jeromy Buehl ' (2) closed the points gap on J immy Gaddis (1 ) by sc oring two main event wins during round seven of the PJ1 Super Arenacross Series at the Kansas ExpoCentre. (Below) Buehl (2) and Gaddis (1) collided In Frlday's 125cc main. Buehl was up and away first to coll ectthe win. By Pam Lambert Photos by J eff Cox TOPEKA, KS, JAN26-28 blizza rd bl ew in to Kan sas on Fr id ay, but th e fans w er e un d aunted by th e weather as the MSR / An swer /KBC Helmets Arenacr os s a t the Kansas Expo Ce ntre ma rked the fourth sellou t in a row for the PJ1 Super Arenacross Series. Thor / Kawasaki Team Green alm ost ma de a clean sweep of the top o f the podium as Jerom y Buehl won the 125cc m ain events on Frid ay and Satu rd ay while his teammate Jimm y Gad dis won th e 250cc class Friday. But Am erica n Suzuki's Guy Cooper put it all togeth er to take the 250cc win on Saturday and salvage some pride for the non-Kawasaki brands in the series. F&S Suzuki's Cliff Palmer looked the picture of cons istency with three thirds u ntil a sp ectacular cras h in the 2S0cc main on Saturday took him out of conten tion. A FRIDAY NIGHT 18 The battle in the 12Scc main eve n t wasn't easy, and at times wasn't pretty as Buehl took the lead but only held off Gaddis for three laps. Gaddis blew by over th e triple / double section, but tw o laps later Buehl slipped by on the insid e as the lead ers encountered Greg Rand, wh o was a lap d own after a first-tu rn cr ash. Sh awn Morg an w as h old in g third, figh ting off continual attacks by Palmer while Mark Morris tried valiantly to' hold off Cooper, who fou nd hi s way arou nd Morris in the wh oop s and then past Palmer. Although th er e was a lot of action vid ed excitement as they flew over the ju m ps side by side several times with Palmer closing the d oor in Cooper's face in the turns. Cooper w ould regain grou n d in th e whoops even t hou gh Palmer skimmed throu gh them almost . effortlessly. Gaddis tailed Buehl for we ll over half the iO-lap race, but as the two came into lapped tra ffic, Gaddis was able to triple past Buehl while Buehl had to do uble to avo id another rider. Gaddis wen t on to w in , Bu ehl wa s seco nd a nd Pa lmer third. Cooper and DeH oop completed the top five. SATURDAY NIGHT Bu ehl was firs t o ff th e line in th e 12Scc main while Gadd is was forced to come throu gh th e pa ck afte r a p o o r s tar t. Palme r h eld second, but Buehl alre ad y had a fairly com fortable lead. Gad d is made his way aro und Morris by outbraking him into a tum. Cooper an d DeH oop powered th ei r- Su zu k is past Morris and then bega n a battle of their own. Gaddis cont inued to stalk Palme r for the runner-up spo t and finally found his way around late in the race as he tuc ked underneath th e forme r fac to ry KTM rider in a tum. Buehl had smooth sailing out front as only two riders we re lapped during the (Below) Former 125cc National Champion GUy Cooper (50) had the benefit of being at the front of a single-file restart after Cliff Palmer crash ed In Saturday's 250cc main. Cooper sta yed up front to claim victory. go ing on th ro ugh th e 14-ride r fie ld, Bu ehl an d Gaddis ran n ip a nd tuck while battling for the lead at every turn w ith Buehl holding his ad vant age time and time again. Then the crow d wa s brought to its feet wh en Buehl and Gaddis collided in the sweeper turn before the big infield d ouble jump, w ith both riders go ing down; Gaddis had pu lled up to wit hin inches of Buehl through the whoops but was just a little hot comin g into the turn, catching Buehl's rear whee l and cau sing the crash. Buehl was th e first to remount afte r ge tting th e bikes ap ar t and was a ble to h old o n to the lead . Ga d dis wasn't as fortunate as Morgan, Cooper and Palmer all came by. Gaddis could only move up one position after Morgan fell on the white-flag lap an d d ropped out. Buehl took the wi n followed by Cooper and Palmer. Gad dis h ad to se ttle fo r fo urth with Andy Bowy er rounding ou t the top five. After the up -and-down battles in the . 12Sc c class, the 2S0cc m a in ev e n t seemed fairly tam e. Buehl again took the holeshot with Gad dis pressing him. Cooper, Palmer an d Todd DeHoop were close behind, but the pace th e top two se t was fast eno ug h to kee p them out front. Even so, 'Palmer and Cooper pro- entire race, leavi ng the track clear until the las t tw o lap s. DeHoop and Cooper banged bars seve ral times, but DeH oop held on un til the white flag when Cooper squared th e turn coming back into the start area and blasted ahead. Buehl too k hi s second w in o f th e w eek end w it h Ga d d is gettin g the brid esm a id spot. Pal mer w as third, Cooper fourth and DeHoop fifth. The 250cc ma in eve nt was

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