Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

,A PJ1SuperC O S Final ro nd: Denver Colis R N Arenacross Series EARS u eum AMA IS S ueaks it out By Lance Bryson DENVER, CO, MAR 1-2 " F if tee n w ins and no Na tio nal Champions hip title is a littl e h a r d to take," a d ejec ted Jerom y Buehl sai d after coming away the runner-up a t th e PP Supe r Arenacross Series , "I came into the weekend knowing I was 16 poin ts do w n an d knew w hat I h ad to do, 'To wi n th ree m ai n even ts, take second in one and com e a w ay th r ee p oi n ts s h y of the championship only leaves me with one th ought - (jimmy) Gaddis better eat his Wh eaties over the su mmer, 'cau se I'm corning after him next year!" A sellou t crowd of 22,350 filled Denver Coliseum for the Friday and Saturda y night sho wdo wn. FRIDAY Th e " Fly ing H aw aii an " Cliffo rd Ad optante led the first of three hea ts with defending champion Gaddis, Todd DeH oop and Brad Woolsey in tow . Gad d is, knowing he need ed every point he could ge t to protect hi s points lead, made a quick pass on Ad optante on lap three of th e six-lap qu a lifier ; DeHoop tried to follow suit a lap later but to no av ail. Gaddis and Adoptante tr ansferred, while De H oop a nd company went to the semis . , Buehl jumped out in heat tw o like a man on a mission . Bueh l seem to m ake up th e mo st time thr ough the n ine thigh-high ro ckers. A much-improved Gra ys on Goodman kep t Bu eh l in hi s sights but carne up short at the end and w as follow ed by loca l fav orite Sh awn Morgan. And y Bowyer rounded out the top four . Most of tile action in heat th ree came right after the start. Mike Jones led the w ay, foll owed by Cliff Palm er , Trey Owens an d Shan e Wenz el. Palm er, who was m akin g his first appearance since d islocating his hip a month ago, didn't appear to have lost any timing over the ro cke rs as he set his sigh ts o n Jo nes. Jones, however, wa s too strong and had the race in control at the checkers, , When the 14-rider field lined up for their final go-around, Goodman muscled his wa y to the front with DeH oop, Mo rgan, Adoptante, Todd Robertson, Buehl, Atkins and Gaddis looking for any opening to get to the front. Gaddis, two positions behind Buehl, kept him in blew by Morgan over the rockers with DeH oop also getting by just after the big double; Jones and Gaddis fough t for the fourth spot, with Gaddis getting the nod over the triples. Gaddis wouldn't take any chances, knowing he just h ad to keep Buehl in sight to keep his championship title alive. Up front, Buehl set a pace nobod y w as going to match . .C ad d is, on th e other hand, knew that to win the war he had to stay close. Morgan was Gaddis' next victim, With DeHoop not far ou t of reach. Jones got a second wind moving past Morgan and then past Gaddis. The Coliseum was going nu ts. Jon es next had DeHoop in hi s sigh ts, but Gaddis wasn 't done just yet, as he kept pre ssure on Jones. Goodman, fighting to the front aft er a bad start, mo ved into th e fifth spo t watching th e action an d hoping Jones, Adoptante and Gadd is close b ehind . Jone s quick ly moved by Woo lsey over the double, with Gaddis getting by Ad optante for third. Gaddis also moved past Woolsey with his sights set on Jones. Jones handed Gaddis the lead and the win when he went wide in tum one. Woolsey finished th ird, Adoptante fourth, Goodman holesh ot the 14-rider feature, with Bueh l getting th e outsid e drive over the rockers an d passing for th e lead whil e DeHoop cam e up in third. Buehl went wide in tum one the following lap, and Goodman stuck his no se in o n him. Bu ehl reg ai ne d hi s composer over the rockers leading into the d ouble. Jo nes go t by DeHoop for third, with Atkins and Gaddis fighting o ff a no th e r bad s ta rt in fif t h. Whil e Buehl and Go odman fo u gh t fo r th e Jones a nd Ga d dis would tak e th emselves out. Ju st after th e hal fwa y ma rk, Jon es bobbl ed over th e d ouble and Gaddis found his ope ning , m oving in to thi rd again. Jon es go t into trouble over th e rocker s and quickly dropped ba ck to fifth. In th e clos ing laps, Ga d dis se t up DeHoop over the doubles and got by to finish second behind Bueh l. DeH oop found himself on the podium agai n, in third , with Goodman and Jones rounding ou t th e top fiv e. "My start wasn 't too goo d," said Gaddis. "I had to fight to th e fron t, and with th e batt le I had w ith Jones, the only thing I wanted to mak e sure was to finish as close to th e front as possible." ' , Buehl sai d : "I can only con trol my ou tcome and no t the cham pions hip . I need ed to w in and get as man y points as possib le. I did th at. Unfo rtu na te ly, Gad d is also got points. I'm close. It's not over yet." number-one slo t, Jones a nd DeHoop see me d to have their own pr ivate wa r goi ng on with Jon es losing after going into turn one a littl e too ho t and a little too wid e. In the closing laps, Goodman managed to get by Buehl after Buehl stalled. "One little mistake wa s all it took," said Buehl. "Then I was tryin g too hard and couldn't get my timing back. " DeHoop got a second wi nd and tr ied to m ake adv a nces on Bu ehl, but th e Team Green /Thor rider wou ldn't succumb. "I really had to ride with my head screwed on right," said DeHoop. Gaddis got by Atkins for fou rth, with Morgan rounding ou t the top five. "Man, it feels good to get back on the podium," said Goodman. "I was mad at myself last night, lead ing with two lap s to go then getting passed. " DeH oop and Jon es got the jump in th e first heat follow ed by Ad optante and Bowyer . DeHoop led into tum one with Jones pu tt in g the p ressu re on. Jones got by on lap three w ith DeHoop m aking anothe r ch ar ge o n th e fourth la p . Jon es mad e a mi s take o ve r t he trip les and man aged to only double in and d oubl e ou t, wh ile DeH oop tripl ed in and singled out. Jones ha d the inside line an d pu sh ed DeHoop ou tside . Jones held on for the win w ith DeH oop and Bowy er rou ndi ng out the top three . Woolsey agai n had the upper han d, with Buehl in tow. Buehl wasted no time in goi ng to the fr ont w ith an ou ts ide move over the rockers. Woolsey tried to come back with an inside move on Buehl but to no avail. Goodman shado wed Buehl and d rafted by Woolsey for second. Buehl turned the wick up and head ed for the checker s, again uncontested, followed by charger Good man. Woolsey finished third and Atkins fourth . (Above) Jimmy Gaddis wrapped up the AMA PJ1 Super Arenacross Series title at the final round In Denver. He went back home to Las Vegas $10,000 richer. (Right) Gaddis (1) went 4-2· 4-4 over the weekend. sigh t. Up front, DeHoop tried to shadow Goodman with eve ry move he m ad e, but Goodman , having his best rid e of the se ries, was consistent and did not ma ke a ny mi stakes . Buehl 'm ad e h is move tp the front on lap four of their 16lap final, setting up Adoptante over the rockers. Gad dis resp on d ed as w ell, going by Robertson and Ad optan te for fifth. Two laps later Buehl went by Morgan . The crowd knew the points scenario: Buehl needed to win to keep his hopes alive. By the three-quarters mark, back m arkers' s ta r ted t o figure in to th e leader's chess game. Goodman tried to run and hide fro m DeHoop but to no avail. DeHoop was pushing his phy sical limits by making charg es at Goodman at every corner . Whil e th ose two pl ayed b um p and run, Buehl watched for h is window of opportunity. Morgan, sitting in th e fou rth spot , ha d his hand s full w it h Gaddis sticking his wh ee l in at every tu m . With two laps to go and the crowd sta ndi ng on its fee t, Gaddis set up Morgan ove r the tr iples and drov e him w id e takin g over four th. DeHoop got his sho t at Good man and took over the lead position. A lap later, Buehl also go t b y Go odm an to finish second behind DeHoop. Goodman settled for third ahead of Gaddis and Morgan. Owens led the first of three 250cc heats with Del-loop, Jones an d Bow yer right on his tail. Owen s ran consistently until lap four when DeHoop got by and held on for the win. Owens fought back , Jones to make the second transfer spo t. Brandon Lacey outjumped Bueh l in the second heat but w ould soo n d rop back. Buehl had nothing but checkers on his mind and was never contested . Heat th ree saw Morg an ga te fir st ah ead o f Buehl a n d DeHo op . Buehl SAT URDAY Wit h the cha mpionship on the line (11 poi nts now se parating Gad dis and Bue hl), the first of three 125c c heats came to the line. Goo dma n wo n goi ng a wa y, whil e a n ag g r ess ive DeHoop made a race ou t of it when he and Morga n fought for th e transfer spot, w ith DeHoop getting the nod . Bowye r got th e ju m p in heat tw o with Buehl flat-tracking around the outsi de alo ng w i th Palme r a nd Lace y . Bueh l made his move to the fron t pri or to the doubl e and heade d for the checkers uncontest ed. Palmer als o go t b y Bowyer for second, but cased it over the doubles, allowing Bowyer and Lacey to finish second and third, respecti vely. Woolsey gated' first in heat three with

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