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/127868
a nd the two stars had to pick him off on their own . Ped erson m ov ed by o n a bo u t th e 12th lap and Antunez di d the same a lap later. All the while, Woolsey was riding m istake-free up front, so me?" two seconds ahead of Palmer, who was stay ing wi thin s triking distance. Antunez made hi s mo ve pas t hi s friend Pederson on the 16th lap thr ou gh " th e rough whoop section a nd in to the final podium position. Throughout the last three laps, Palmer would close on Wool sey through those sa me whoops as Pederson tried to get back by Antu nez but neither wo uld ma ke th e pass, allowing Wool sey to w in his first- ever arenacross main event. "I kept waiting for someone to come u p and b low by," sa id a p ro ud but s hocked Woolsey. "I've never even led a main even t before, and there we re e ven som e main events last year tha t I didn't make> - so I'm rea lly ha ppy, and I hope the wh ole season goes like this." Palmer made his second podium on th e nigh t wit h a stro ng seco nd . "Brad grabbed the start and he rod e a grea t race," said Palmer. "You know the old sa ying, 'I' ve never lo st, [ was just behind at the end: and I did the best I could." "We' ve jus t got a few bugs to work o u t," ex p la i ne d third -p la ce finisher Antunez, wh o wa s racing his Suzukis for the first time. "I just did n't ge t the starts tha t I needed tonigh t, but I'm confident on them ." SATURDAY T he tra ck w as s ligh tly cha ng ed on . Saturday. The whoops were rebuilt and had been made extrem ely deep, a nd th e fou r-jump section wa s tight en ed up c1 littl e, g iv ing the rid er s an o p tio n to quad . O ne of the protagonist s was abse n t by the time the main eve nts started , as two-time Aren across Champion Gaddis crashed hard in a 250cc heat race and w as taken of f the track o n a stretche r. He was d iagn osed with a po ssibly broke n sho uld er and missed bot h main events. Wool sey ca p tu re d th e 1-9 00-PRORAC E award fo r hi s h ol eshot in th e 125 cc mai n event. Palme r was ag ain right behind him , with Xtre me / FMF / Su n s ta r / Pirelli' s Cor y Ke e n ey a n d Su zu ki of Gastonia / Barr' s / Ballzee and Ha m m er hea d' s jim Ches te r runn in g third and fourth. At the end of the pack in last place was Nielsen's josh Demuth . Kee ney came up short o.n the big double on lap tw o, and Chester mov ed in to third wi th Antunez s lippi ng into fourth. For the next two la ps, Antunez mov ed up on Ches ter and was about to make a pass:when he we nt ove r the bars in th e whoop section o n lap five. This left Ches ter all alone in the third spo t, 'w it h Kee ne y and Tuf / T ho r H onda ' s jero my Buehl in fou rth and fifth, resp ectively . • rot It took some time, but Buehl moved around Keeney on the 10th lap , and by ~e 11th lap Dem uth wa s up to seventh and the on ly rider doing the quads on a 125. Out front, though, Wool sey w as riding another strong race, wi th the execep tion of on e error on the triple jump. Palmer was still in second - roughly tw o seconds behind. On the 13th la p, Chester - who wa s alone in third for most of the race - started to com e under so me pressure from Bueh l. One lap later, Demuth was up to fift h behind Buehl, who was having trouble ge tting around Chester. As the white flag came out, Woolsey wa s s till in control, wit h Palmer a clos~ second . Ches ter was third, with Demuth all over his tail , a s he had passed Bue hl a lap earlier . Woolsey rod e a co nservative final lap and grabbed his second win in two nigh ts. Palmer came across the line a bike length behind in second. W hen asked, "Bra d who?" Woolsey replied, "I don' t know; I'm a different pt.m:iOn this year. I came here last year and d id n' t eve n qualify for tw o main events - this year I win two!" Palm er, wh o came in a strong second, said: "I wasn't quite as relaxed as I was last night. Brad was just ridi ng better than I was, and he deserved to win ." Those two we re so far ah ead that all th e attentio n focu sed on Chest er a nd Demu th in third a nd fourth . Ches te r elected to trip le: and Demuth let it all , hang out as he p inned it to makethe quad, iandin g it perfectly to dive in to the fi na l corner h ead of C h ester . Demuth styled for the cro wd over th e finish in third as Chester crossed the line in fourth, shaking his head in disbelief. "It takes guts, I guess: ' sa id Demuth referring to th e quad . "I felt really good toni ght. I go t up and felt like crap, but I ta lked to Broc Glo ve r (the m u lti-ti m e AMA MX Cha m p ion ) before th e ra ce a n d I think that helped a lot . N ow ma yb e I can get the transmission fixed on m y va n so I ca n mak e it to ne xt week's race." " I d efinitei y got drain-plug ged there: ' sai d Ches te r, who w as sti ll happy with fourth, "b ut I felt good and tri ed to ride smooth and rid e my ow n race." As Woolsey said earlier, there were a few main eve nts he didn't make last year. Now he can add Saturday's 250cc main to that list. Kaw asaki of Carrollton's third mem- (Top) Cliff Palmer was the open ing-night winner of the 125cc class. Consistent finishes throughout the week put him into the series points lead. (Above) Grayson Goodman put everything together in the final race. topping the 250Cc main. ber, G ra yson Good ma n, g ra bbed the s tart in the 2S0cc ma in . Ken ney and Tu f/ Tho r Honda' s Denny Stephenson were running second and third, respec'tiv ely . Stephe nso n, ho wever, p assed both riders on the firs t lap, along with Pro Circui t's Wey. On la p five, Stephen ' son was still out front, with Weyand Goodman in tow. Demuth was up to fourth and Antune z was fifth. On the sixth lap , Stephenson got ou t of shape in the whoops and Weyand Goodman closed in. Stephenson elected r--. . 0\ 0\ ....... cr) ....